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#1114116 10/20/08 11:32 PM
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What are the top 3 tips/revelations that has most improved your piano playing? Any feedback much appreciated! smile

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#1114117 10/20/08 11:36 PM
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I'm not a beginner, so forgive me for butting in, (but I once was).

Top tip #1. Get a good teacher, one who skillfully teaches #2 below:

#2. Learn good technique...how you physically play the piano will
be your restriction or your release to playing well.

#3. Never give up.


Blues and Boogie-Woogie piano teacher.
#1114118 10/20/08 11:46 PM
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smile I don't think I'm far enough along yet to have 3 great tips.

The only one I've really figured out so far (but have trouble applying consistently) is: RELAX!

But sometimes, that's a whole job unto itself! smile

Looking forward to hearing everyone elses' tips!

#1114119 10/20/08 11:52 PM
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#1.Learning to play the piano is somewhat like going forward in reverse.

#2. You get out what you put into it.

#3. Perform what YOU want to play, not what others want you to.

#1114120 10/21/08 01:26 AM
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Quote
Originally posted by mr_super-hunky:
#1.Learning to play the piano is somewhat like going forward in reverse.

#2. You get out what you put into it.

#3. Perform what YOU want to play, not what others want you to.
I like your #3 the most. Start with what you like, see where it leads you, then branch out over time into other areas, but still letting your own interest/desire (dreams) be your guide. I do think that usually a good teacher can help students find more music that they like and never dreamed existed.

Just a few ideas:

1. Learn as much music as you can, and don't worry about perfection as you are absorbing the music. Read, read, read.

2. Reading is about half of it. If you can read just about anything that is written for the piano (within reason), there is no end to the fun you will have.

3. The other half is learning to do all the things not covered by reading, which involves experimentation, trying to reproduce what you have only heard and never seen, attempts at some kind of composition, some kind of improvisation.

#1114121 10/21/08 01:45 AM
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1. Mental prep will help lead to the technique matters.

2. Having ideas are important, but "understanding" the music is far more.

3. Phrasing is everything.

#1114122 10/21/08 01:46 AM
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1. Practice Slowly!!!! seriously, sometimes we just forget and try to go at breakneck speed....at least I do :p

2. I'm just gonna reiterate, learn good technique.with a good technique you'll allow all the musical ideas in your head possible otherwise they'll just stay ideas.

3. HAVE FUN!!!!! BECAUSE LEARNING THE PIANO IS AMAZING AND YOU'LL LEAVE OTHERS ENVIOUS OF THE DAZZLING TRICKS YOU CAN PULL OFF WITH A MERE 2 HANDS AND 10 FINGERS laugh

#1114123 10/21/08 04:27 AM
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1. Don't practice mistakes.

2. Get a good teacher.

3. Be cool.

#1114124 10/21/08 04:59 AM
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Some good ones above... smile

Here's mine:

1. Don't Ever Stop.

There are dozens of small mistakes you can makes along the music path but only one really big one. Don’t join the thousands who lose interest and slowly drift off, never to return. Work out what motivates you. Not what motivates your teacher, the person who wrote your tutorial books, or the forum gurus, but YOU! We’re all different. Then check and refresh it regularly. Playing music should be an activity that you can't imagine NOT doing - not a chore that you timetable in because you think you should...


2. Listen, listen and listen again to the music.

The dots on the score are there as a guide and a help, not as a ruler to beat yourself over the knuckles with, so don’t get hypnotised by them. It’s what’s contained in the sound that’s the main game.


3. Play With Love and Enthusiasm.

Half the battle is probably just getting your fingers to press the right keys when you want them too, but the other half is possibly the more important - playing with flair, spirit, ‘touch and timing’, expressiveness, etc. If I can’t play the simple tunes from book 1 with some life and enthusiasm then why the heck should anybody want to hear me grind through the two millionth mediocre version of a piece by Bach or Chopin? Play what you love, but treat music like it’s a passion that you can’t imagine being without, not like it’s a quick one night stand that you’ll have forgotten tomorrow. Making music is one of the most exciting and sensually rewarding things you can do in your life, so don't just plod from one page to the next like you're rolling a rock up a hill.... wink

Enjoy the journey.

Cheers,

Chris


Who needs feet of clay? I can get into enough trouble with feet made of regular foot stuff...
#1114125 10/21/08 04:59 AM
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At my site (http://ahmedfernando.wordpress.com), I've started posting daily tips for my piano students. I update daily and I'm up to number 49 right now.

