How to improve my technique?

[swiss_m]

Which technical studies or etudes do you recommend if i want to improve my piano technique:
- Czerny: School of Velocity
- Clementi: Gradus ad Parnassum
- Cramer-Buelow: Etudes
- Brahms: 51 Exercices
- Chopin: Etudes
- Liszt: Concert Etudes
- Busoni: Exercises and Studies for the Piano
- any better idea?

Ive played the piano for about 12 years and didnt have much time to practise the last 3 years. Now i want to become better; I want to be able to play more difficult pieces.
Do I really need exercises at all? Or just repertoire?

Thanks for help

[asyncopated]

Above all that, get a good teacher.

[nightingale11]

do repertoire and you get both good technique and pieces.

[rc]

You have many choices.  There are those studies (and many more), there are some beautiful etudes, there is standard repertoire, there are scales/chords/arpeggios, or even improvisation.

Some perspectives...

- Play only what you like.  Because life is too short to learn disposable pieces, and the more you genuinely enjoy what you're learning the quicker and more thoroughly you will learn it.

- Why make the composer suffer?  If I'm going to be learning a difficult new technique, I'd rather make my mistakes in a study not meant for performance.

- Scales, arpeggios, and chords are the building block of music.  Master them for a strong foundation.

My teacher made a good point - Whatever particular path you choose doesn't matter so much as the effort you put into it.  A note it a note, so get to work.

I believe you should let your destination guide you.  So your destination is to play more difficult repertoire, begin with that.  Flip through some of the difficult repertoire you want to be able to play, and find out what kind of techniques you will need to develop to play it, then decide how you want to go about acquiring these skills.

Recently my favorite method of learning is through improvisation.  I'll run into a particular pattern in the repertoire, get it into my head and play around with it a bit improvisationally.  Or incorporate scale/chord/arpeggio patterns into improvisation.  It basically makes learning the skill fun, and so I wind up spending a long time drilling the technique without really being aware of any effort.  Fun is a useful practice tool.

Here's something I found scouring around a little while ago, worth considering: https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,1759.msg13695.html#msg13695

[pianowelsh]

Chopin etudes will break any technical ceiling you may be experiencing if they dont break you first! I tend to use potted technical excersises to meet the need. If im going to play a lot of octaves and I havent done them in a piece for a while I will dig out some Kullk octave school. Doubled notes I go for Beringer same with five finger work if I want to wake my fingers up for some Haydn or Mozart.  I would select maybe 5 excersises in each core area of technique No more - beyond that you waste time - you may as well be onto etudes or repertoire. This means maybe 15 mins of excersises a couple of etudes and then some repertoire - i have found to be a good balance when teaching more advanced students.