Hey Students, If you want to make the most out of your time this summer and take your piano playing to that next level, I highly recommend you check out the courses over on my website www.pianolessonsontheweb.com; especially since the Summer Sale is going on right now until June 22nd. Also, code “youtube” at checkout will still get you an additional 15% off on top of the sale. Now is a great time to learn!
My bad habit is not focusing on scales and finger technique. I end up jumping into song pieces like the nocturne in c sharp minor and guessing what fingers work well. If i learn/memorize how to do scales very well it will help to know which fingers to use in song pieces. I have the hannon books and scales book but i dont put much focus/time into them as i should.
It's why I make a big deal out of doing scales every time I practice. I don't do absolutely every scale of course but I'll do something like all the major scales for the natural scales or something like that. Since I do them daily I only also do them like once or twice. Unless I miss them up. If I miss up a scale them I will keep with it until I play it correctly and then like 4 or so more times after. I'm still relatively new to my piano journey though (a couple months shy of a year) and thus really want to focus on the basics. As I improve though I still want to work on the basics because they are the foundation for all music.
It's easy to do. Playing fast is more excited and I find reinforces that internal sense that we really have the piece down. The sad truth is though it just means, like Tim said, we are just missing our mistakes. Over time I have grown to really like slow practice though because I find it reinforces muscle memory and helps me learn pieces faster. I remember from somewhere (unfortunately I don't remember where) that the average person can move their fingers as fast as a master pianist. The difference is the master pianist moves them with purpose and cleanly. In other words is very important to just make sure our notes are clean first before playing them quickly. And even once we have it down it's still good to go back to playing parts slowly to fine tune because, like Tim said, we often start to fudge certain parts even subconsciously. Slowly down helps pick up the problem areas and hone them in.
Bad Habit: Bad posture. I feel like a shrimp playing piano. Good Habit: Varying practice technique. Let's take an example, Bach's 2nd Prelude from WTC I. Instead of only practicing slowly with metronome, and speeding up, one can: 1-Practice in swing rhythms, starting with the accent on the first note, then the 2nd, etc. 2-Practice in accented rhythms at a constant speed. 3-Practice in bulk (like 4 notes quickly, followed by a short pause, then 4 more notes, etc.) 4-Practicing in groups (3 notes slow, 5 notes quick, starting on various notes). 5-Practicing with varying articulation (staccato first note, legato second, etc.) 6-Practicing with oddly placed accents (like out of beat accents). 7-Practicing with dynamic variety (one measure Forte, one Piano, or all the piece Forte then all of it again but Piano) 8-Practicing with automatic increasing tempo (this needs an app, but you can essentially play some measures in a closed loop while having a metronome automatically increase speed when you finish playing the measures). 9-Practicing sight reading a portion of it before honing it down. 10-Practicing with improvising using the patterns, themes, or chord progressions from that piece. Such variety in practice is invaluable in making practice less boring (albeit more tedious), but definitely more efficient.
It isn't enough to know what bad habits to avoid when learning piano, you need to know some of the common mistakes to watch out for also! Check out this collection of lessons next to make sure you aren't making some of these critical errors so that you can learn piano faster and with less frustration: bit.ly/PianoMistakesList
You did say write down the finger number which one commonly uses to play specific notes. Right.... I play an instrument that is uncommon. It is not a piano and has no rules for finger patterns. So, I have had to write and develop my own.for ex. RH #3 G⑤, A⑤, B⑤, C⑤ RH #4 D⑥, E⑥ ( RH= right hand #= finger number G A B C= Key Letter ⑤ ,⑥= Octave Glad you mentioned finger patterns in this tutorial. Music theory can be appreciated & applied across the board. This channel has High quality presentations. Thanks ! for sharing the knowledge.
Biggest problem is playing above level, poor finger technique I get a lot of strained and pain when I play certain songs and it bothers me a lot sometimes
One thing I do is start slow, but gradually speed up, then try playing it faster than the original speed, that way the actually speed of the piece feels easy.
POWER TIP: you said to schedule a playing time every day for regular practice. If I schedule it, then it'll be harder to get to at the right time. Do you think I should schedule it and only do it for 30 min? Or not schedule anything and play it for an hour randomly throughout the day?
You can be flexible with the schedule if that works for you. You could pick a time window instead of a specific time. Practicing at around the same time will help establish practice as a habit, but you can do it at slightly different times without there being a problem.
My struggle is trying to play piano sheets higher than what I can actually play. I will apply the tip where you will mark sections you struggle with.. ❤ this video is really helpful..thanks!
