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Hello i was looking for a technique book for piano that involves simple and practical excercises on the piano (not body awareness excercises away from it). I am not looking for hand strengthening exercises either rather ones to develope control and accuracy.
I don't know if anyone plays classical guitar here but the ideal book i am looking for would be like scott tenants "pumping nylon" where he addresses a technique and gives practical Written out(Stand. Not.) and not just explained in words. He also developed a dailey practice routine for developing control.

If there is a technique book like this out there please let me know b/c i can't find it

Thank you

People may laugh at this, but I thumbed through a copy of "Piano Exercises for Dummies" at the bookstore the other day and it actually looked pretty good. Give it a look and see what you think.

It depends on your level, but I like Burnam's Dozen-A-Day series for beginners, as well as Schaum's FingerPower.
More advanced students benefit from Hanon The Complete Virtuoso, one of my favorites.

Joan

thanks i've used a dozen a days first book and am currently using some hannon exercises but i haven't looked at Scham's Book
I liked these books i just felt like something was missing.

I was looking for more of a technique book with explanations and exercises suited towards certain topics and almost like a referance book with practical dailey exercises to supplement it im not really sure if it exists?

I was also wondering if anyone has come up with any dailey control/technique exercises I could Find?

thanks
I haven't read the piano for dummies book but supprisinly the books i have seen from this series are well put together.

Well, if I can't find one in Hanon that applies directly to a technical issue I'm working on, then I make one up for my students. I don't really know of a one-stop-shop if you know what I mean.

I haven't looked at the Piano for Dummies book either, but I would have loved to get a snap shot of Kreisler in the book store thumbing through that one LOL!

I prefer not to read books that insult me in the title

I'm going to go against the grain and discourage the use of Hanon and other repetitious exercises. Maybe it's a generational thing, but my teachers all the way up through grad school frown upon these exercises and I tend to agree.

IMO: The majority of your technical work (which shouldn't be in the form of exercises) should come from:

a) a wide variety of repertoire -- you will run into technical challenges in every piece and I consider these "real world" challenges that result in learning real music and building your foundation of skills.

b) do your technical work via scales (in diff't permutations, 3rds, 6ths, 10ths, octaves) arpeggios, etc. but don't spend the majority of your practice time here because it won't make you a good musician.

Also, if you're worried about technical problems with your playing you should be getting some advice from an experienced teacher.

~Jennifer Eklund

BTW...I don't mean "Piano for Dummies," I mean "Piano Exercises for Dummies." It's the only book I've seen that actually explains exercises, which is why I suggested it for this particular post.

Gyorgy Sandor's "On Piano Playing" features a lot of great explanation with examples, but doesn't really present a lot of examples.

The exercises of Hanon, Dohnanyi, Pischna, Brahms, and others can be extremely helpful, but they lack explanation. (And in most cases, good explanation and demonstration can make or break these exercises. Hanon done right is fantastic. Hanon done wrong is destructive.)

Another decent book is Carl Humphries' "The Piano Handbook." It's not as intensive as what the original poster seems to be asking for, but also worth a look.

It's not at all against the grain. You've plenty of company.

Is there a book that explains how to do Hanon right? The introductory text itself is a little silly, I think.

i already tried to play piano by learning songs and working on technique when i came to it, but as a result i devloped an injury because i was to tense and never learned how to use arm wieght or gravity drops.

i am also aware of the pitful of playing meaningless repititions on excercises i was just looking for a book that gave you certain exercises to help you get/or feel the sensations of piano playing and certain techniques while being mindful of good technique.
i woudn't plan on playing these excercises forever but just so i can get basic coodination with good habbits.

You can't really learn piano technique from a book. You must have live instruction which includes both demonstration from the teacher and hands-on practice with your teacher observing.

Are you studying with somebody? I doubt that a book can explain these types of body mechanics in a way that can help every individual. The sticking point is that we all do "quirky" things when we play and often it takes someone watching us to diagnose the problem.

~Jennifer Eklund

yes i am and they say my technique is good but i feel like there kind of just talking about my posture and hand positions

also the teacher i was with before also told me i didn't have any phisically bad techniques and i still got hurt. i kind of feel that to learn good technique its good to have theory about it and have people observe you (teachers) but in the end it's about how it feels to you and how you develope it

BTW thank you for all your advice everyone i appreciate all your comments
and i don't mean to say i am looking for something to replace a teacher i am just looking for something to start me off b/c not every teacher teaches good habbits or ideas

also while i have your attention has anyone seen "freeing the caged bird" by babra lister sink it seems to have very good ideas but comes short on exercises at the piano to help with her meathod (but she has plenty of movement education/ body awareness exercises that are done away from the piano) i am kind of looking for something to supplement this as well

Hi Josh,
Here is my website that may have the information that you are learning for.

http://bestsheetmusiceditions.com/piano-technique-books/

It has a lot of information about piano technique books that you may find interesting.

Really Jordan... again???? You just looked online and happened to find YOUR OWN WEBSITE?????? You gave the show away when you posted a link in your other thread about best piano benches that is identical to the YouTube in the website. Honesty would have meant stating that you have published your personal opinions about the best technique books.

This thread is seven years old.

To the day! (July 7)

I made some edits.

It is my own blog and my own thoughts on the website.

All of these technique books can be downloaded for free from imslp.com, or purchased from any sheet music vendor if you don't want to download. If you buy through the provided blog link, it gives Jordan 10% of the purchase price if bought through Amazon.