Tag Archives: piano practice

The Art of Pedaling on the Piano Part 1 – The Damper Pedal (Right Pedal)

Welcome to an ongoing series about how to use the pedals on the piano. Today we are going to be covering the right pedal, commonly referred to as the damper or sustain pedal. This is the pedal you will be using most of the time while playing the piano and it’s a great place to start.

The question I get asked the most is when to use the pedal. While there are no absolutes, there are some general guidelines that you can follow. A basic rule that applies to nearly any type of music is that when the harmonies change, you must clear the pedal. If you don’t do this you will get clashing dissonance.

While the pedal shouldn’t be overused, it is a great way to enhance the tone of your music. We know that you should clear the pedal when there are new harmonies, but there is a wrong way and a right way to do this. When the harmonies change, you should release the pedal upwards – don’t push it down. This is very counterintuitive because you are probably used to tapping your foot and tapping down on the downbeat. The opposite is true for the damper pedal, you will want to bring your foot up and clear the pedal on the downbeats when harmonies change and put it right back down.

Another technique you should practice is to not push the pedal down before you begin. Pushing the pedal down before playing a note will result in an echoing sound. You should push the pedal down right after you play the note, but before your fingers are released. If you push the pedal down after you release your fingers it will not hold the notes.

These are the basic principles of pedaling and how you should be using the damper pedal. Practice these techniques and make sure that you are releasing the pedal on the downbeat of changing harmonies and push it down immediately after but before you release your fingers.

Thanks again for joining me and be on the lookout for future videos about the art of pedaling on the piano. Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Piano Lessons: How to Add Emotion to Your Music

For a lot of musicians, it’s impossible to ignore emotion in music; it comes out naturally. However, there are ways you can express yourself and show more emotion in your music – making it a much more powerful experience for your audience.

You might find that the music you are studying or playing gives you an emotional impact but you might wonder if you are translating that to your instrument and the audience. You must overcome the technical challenges needed to express yourself freely. The first thing you will need to do is practice your music thoroughly tackling problems and technical issues.

Now here is the fundamental problem. If you practice a piece over and over again in hopes of being able to play it perfectly, will you still have the same love and emotion for it? Or will the task of studying and practicing a piece extensively destroy the enjoyment you once had for it? It’s a common problem for musicians who lock themselves up in a practice room for hours every day trying to perfect their music only to emerge with a disdain for the music they once loved. There have been a number of times I’ve attended recitals and watched incredibly capable instrumentalist put on boring performances! All too often the performers have lost track of why they are playing their music, to begin with; they’ve lost their love of music and possibly the joy of life.

But how do you avoid this while mastering your music? The first thing you can do is to practice effectively. Practicing with the metronome a great deal builds a solid foundation. This can offer you freedom when performing (without the metronome) since you will not stray too far from becoming self-indulgent when expressing yourself. Practicing the piano without the pedal is also fundamental building clarity in your music. These are simple and effective practice techniques. When you finally get to add the pedal and play without the metronome, it feels so good hearing the music in all its glory. The benefit of the structured practice gives you the freedom to express yourself in performance.

Another important thing to do is to play for other people on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter how much you practice until you get out in front of an audience and actually perform, the music doesn’t come to life. It’s like practicing for a job interview – no matter how much you practice, it will never prepare you for the actual conversation. It’s all about communicating which involves give and take.

Most of all, you must find a balance in life. You need to enjoy your life and your work and you can never achieve this if you let your work consume your life. Sometimes the best thing to do is to step away from the music and allow yourself to recoup and eventually fall in love with it again. Like the old saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. You really should feel this way about your music. When you are away from it coming back feels so good! You will experience joy in your life and in your music!

How to Correct Mistakes In Your Piano Playing

How do you correct mistakes on the piano? While this sounds like a really complex subject and seems impossible to cover in just one short article and video, the truth is, if you’re looking for an answer for how to correct all your mistakes on the piano; that is impossible! What this article focuses on is how to cement corrections you make so the mistakes can be eradicated permanently!