I find it's easy to do especially for me as a beginner and also without a teacher. I am trying to get one but at this point all I can get in my area is the online videos. And don't get me wrong they are good it's just that a teacher can give you live feedback and help focus instruction in more productive ways. And on that note it can be hard to find where to begin. For example I have a book for classical pieces that came with my piano but some of the pieces they say are for beginners are more complicated than they should be. I feel it's because it's written for people who have played piano for a little bit. The pieces aren't too complex but I'm just using that as an example. The term beginner or easy means different things to different people so it can be hard to find where to begin.
All of them, except arm weight. I joined Berklee Online College of Music and was told my fingering is “cumbersome”. Ouch! This is a great video! I would say in the past four years, (started just before pandemic) I only buy music that is too hard. But I make sure there is something in the piece that will teach me a new technique. I am retired and have the time and understanding to know it won’t come overnight. But time and repetition is the key. I now play very differently.
What i'm struggling with the most are all the technical mechanical practices like scales and arpeggios that tend to be boring and...yes, I obviously unconsciously tend to speed it up just to gev over with it. But I'm trying I swear
What rules, if any, are used to approach patterns that are not scales or arpeggios etc. Where can I get more specific advice and or training?. Your course and videos are most helpful. Thank you, Tim, for your work and dedication.
Using arm weight is a struggle for me...I tend to rely solely on my fingers for dynamics and it is uncomfortable...I must get into the habit of using arm weight.💪
You are best teacher so far.Not only able to understand , visualise our struggles but giving us the tips solutions ..otherwise we end up practising our bad habits and ended up being frustrated.One request is how do we strike a piano key clea nly instead of two keys together on one figures.You are a gem. Tqvm.
Question: I struggle with not having a practise schedule, learning music theory, etc. And especially reading sheet music. Do you already have videos on how to learn to read sheet music? I often forget what I learn and have to go over them again and again.
Hey Students, If you want to make the most out of your time this summer and take your piano playing to that next level, I highly recommend you check out the courses over on my website www.pianolessonsontheweb.com; especially since the Summer Sale is going on right now until June 22nd. Also, code “youtube” at checkout will still get you an additional 15% off on top of the sale. Now is a great time to learn!
My bad habit is not focusing on scales and finger technique. I end up jumping into song pieces like the nocturne in c sharp minor and guessing what fingers work well. If i learn/memorize how to do scales very well it will help to know which fingers to use in song pieces. I have the hannon books and scales book but i dont put much focus/time into them as i should.
It's why I make a big deal out of doing scales every time I practice. I don't do absolutely every scale of course but I'll do something like all the major scales for the natural scales or something like that. Since I do them daily I only also do them like once or twice. Unless I miss them up. If I miss up a scale them I will keep with it until I play it correctly and then like 4 or so more times after. I'm still relatively new to my piano journey though (a couple months shy of a year) and thus really want to focus on the basics. As I improve though I still want to work on the basics because they are the foundation for all music.
Just pick one scale and one hanon and do 5 minutes each , if you do it everyday it begins to add up especially if playing is a lifetime
My biggest problem is that I play too fast and don’t focus enough on the problem areas. Thank you Tim for another wonderful video. ❤
It's easy to do. Playing fast is more excited and I find reinforces that internal sense that we really have the piece down. The sad truth is though it just means, like Tim said, we are just missing our mistakes. Over time I have grown to really like slow practice though because I find it reinforces muscle memory and helps me learn pieces faster. I remember from somewhere (unfortunately I don't remember where) that the average person can move their fingers as fast as a master pianist. The difference is the master pianist moves them with purpose and cleanly. In other words is very important to just make sure our notes are clean first before playing them quickly. And even once we have it down it's still good to go back to playing parts slowly to fine tune because, like Tim said, we often start to fudge certain parts even subconsciously. Slowly down helps pick up the problem areas and hone them in.
If you can play it slow you can play it fast. 😃 Thanks for the lesson 😊
Interesting
I thought I remembered that from somewhere! It's kinda my mantra too. Fast notes are just slow notes quickly.
Bad Habit: Bad posture. I feel like a shrimp playing piano.
Good Habit: Varying practice technique.
Let's take an example, Bach's 2nd Prelude from WTC I.
Instead of only practicing slowly with metronome, and speeding up, one can:
1-Practice in swing rhythms, starting with the accent on the first note, then the 2nd, etc.
2-Practice in accented rhythms at a constant speed.
3-Practice in bulk (like 4 notes quickly, followed by a short pause, then 4 more notes, etc.)
4-Practicing in groups (3 notes slow, 5 notes quick, starting on various notes).
5-Practicing with varying articulation (staccato first note, legato second, etc.)
6-Practicing with oddly placed accents (like out of beat accents).
7-Practicing with dynamic variety (one measure Forte, one Piano, or all the piece Forte then all of it again but Piano)
8-Practicing with automatic increasing tempo (this needs an app, but you can essentially play some measures in a closed loop while having a metronome automatically increase speed when you finish playing the measures).
