How to Build a Solid Technique in 3 months?

[JWV]

Hi. I'm going to try for some music schools in america next year and was thinking about getting a really solid technique during the summer, does anybody have any advice?

[nomis]

Learn all of Bach's 48, Beethoven's 32 and Chopin's 27 to perfection, but it'll take some super-human memory and efficiency to do that in three months.

In all seriousness, I suspect that you have a fairly advanced technique now. Choose a number of pieces e.g. 10 which are all slightly above your current technical level. Work on them intelligently and you will improve. But why do that? Choose one piece, just one that shows that you have tremendous technical skill (many works of Liszt come to mind) and that you also like. Once you've shown that you have good technique, there is no need for you to play anymore difficult pieces at the audition. But how do get the technique for that tremendous show-stopper? Analyse the piece, noting all the technical difficulties, then proceed to create exercises that will erase the difficulties, or better still, learn pieces with similar technique involved at the same time that are less formidable. If the show stopper had difficult octaves, insane arpeggios and lightning scales, you can learn three pieces that contain these difficulties to a lesser degree, and your technique will improve. And at the end of it all, you will have 4 wonderful pieces in your repertoire, and a great technique to boot.

[Bob]

Figure out what "solid technique" means to you.   Then be sure to work in each of those areas every day.  Stress your aiblities and give them time to recover.

I think the most efficient way to develop technique is to work on technique.  It's not doing anything except developing technique in terms of working on literature.

There's only so much you can do in three months.  "Solid" might not be realisitc, but  "More solid" or "better" is.

[Selim]

I don't know you Lvl.... But begin with something easy....Czerny, Hanon, scales etc...And if you see it is ok take something harder...
Go with bach it is important for the regularity! Some harder exercices could be Brahms's ones or go with de 27 And then try a Liszt

[aerlinndan]

I too am attempting to greatly increase my technical ability on the piano in these summer months, and I'm doing it in many ways.

First, I'm going through all of Bach's two-part inventions and aiming for absolute perfection.I find that these pieces still have PLENTY to teach me in terms of technique - and this surprised me at first.

I'm also learning Haydn and Mozart sonata movements of varying difficulty: some ridiculously simple, some fiendishly difficult. The reason is because playing very easy pieces reminds me what "really easy" feels like; it is a goal that I shoot for in all the music I play, to make it feel simple regardless of its theoretical difficulty.

Then add Barber's Excursions and Liszt Harmonies du Soir to keep me on my toes.