There are many practice techniques to correct mistakes including going slower, stopping and starting at precise places, playing each hand separately; the list goes on and on. What’s equally important to just correcting problems is how to cement corrections and avoid making the same mistakes again and again.

Here is the secret to making corrections stick. Play your trouble spot over and over again solidifying the corrections until you can play the section perfectly, and not only perfectly, but comfortably too. You might get it three times in a row perfectly but if you’re still a little hesitant or straining to finish, keep working until you can play it with ease; with as little tension as possible.

This is where most people stop. But this next step is vital to retaining the correction and continuing to play the passage correctly. The fact of the matter is that we are all prisoners of our own routines. Whatever we have done repeatedly in the past, we will do again; it’s just in our nature!

So how do you actually make a correction stick? You may play your problem spot over and over again ten times in a row perfectly. Yet when you play the piece later you will surprise yourself and make the original mistake again. So how do you avoid this?

First, you must solidify the correction in the context of the piece going back to the beginning of the section. But even this isn’t enough. You must then go back to the beginning of the entire piece or movement. When you play, be sure you are present so that when the corrected section comes, you are aware of at that moment! Once you play the correction from the beginning of the piece a number of times, the correction will be permanent!

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

How to Play Trills on the Piano – Piano Lessons with Robert Estrin

I’ve had quite a few people recently asking me for tips on how to play trills on the piano. It’s no easy task – or is it? This video and article will provide a few tips and techniques you can use to help master trills.

The first thing to do is make sure you play your trills with minimal arm weight. If you’ve watched some of my other technique videos you know that I emphasize arm weight as a very big component in tone production – especially when it comes to slower melodies. The challenge with trills is playing lightly, almost floating your hand above the keys to allow the notes to flow with minimal effort.

The next thing in playing trills is keeping your fingers very close to the keys. Trills are played so fast that there is not a lot of time for movement, so it’s best to keep your fingers very close to the keys – so close you remain in contact with the keys!

Another thing is to make sure your fingers are rounded. It’s nearly impossible to play fast with outstretched fingers; keeping them rounded will help improve speed dramatically allowing more than just one joint to execute the trill. These are some of the most important aspects when it comes to hand position.

However, there is something fundamental about approaching trills. Even if it sounds like just a bunch of notes, you need to figure out exactly how many notes you are playing as if it’s written out. Learn trills like you would learn any other fast passage in your music working with the metronome increasing one notch at a time as you gain confidence.

Another big question is how to know how many notes to play in a trill. One valuable technique that I use frequently is to play just one note of the trill. For example, if you are playing a trill and starting on the upper note, just play that upper note. You will get an idea of how fast you can play the trill by only playing one note of the trill first, either the top note or the bottom note – whichever one you are starting the trill on.

This brings up an important subject in trills, what note does it start on? This could really be a subject for an entirely separate video but I am going to provide some basic information here. As trills are written, you will usually start on the auxiliary (the note above the written note of the trill; the next note in the scale of that key). For example, if you have a piece in C major and you have a D trill, you would start on E.

Can you start a trill on the note written? For example, if it’s written as a D can you start on a D and move up to E? Yes; it depends on the context. There are different schools of thought on this but generally, I would say a trill is basically a long appoggiatura (a non-chord tone resolving into the harmony). So starting on the auxiliary generally makes musical sense. However, in different period styles and in shorter trills, use your judgment as to what sounds best and what you can execute with confidence.

The last thing I want to address with trills is one of the biggest challenges; how to end them! If you don’t know exactly where you are it can be difficult to end them smoothly. The good news is there is a great practice technique for this.

I always like to play the trill right up to the point before it ends, and then stop in a relaxed manner over the keys. Keep doing that until you have a good grasp on where you will be right before the last notes of the trill. Keep playing that passage over and over and eventually add the last notes of the trill. But don’t play them right away; pause in a relaxed manner before you play the last notes. At first, make the pause as long as you need it; eventually, make the duration of the pause smaller and smaller; until the pause is imperceptible to the listener but guides the ending of the trill for you!

Thanks again for watching and reading. I enjoy bringing these videos to you and am planning more of them for you. So please, send in any questions or suggestions to me, Robert Estrin: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729