Believe it or not, there is such a thing as over-practicing exercises. One of the great things about the piano is that there is a wealth of music – so much so that it would be impossible to learn it all in a lifetime. So why practice strictly exercises when there is so much other music you could be learning and playing?
There are some instances in which you will need to correct technical problems with your playing and develop fluid a technique. Scales and arpeggios are a great resource for this. But how much is too much practice when it comes to exercises?
Generally, you should think of these as a warm-up to your practice session. If you dedicate 10 minutes to the beginning of your daily practice to focus on scales, arpeggios, or other exercises, it will benefit you immensely. What’s most important for your progress is the consistency of practice.
There may be times in your musical development when exercises can be critical in expanding your technique and developing strength. However, you should not ignore repertoire. You can continue to develop your strength and technical prowess while learning music as well – after all, we learn our instruments to play music!
The third part in my series on Hanon’s Virtuoso Pianist comes from a viewer question about how much to practice these lessons. In case you missed them here are the first two parts in my series on: Part 1 – The First Lessons Part 2 – How to Prac
Today I will be showing some tips for “Traumerei” which is a very classic piece of piano repertoire but also very elusive. This piece can really be overlooked by many students who don’t really understand the music in its full sense. There is a beautiful melody but it can be very difficult to know when to pedal. There is also a certain amount of freedom to how you can approach the piece as well.
Even though the piece requires the pedal, it’s always best to practice without the pedal. You should ideally be able to connect as much as possible together with only your hands before employing any pedaling. This is not an easy task and you will find it’s incredibly difficult to string much together with just your hands but this will help you understand where the pedal is actually needed.
The key to this piece is to bring out the singing melody – almost as if it were a vocal part. Every note should be smooth and distinct. By connecting as many notes as you can with your hands will allow you to get the desired effect – then adding the pedal will enhance the music.
The piece has a real ethereal quality to it. The piece has a very interesting composition and it really takes a mature student to grasp many of the finer aspects of the music. You should really do yourself a favor and watch various performances and listen to various recordings of this piece. It’s incredible to see how different performances can be for such a seemingly simple piece of music.
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Welcome to Part 2 in our series on the Chopin G minor Ballade. In Part 1 we discussed how the middle section of this piece requires you to switch your techniques rapidly. We are going to cover the next section which doesn’t get any easier. I’ll p
Welcome to our first in a multiple part series on how to approach the Chopin G Minor Ballade. This is an amazing piece of music that exemplifies the manic emotions of Frédéric Chopin swinging from points of incredibly low despair to the heights of ecstasy. Today we are going to discuss some of the middle section because there are a number of techniques that come one after another very quickly.
You are probably familiar with the big heroic middle section that restates the theme and ends with a flurry of octaves.
Let’s start on the descending diminished chord:
The best way to practice this section is to play it slowly and practice getting your fingers in the right place instantly. So, I suggest playing just a few notes at a time and stopping when the hand changes position. For example here:
Play the first few notes and practice getting your hand in the right position above the chord, but don’t play it. Keep playing the passage over and over and stopping until you can get your hand in the right position over the chord in a relaxed manner. You will want to continue doing this for each subsequent group.
If you practice this way you learn to play this passage with much more fluidity and you’ll be ready for each subsequent hand position before you need to play. You need to be able to play each section with ease and this technique is a great way to achieve this.
The next section we are going to discuss will provide a great example of how to be over note groups, in this case, 2 note groups following the bottom notes going up the scale.
You can also practice these 2 notes groups in different rhythms. By practicing in two-note groups, it will force you to come up with a fingering that will accommodate the passage enabling a smooth execution of the passage. After playing this section in two-note groups and getting 100% comfortable with it, breaking it up as it’s written will be almost effortless.
In the next section you can use another technique:
This section is difficult because you have two completely different techniques in each hand. In the right hand, you will want to play fast and light and in the left hand, you will want to delineate the phrasing clearly.
In the right hand, it’s best to practice with the metronome and gradually get your playing up to speed. Start at a slower tempo and continue to play the section until you are absolutely comfortable. When you feel confident in your playing, put the metronome up one notch and practice it again until you are absolutely comfortable. Keep doing this until you are able to play the passage up to speed without issues. As you get faster, concentrate on lightening up your fingers and keep them very close to the keys.
For the left hand, you will want to use a similar technique that we discussed in the first section of this lesson and that is getting your hands over the next set of notes instantly. Keep practicing and stopping before the next group of notes. Practice getting your hands and fingers in the correct position before you play the notes. Keep practicing over and over until your hands and fingers go to the correct notes almost instantly and effortlessly.
Combine the hands once you feel confident with each individually. Remember to keep your right-hand fingers very close to the keys. This section is very tricky because you have two different techniques in each hand. That is why practicing hands separately first is so effective in solving the technical issues.
Stay tuned because next time we will cover the next section of this piece and discuss a new set of techniques. Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
Welcome to our first in a multiple part series on how to approach the Chopin G Minor Ballade. This is an amazing piece of music that exemplifies the manic emotions of Frédéric Chopin swinging from points of incredibly low despair to the heights of
