Stuff I Learned in the Past Month and a Half

[xdjuicebox]

So I started working full time, since I thought it would be good for me, and that I needed to develop some social skills since I'm pretty much a shut in.

Here are some of the things I've discovered while practicing at most 3 hours a day on a very limited regime, etc. There are MY IDEAS, not absolute, and feel free to embark on a discussion with me.

1. Scales scales scales scales scales scales scales scales arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios arpeggios oh my goodness do they keep my hand-eye coordination there

2. As long as you remember what the piece sounds like, you can always get it back

3. Rich tone is about getting the key to the bottom, and holding it steady (so the hammer doesn't wiggle around on the key or something like that), but WITHOUT pushing down excessively, since that will hurt yourself.

4. Play fast like you're not actually playing fast. (Ironically enough, singing high works the same way. Just pretend you're singing low and then BAM it happens like I hit the high note in Chandelier - Sia, and I'm supposed to be a bass-baritone, but I wish it sounded good) Then it's really easy. But if you try to play fast, then BAM things go wrong. To be honest, you actually probably play wayyy faster than you think. I think your brain slows down time for you when you play something really hard. Just personal experience on that one though.

5. Play so slow that people can't even recognize it. This forces your memory to work, and really strengthens it. I learn a piece best like this, but the problem is I've never played it fast so I can't play it fast. The solution is to mix the two, very frequently. Small bits really fast, longer bits slower. Make sure as much of your practice has as few wrong notes as possible. Better to have 10 perfect medium speed reps than 9 shitty reps with 1 perfect one at the end.

6. Learn chordal musically chordally, and contrapuntal music contrapuntally. Most people already know this, but I'm kind of shut off from the rest of the world haha. For example, Rach Etude. 33-4 (d minor) is a perfect example of this. For the first section, think "Dm! Dm! Dm! Bb! Gm!" etc etc

But then you get to that crazy polyphonic part, and you could try to memorize it by chords, but it's too complex to actually be functional, so you're better off memorizing each line individually and then putting them together. Which makes me think that Bach is literally a god because if you look at his Inventions and Sinfonias, he essentially teaches you to do that in a logical, progressive manner. O_O

7. I pretend my hands are giant lead balls that roll/hop around AT THE BOTTOM OF THE KEYBED. The actual keys aren't there for me, it's just the bottom, and I'm just trying to get the lead balls to roll around on the bottom there. It's pointless trying to hold the lead balls up though, I'll just hurt myself. So I use just enough energy to get my hands off of the piano only to have them fling over to the next thing I'm trying to play. No sense pushing the lead balls down either, you'll break the piano. Ideally, your hand is always centered over the note, but you compromise speed for that. So you must find a balance between hand centered over note and speed. Also, moving the elbow helps. Wrist must stay high or else pain later :/
The more it looks like your fingers are walking on the piano, the more structural integrity you have (use a straw and push a key down and you'll see what I mean), but you compromise reach, so find a balance
Muscle is there to assist, not do the majority of the work
Move your bodyyyyyyy

8. The Rubenstein/Horowitz jump actually has a purpose, you can whip all of the momentum straight through your hands without taking any of it in your body if you do it right, and it's a great way to get a loud, full sound without a harsh tone
And it looks cool, for those superficial ones out there

9. Tabletop exercises are super dope if you don't have a piano, especially for stuff like Chopin 25-6

10. No matter how into it you get, you have to relax or else you'll ruin everything. I pretend tensing up blocks my thoughts from reaching the piano (which actually is not how it works at all, but that's the mental gymnastics I play with myself and it seems to somewhat work), so then I'm forced to relax. Then I don't hate how I sound as much.

11. Every sound you try to make/conceive of HAS A PHYSICAL CAUSE TO IT. Instead of whoozing around like some hipster nerd that's like "oh so long as I will it hard enough it will come out of the piano" (not kidding someone said that to me), and you might be able to do it through trial and error, but it's so much faster/better/more control for you to just investigate the physical cause, and then once you understand them, your "will" and the piano have a much better connection. Legato is slight blending of notes, learn how the pedal mechanisms work (I recommend Banowetz!) etc etc etc.

12. Learn to really feel the piano, to the point where you can almost play blindfolded. This makes reading super easy, and for those super complex passages (Chopin Ballade 1 coda, Rach 3 Mov. 1 Part 10 (Tempo precedente) [no, I can't play it...yet XD], Mazeppa 2/4 section), you'll save your neck a lot of strain from turning back and forth and back and forth; you can just lean back a LITTLE BIT and don't look at anything in particular.

Would you guys like to share what you've learned with me? Thanks!

LET'S HAVE A NICE DISCUSSION YEAHHHHHHH

[adodd81802]

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[bernadette60614]

What a great post. Thank you.

[toughbo]

Agreed!

[yadeehoo]

Very inspirational. I suppose it's stuff you learned on your own, meaning you're self taught?

About the "help me choose" section my answer is : Your own stuff !!

Also do you want to be piano buddies?

[keymasher]

Halfway tempted to print this post out and keep it on my music stand for when I practice.  Lots of good stuff there, and thank you for taking the time to put it together.

[xdjuicebox]

Very inspirational. I suppose it's stuff you learned on your own, meaning you're self taught?

About the "help me choose" section my answer is : Your own stuff !!

Also do you want to be piano buddies?

I spent the majority of my time without a teacher, but I did have one from ages 8-13, and another one from 19-20 (a little over a year). The first one was meh, I didn't learn too much, but the second one was AMAZING and took me to incredible new heights. Once I have more time, I'm looking to study under someone else.

And I suppose it would be kind of embarrassing to not be able to play my own works haha.

Sure we can be piano buddies!

Halfway tempted to print this post out and keep it on my music stand for when I practice.  Lots of good stuff there, and thank you for taking the time to put it together.

Thank you! But do remember, these are just my ideas, and NOT the gospel truth!

Thanks everyone else for the warm responses!