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Practice

One Fingering

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I was recently preparing a piece to perform.  I could play it well by myself, but I wanted to test it in front of an audience.  When I played it for a friend of mine, I found out real quick where the spots were that I didn’t know as well as I thought I did.  I then knew what I needed to work on.

One particular passage stood out to me.  It was only a few measures long, but I realized I really didn’t know exactly what fingering I used when I played it.  I just sort of played it, and it always seemed to work out.  (Sound familiar?)  But when I played it in front of my friend, it fell apart.

In my next practice session, I went back to hands alone, and used the fingering in the music.  I re-learned the passage over several days, still hands alone to ingrain the specific fingering in my brain and in my hands.  This was all done incredibly slow.  Eventually I worked my way up to hands together slowly, but still slow enough so I was consciously aware of the precise fingering I was using on every single note.  One week later I could just start to play the passage up to tempo, however, I continued to daily go back to hands alone slowly with conscious awareness of the exact fingering I was using.

Once I get comfortable with my new precise fingering, I will test the piece in front of an audience again.  I will then find out if it’s performance ready, or if I need more practice on that passage.

Going through the same practice and performance process I ask my students to reminded me of the importance of having one precise fingering you use all the time.  One fingering gives you predictability and therefore, security.  When you have that, performing can be a lot of fun.

If you find difficult parts in your pieces, ask yourself if you are aware of the exact fingering you use.  If you’re aren’t, just getting one fingering in your hands and brain can make all the difference.  It may take a little time and effort, but the reward is great:  You can play with ease and the worry is replaced with fun.

Mastering Counting Aloud

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Learning to count aloud can be challenging. Try these tips to help you go from a novice to a seasoned musician:

1. Count a full measure before beginning.
2. Make your counting is big and loud so you can hear it. Don’t hold back.
3. Get as much of your body feeling the beat as you can while you count aloud. This can include bouncing your wrists, tapping your foot, and even bobbing your head if you don’t get dizzy. Feeling the beat in your body as well as counting it, is key.
4. Take a dance class of any kind. It will help you learn to move your body to a beat.

Learning to count aloud and being comfortable with it takes time and practice. Allow yourself to struggle and stumble around. You will eventually get it, and you will be rewarded. Your music will start to play itself. When the beat and rhythm are solid, your notes will sit on those beats and rhythm. Your music can then flow naturally, and you will enjoy the experience of playing.

Need help getting there? Contact us about lessons.

Counting Aloud

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Raise your hand if you like counting aloud while you are playing. If you are a singer, wind or brass player, you are lucky. You can’t count aloud and play your instrument at the same time, but for everyone else, like pianists and string players, counting aloud is a tool that will transform your playing.

I have never had a student jump up and down excited when I suggest counting aloud a passage while they play. That is my clue that that is exactly what they need. They can’t do it, and therefore, would prefer not to do it. I remind them that the purpose of a piano lesson is to gain new skills. This is one of those skills.

If you can count aloud with ease while playing then you have the skill and you can decide when and where to count aloud to help you learn the music. But first you have to learn the skill.

When you go to count aloud the first time, it will be awkward and you may feel clumsy and inadequate. That is o.k. and normal for everyone. You have to stumble around several times to work it out. That is the learning process. That is how you gain the skill. Allow yourself to feel clumsy, but keep trying until you get it. If you find yourself getting frustrated, stop. Ask your teacher for help.

When applying counting aloud to your practice, try these ideas. Master each one before proceeding to the next:

1. Clap and count the rhythm of each hand alone.
2. Play and count each hand alone.
3. Tap and count the rhythm hands together. (Your right hand taps the right hand part while your left hand taps the left hand part).
4. Play and count hands together.

Need more help? Contact us about lessons.

Path to Fruition

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Did you know that Honda was originally the last name of a Japanese scientist who spent his life developing his idea, trying different variations and being turned down before it came to full fruition and is now the make of car with which we are all familiar? Later in life an interviewer asked him about his “failures” before it finally all came together for him into the vehicle we know today. He responded by saying something to the effect of, “You talk about and label everything I did prior to my success as “failure.” It’s not failure. That is the process of bringing something to fruition.”

Some students struggle with the concept of failure in piano. If they make a mistake, they’ve failed. If they don’t get it right the first time, they’ve failed. Some even equate this perceived “failure” as they themselves are bad. One particular student wrestled with this issue for quite some time. With the parents and I on the same page, we were both determined not to give up on her.

