Rapidly improving technique and dexterity

[irespire]

Hello everyone,

I'm an amateur piano teacher, in that I took lessons for quite awhile and am not a professional, but am skilled enough to teach beginner/low intermediate, so that's why I do as my college job.

Anyway, I've recently realized that for my skill level, my dexterity and speed are pretty poor. This is probably because I didn't like to practice when I was younger, but also because my teacher gave me a lot of easy pieces and didn't drill me much. I'm doing quite a bit of hanon now, as well as some arpeggios and scales, but are there any other ways to improve? I'm thinking it shouldn't be THAT that long because it seems that I would have a head start over people who have played for three years or so.

[pianisten1989]

Uuuh! Hanon makes me puke. They didnät help me at all, and I really can't understand how they can help anyone.

I play Czerny 40 daily exercises and Brahms 51 exercises.
Any Czerny is quite good, but I would go for the 40 daily (op 337) Art of Finger Dexterity and School of velocity. If you play some of them, you will probably earn some good technique.

[irespire]

I did czerny when I was younger (forgot), but it was the etudes I think. Is this much harder? Hanon is really boring though. I will look into it.

[ramseytheii]

I would say that the answer is to challenge yourself.  I would open the books of Chopin Etudes, not necessarily with the goal of learning them for a performance, but understanding the issues.  Find a solution to the issues he presents; play pieces that require very specific techniques, in all periods. 

For instance, pick some Scarlatti sonatas and challenge yourself to achieve evenness of execution; find a Mozart sonata to work on your cantabile touch; play Beethoven for a totally different view of scales and arpeggios; open the books of Chopin etudes to see the sheer variety of technical possibilities; play Schumann to experience difficulties which don't necessarily have answers that come from Chopin etudes; play Liszt to enlarge your toolchest of sonority; and so on.

Based on how you describe your current position, I would advise you to jump in to music which is challenging for you, and use problem-solving intelligence to find solutions to things which you can positively identify as your weaknesses.  Just the challenge will raise you up several levels.  As you gain more specific knowledge, you can attempt more specific challenges.  Start general, then zoom in.

Dexterity is also not just an issue of playing a lot of notes in a short amount of time; it is an issue of controlling diverse sonority (to make specific shapes or articulations in a scale), and of expressing rhythm poetically. 

My personal belief is that scales and arpeggios are reinforcers.  What you attempt to do in actual music, can be replicated in scales and arpeggios and other exercises.  I personally believe that your attempts should start in music, and go to scales later.  Some people have different ideas, so whatever suits you best.  But I think I'm right !

Walter Ramsey

[db05]

Anyway, I've recently realized that for my skill level, my dexterity and speed are pretty poor.

I don't quite understand this, since dexterity + speed are also part of the skills needed to learn pieces. I think you need to clarify/ rephrase the question and maybe look at it differently.

This is probably because I didn't like to practice when I was younger, but also because my teacher gave me a lot of easy pieces and didn't drill me much. I'm doing quite a bit of hanon now, as well as some arpeggios and scales, but are there any other ways to improve?

Most probably because you didn't like to practice. It is your teacher's job to teach, but most of the practice and drilling will have to come from you. And you have to find ways to like it, otherwise it's not music, but drudgery. So I want you to be clear about this, why you want to improve, and what exactly to improve on.

[xxmynameisjohnxx]

What do you guys think of czerny exercises?

[irespire]

I don't quite understand this, since dexterity + speed are also part of the skills needed to learn pieces. I think you need to clarify/ rephrase the question and maybe look at it differently.

By 'skill', I meant more of the 'mental' component, I.E. the speed at which I comprehend the music. It seems like this doesn't compute with my hands as I frequently miss notes and chords in easy passages of pieces I know. My concentration is abysmal too.

Most probably because you didn't like to practice. It is your teacher's job to teach, but most of the practice and drilling will have to come from you. And you have to find ways to like it, otherwise it's not music, but drudgery.

Well that's true, but I also think my teacher didn't challenge me much. I started playing chopin schzero 2 and arietta by beethoven when I quit 3 1/2 years ago, but I recall that being a BIG jump so I never got far. Now, I can play about 37 pages at half speed of the scherzo but my fingers are much too slow to go full blast and I make stupid mistakes and slip a lot on stuff I already know. It's really frustrating.

 

So I want you to be clear about this, why you want to improve, and what exactly to improve on.

Well I mostly want to improve for enjoyment and to be able to play inspiring pieces, but also to be more qualified to teach better kids.

[gyzzzmo]

Question to you in general.... If you dont understand the ways of improving yourself musically and technically, why are you giving lessons then? It is pretty basic stuff you are asking...

Anyway, read Ramseytheii's post, that is the way to do it. If you need some help on how to aproach the Chopin etudes, go have a look at this general guide: https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,28636.0.html

good luck,

gyzzzmo

[irespire]

Well I do understand the ways of improving, but I'm looking for more (especially to rapidly improve, because I haven't taken lessons in forever), and I usually just teach absolute beginners who are kids.

[cmg]

Well, the best teachers are the best students, and you sound quite qualified.  I mean, you still see the need to learn more and you question what you are doing.

As to "improvement," the old paradox remains true:  slow practice is the foundation for virtuosity.  Practice even more slowly than you think you are practicing now.  If your concentration has gaps, then you need to fix this with excruciatingly slow practicing, memorizing as you go.

Slow practicing, believe it or not, will yield faster playing.  If it doesn't, then your technical approach to the keyboard is deficient.  Some technical problems in very fast passages require an early stab at velocity (once the notes are in your hands) to make sure you're not throwing in inefficient positions and fingerings that would thwart the development of speed.  Once you nail this, go back to very slow practicing.  Chang writes about these issues in his book and you can use the Search function for discussions of his ideas on this forum. 

In lieu of all of his, I'd hire a good teacher to see what's amiss.  You might be riddled with tension without even knowing it.   

[irespire]

Well as for tension, I am a pretty frustrated and restless person in general, so it does make it really difficult to practice....

Maybe I should take a break until I get rid of this awful cough, too....

[lost_child]

Just playing scale in fast tempo is enough.. Don't forget to relax your hands.. XD For the exercise.. Czerny School of Velocity and The Art of Finger Dexterity are the best etude for speed and dexterity.. XD

[xpjamiexd]

My teacher recommended Hannon The Virtuouso Pianist but I prefer Czerny.

[scottmcc]

My teacher recommended Hannon The Virtuouso Pianist but I prefer Czerny.

Hanon has its place, as does Czerny, but if you really want a challenge exercise-wise, go for this one:  https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/pages.html?cart=34363305423715982&target=smp_detail.html%26sku%3DAP.630&s=pages-http%253A//www.google.com/search%253Fhl%253Den%2526q%253Dliszt%252Btechnical%252Bexercises%2526aq%253D1%2526oq%253Dliszt%252Btech&e=/sheetmusic/detail/AP.630.html&t=&k=&r=wwws-err5

 

[ryanyee]

maybe we'll be needing another albert guererro or whatever glenn gould's teacher's name was.