Piano and Music Videos

The good news is that if you keep playing the piano you will eventually develop more strength in your fingers. Some people will tell you that practicing scales and arpeggios is a great way to develop strength, and while they are definitely helpful, they aren’t the only solution for developing strength. Playing nearly anything will help you develop strength in your fingers – it’s something that will just develop naturally over time if you spend a great deal of time playing and practicing the piano.

When it comes to playing a particular piece of music with faster sections, often starting slowly and progressing the tempo is a great solution. Take out a metronome and set it to a comfortable tempo. Play the notes in time with the metronome and develop an approach that utilizes appropriate hand positions and finger patterns – everything should be lined up just right. Once you feel comfortable and can play the notes without errors, set the metronome speed up by one notch and start again. Keep working like this until you get the passage up to speed. You might not even notice a difference only setting the metronome up one notch at a time; that’s good! By practicing this way you will gradually build up speed and it won’t be as much of a challenge for you. If you have the patience to practice this way you will develop speed much more quickly.

Another thing to be aware of are techniques you will need to employ to play faster on the piano. It is a lot different from playing slowly and you will need to adjust your playing style. In my video about playing the piano loud, I talk about how to use the arms and mass to get a larger sound. When it comes to playing fast, you will want to use less mass but you don’t want the tone to suffer. In faster sections you should play with your fingers closer to the keys – nearly touching them with minimal arm weight. When playing slowly you can practice with raised fingers but you can’t do that when it comes to faster passages. The general rule is that you want to keep your fingers closer to the keys so you can use the smallest amount of finger strength possible and yet still create a nice sound. The good news is there is a way to practice this technique!

Taking sections of your music – specifically, places where you experience problems – and focusing on them individually is one of the best things you can do correct mistakes in your playing. Make sure you practice at low speeds and figure out which hand positions and finger patterns work for you before moving on. Like many things in life, playing faster on the piano is something you must work for over time. You may find practicing a select number of notes with accents and different rhythms will aid in progressing the speed. There is no simple solution but practicing the techniques illustrated above should help you improve your speed. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin – Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

One of the most overlooked aspects of playing any instrument is correct posture. When it comes to the piano, posture is crucial to your musical success as well as your health. I have a whole separate video on How to Sit At the Piano that you should watch for more specific information. If you find yourself in a situation where you can play the piano but the bench is not high or low enough you must take the time to correct the problem before playing.

When it comes to actually playing, try starting with something slow. Don’t jump right into advanced music – let your fingers, arms, and hands warm up by playing something slower that will utilize all parts of the body. Some people start with scales. If you do, start playing at 1 note to the beat and with raised fingers which gently stretches the muscles. Gradually build up your speed until you feel comfortable. You don’t have to warm up with scales or arpeggios; you can pick any piece of music and just start slower than normal.

There is no real secret to warming up on the piano. It’s a simple process of making sure you’re mentally and physically prepared. Make sure your hands are warm and comfortable, ensure that you have good posture, start with something slow, and you can enjoy yourself for the long haul!

Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

This is a very important topic and a fundamental part of playing piano. I have another video about how to play louder with notes in the same hand but this video is going to cover how to achieve this with different hands.

This can be a real challenge when you have slow notes that have to be louder than fast notes. Why is this so difficult? On a piano, the longer a note holds the quieter it becomes. So when you have a slow melody against faster notes it presents a challenge to make the slower notes stand out.

In the video example above I play the beginning of the Chopin Prelude in E minor and play the two hands with equal force. You will notice that the right hand melody is completely covered up by the chords in the left hand. So what can you do?

It’s actually a very basic principle that’s based upon the human voice. To get a singing quality on the piano you have to translate the power of the breath to the weight of your arms. But how do you practice such a thing? My father Morton Estrin would demonstrate this to me by playing on my arm. What I noticed was that it wasn’t just the beginning of the notes where I could feel the pressure, it was the entire time he was playing a slow melody. I could feel the downward force throughout the entire melody! By doing this, the weight of the arm translates from note to note and creates a constant musical line – much like singing.

You should also keep in mind that if you are replicating the human voice when playing the melody you should build up to the middle of the phrase and decrescendo to the end of the phrase for a natural sounding musical line. This is achieved by using your arm weight to build up the sound and volume of the notes until you reach the climax of the phrase and slowly bring the phrase down in volume by decreasing the arm weight. This is how to make the melody “sing” like a voice.

But how do you control the volume of your other hand? You should touch the keys gently and use minimum motion. That way the melody notes in the other hand will project well.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Thanks again for joining me, If you have any questions about this topic or any others please contact me directly: Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Welcome to the second part in my two part series of How to Play Chords on the Piano. Last time we covered How to Play Slow Chords, today I will discuss how to play fast chords.

With slow chords I emphasized the use of the arms. In order to get better clarity and tone out of your slow chords – whether loud or soft – the technique lies in the arms. This is not the case with faster chords.

The secret to playing fast chords is the wrist. There are moments when you simply can’t move your arms fast enough – this is where learning proper wrist technique can be very helpful. I actually produced an entire video called; It’s all in the Wrist which demonstrates more advanced techniques for this method.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729