Piano Technique help

[KeDraiv]

ok, i'm posting it here since there's no piano section in keyboards and quoting mr soft,

...
Piano should be in the same classification as Keyboard. Go click that.

so yeah,
to the topic.


i'm planning to take my piano diploma, as in start taking my diploma, next year.
so right now, i'm working on my piano techniques.
i finished my grade 8 when 2 years ago and have not touch the piano till recently like 3 months ago.
so right now i'm stuck between practicing Hanon or Czerny.
haha.
given the time i would practice both but currently i have only 2 months till lessons start so yeah.

hope any pros out there can give a hand.
thanks =]=]

 

[utano]

this might sound obvious but learning the actual diploma repertoire would definitely help your technique as well

 

[KeDraiv]

yeah true,
learning the pieces does help
but i hope by doing those practice i can be more sure of my techniques lah.
like fine tuning it.

i think by right i should practice both books rite?
but i read that hanon is not exactly that good cause it's repetitive and not musical in a sense.
czerny is more musical to me but it's a killer.
haha.

 

[KDY]

Sorry to go OT, but where are you taking your diploma? Haha

 

[KeDraiv]

to tell you honestly,
i have no clue.
HAHA.
cause my sis is taking now.
then i'm taking after she finish.
so we'll be under the same teacher.
but,
i have no idea who is my sis's teacher.
heh.
paiseh.

 

[guesswild]

Czerny op 740 is a good exercise..
After that u can go to Chopin Etudes liao.
Hanon is good for those never touch piano for long time (imo easier than czerny)
Can PM me abt your lesson?
Thanks

 

[KeDraiv]

yeah i'm starting to think hanon is not that good.
i mean, it's too technical.
you do that particular pattern over and over again.
whereas czerny's op740 trains ur speed and accuracy so on.

yeah Chopin's Etudes are good practices but i think i'll run a high risk of playing it wrongly if i don't have the guidance of a teacher cause it's quite demanding both technically and aesthetically.

 

[foxxylady]

I hated Hanon back when I was preparing for exam too! Go with Czerny

 

[KeDraiv]

yeah hanon getting gay-er by the day for me.
haha.

but which book from czerny do you'all use?
op 740 or op 299?

 

[Likui]

good advice for you. This I learn through experience. Examiner like to hear nice tone the question is what is nice you have to find that out. You have to find out what is nice to the examiner because what may be nice to you or your teacher is not what is nice to the examiner. And step 2 how to produce the nice tone

 

[plect]

good advice for you. This I learn through experience. Examiner like to hear nice tone the question is what is nice you have to find that out. You have to find out what is nice to the examiner because what may be nice to you or your teacher is not what is nice to the examiner. And step 2 how to produce the nice tone

yea, true.. what i dislike is that diploma exam is very subjective and really depends on ur luck.. what u or your friend / teacher think good may not be good enuf for them.
sometimes they may ask diff qn also on u but not other ppl..
For step2, frequent practice on a good grand piano may be necessary..
I found upright is not sensitive enough..

 

[plect]

yeah i'm starting to think hanon is not that good.
i mean, it's too technical.
you do that particular pattern over and over again.
whereas czerny's op740 trains ur speed and accuracy so on.

yeah Chopin's Etudes are good practices but i think i'll run a high risk of playing it wrongly if i don't have the guidance of a teacher cause it's quite demanding both technically and aesthetically.

uhmm.. hanon is good, no doubt
and hanon is meant to train your technique only, so it's on its nature being too technical.
Czerny also practice particular pattern over and over, just a bit more musical.
I like Chopin and Mozkovsky etudes a lot and to play them you have to complement your technique from Hanon and czerny and playing various other stuffs. you also can try debussy's etudes and some other etudes... try the Hanon advanced (the improvised version, not as boring)

op299 for lower level, if you find 740/699 too daunting, u can start fr 299..

 

[KeDraiv]

yeah, after some practicing.
i kind of feel that even though both hanon and czerny are technical studies,
czerny's opus has more area which you can input your own dynamics
something like having more freedom to interpret it.

but still i think etudes are a must to study.
but they require not juz techniques but also musical sense.
so yeah.

actually i kind of got a shock when i saw the studies czerny has done lah.
but also at the same time i want to challenge myself to be able to play them.
haha.

but first, i need to buy them.
LOL

 

[mdmusic]

I believe in the discipline practice of scales and arpeggios will improve your technique. Of course, you have to do it the right way.

You can visit this website for more info about piano technique:
http://www.mariadewi.com/wordpress/?cat=12

Hope it'll help

 

[KeDraiv]

thanks

the website is useful.


damnit, got to go practice those arpeggios

 

[pianomankris]

Sorry i've just noticed this thread.

OK - I think you need to step back a little and think to yourself what exactly is it about your technique you feel is lacking? I mean exactly.

You must know specifically where the problems lie. Could you give an insight here?

It'll be easier to help you than saying 'practise technical exercises and you will become technically more proficient'. Most of the time the opposite happens, to be honest.

 

[KeDraiv]

i think most of the problems lie in my left hand, ironically, since i'm a left hander.
i can't seem to control my left hand as well as my right, and yea
maybe i should go search up on some of those studies for the left hand?

 

[pianomankris]

i think most of the problems lie in my left hand, ironically, since i'm a left hander.
i can't seem to control my left hand as well as my right, and yea
maybe i should go search up on some of those studies for the left hand?

No. there's no point of playing etudes just for the sake of it if you don't know yourself what specific aspect of your playing is lacking. You can make your technique worse in doing this by transferring the same technical problems into the studes you are learning. And this is a nightmare to fix.

A piece being a study doesn't mean that you will benefit from it.

Why do you think a 'study for the left hand' will get your left hand better? Because it has a lot of notes in the LH? Why will this make your playing better?

You're getting closer into what it may be about your playing that is lacking. Still a bit to go, though

So you say the issue is one of control. When? Does your left hand go pear shaped when the right hand is busy? Or is it in a busy left hand passage? (btw those are just examples) Do you have any musical examples that you could use to highlight the issue?