Famous for its sublime, hauntingly beautiful melody, this etude explores the challenge of playing a singing line while maintaining a delicate accompaniment. It is considered one of the most expressive works in the entire etude repertoire.
The primary challenge is balancing the weight of the melody against the interior voices to maintain a pure cantabile line.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Étude in E major, No. 3 is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 9.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 6 — meaning you can already play level 5–6 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 Étude in E major, No. 3 lasts about 4 minutes.
Étude in E major, No. 3 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 Nocturne in E-flat major, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin, Nocturne in F-sharp major, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin, Nocturne in C-sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.