Good pieces for building solid technique

[gupiano]

Hello,
in my own little experience, I found that playing pieces is much better than playing Hannon or Czerny besides being more fun.

It is good to build technique from pieces but I find it is really hard choosing the pieces.

What are good pieces for building solid technique? What pieces are good for scale runs, what about arpeggios or octaves?  Should it be based on the grading system? As you play like 10 pieces of each grade should you move on to the next grade? Do you teachers have a list of pieces for your students to follow, like a music program? Any tips?
Thanks.

[jlskiles]

Octaves- Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 10
Arpeggios- Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 1 or Op. 25 No. 12
Both- Saint Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 22 first movement

Scales- beginning of Liszt's fourth transcendental etude or the end of Chopin's first ballade

The chopin Ballades have a huge range of techniques in them. learning just one of them will help you a lot. but dont sacrifice musicality there.. especially with ballades.

[cabbynum]

Rach G minor prelude, anything by czerny. Liszt op.1, Brahms 4th ballade scherzo. Any of the Chopin scherzi, hmmmm really anything can teach you a lot. Just play what you love and love what you play!

[j_menz]

in my own little experience,

I have been studying the piano for four years

Methinks the suggestions so far are perhaps a little way off for the OP.

My suggestions - Bach Inventions, Clementi Sonatinas, Khulau Sonatinas and Mozart Sonatas.

[outin]

My suggestions - Bach Inventions, Clementi Sonatinas, Khulau Sonatinas and Mozart Sonatas.

It seems you accidently left out a large proportion of the 550 Scarlatti Sonatas

[j_menz]

It seems you accidently left out a large proportion of the 550 Scarlatti Sonatas

No, I purposefully left out a minority of them. An oversight, which I now seek to emend.

[pts1]

Everyone always seems to want to play the big romantic pieces first.

Don't know what level you are, but I would say if you can learn to play the Bach inventions evenly, cleanly and WITHOUT pedal, and make them musical, then you have attained a lot.

From there I would say learn some of the Preludes and Fugues.... again, evenly, cleanly, musically and without pedal.

If you can do this, then I'd say you have the pianistic control and understanding to tackle anything.
(note: this will be no easy task and can take a number of years)

You can spend your entire life on Bach if you so choose, and I play it every day as a warm up and try different things with it.

Both Chopin and Liszt practiced Bach a great deal, and they considered Bach the "master of masters".

Also it is a lot of fun, challenge and pure, unadulterated music making and a great confidence builder.

[muntjack]

Some easier pieces that feature specific techniques

Clair de Lune - LH arpeggios

Montagues and Capulets (prokofiev) - Octaves/LH octave jumps

Rondo Alla Turca - RH octaves

I do use the post-coda scales (and octaves!) in the 1st Ballade as practice, even if I'm not up for the entire Ballade yet.  I figure when I am, I'll already be able to nail those scales! 

[bernadette60614]

I'm working on technique as well, and for me:

Mozart Sonatas, for clarity and articulation

Bach Two Part Inventions

Chopin Preludes

I have big hands, can play at great velocity and I can hammer those keys till they plead for mercy, but playing a Mozart sonata with clarity and articulation is a big challenge.

[stringoverstrung]

For scales and arpeggio's Scarlatti sonata's is the way to go:

- you will hear every minor flaw,
- many of them sound good at different tempo's so you can use them at many levels of proficiency as a study object,
- it develops your ear and musicality,
- they are extremely good for soft practice (playing pianissimo is one of the harder things on a piano to do (try to play a chord with two hands very very softly and still all notes together),
- endless choice,
- your teacher might learn something too (repertoire),
- many recordings available on the internet,
- if you can play even scales in Scarlatti scales in romantic music will be piece of cake.

[1piano4joe]

Hi gupiano,

I recommend "Scales and Chords are Fun" by David Hirschberg. It has the scale runs that your looking for. The runs in the pieces go up, down and start from different points in the scale.

They are musical and are in 12 major and 12 minor keys. There are 24 pieces for scales and another 24 pieces that include both chords and arpeggios.

These should be accessible to you. How fast you learn them will depend on your current level and high high a standard you are going for.

Also, you could use these as a primer for pieces in keys that you have less experience with.

They are, in a sense, a book of 24 preludes.

