Scales and Exercises

[amee]

I was wondering - when you sit down to practice at the piano, how many of you do warm up scales or exercises?  I usually just plunge straight into playing.  I know scales increase your technique and dexterity but I don't practice them at all unless I have to (like for an exam or something).  What do you guys do?

[frederic]

tut,tut,tut...amee, amee, amee.... just joking!
I think you should practice technique daily.
For 30 minutes at least.
scales are also good to warm up.
Even though i hate practicing technique i still make myself do it.
try practice scales in different ways:
Slow and loud
Different rhythm
staccato
staccato in left and legato in right or vice versa
cross your hands over (so you can clearly hear your left hand)

i also practice dohnanyi exercise which are quite difficult but i find really useful.
But i don't pracitice hanon because its too boring and is not too good, i think.
Or maybe, czerny is good.
Studies by chopin are good too.

[rachfan]

Scales are indispensible, as they are often found within compositions.  So it pays to already know the proper fingerings and to be able to execute them flawlessly.  My own preference is not to use them as a technical warm up.  Rather, I get right into the practice session and gain technical proficiency in a particular piece by intensively practicing the "rough spots" caused by the special challenges created by the composer.  At the end of practicing pieces, only then do I then turn to all the scales, using them not as a warm-up at that point obviously, but more as a way to reinforce and strenghen technique.

[ted]

I don't warm up at all these days. I am primarily an improviser and a creator rather than a performer so my needs are somewhat different. I do play scales but rarely in the usual patterns and rhythms and certainly never in the same way from one day to the next. I like to bring my brain and emotions up to speed as well as my fingers. Just going up and down the keyboard in the same old way day in and day out doesn't do enough for me mentally.

Recently I've been  starting off  with a few Chopin studies - they're as good a general warm up as anything, and certainly sound nicer than exercises.

[frederic]

I generally look at scales as warm ups.
Not anything like what Rachmaninoff was thinking. Gee, did he really needed all that time spent on scales and hanon?
Well, yes, and also you can get much better techincal work from your pieces than possibly from practicing scales.

[AvivS]

I will try and write what I think and do, and perhaps this applies for you as well.

I aspire to be a pianist, and therefor demand of myself, with the "goal" being music, to have a near perfect technique.  Of course, playing silly exercises is extremely dull, and I don't plan to be suffering in this manner my entire life. I think you must enjoy the exercises.

My order of practice is as such:

* Warming up with harmonies - helps your fingers remmember them, and warms and stretches all the fingers.
* Playing a slow adagio to feel the piano and get a sound.
* Exercises, I play Hanon, the entire book, at least once a day, meaning - at least an hour of exercises. With a few pauses. Every few exercise I pause to play some exercises of my own, on whatever technichal issue that bothers me... And of course - not to get bored.
*  Pieces.

If you do not enjoy exercises, find others that you do, since exercises are a must, scales as well. You MUST enjoy them, this is not a innate ability, yet is something acquirable.

[PoSeiDoN]

I would like to speak in defense of Hanon.  I warm up with Hanon for 30-40 minutes every day.  Since I was introduced to Hanon six years ago, it has helped my technique improve by leaps and bounds.  I do believe it ineffective ONLY if one does not do it consistently.  If Hanon becomes a part of one's everyday practice, though, the change is indeed noticeable and beneficial.

[AvivS]

Aside from what I had written, I would like to note there are many exercises, and I find it fun, and improving to try all of them every once in a while. Sometimes I take the Cortot book and play some exercises, sometimes Brhams, Cherni, but the most time efficient is the Hanon, and I play it every day regularly.

[Cecin_Koot]

i usually just go into playing my pieces, even though i should do scales.   

[BoliverAllmon]

I would like to speak in defense of Hanon.  I warm up with Hanon for 30-40 minutes every day.  Since I was introduced to Hanon six years ago, it has helped my technique improve by leaps and bounds.  I do believe it ineffective ONLY if one does not do it consistently.  If Hanon becomes a part of one's everyday practice, though, the change is indeed noticeable and beneficial.

