Liszt technical exercises?

[mralkanesque]

I recently purchased Liszt technical exercises for the piano, and I was wondering if anybody else has ever used them. If so, can you share your experience? Did they work? Were they too difficult? Too long? what benefits did these exercises have on you. How did you go about practicing them?

[zippi]

Hey,
i used book 1 exercises to strengthen your fingers and i have to say that it really worked for me.
I played about 30-45 minutes a day (kind of a warmup) over some weeks. Afterwards i felt more comfortable with scales.

[dima_76557]

I recently purchased Liszt technical exercises for the piano, and I was wondering if anybody else has ever used them. If so, can you share your experience? Did they work? Were they too difficult? Too long? what benefits did these exercises have on you. How did you go about practicing them?

These are called "Technical Exercises", not "Mechanical Exercises". They are not meant to "strengthen" your fingers! They are supposed to help you
1) liberate yourself from physical and psychological limitations in the craft of piano playing, and
2) sightread virtually anything written for the instrument by giving you a perfect command over the keyboard, and
3) improvise in a Liszt fashion by using the formulas to embellish existing melodies.

I did all of them as follows:
1) eyes closed/blindfolded
2) on my dumb keyboard (no aural feedback)

It is important to note that each type of exercise prepares you for the next one, so skipping certain types of exercises you do not like is not recommended. The most essential exercise for "finger technique" is probably the two-finger preparation for scales in all keys in book II (# 41). If you do them as instructed in all keys, then your piano world will never be the same again.

EDIT: Do them slowly with an emphasis on quality touch and tone!

[eric0773]

Hello Dima. Could you please post a link to a YouTube video of the Liszt exercises you mention, if there are descent recording freely available on there? I searched but cannot find anything. Thanks.

[dima_76557]

Hello Dima. Could you please post a link to a YouTube video of the Liszt exercises you mention, if there are descent recording freely available on there? I searched but cannot find anything. Thanks.

I doubt anyone would want to record them actually. The Average Joe who doesn't know them and sees the notes will think it's just one of those "useless" Hanon books. See attachment for the contents.

[cocoazul]

my turn 
dima, could you please recommend a routine? (how many excercise or minutes per day; when moving to the next exercise; etc)

regards from argentina 
   

[dima_76557]

dima, could you please recommend a routine? (how many excercise or minutes per day; when moving to the next exercise; etc)

I'm afraid I cannot determine for anyone else what they should do and how they should do it. A general recommendation would be to try to find out with each exercise what Liszt wants you to learn/understand, and not go any further until you have really mastered it. You have to keep interest in what you are doing, so 5 minutes or 50; I cannot decide for you. Slowly and beautifully is the key. And don't do too much in the beginning, so that you do not get bored. Set yourself a goal each time and do not waste time on mechanical repetition.