This is a brief pedagogical etude by contemporary composer Miklos Martinko. It focuses on developing standard finger dexterity within a diatonic C major framework.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: fine finger independence within the hand; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and fast passage work that stays light and even at tempo.
Maintain consistent finger articulation throughout the scale-based passages.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Etude in C major is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Etude in C major lasts about 1.5 minutes.
Etude in C major is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Etude in C Minor by Miklos Martinko, Etude in C Major No.3 by Miklos Martinko, Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.