EasyPianoHacks

"What dexterity exercises should I practice to get faster at piano?" asks @brenden.k.bianchi 

Exercise 1

The Hanon exercises are great for piano finger dexterity and warm up. 

Before every practice session, I would play 1 Hanon exercise at least once. I would work on 1 different Hanon exercise every week, but if I did not master fluency of that Hanon exercise, I'd do it again for another week. 

Hanon No. 1 all the way to Hanon No. 31 are essential minimums. These Hanon exercises train your fingers, especially fingers 3 and 4 - the weaker of the 5 fingers on each hand.

To target the 3rd and 4th fingers, we make them work harder in Hanon No. 2 and 3. 

Exercise 2

This is about scales, chords, and arpeggios. 

This is called Piano Technique - we do this every day for at least 10 years to achieve mastery.

For beginners, you can start by playing the 5 finger scale C-D-E-F-G until you can play this evenly.

Beyond this, for scales, you can start with C major, G major, D major, A major, and E major. 

These are the first 5 keys in the Circle of 5ths - no sharp, 1 sharp,  2 sharps, 3 sharps, and 4 sharps.

Once comfortable with the fingering for these 5 major keys, you may continue to learn all 12 major keys. 

Meanwhile, there are 12 minor keys that correspond to each key signature as well.

If you become proficient in all keys, you will learn new pieces with ease.

https://shop.rcmusic.com/products/the-royal-conservatory-of-music-piano-technique-book-2008-edition

XUE HUA PIAO PIAO. I cried making this piano version of Yi Jian Mei 一剪梅 Asian Eggman singing in da snow. The original song is Yi Jian Mei made popular by Taiwanese singer 費玉清, who recently finished his world tour before everyone went into isolation.  

Sheet Music: https://rebrand.ly/yi-jian-mei-pdf 

Such a beautiful song, I was inspired to create an orchestral version, like a piano concerto. 

#xuehuapiaopiao #yijianmei #一剪梅 

Get free piano advice in our Piano Q&A Whatsapp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LthdyAFw4tm

How to develop Hand Independence for the piano 🎹👌 This is a common question and with some practice - it's an easy fix.

Start with a simple 5 note scale - C D E F G F E D C

Level 1: 

Both LH and RH play up and down, quarter notes while you count

Level 2: 

RH plays 1/8th notes while the LH plays quarter notes. 

RH - C D E F G F E D C D E F G F E D C

Notice how the right hand plays 2 notes for every 1 note the left hand plays.

We are starting with a scale that most beginners know how to do, so we can focus on training hand independence.

Level 3: 

Same as Level 2 but play the entire C major scale.

RH plays 2 notes per 1 note in the LH (RH will play 2 octaves total)

Level 4: 

RH plays 3 notes per 1 note in the LH. 

Play the entire C major scale (RH will play 3 octaves total) 

Level 5: 

RH plays 4 notes per 1 note in the LH. 

Play the entire C major scale (RH will play 4 octaves total)

Once you are familiar with this, you can try this exercise with Hanon No. 1.

Instead of testing hand independence by playing different notes, you can play 

> Different articulation, ex. RH plays staccatos, LH plays legato. You can alternate every new rotation.

> Different dynamics, ex. RH plays forte, LH plays piano. Once easy, you can alternate every new rotation"

"My pinky collapses when I try to reach for octaves. What should I do? What do I do if my pinky collapses when I play slow and loud?" submitted by @chansamuel63

The pinky is naturally a weaker finger. We can strengthen it with drills and exercises like Hanon. 

1) First, we must check your form. The outer side of the pinky can be used, instead of just the point of the finger. Look at how you use the thumb - Finger 1. We do not use the point like Fingers 2, 3, and 4. We can use the side of our pinky (Finger 5) and ""hammer down"" as well as the point when we need to stretch octaves. This will require some practice.

2) If your pinky collapses, I highly recommend starting Hanon No. 31 to train your pinky strength. Go slow and play firmly. Press each key down.

https://easypianohacks.com/my-pinky-still-collapses-when-i-try-to-reach-for-octaves-what-should-i-do-what-do-i-do-if-my-pinky-collapses-when-i-play-slow-and-loud/

To get better at sight reading you must:

> Read new music every day. 

> The new music you read every day should be slightly lower than your level, so you can train your reaction and reading skills.

> Learn to read the musical notation (tempo, clefs, key signatures, accidentals) as if they were the signs on the road. If you miss one, you must stop and correct yourself.

> Your goal is to play with 100% accuracy in notes, and 100% accuracy in rhythm, on the 1st time you read it through. 

Here are some good resources with exercises to improve your sight reading:

1) Czerny Op. 299 - learn 1 new exercises per week. These start out easy, but get harder towards the end of the book.

2) Four Star Sight Reading Series - I did all 10 books for 10 years of my piano career. These books give you 1 new exercise to play for each day of the week, as well as clapping rhythm exercises to develop your rhythm abilities. There are also ear training exercises for you to do at the end of each chapter. 

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=four+star+sight+reading

3) Download your favorite sheet music. 

Sight reading ability also improves with how many pieces of music you have read and learned by reading sheet music. 

Naturally, the more pieces you learn from sheet music, the faster you get at sight reading. The more difficult the pieces you read, the easier most sheet music will become to you.

YouTube is a good resource. 

Lots of creators upload their sheets onto music-notes.com for purchase: https://www.musicnotes.com/

Musescore is also good: http://musescore.com/

I recently got Musescore Pro, and can find many arrangements made by users.

4) Memorize the 30 most common notes

If you don't already have the notes memorized, I highly suggest using flash cards to memorize all 30 common notes. If you know 30 people, you can match 30 names to 30 faces, then you can definitely memorize 30 notes on the grand staff. 

You can also get an app to test instant recognition of notes and rests, or you can play this game: http://sightreading.training/

5) If you're tired of reading 1 note at a time, and dream of sight reading at 2 to 4 notes at a time, and you never had any formal training, here's a Free Course I made to help you review the basic fundamentals: http://easypianohacks.com/courses/sight-reading"

40 hours. Just kidding. 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 2 sessions of 30 minutes, 4 hours - everyone is different.

Figure out what works best for you. I like to prioritize achievement of tasks over how long I spend.

I try to spend 20 to 30 minutes on a problem I'm trying to fix in a piece, before moving on to the next problem in the piece, or the next piece of music.

Download Hanon, play No. 31 every day: https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Virtuoso_Pianist_(Hanon,_Charles-Louis)

Here's the first episode I ever put out on piano. You can follow along and download the free flash card set on YouTube at EasyPianoHacks.