One day I told her the Mr. Honda story and related it to piano. I mentioned that there were some mistakes in her playing she needed to fix, but they were not failures. They were the path to fruition. I asked her if she was up for addressing these mistakes. She said yes.

With a positive attitude and ears listening like a hawk she evaluated her own playing and rather than judging herself as bad if she made a mistake, she simply kept trying until she could do it well three times in row. She made remarkable progress in just that one lesson.

I asked her, “How long have you struggled with this spot in the music?”

“Months,” she answered.

“How long did it take to work out and correct the mistake?”

“One and a half minutes,” was her response with a smile on her face.

“What was the key to that?”

“Listening closely with a positive attitude.”

At the conclusion of her lesson she told her mom, “I am on the path to fruition.”

How about you? Are you on the path to fruition? It is through mistakes, listening for them, working them out and correcting them right as they happen that you too can succeed in piano. Mistakes are not failure. They are the path to fruition.

Ideal Practice Habits

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I recently read a study published in the February 2014 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) E-Journal on the practice habits of 2nd year piano majors at a university. These were all pianists who knew how to play the piano and could play it well. The researchers were interested in finding out exactly how did each student practice and how effective was that practice.

What was interesting was there was a direct relationship between how they practiced and whether or not they continued on in piano or dropped out of piano.

One student (student #1) identified mistakes and worked out one mistake at a time, listening closely to his playing. When he mastered it and could play it three times in a row well, he moved on to the next spot where he made a mistake. This is how he spent the majority of his practice session. At the end of the session he played through the whole piece and made a note of any remaining mistakes and that is what he would address in his next practice session. He mastered music quickly. Two years later he graduated in piano and was looking at continuing to study piano in graduate school.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was a young woman who said she enjoyed the piano and practicing. However, it was noted by the researchers that this student made faces (probably out of frustration) when practicing. She also spent more time practicing than student #1 and instead of focusing on small chunks of the music and fixing one mistake at a time, she practiced bigger chunks with multiple errors in it. The down side to this method was that she reinforced her errors as she was attempting to fix an error at the end of a passage. It took her longer to master the music. She ended up dropping out of piano lessons before graduation.

How you practice has an impact on your success and enjoyment at the piano. If you are not getting the results you want within a few tries, talk to your teacher about different practice techniques. This goes for all piano students, whether a beginner or more advanced student. When you are able to pinpoint a problem and choose an appropriate technique to solve it, the results are astounding. You deserve to have astounding results. Your child deserves to have astounding results.

Young Beginners Practice Guide

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The detail of my last post, How to Practice, can be overwhelming to young beginners. Here’s a simplified version to help young students develop effective practice habits.

YOUNG BEGINNERS PRACTICE GUIDE

1. Name the notes without using the piano
2. Find the notes on the piano
3. Choose a fingering for the notes
4. Clap and count the rhythm (hands alone first)
5. Play and count (hands alone first)
6. Bonus: Add the dynamics (loud and soft)

How to Practice the Piano

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Learning to play an instrument comes through practice. But what does practicing actually look like? Here’s a peek.

HOW TO PRACTICE
> Choose a part of the music you do not know and follow these steps order.
> When a step becomes easy go to the next step.
> If a step does not become easier after 6 tries then try going slower and/or break the music down into a smaller chunk.
> If this still doesn’t help then go back to the previous step and master that one before moving on.

PRACTICE STEPS
Steps 1-3 are done each hand alone.

1. Name the notes without using the piano. Write in pencil any notes you do not know.
2. Find the notes on the piano.
3. Choose a fingering for the notes. Write it in pencil in the music. Always use this fingering.

4. Tap and count aloud the right hand part.
5. Play and count aloud right hand alone. After a few repetitions of playing and counting aloud listen for the articulation and phrasing (dynamics). If the music does not sound stunningly beautiful stay where you are and experiment with creating a beautiful tone.

6. Tap and count aloud the left hand part.
7. Play and count aloud left hand alone. After a few repetitions of playing and counting aloud, listen for the articulation and phrasing (dynamics). If the music does not sound stunningly beautiful stay where you are and experiment with creating a beautiful tone.

8. Tap and count aloud hands together.
9. Play and count aloud hands together. After a few repetitions of playing and counting aloud, listen for the articulation and phrasing (dynamics). If the music does not sound stunningly beautiful stay where you are and experiment with creating a beautiful tone.

*If you run into any problems, bring your questions to your next lesson.