Piano Fundamentals
In order to be a great pianist, it's important to have strong fundamentals. Without these, it is difficult to play literature. Once the fundamentals are ingrained, it becomes much easier to learn new pieces, master them and understand them at a higher level. Spending ten to fifteen minutes a day on this isn't an incredibly long time, but you will love the benefits!
The first thing many pianists learn is how to play scales. Scales occur in fragments all over real music. Practicing scales allows the fingering of the most commonly found patterns in music to become more or less automatic. When you see a scalar run in a piece, you don't have to think about the best way to finger it or what it will sound like. Scales should be practiced in major and all forms of minor. It is also helpful to practice modal scales and, if you are interested in jazz, jazz and blues scales.
Arpeggios are practiced for a similar reason. Chords are often outlined and arpeggiated in piano music. It is helpful for the sound and fingering of the most common arpeggios to become automatic. Again, these should be practiced in major and minor. Outlining seventh chords will also prove useful.
Once these most basic of fundamentals are mastered, it is a good idea to experiment with alterations. Hanon wrote an etude book in order to offer students sequential alterations of scalar and arpeggiated patterns. Once practiced, these will increase your dexterity and technique in general.
Another fundamental skill which is most often neglected is sight reading. Most pianists love to play and master pieces. They will stop and correct mistakes, work out difficult passages, memorize and perform a piece. Few practice the ability to play a piece with minimal mistakes and a high level of musicality upon the first run through.
Just like any other skill, sight reading requires practice. The first time you do it, you will struggle with it. Similarly, if you practice it for a while, but then stop doing it, it will become hard again. Sight reading is something you must do continuously. Even if you just set aside five to ten minutes a day to work on it, it will yield great benefits.
When you are sight reading, take time to look over the piece before you begin playing. Look for key changes, repeats, challenging passages, tempos, as well as contour, dynamics and other expressive markings. Figure out how you plan to phrase it in your head. After that, you are ready to begin playing. Get the tempo set in your mind and start playing. Stay rhythmically accurate, no matter what happens and don't stop to fix mistakes. This seems against what most people learn about preparing a piece, but remember; you are not preparing a piece. You are working on your reading skills which is a different skill set. This will get easier over time and you will find that preparing pieces also becomes easier as this skill develops.
When learning to play piano, make sure to cover all the bases. Don't just run literature. Work out the fundamentals. This will make the music easier to learn, easier to understand and easier to prepare in the long run. If you spend ten or fifteen minutes a day honing these skills, your piano playing abilities will immediately improve, taking you to the next level.
Piano Liquidators has been in the piano industry for many years. They have piano stores in Utah. They can sell any piano to anyone in the United States.
Source :-- http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/piano-fundamentals-5865655.html
In order to be a great pianist, it's important to have strong fundamentals. Without these, it is difficult to play literature. Once the fundamentals are ingrained, it becomes much easier to learn new pieces, master them and understand them at a higher level. Spending ten to fifteen minutes a day on this isn't an incredibly long time, but you will love the benefits!
The first thing many pianists learn is how to play scales. Scales occur in fragments all over real music. Practicing scales allows the fingering of the most commonly found patterns in music to become more or less automatic. When you see a scalar run in a piece, you don't have to think about the best way to finger it or what it will sound like. Scales should be practiced in major and all forms of minor. It is also helpful to practice modal scales and, if you are interested in jazz, jazz and blues scales.
Arpeggios are practiced for a similar reason. Chords are often outlined and arpeggiated in piano music. It is helpful for the sound and fingering of the most common arpeggios to become automatic. Again, these should be practiced in major and minor. Outlining seventh chords will also prove useful.
Once these most basic of fundamentals are mastered, it is a good idea to experiment with alterations. Hanon wrote an etude book in order to offer students sequential alterations of scalar and arpeggiated patterns. Once practiced, these will increase your dexterity and technique in general.
Another fundamental skill which is most often neglected is sight reading. Most pianists love to play and master pieces. They will stop and correct mistakes, work out difficult passages, memorize and perform a piece. Few practice the ability to play a piece with minimal mistakes and a high level of musicality upon the first run through.
Just like any other skill, sight reading requires practice. The first time you do it, you will struggle with it. Similarly, if you practice it for a while, but then stop doing it, it will become hard again. Sight reading is something you must do continuously. Even if you just set aside five to ten minutes a day to work on it, it will yield great benefits.
When you are sight reading, take time to look over the piece before you begin playing. Look for key changes, repeats, challenging passages, tempos, as well as contour, dynamics and other expressive markings. Figure out how you plan to phrase it in your head. After that, you are ready to begin playing. Get the tempo set in your mind and start playing. Stay rhythmically accurate, no matter what happens and don't stop to fix mistakes. This seems against what most people learn about preparing a piece, but remember; you are not preparing a piece. You are working on your reading skills which is a different skill set. This will get easier over time and you will find that preparing pieces also becomes easier as this skill develops.
When learning to play piano, make sure to cover all the bases. Don't just run literature. Work out the fundamentals. This will make the music easier to learn, easier to understand and easier to prepare in the long run. If you spend ten or fifteen minutes a day honing these skills, your piano playing abilities will immediately improve, taking you to the next level.
Piano Liquidators has been in the piano industry for many years. They have piano stores in Utah. They can sell any piano to anyone in the United States.
Source :-- http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/piano-fundamentals-5865655.html
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