Playing nothing but exercises and scales

[xiaoken]

I find that my fundemental techniques are really bad. So I came up with an idea; to play nothing but exercises and scales for a period of time, say a week or so.

Is that a good or bad idea?

[ted]

I would be against doing nothing but technical practice. If you feel you really need more of these things just incorporate more of them into your playing time. Presumably we all sit down at the piano to make music ? I know I do. Technique is just a means to that end, not an end in itself.

[bernhard]

I find that my fundemental techniques are really bad. So I came up with an idea; to play nothing but exercises and scales for a period of time, say a week or so.

Is that a good or bad idea?

Ted is right.

It is a very bad idea.

First of all it is doubtful that “fundamental” techniques exist. Technique is ultimately specific to the piece you are learning. As you learn a piece you will find impossible spots. These are the spots for which you do not have the technique. You will acquire it by working on these spots and by working on specific studies/exercises that address that particular difficulty. So unless you can specify which part of a piece is causing you trouble, you (or your teacher) will not be able to select an appropriate etude/way of practising the piece that will assist you in conquering the technical difficulty.

Most etudes like Czerny, Cramer, Beyer, etc. target pieces of their period or before (e.g. Czerny targets Beethoven sonatas), and they will not assist you in developing technical facility for pieces composed afterwards.

Second, scales are pretty useless as technical exercises. For a start they use mostly fingers 1- 2 – 3, rarely 4, and most scales never use finger 5. Scales are important for two reasons: They teach you a way of fingering passages, and far more important they make you familiar with the concept of key (and with the geography of the keyboard). However to get familiar with the concept of key you need to know scales, not necessarily play them (that is, you need to know which notes make up which scales).

Finally, a week is too short a time for you to see any lasting results. It is like saying “I’m really unfit, I think I am going to run 5 miles everyday for one week.”

I suggest you decide on a couple of pieces you want to be able to play (within your level of playing) and start from there. Hopefully you have a teacher who will help and guide you.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Clare]

I agree with Ted and Bernhard too. You gotta be paying attention to technique all the time, not just for a week.
However, I have found some use in technical exercises. The ones I do, though, are in a special book where you do an exercise and then you have a piece to play afterwards that specifically applies to the exercises you've just done. I find that doing the exercises beforehand makes learning pieces easier. The pieces in the book are things like Chopin studies and things like that, so you end up learning technique for very hard pieces which you could possibly apply to other pieces.
So I think there are useful technical exercises out there, in my humble opinion.

[xiaoken]

I see. Thanks for all the advice.

[liszmaninopin]

It's hard to contribute much to the good advice above, but I have a small suggestion.  Instead of doing purely technical exercises, one could work on etudes.  Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Czerny, Debussy, and Brahms all wrote etudes that both develop technique and musicality.  That way, instead of putting effort into a technical exercise that you will never perform, you can work on a piece that will both teach you, and that you can enjoy performing for an audience.  Many etudes are wonderful pieces of music.

[bitus]

Xiaoken, i know what you mean when you say your fundamental technique is really bad I had the same problem... Did you ever think your problem does not lie in your fingers, but in your arm? Try asking your teacher about ballance, or try playing by yourself a scale very slowly (1 beat/s) and observe the ballance. Ask your teacher about the hand position, and make sure all the physicall aspects are in perfect shape and understanding. It took me about 1 month to get to the point where i think my playing in a different way, but i worked hard and asked a looot of questions Ultimately the answer comes from your own practice and observation.
The Bitus.

[minsmusic]

Is that a good or bad idea?

It's an idea! Good on you for wanting to improve.  What you'll probably find though, is that doing scales and exercises for a week may get a tad boring and in the end may not improve your technique.  

Like the others have said, incorporate scales and exercises in your normal practise routine - they're a good way to warm up.

Watch your posture, are you far enough away from the piano?  Is your elbow roughly the same level as your wrist, fingers adaquately curved, top of hand flat.  Are you relaxed?  Lots of physical things to consider.

Practise scales arpeggios both legato, and stacatto, loud and soft.  Doing something the same way offers little benefit.

THen grab a piece of music and "apply" what you've been practising.  

You don't have to dismiss your idea, just modify it.  

[Beet9]

This is not a bad idea.  This whole past summer I spent about 90% of my time on technique, and you would not believe how much I improved!  Technique gives you such good coordination and control.  It even helped my tone.  Just make sure that at the end of the week you don't stop doing technique forever.  I would say spend 25% of your practice time on technique after that.

[xiaoken]

Now that you guys point out, I realise I do commit alot of physical errors eg. sitting posture, finger curving. I used to have a stiff shoulder but I gradually worked my way out of it in the past year.

Sadly, I do not have a teacher (yet) due to circumstances beyond my control, but I do plan on getting one when the situation permits. Hopefully, I will not have picked up too many bad habits by then.

[cellodude]

I agree with Ted and Bernhard too.
...

The ones I do, though, are in a special book where you do an exercise and then you have a piece to play afterwards that specifically applies to the exercises you've just done.
...

Clare,

Could you please give us the name of the special book you are talking about. Is it a book that we can get from a music store?

Thanks,

dennis lee