I myself am seeing benefits after only a week. I can't imagine the effect over long periods of time.

boliver

[mound]

I used to do scales and arpeggios for 10-15 minutes..  Now I work the scales of the piece I am currently working on, so the scales happen throughout the practice. So how do I warm up? I walk away from the piano and stretch my back, my arms, my legs and neck for 5-10 minutes.. gets the blood flowing, dive right into practice.

-Paul

[BoliverAllmon]

I heard that warming up depends on how old you are also. The older you are, the longer it will take to warm up. Therefore as we get older we need to elongate our warm-up sessions.

boliver

[mound]

don't remind me! I just got my first pair of eyeglasses yesterday.. 

[Motrax]

I play between 10 and 30 minutes of Dohnanyi for a warmup everyday, and play scales a few times a week. Dohnanyi, in my experience, is much, much better than Hanon. I've played Hanon's excercises since I started 13 years ago. Perhaps they helped me more as a beginner, but I've found that they do little to improve my fingerwork now. On the other hand Dohnanyi, though it doesn't sound pleasant, increases your finger independance by leaps and bounds. I started Dohnanyi excercises about two months ago, and I've improved tremendously as a result. My playing is much more clean and controlled, and I feel more confident at the piano in general. I also have many less "off days" where my fingers refuse to function.

I would say that Scales (and arpeggios and chords, etc), and Dohnanyi are all you need to acquire a strong command of the piano.

[johnnypiano]

Hi, Amee

Like you I sit down and plunge straight into practising.  Scales and exercises can be a very small part of it, but it is the brain that has to be warmed up.  I usually play through something that requires immense concentration, something requiring balance of sound and accurate control of rhythm.  My favourite 'warm-up' piece at the moment is the second movement of Mozart's A major Piano Concerto, K488.  I play the orchestral part at the same time.

Any more ideas?

John

[chopinsetude]

I was wondering - when you sit down to practice at the piano, how many of you do warm up scales or exercises?  I usually just plunge straight into playing.  I know scales increase your technique and dexterity but I don't practice them at all unless I have to (like for an exam or something).  What do you guys do?

Scales always, then Czerny (or hanon) or similar - I like Czerny best.  Then after 30 mins on to my current piece(s).

[musicismylife]

I do scales when I feel like it. Usually I do, they're kinda fun, but sometimes not!

[ted]

I heard that warming up depends on how old you are also. The older you are, the longer it will take to warm up. Therefore as we get older we need to elongate our warm-up sessions.


Boliver:

For what use the information is, at fifty-seven I am definitely a counter-example to this rule. I do not need to warm up at all now but when I was young I used to have to warm up for half an hour or more. The same is true of the mental aspect during improvisation. I used to find it necessary to fiddle around for ages before a decent idea came but now ideas begin flowing as soon as I touch the keyboard.

Are there some other older people on the forum who can tell us how they stand on this one ? It is a very interesting question.

I have never played many standard forms such as scales on the piano as a daily regimen. However, ever since I was twenty I have regularly used my practice clavier with exercises of my own invention. If I play scales on the clavier I don't play them in the usual way and certainly not in the same way every day.

[kekk]

i'm surprised how much time people invest in excersies to "work" on their technique.

[zemos]

except scales, which are important, are Czerny's etudes good for technique?

[Tash]

i can't stand notwarming up with scales and hanon, my hands just don't work properly otherwise. if i just launched straight into my pieces i'd probably develop a lot of consistent mistakes in my pieces because my fingers aren't able to move properly until they've been playing for a while. like how much i need to warm up depends on how cold it is, so when it's warm it's not too bad. agh launching straight into pieces i cant' stand it!

[galonia]

Everyone has already spoken about the importance of scales.  I also use studies.  My first teacher always said we should start each day with either Czerny or Bach.  And I've followed that advice since I was 5 - Bach is wonderful not just to get fingers moving, but also brain into gear.