WHERE TO BEGIN

[maestoso]

i have read a ton of posts about the pros and cons of hanon and it's competitors and everyone has good points. i am not trying to be a concert pianist i just want to get good and excel at this instrument so regardless, i am going to work on hanon stuff, so i was just wondering if it would be  beneficial to skip the repetitive 3 octave fingerings and just focus on the scales and the later studies of the book. any input would be appreciated.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

Could you be a little more specific about your inquiry? I am assuming that you just started or plan to start taking lessons or learning music otherwise. Assuming it's not the latter, I think that it is wise of you to obtain a teacher first. Concomitant to a teacher you must also have a keyboard of some sort, preferably an acoustic piano. If that isn't readily at hand you could go for a ditital. Assuming that you are a beginner, a keyboard will not do harm. My advice on getting an instrument is that I think you should try out the lessons first and practice on a cheap keyboard, to see if you have adequate time and or patience to continue lessons. If so, then moving up to a digital, or preferably, acoustic is crucial. Be more specific about your goals and or needs.

[nicco]

Hi

Reading the rules is a good place to start

When creating a new topic…

Use the search function before posting. Chances are your question has already been answered.

Always use informative titles (the “subject” field) when creating new threads. Titles like “Bach - Invention no 8: articulation?” are preferable rather than “I have a question” or “Please help!!!”.
If the topic of the thread is related to a piece, please use the following title format:
Composer - Piece: issue to discuss.

Don't use all caps or special characters to draw attention.

etc

Good luck 

[pianistimo]

this sounds like a conducting question.  i shall look into it further.

are you talking beethoven's 9th (first and last movement) esp. the 'seid winschlungen millionen'?

or do you mean that you want some advice from stokowski on 'maestoso?'  is this how conductors typically begin their learning of conducting (doing it slowly)?  makes sense to me.  i want to conduct, too.  i don't know why.  maybe just for a few minutes.  like the london symphony or something.

you can't go wrong with maestoso, can you?  i mean it's really hard to mess something up.  but the faster one goes - the more possibilities of messing up everything, right?

here's what stokowski says (btw, he hates being called sigismund).


rats!  this was a really great article by stokowski and i can't get it to come up.  ok.  i think i got it:

www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/4.1.01/stojowskievolution.html   also, this other one gives a list of his writings:  hmm. it won't come up.  just google stokowski and polish music journal.  or type the address in directly.

[debussy symbolism]

That's interesting. When I looked at the thread I didn't see any text from you, only a smily face. I thought that you just asked a question, "where to begin". That's it. There just was the smily face. Care to explain?




 

[maestoso]

debussy, when i originally wrote a message i wrote a long message  and then i put an icon after it but it deleted my original message.

[pianistimo]

yes.  i noticed that.  now my answer takes on a whole new connotation - although - beethoven's 9th CAN be repetitive.

the answer to your question is a definate yes.  you are a mature adult with dexterity, no less. why rehash the idea that you have fingers.  go on to some exercises that you find challenging - but keep the hanon book for scale fingerings and chords,e tc.  it's a helpful book and a sort of 'bible' to refer to when you can't remember the fingerings of an ascending and descending melodic scale.  or, you can just x them all out.

[maestoso]

thanks pianistimo, that was what i needed to hear. i appreciate your input.

[leucippus]

I personally found the first few Hanon exercises to be very helpful when I was very first starting out.   Many people have scoffed at that but I don't really care because it worked wonders for me and the proof is in the pudding as they say.

I started them out very slowly, of course, with absolutely no rush to get up to speed.  My main concentration was on playing with an even cadence and precise synchronization between the hands.   The thing that I liked about it was that it was something that was so simple to play that I could easily play it right off the bat (albeit slowly), and it got all of my finger involved instantly.  Moreover I could easily tell if things were synchronized or not.   I found it extremely helpful to get my fingers accustomed to dancing smoothly on the keyboard. 

It seems absurd to me to suggest that Hanon could be harmful at that stage used in the way I used it.  I think where it might be harmful is when someone plays it constantly and pushes for ultimate speed.  I wasn't the lest bit concerned with reaching speed.  I was much more concerned with learning synchronization and smoothness.  And for that it helped tremendously.  I did eventually get up to speed smoothly, but that wasn't the point of the exercise in my mind.

I also used those same Hanon exercises later when I bought a metronome which seemed quite alien to me.  It was easy to play Hanon with the metronome and gave me a feel for playing with a metronome before I went on to try it with other studies.

I am a very passionate supporter of Hanon exercise if used properly.   I think they get a really bad rap because most people use them improperly.  In fact, most teachers don't even introduce Hanon until much later.  Personally I think that is a total waste.  Their real value if for the raw beginning IMHO.  Just don't become obsessed with them.  Use them to limber up your fingers and get a feel for cadence and synchronization and then move on to other lessons.

I would also strongly recommend the 12 Köhler studies as a good place to start.  They are easy to learn and play each hand separately in the beginning studies and help to meld the hands together in progressive steps.   It's a real shame that there are only 12 of them.

You can listen to midi files of them here to get a taste of what they are like:

Köhler Studies

[maestoso]

thanks for your input leucippus, i value all input from musicians. i checked out those studies and they seem pretty easy. my problem is strengthening my right hand. i play guitar so i use my left hand more than my right, but i also play classical guitar so i get some work with my right hand but it is a little easier to fret than to press piano keys.