How do you mean observe tension?
Ive tried them, but i dont think they're really usefull, except for the scales.Most excersises are terribly repeatetive and boring, and because of that you tend to play them like automated wich isnt good. So you'll need alot of self-discipline to make Hanon worth the effort.
You definitely need a good amount of self-discipline to become a good pianist anyway. And anything can be played with musical expression, even garbage.
I can't imagine doing all 60 exercises in one day or all of them in an hour. Does anybody know if Hanon was a phenomenal pianist? I don't I recall reading about him in Shoenberg's "Greatest Pianists" book.
The main disadvantage of Czerny is that most of the exercises are only for the right hand.
Really? He did write exercises which where solely for LH one eg: 24 Studies for the LH Op. 718
Hanon is very good so long you understand what each exercise tries to improve. To tell you the truth I only use a very few of them and alter them myself to exercise different fingering weaknesses in my beginner/intermediate students.
Following this conversation, I like to know is there an exercise for duplets againts triplets? Thanks
Try Brahms 51 exercises, if you dare so
It depends on what you're using exercises for. I use Hanon to warm up at the beginning of the day, then I do a Slonimsky scale, then I go on to my pieces.
One of the scales from Nicholas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Musical Patterns. He's got over 1300 of them, every imaginable pattern of notes you could play. I use them as an alternative to major and minor scales, both to keep myself from getting bored and to challenge my fingers (and brain) with new combinations.Actually they're not all scales, some of them are more like arpeggios or something in between.An example would be one I did the other day: the ascending pattern is C D Eb F# G# AThis one is obtained by dividing the scale in two sections (that gives you your C and F#), then interpolating two notes in each section. I do this one with both hands, up and down 4 octaves.Another type I like is the "bitonal arpeggios", such as the one combining C major and Eb major:C E G Bb Eb G then going down you doC G E Eb Bb GThat one will really keep you on your toes.The only drawback to the book is that he doesn't include fingering. But I usually like to work out my own anyway.
One of the scales from Nicholas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Musical Patterns. He's got over 1300 of them, every imaginable pattern of notes you could play. I use them as an alternative to major and minor scales, both to keep myself from getting bored and to challenge my fingers (and brain) with new combinations.Actually they're not all scales, some of them are more like arpeggios or something in between.An example would be one I did the other day: the ascending pattern is C D Eb F# G# A