9-Practicing sight reading a portion of it before honing it down.
10-Practicing with improvising using the patterns, themes, or chord progressions from that piece.
Such variety in practice is invaluable in making practice less boring (albeit more tedious), but definitely more efficient.
It isn't enough to know what bad habits to avoid when learning piano, you need to know some of the common mistakes to watch out for also! Check out this collection of lessons next to make sure you aren't making some of these critical errors so that you can learn piano faster and with less frustration: bit.ly/PianoMistakesList
You did say write down the finger number which one commonly uses to play specific notes. Right.... I play an instrument that is uncommon. It is not a piano and has no rules for finger patterns. So, I have had to write and develop my own.for ex.
RH #3 G⑤, A⑤, B⑤, C⑤
RH #4 D⑥, E⑥
( RH= right hand
#= finger number
G A B C= Key Letter
⑤ ,⑥= Octave
Glad you mentioned finger patterns in this tutorial. Music theory can be appreciated & applied across the board. This channel has High quality presentations.
Thanks ! for sharing the knowledge.
this is very helpful, thank you very much!
Biggest problem is playing above level, poor finger technique I get a lot of strained and pain when I play certain songs and it bothers me a lot sometimes
One thing I do is start slow, but gradually speed up, then try playing it faster than the original speed, that way the actually speed of the piece feels easy.
I'm sure my biggest problem is posture
POWER TIP: you said to schedule a playing time every day for regular practice. If I schedule it, then it'll be harder to get to at the right time. Do you think I should schedule it and only do it for 30 min? Or not schedule anything and play it for an hour randomly throughout the day?
You can be flexible with the schedule if that works for you. You could pick a time window instead of a specific time. Practicing at around the same time will help establish practice as a habit, but you can do it at slightly different times without there being a problem.
Thank you!! You've given me comfort. Thanks for the awesome vid!
Sitting up straight is a lot easier if you move the bench backward and sit on the very edge of it
My struggle is trying to play piano sheets higher than what I can actually play.
I will apply the tip where you will mark sections you struggle with.. ❤ this video is really helpful..thanks!
I find it's easy to do especially for me as a beginner and also without a teacher. I am trying to get one but at this point all I can get in my area is the online videos. And don't get me wrong they are good it's just that a teacher can give you live feedback and help focus instruction in more productive ways. And on that note it can be hard to find where to begin. For example I have a book for classical pieces that came with my piano but some of the pieces they say are for beginners are more complicated than they should be. I feel it's because it's written for people who have played piano for a little bit. The pieces aren't too complex but I'm just using that as an example. The term beginner or easy means different things to different people so it can be hard to find where to begin.
All of them, except arm weight. I joined Berklee Online College of Music and was told my fingering is “cumbersome”. Ouch! This is a great video! I would say in the past four years, (started just before pandemic) I only buy music that is too hard. But I make sure there is something in the piece that will teach me a new technique. I am retired and have the time and understanding to know it won’t come overnight. But time and repetition is the key. I now play very differently.
What i'm struggling with the most are all the technical mechanical practices like scales and arpeggios that tend to be boring and...yes, I obviously unconsciously tend to speed it up just to gev over with it. But I'm trying I swear
What rules, if any, are used to approach patterns that are not scales or arpeggios etc. Where can I get more specific advice and or training?. Your course and videos are most helpful.
Thank you, Tim, for your work and dedication.
Best channel. Great pacing
Thank for the information
Using arm weight is a struggle for me...I tend to rely solely on my fingers for dynamics and it is uncomfortable...I must get into the habit of using arm weight.💪
Finger positions is the hardest for me
You are best teacher so far.Not only able to understand , visualise our struggles but giving us the tips solutions ..otherwise we end up practising our bad habits and ended up being frustrated.One request is how do we strike a piano key clea nly instead of two keys together on one figures.You are a gem. Tqvm.
My struggle is have that I have unnaturally small hands so my extension is awful since I have to jump around a lot
Tension in my hands and fingers is the problem I experience. thank you for your very useful lessons❤
Thank you tim. i want to better at the piano.
Thanks piano teacher Tim
Thank you. I postponed the practice of hard bits…..
Bad posture 😂
This channel is one of the best ressources to learn. Not even my teacher talked about these things😂
Chordz
Question: What do you personally struggle with?
I struggle with piano posture and chords, but mostly it's reading sheet music.
Great to know! Thanks for sharing.
The fingers and remember posture
Good morning and thank you.
Question: I struggle with not having a practise schedule, learning music theory, etc. And especially reading sheet music.
Do you already have videos on how to learn to read sheet music? I often forget what I learn and have to go over them again and again.
Hey!
I do have lessons on reading music. You can find them here: bit.ly/notereadstrats
@@LessonsOnTheWeb Thank you !!