In my opinion, my three most important are:

1. Beat fear by accepting yourself.
2. Learn from a good teacher to eventually become your own teacher. Independence, its what we all should aim for.
3. Have fun, love what you do. If you don't what's the point?


My blog, Allegro Molto. http://ahmedfernando.wordpress.com
#1114126 10/21/08 07:34 AM
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1) Work out the fingering as soon as you start a new piece. This is one of the keys to a happy piano experience.

2) Learn all the major and minor scales, so your fingers get to know the topography and geography of the piano.

3) Record all of your practice sessions and listen to excerpts once or twice a week.


Mel


"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, only what you are expecting to give, which is everything. You give because you love and cannot help giving." Katharine Hepburn
#1114127 10/21/08 07:35 AM
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1. If something isn't clicking, and you can't make it work... walk away. Revisit the piano a little later. I often find if I leave, and them come back later, the piece/part I was trying ends up falling into place right away.

2. I know it's been said a bunch, but play what you love.

3. Be open to critial feedback. I use my wife's ear for that. She will tell me when something I'm playing is sounding good, or if it is not. I try playing pieces from ear mostly, so there is a lot of room to move... she lets me know if it also sounds good to other people, as most of us know that what we often hear when we play live sounds tons different than when we listen to a recording of it.


1905 Geo P. Bent Orchestral Grand Upright "Crown" 35415
#1114128 10/21/08 07:52 AM
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This is a potentially limitless thread.
It seems that the tips are divided into
The philosophical
The practical. ie general advice about what to do ie get a teacher and learn good technique
The technical. ie more specific advice about what to do

I've pasted what we've got so far to summarise (you can tell I should be doing other work related jobs on my computer!)
The philosophical

Beat fear by accepting yourself.
Have fun, love what you do. If you don't what's the point?
Independence, its what we all should aim for.
Play With Love and Enthusiasm
Be cool
HAVE FUN!!!!!
Mental prep will help lead to the technique matters
Having ideas are important, but "understanding" the music is far more
Learning to play the piano is somewhat like going forward in reverse
You get out what you put into it

The practical

Get a good teacher
Get a good teacher, one who skillfully teaches
Learn from a good teacher to eventually become your own teacher. Independence, its what we all should aim for.
Don't Ever Stop
Never give up
Listen, listen and listen again to the music.
learn good technique
Learn as much music as you can, and don't worry about perfection as you are absorbing the music. Read, read, read
Perform what YOU want to play, not what others want you to
RELAX!
Learn good technique...how you physically play the piano will
be your restriction or your release to playing well.


The technical

Don't practice mistakes
Practice Slowly!!!!
Phrasing is everything

I agree with the all above
But it seems that the technical tips are what is most lacking
So my technical advice would be
1) Record yourself often – you don’t really know a piece until you can record yourself and be happy with the first take on 2 or 3 consecutive practice sessions. I have to work REALLY HARD to achieve this
2) Practice your scales (all 36 keys: 3rds 6ths 10ths similar and contrary motion, polyrhythms, dynamics and articulation and varying groupings eg duplets triplets and fours)I used to have an ideological hatred of scales and avoid them as a matter of principle. I have surprised myself by not finding their practice at all boring (as I had expected I would) and am sure it has helped my key board geography, touch, technique and ability since I underwent baptism to the rite of scales.
3) Adopt specific practice techniques to avoid practicing mistakes such as the seven stages of misery (as described in Philip Johnston’s “the practice revolution”)

PS I see that my advice about recording and scales has already been given - phone call interrupted me whilst slowly typing this!

#1114129 10/21/08 07:54 AM
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1 Don't make it a solitary pursuit. Playing in front others will help your confidence.

2 Don't expect perfection and don't beat yourself up about making mistakes. Mistakes are just an alternative arrangement.

3 Remember that you matter far more than the piano - it matters not what tool you play on, but matters far more how musically you play.


