A character piece designed to explore resonance and space through broken chords in A minor. The music relies on a consistent tempo and a balanced harmonic layout.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: sweeping arpeggio figures that must stay smooth across positions; a left hand with real melodic or rhythmic responsibility of its own; and a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment.
Maintain a smooth connection between the arpeggiated figures in the left hand.
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.
Exercise in A minor 'Open Minor' (Op.138) 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 Exercise in A minor 'Open Minor' (Op.138) lasts about 3 minutes.
Exercise in A minor 'Open Minor' (Op.138) 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 Dream by Ramón León Egea, 'Dream' Op.63 by Ramón León Egea, Exercise in A minor 'Minor's Tale' by Ramón León Egea — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.