Sunday, May 3, 2009

Piano Practice Techniques that Everyone Can Use

One of the most imortant thin!s that " can do as a iano teacher is teach
#oth #e!innin! and advanced iano students e$ective iano ractice
techniques% Of a&& the instruments, iano requires a !reat dea& of
coordination% 'ot on&y must the ianist #e a#&e to use #oth the ri!ht and &eft
hands simu&taneous&y, #ut the erformer must use his or her ri!ht foot on the
damer eda&% Even the &eft foot is used on the soft eda& in more advanced
&iterature%
Pianists are constant&y erformin! di$erent motions (ith each hand% )or
e*am&e, one hand may #e &ayin! &e!ato +connectin! one note to the other,
(hi&e the other hand is &ayin! staccato +short,% Often the erformer (i&& #e
erformin! di$erent motions (ith di$erent -n!ers of each hand, articu&ar&y
in more advanced &iterature% . common ro#&em is to #e a#&e to #rin! out the
me&odic &ine over the accomaniment no matter (here that occurs in the
music%
/ere are some ractice techniques that #oth #e!innin! and advanced
students can fo&&o(0
/ands .&one Practice 1 One (ay to master the coordination needed to #e
a#&e to do di$erent motions (ith each hand is to devote some time to hands
a&one ractice% "t is ama2in! ho( much easier it is to erform a iece hands
to!ether after considera#&e time has #een sent on hands a&one ractice%
.&so, hands a&one ractice on more com&e* ieces of music a&&o(s you to
concentrate more fu&&y on (hat each hand must do%
Esta#&ish a 3ood Set of )in!erin! 1 3ood -n!erin! is very imortant to your
success as a ianist% .s you ractice hands a&one, esta#&ish comforta#&e
-n!erin! that you (i&& use at a&& times% E*eriment (ith di$erent -n!erin!s to
see (hat (or4s #est for you% "f you are ta4in! &essons, your teacher shou&d #e
a#&e to he& you (ith this% 5emem#er that a !ood set of -n!erin! can mean
the di$erence #et(een masterin! that di6cu&t run or assa!e%
7or4 S&o(&y and 8e .ccurate 1 . common ro#&em is that the student
(ants to &ay too fast% 5emem#er that you must esta#&ish an accuracy of
notes, rhythm, and -n!erin! #efore you #rin! a iece u to seed% 9ou (i&& #e
a#&e to maintain a roer seed (hen you 4no( the iece e*treme&y (e&&%
:o Send Some Time on 5hythm and Countin! 1 " a&(ays have my
students count a&oud% 8esides esta#&ishin! a rhythm attern, " -nd that
countin! can he& (ith concentration, and it a&so he&s to maintain temo
+seed,% Some teachers recommend use of a metronome% " ersona&&y don;t
o(n a metronome as " refer to esta#&ish an interna& <#ody rhythm= (here "
fee& the #eat and rhythm of the music% .&so, many ieces, articu&ar&y of the
5omantic era, do not have a strict&y re!u&ar rhythm% "n other (ords, there are
&aces in the music (here you mi!ht seed u or s&o( do(n% 9ou can;t do this
(ith a metronome% 7ith a metronome, you tend to !et a mechanica& fee& to
your music and sound &i4e the ianist for a #a&&et c&ass% Metronomes can a&so
#e tric4y for #e!inners to use% Perhas my re>udice a!ainst metronome use
comes from my o(n frustrations as a student (hen " (as made to use a
metronome%
Master One Sma&& Ste at a Time 1 This is actua&&y a continuation of the
hands a&one ractice a#ove% .fter each hand is mastered, ractice your
eda&in!% "n most situations, eda&in! fo&&o(s (hat the &eft hand is doin!% .s
you #e!in to &ace the t(o hands to!ether, remem#er to (or4 s&o(&y for
accuracy% ?ater add in your hrasin!, dynamics, and shadin!s%
8rea4 the Piece U into Practice Sections 1 This is one of the methods that
rea&&y he& students (ith masterin! a more di6cu&t iece% " (i&& #rea4 the
iece into one a!e at a time, a section at a time, a &ine at a time, and even
one #ar at a time% "f a assa!e is di6cu&t enou!h, " (i&& even have the student
do a @ #ar at a time% )or e*am&e, there are A di6cu&t measures in the B%S%
8ach "nvention CDin C Ma>or% " -nd that students are a#&e to master these A
#ars after hands a&one ractice and (or4in! sma&& sections of this assa!e
hands to!ether%
Practice .&#erti 8ass ?eft /and Passa!es in Chords 1 .nother very e$ective
ractice technique that " use (ith students is to have them ractice #ro4en
chord assa!es such as .&#erti #ass assa!es in chords% This ractice method
is aroriate for any assa!e, ri!ht hand or &eft, consistin! rimari&y of
#ro4en chords such as the 8ach C Ma>or Pre&ude from 8oo4 " of The 7e&&
Temered C&avier% 8y racticin! in chords, (e teach the #rain (here the
-n!ers must #e &aced and ositioned% Try this ractice technique and you
(i&& see quic4 resu&ts%
Perfectin! the )inished Product 1 Once you have &earned the iece, a !ood
(ay to 4ee it in to shae is to &ay it throu!h each day% Ta4e note of the
assa!es that cou&d use more ractice% :evote some time to racticin! these
<hard= arts% Then !o #ac4 and &ay the iece once a!ain% 9ou shou&d see an
imrovement%
?et me 4no( if you -nd these ractice techniques he&fu& #y &eavin! a
comment on this #&o!% 9our o(n ractice su!!estions (i&& #e (e&come to our
readers%
Posted #y /e&ene at 303E .M