C212. Teaching. Accompaniment.
#1114130 10/21/08 08:05 AM
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al_spinner - Here are three important points that I've discovered in my short tenure of self-instructed piano study that should always be kept in mind and followed as you practice:

1. Review Constantly - as you move forward in your studies from relatively simpler, shorter, less demanding pieces to more complex, longer and more difficult pieces you should do continual review of select pieces you worked on previously - this can take the form of occasionally taking a break in the study of new pieces to go back for awhile and re-study some previously studied pieces, or you can (as I do) work on both simultaneously: study new pieces and older pieces at the same time, moving forward on both sets of pieces concurrently. Reviewing has a double benefit: (1) bringing your current improved skills and technique to bear on easier pieces you studied some time before helps you play them better (sometimes much better) the second time around (especially from the standpoint of the "musicality" of your performance), and (2) re-studying easier pieces shores up or solidifies the technique and skills you first learned at that point in your studies thus making it easier to master those required for your newer (current) pieces, pushing you forward that much faster with greater confidence and skill.

2. Attack Difficulties - whenever you come to a new, special technique, or more frequently a difficult passage(s) in a new piece you must work with determination to reasonably master it right then and there - stay with it and work on it until you have considerable control of it - this is very impotrtant - you must not skip these sections or "slur" over them or just work on them a little just to say you did and then forget about them and move on to something "easier" - you must get in the habit of overcoming these difficulties everytime you encounter them and be able in all cases to play the music as intended - every such difficulty conquered will make attacking every new difficulty easier, and every difficulty that you ignore or just give a half-hearted effort to master will come back to "haunt" you later.

3. Variety is the Spice - You can concentrate on playing only one kind (genre) of music, and you might be very happy and satisfied doing so (and I'll certainly defend your right to do so) - but I don't recommend it - there's a big, wide, wonderful world of music out there for the taking and the playing, from Classical to Jazz to Ragtime to Popular Standards to Country to Blues to Hymns to ethnic music from many nations and regions, etc., etc. - there is so much enjoyable music in so many different fields of music that to limit yourself to playing only one type is so, well, "limiting" - it's like being in a large banquet room filled with delicious foods of all kinds from all over the world and you voluntarily confine yourself to sitting at a little table way over in the corner where the appetizers are located. Yes, you may fill up on appetizers and be "fat & happy" doing so, but look at all those scrumptuous gormet delights that you've missed!

Regards, JF


Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frederic Chopin

Current favorite bumper sticker: Wag more, bark less.
#1114131 10/21/08 08:31 AM
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I was just reading through some more of these tips and it was mentioned to "learn from a good teacher to eventually become your own teacher." I'd like to say that I apply this to all of my arts because I believe it was Leonardo Da Vinci who once said something along the lines of,

"Poor is the student who does not surpass their master."

I actually find this to be relatively true because if it weren't then progress in anything would be impossible.

#1114132 10/21/08 08:33 AM
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1. Slow practice. Meaning DEAD SLOW with the fingers making deliberate deep contact with the keys. This helps fix the sequence in you nerves and muscles. Your brain is too overwelmed with input to learn effectively at speed. The speed will come almost effortlessly when you thoroughly KNOW the piece.

2. When you do speed up, alternate fast practice with dead slow practice about 1/1. The nerve and muscle memory starts to deteriorate with speed. The slow practice renews it.

3. Get over your phobia about metronomes as soon as possible. If they make you nervous you'll just have to be nervous for awhile. You'll get over it but the only way to is to just DO IT.


Slow down and do it right.
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#1114133 10/21/08 08:43 AM
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1. To play something really well at a certain tempo you must be able to play it really well at a slower tempo.

2. Bad use of the pedal can ruin an otherwise well played piece. Good use of the pedal makes a big difference.

3. Give as much attention to rests as with notes.


Jeff
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#1114134 10/21/08 08:47 AM
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Great thread. thumb My top 3 tips:

1. Play what you love.

2. Use the metronome sparingly... but *use* it, especially when learning a new piece to ensure that you are following the proper rhythm.

3. Practice extensively what Cooke called the "fractures" in a piece... the handful of passages that are particularly troublesome, including the measures immediately before and after those passages.

#1114135 10/21/08 09:19 AM
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I'm still a beginner but what helped me improve tremendously was

Slow practice as frycek phrased it. It wasn't until I slowed down after my teacher kept insisting that my playing started improving

The other big one that made a difference that my teacher noticed from one week to the next was concentrating on the difficult passages. I spend 10 minutes alone on difficult passages and they literally correct themselves with that technic

Play what pleases you. If you don't like a piece and it's assigned ask to play something different that'll give you the same practice technic. If your heart is not in a piece that you don't like i don't think you'll ever play it the way it should be played


Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.>>> Herman Munster
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