Appreciate any input on exercises

[flyinfingers]

Just wondering how much time you devote to exercising during your practice session and what your teacher has you doing for exercises.  Thanks

[49410enrique]

right now i'm focused on wrapping up a concerto so all the fast sections where I don't have the melody are my main technique and exercise work.   My instructor doesn't tell me how long to practice, generally as with my previous professor the minimum expected is however long it takes to accomplish the goals for that session and to ensure completion of the week's goal/assignment at least two days before the next lesson. Right now that ends up being about 2-4 hours of practice per day, sometimes (not often but sometimes) i go 5-6 hours and if I am under two hours for a day and didn't complete what I needed to, the next day ends up being longer by however much I'm behind.

[flyinfingers]

I guess that makes perfect sense.  You practice a lot!  Congrats!

[starstruck5]

I think it is fun to make up your own exercises.  We spend a lot of time as students reading from a holy grail -otherwise known as a score - so it is very freeing to invent your own little studies. I always begin a session playing in unison, stuff I made up myself - just to let both hands know they will be called upon!  At the moment I have a piano which is falling apart and so I need to replace it -it is not worth tuning and certainly not worth recording - When I get my new piano I may well be the first piano street member to post exercises - lol  I probaby won't though.  It's just we know our scales and broken chords and arpeggios -even in octaves - so it is fun to put them together in different combinations and make music instead of playing drills.

[pianoplayjl]

I spend 10-15 minutes on scales and Hanon.

[quantum]

My practicing is generally 50% repertoire and 50% improvisation. 

Within the repertoire category, I would only do exercises when they are necessitated by the music.  I like to make exercises out of the actual music I am playing.  For example, if I am having difficulty with a particular section of music I would isolate it and make up some sort of exercise that compliments that music.  The exercise will only be practiced as much as necessary to solve the problem. 

For improvisation, I may choose to focus on compositional techniques, the exploration of the musical possibilities of a certain keyboard technique or anything else that is specific to what I am working on at the time.  Improvisation is also a great way to apply an exercise in a musical context.  For example, if I was working on trills with fingers 3-4, I would improvise a piece that revolved around trilling with 3-4.  Not only just focusing on the mechanics of the trill, but also working out a how to successfully develop a piece using such device.  In a similar light, I also like taking a challenging section of repertoire, and improvising a piece that focuses on that technique. 

Time wise, I like to limit the amount of exercise time to the absolute minimum necessary to complete the task.  Less time exercising means more time for real music. 

[pianoplayjl]

That's a good idea. I might try that.