Are Scales and Arpeggios enough for Piano Technique?

[bwv988]

Hi,
I have been playing piano for 3 years. The first 1.5 years I had a teacher and I have been self-teaching myself for the last 1.5 years.

I was doing the RCM program.

I mostly practice 1.5 to 2 hours a day, a little more on weekend.

Currently I am doing Hanon, Scales, Arpeggios, Broken chords, Dominant 7th, etc...

I am kind of burned out practicing too many techniques.

My currently plan is to mostly play Bach.

I am currently learning the 18 little preludes and fugues one by one, and then I will slowly move to Inventions, Sinfonias, etc... while only practice my scales & arpeggios.

So pretty much learn 80% Bach and 20% other composers, plus scales & arpeggios.

I am wondering if scales & arpeggios are enough technique combine with learning mostly Bach?

[lelle]

If you want to practice strictly technique, I think working on chords, octaves, double notes etc is also worthwhile. But if you are burning yourself out, maybe shorten the time you dedicate to technique? 10 minutes a day where you can focus and make progress is more valuable than 1 hour a day that you hate.

[bwv988]

Actually I want. To play less technique.

[geopianoincanada]

If you were to eat nothing but BBQ chicken for the rest of your life, at first it might be nice. But eventually you would tire of it and probably grow ill.

Music is like this. A little variety in your music can't hurt and may only help you.

Just my opinion.

[anacrusis]

Actually I want. To play less technique.

Do you mean you practice technique 1.5-2 hour a day? That sounds way too much and not enjoyable.

[sempre_piano]

For the beginner intermediate level, scales and arpeggios are enough for technical exercises. However I still view them like a vitamin supplement. They are important things that everyone needs to some degree, but they don't provide all the technique you need. There is still some types of technique that you need to get from actual music.

In terms of your curriculum. There is some odd things. Many of the Little preludes/fugues are actually harder than the inventions. Even though the inventions are considered easy, they are only really "easy" if you are talking to conservatory level pianists. Most learners will take 5-7 years to play even the easiest inventions.

Here is a simple and effective plan to boost technique:

- Go to the RCM Syllabus https://rcmusic-kentico-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/rcm/media/main/about%20us/rcm%20publishing/piano-syllabus-2022-edition.pdf
- Start at level 3
- Pick 30-40 pieces for each level (more pieces is preferred the higher the level is). You don't have to do this all at the start
- Learn them.

Now you may say, "Those pieces are too easy for me." If so, then they will be great for improving your reading and playing fluency. I did a group beginning piano class in school after 10 years of piano lessons (for school credits), and still found something to learn from each piece. And while you won't learn as much from the easier pieces, they will also be much quicker to learn.

Why do people not practice this way?

- It is not often encouraged by teachers because parents want their kids to play impressive things and adults don't want to learn "rudimentary music"
- While it is fun, it doesn't have the immediate appeal of a big famous piece. But at grade 3 and above, there is a ton of quality music.

Why should you practice this way?

- It will boost your reading skills a lot. I know some people who were playing Chopin Etudes who would struggle to play bach minuets. And while this is an extreme example, It's good for an amateur player to be the opposite. Be able to sight read the simpler pieces so you can just sit down and play.
- There's far less friction and roadblocks in progression. If you see something new, it will rarely be difficult. If you see something difficult, it will rarely be new.

[ranjit]

Don't spend too much time on technique. At least half, and preferably more, of your time should be spent on learning pieces. You always want to tie in what you learn to actual music. This is for multiple reasons, but most importantly, the way you apply the technique varies subtly with every single piece you play, and every musical effect you want to generate. You risk sounding like a typewriter by spending all of your time on technical exercises. If you're spending 2 hours a day at the piano, I would try not to practice technique for more than 30-45 minutes. If you are spending a lot more time practicing, you could probably up that number.

[bwv988]

For the beginner intermediate level, scales and arpeggios are enough for technical exercises. However I still view them like a vitamin supplement. They are important things that everyone needs to some degree, but they don't provide all the technique you need. There is still some types of technique that you need to get from actual music.

In terms of your curriculum. There is some odd things. Many of the Little preludes/fugues are actually harder than the inventions. Even though the inventions are considered easy, they are only really "easy" if you are talking to conservatory level pianists. Most learners will take 5-7 years to play even the easiest inventions.

Here is a simple and effective plan to boost technique:

- Go to the RCM Syllabus https://rcmusic-kentico-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/rcm/media/main/about%20us/rcm%20publishing/piano-syllabus-2022-edition.pdf
- Start at level 3
- Pick 30-40 pieces for each level (more pieces is preferred the higher the level is). You don't have to do this all at the start
- Learn them.

Now you may say, "Those pieces are too easy for me." If so, then they will be great for improving your reading and playing fluency. I did a group beginning piano class in school after 10 years of piano lessons (for school credits), and still found something to learn from each piece. And while you won't learn as much from the easier pieces, they will also be much quicker to learn.

Why do people not practice this way?

- It is not often encouraged by teachers because parents want their kids to play impressive things and adults don't want to learn "rudimentary music"
- While it is fun, it doesn't have the immediate appeal of a big famous piece. But at grade 3 and above, there is a ton of quality music.

Why should you practice this way?

- It will boost your reading skills a lot. I know some people who were playing Chopin Etudes who would struggle to play bach minuets. And while this is an extreme example, It's good for an amateur player to be the opposite. Be able to sight read the simpler pieces so you can just sit down and play.
- There's far less friction and roadblocks in progression. If you see something new, it will rarely be difficult. If you see something difficult, it will rarely be new.

I already got to RCM level 5 with a teacher.
I don’t care about sight reading.
You gave a lot of good suggestion, but I really want to stick with the little preludes.
I am restarting lessons in 2 weeks with a new teacher.
If he is good I will follow is advice but I am pretty sure I am at the right level.
I’m just burned out with too much techniques, so I decided to do just scales and arpeggios.
Let see what my new teacher says.
I appreciate all responses.