In progressive order:

1. Play with ease in many keys by Edna Mae Burnam. (VERY, VERY EASY)
2. Scales and chords are fun by David Hirschberg (easy to start but get harder at speed)
3. Lyric preludes in a romantic style by William L. Gillock (a bit more difficult)

I read in another post of yours that you preferred a GRADUAL increase in difficulty of the pieces. This progression would fit that scheme. This is just one of many other possible gradual progressions. These gradual progressions aimed toward building a solid technique typically involve studying pieces that are short and not always ones that one would want to play for pleasure but tend to get the job done. They are however, vastly superior to Hanon as well as an alternative and/or adjunct to a Czerny progression.

I have been playing for over 10 years and I don't play Chopin etudes, Liszt or Rachmaninoff. I am still developing my technique. I think that is something we either always will be doing or at the very least maintaining. At least in seems that way to me.

I hope I have been helpful, Joe.

[rexnova]

RH: Chopin Etudes (Op.10 No.1, Op.10 No.2), La Campanella?
LH: Many good ones. Scriabin Op.8 No.12 for example. Chopin Op.10 No.9/12
Jumps/Octaves/Endurance: Mazeppa

After practicing Chopin etudes, I found my technique suddenly improve a great deal. Op.10 No.1 makes sure you're hand is appropriately placed on the keyboard and remains flexible and loose. Op.10 No.2 trains RH weak fingers which is what most people encounter as "difficult" sections of a piece: like in the Chopin scherzo and ballade codas, where people spend a great deal of time trying to practice one or two measures that are kinda "above" their current technique ability, mostly its because of the weak fingers problem.
Mazeppa isn't as hard as people make it, it's actually quite easy in my opinion (compared to the hard Chopin etudes). Jumps are easier for me to do than weak fingers/awkward arpeggios but idk if thats just me. Octaves, sure, are hard, but mostly its about not straining the hand, which things like Op.10 No.1 and Op.25 No.11 (winter wind is really more of an endurance piece than a technically problematic piece) prepare you for. Of course if you're still having difficulty with big octaves Op.25 No.10 is great.
La Campanella has lots of jumps and weak finger practice potential.
I only mention these etudes because they are not only good pieces for building solid technique, but also fun to practice. In my opinion, you want to have fun at the same time as building solid technique, otherwise it's much easier to give up or get bored and start practicing some fun stuff (RACH 2/3 baby! or whatever it is that makes you feel good)

[jlskiles]

Ive also found that Bach fugues are the most challenging for technique

[jabronicoolword]

Hey OP, new poster here.

Not to divert from your question, but have you played the Hanons in different tonalities and rhythmic patterns? It's something I started doing recently and it's so useful for learning different hand positions and finger strength, which translates to better finger accuracy and dexterity, as well as letting me make more choices when I'm trying to voice things.

No idea how you play, but here's how I'd do it if I didn't have any set repertoire: assuming we have a decent ability to learn notes, start with one Mozart sonata and a shortish Chopin or Liszt. With Mozart, develop finger dexterity and a more detached, rhythmic "attack" touch. With Chopin/Liszt, focus on building tone, a slurry legato touch, voicing things EXACTLY as you want to, and making sure that every note sounds free and not choked or pushed. For both, focus on making sure you really sing.

On top of that, add etudes and shorter pieces as needed to work out subtleties.

My 2 cents. Good luck!

[faulty_damper]

Technique (i.e. movement) is not something that can be learned simply by playing pieces. It's how you play that determines if you learn the best movement combinations.  For this very reason, you can learn exceptionally good movement combinations by playing Hanon or Czerny exercises, or any other pieces for that matter.  Being able to get through a piece is not the same as making music, even if it is a Rachmaninoff Prelude or a Beethoven Sonata.

[lalo57]

Everyone has given you great advice, nevertheless I'll suggest some not-that-difficult pieces (someone even suggested La Campanella o.O) but that can be really fun to play since we don't know your level. For Octaves, the most important thing, I think, is the position of your wrist and how relaxed your hand is. The Entertainer has fun octaves (or sixths? I don't actually remember), Chopin op 28 no. 12 is also fine, and maybe Rachmaninoff 1st prelude c# minor (that's a challenging one, but again, we don't know your level). Bach is awesome for technique too... Like awesome, and Moszkowski études will also give you really fine skills. For arpeggios, Kabalewski's 5th study should be fine. Pretty much anything, if played well, will improve your playing. Chopin has some beautiful stuff. His nocturnes are beautiful. I would suggest op 55 no. 1. That will give you balance, arpeggios, light touch, speed and a fine use of the pedal.