Technical package

[imbetter]

I decided that to make it places as a pianist you're going to need a good technique. I was planning on everyday doing a "package" of technical exercises to improve my technique and I was wondering what peoples opinions on a good "package" are and what they do. This is what I was thinking:

scales (the entire cycle)
arpeggios (the entire cycle)
Chopin-Godowsky etude for the left hand (learn and work to speed to try and equalize my hands)
Dohnanyi finger strengthening exercises

what does everybody else do?

[jgallag]

Here's what I do:
Adele Marcus Stretch (1 key, change every four days) Eighth note = 50
Rach Stretch (3 keys, Day 1 C-Eb, Day 2 E-G, Day 3 Ab-B) Eighth note = 72
Dohnanyi Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 (Do 3 and 4 one day, 5 and 6 the next, change keys daily) Begin at eighth note = 60, increase one notch every six days
Hanon Five exercises (Out of the first 31) (Day 1 - 1-5, Day 2 6-10, etc. until day six which is 26-31) Begin at quarter note = 60 and increase every time through the cycle
Scales: Three keys a day, play at octave, third, sixth, and tenth, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor. Begin at quarter note = 80 and increase every time through. Include major triad arpeggios, minor triad arpeggios (Begin triad arpeggios at quarter note = 72), dominant 7th arpeggios, and fully diminished 7th arpeggios (Begin 7th arpeggios at quarter note = 50).

About now it takes me forty minutes to complete the routine. I'm at eighth note = 88 for the Dohnanyi, quarter note = 72 for the Hanon, quarter note = 104 for scales, 96 for triad arpeggios, and 69 for 7th arpeggios. This is the routine prescribed by my teacher, and while I may question it sometimes I follow it anyways (After all, she is my teacher). The purpose of the Marcus and Rach stretches is to open the palm of the hand. The purpose of the Dohnanyi is to ensure that finger movement originates at the hand knuckle and that no joints collapse. The purpose of the Hanon is to explore wrist movements (NOT lift the fingers high or any of the other BS found in the Schirmer edition). The purpose of the scales and arpeggios is to practice leading the entire mechanism with the arms and torso, NOT to develop finger independence/speed/whatever. All exercises must be mindful, and if a mistake is made the exercise must be repeated with conscious attention to what the mistake was and how to overcome it.

That's what I do.

[ramseytheii]

All the mechanical demands of the piano eventually boil down to, how are you going to touch the keys?

How are you going to touch them in scales - arpeggios - octaves - parallel chords - trills - etc?  How are you going to control the sound, and your approach to touching the key?  This guides the physical motion behind every kind of mechanical demand, from Bach Fugue in F# major to Chopin op.10 no.2 to Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto to Ligeti Fanfares to whatever.

The primary technical regime at the piano should simply involve refining and improving our method of touch.  You cannot play beautifully without a certain coordination between the small and large muscles and levers, therefore everything should come from a beautiful sound.

The best way to improve your touch is to play counterpoint.  And by the way, every piano piece that is not a single line has counterpoint, even a simple Schubert waltz.  Practice to make every voice exactly individual in sound and touch; to make every chord perfectly balanced; to have the clearest possible voice-leading; to combine the most variety of touches in one texture.  I guarantee you this is the true way to a true technique.

Walter Ramsey

[m]

All the mechanical demands of the piano eventually boil down to, how are you going to touch the keys?

How are you going to touch them in scales - arpeggios - octaves - parallel chords - trills - etc?  How are you going to control the sound, and your approach to touching the key?  This guides the physical motion behind every kind of mechanical demand, from Bach Fugue in F# major to Chopin op.10 no.2 to Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto to Ligeti Fanfares to whatever.

The primary technical regime at the piano should simply involve refining and improving our method of touch.  You cannot play beautifully without a certain coordination between the small and large muscles and levers, therefore everything should come from a beautiful sound.

Nice! Something what confirmes both Chopin and Liszt passage about technique as an "Art of Sound". Indeed, the sound is nothing else, but touch, regardless whether it is Bach or Ligetti.

My usual technical rutine is about an hour and half a day of Chopin selected etudes (3-4 a day, invariably getting back to the Op.10/2), then Feux Follets, followed by Mendelssohn-Rachmaninov Scherzo, and (maybe) a few passages from Rachmaninov Concerto No.3.

As always, the main object is attention to how the brain "tracks" the fingers "sinking" in slow tempo into the keyboard and then immediately "release", along with the attention to sensitivity of each finger, i.e. how fingers embrace and penetrate straight into the keys, and how the final result correlates with the "sound image".

Best, M

[michel dvorsky]

My usual technical rutine is about an hour and half a day of Chopin selected etudes (3-4 a day, invariably getting back to the Op.10/2), then Feux Follets, followed by Mendelssohn-Rachmaninov Scherzo, and (maybe) a few passages from Rachmaninov Concerto No.3.

Have you recorded any of these pieces, Marik?  If so, would you be willing to share them with us?  (I'm sure others salivated when they read that post  ).

[kay3087]

One hour of WTC pieces.

I've found that the ninth prelude from the second book is an excellent "warm-up".