Tag Archives: how to play piano

How to Play Glissando on the Piano

While you might not be familiar with the term glissando, you have no doubt heard it countless times before. It’s when the player slides their hands across the keys – it’s heard all the time in blues and rock. Believe it or not, it’s not as easy to pull off as it might look. You can actually injure yourself playing this incorrectly – which I have actually done as a child.

Glissando basically means a slide over all the keys. String players can perform this very smoothly by just moving their finger down the string; it’s not this easy on the piano. There is a simple secret however for playing this correctly.

The wrong way to play a glissando is to put your fingers down on the keys and simply slide them with the back of your hand. You can end up tearing off the skin on the back of fingers and causing tremendous pain!

The right way to perform a glissando is to place your hand at almost a right angle to the keys – so that mostly the nails hit the keys instead of skin. The video above provides an excellent demonstration of this. Believe it or not, that is it!

Now there are many different types of glissandos that can be performed in a few different ways. For example, you might want to play a descending glissando that would be played with the thumb on the right hand. The same principle applies; keep the angle straight up (at nearly a right angle) and slide the nail across the keys. If you stick to this technique you can even perform black key glissandos. Be careful though as this requires the angle to be precise in order to avoid injury.

If you are playing a glissando that ends on a certain note, try and use the second finger on the final note. This will give you a much better chance of actually hitting the correct note. There is a famous Mark’s brothers routine on playing glissandos where they actually employ this technique. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbUrsot6oeY Even if you don’t hit the last couple of notes before the last note, don’t worry, as long as you hit the correct note at the end you will create the same effect.

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

How to Improvise on the Piano

Today Robert is going to provide some tips on how to Improvise on the piano. This is a very deep and involved topic but we hope to provide a good starting point with this video.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future videos please contact us here at Living Pianos: info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Piano Lessons – How to Cross Hands on the piano

As you advance in your playing this will inevitably come up and it’s going to be a challenge for many people to overcome. But why would you cross your hands? Sometimes it can be the composer specifically writing something that would require it; sometimes it’s just easier to cross your hands in certain passages; either way, you will eventually encounter this technique in your repertoire.

For the video above I use the first movement of the Pathetique Sonata of Beethoven to demonstrate the technique. In the exposition section of the piece there is a part where one hand keeps playing the same group of notes and the other hand jumps around the keyboard. You simply can’t negotiate this easily without crossing your hands.

How do you handle these sections? It’s always a great idea to learn your hand positions before you start playing. Not only should you have your hands over the first note of the phrase, you should position them over as many keys as you can. By doing this you will eliminate having to move your hand more than necessary – which could lead to wrong notes – and you will have a set position you can constantly refer back to. For specific examples in this piece, refer to the video embedded in this page.

It’s always a great idea to be over the keys before you need to play them. It will help you relax and be able to concentrate on actually playing and not just where your hands are located. A great way to achieve this is by practicing your music right up until the moment where you need to move your hand. Keep practicing the same line over and over and when you get to the notes you need to play next just move your hand over them but don’t play them yet, just get your hand in position. Keep doing this until your hand effortlessly glides to the correct spot and keep doing it until it just feels natural. When you feel confident you have achieved a fluid and precise movement over the keys, play the notes. Continue to play the phrase and the proceeding notes until you feel confident enough to move on.

You can really do this for all your music – whether it requires crossing your hands or not. The best thing you can do is to stay relaxed and be ready over notes ahead of time. You should never play from a position in which you feel like you are constantly catching up.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

Piano Lessons: Chopin Prelude No 4 (E minor)

Welcome to my ongoing series dedicated to specific pieces of repertoire. Today we will be covering the Chopin Prelude No. 4 (E minor). This was actually the very first piece of Chopin I ever studied so it holds a particularly special interest for me. As a kid I remember thinking that this was the most beautiful piece I’d ever heard and I couldn’t imagine playing anything better. Of course as time went on my tastes expanded, yet this piece is still one of my all-time favorites.

This is actually a very odd piece of music. If you just play the melody without the chords you will notice that it’s surprisingly simple. The real genius of this piece lies in the harmonization; the left hand has some truly exquisite chords. While the chords are extremely important, you will still want the melody to sing above everything else.

A very big mistake when it comes to playing the piano is continually using the pedal as a crutch to cover up sloppy playing. If you intend to learn this piece correctly and make it sing, you will need to achieve a true legato in both hands without the use of the pedal. Because of this, you will want to practice, learn and memorize this piece without using the pedal at first. Later when you feel confident in the sound you produce, you can add the pedal to create an even richer sound.

Another practice method is holding out the chords with the left-hand. Instead of playing all the chords as written, hold the repeated chords out instead of replaying them – so you can get a sense of the best fingering when switching between chords. You will find ways to maneuver your fingers and hands in ways that will connect the notes much better and create a seamless sound.

When combining the hands, you will want to make sure you get an extreme legato. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people playing this piece by simply using the pedal and playing short chords. While it might sound OK, it’s really not the best sound. You will create a much better sound if you use an extreme legato in both hands to allow the melody to sing above the thick chords. Use a constant arm weight supported by your fingers to bring out the melody in the right hand.

There really are dozens of different ways to perform this piece. If you search on YouTube you can find a number of different interpretations from incredible pianists. While the phrasing can change, you will always want to be rising or falling; the music must always be going somewhere.

Thanks again for joining me. If you would like more information about this piece or any others, we are currently in the midst of producing some thorough tutorials instead of just these helpful pointers. If you would like to be notified about these lessons please send me an email requesting more information at Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How to Approach Thirds on The Piano

Thirds on the piano can be very difficult. We only have five fingers on each hand so negotiating thirds can be a real challenge. As with other aspects of piano technique, fingering is critical. Here are some related resources for you:
How to Practice Scales & Arpeggios and Brilliant Piano Fingering Technique.

In this article and video, you will find some tips on how to approach thirds and some routines to add to your practice. Of course, thirds can be practiced endlessly. It’s said that Josef Lhévinne practiced the Double Thirds Etude by Chopin for ten years before performing it! His historic recording of the piece is a testament to this fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XCj-j7TBTY

In the following tips, I utilize a D Major Scale played in thirds.

A great way to practice thirds (this example refers to the right hand) is to play the top notes legato and the bottom staccato; doing this will help to clarify the melody notes. You can make it a bit simpler for yourself by trying to play the top notes and leaving out the bottom notes. You can also try playing every other note on the bottom and then go through and play the notes you left out the first time.

All of these simple techniques will help you develop the muscle memory and strength to play thirds with precision. Try practicing with a metronome to keep consistency and remember that fingering is critical in playing thirds. Check out the videos links above for more fingering techniques.

Thanks again for joining me and keep those questions coming: Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729