I don't mind drilling away with scales and arpeggios for up to half an hour, but I was looking for a bit of variety and that's how I heard of the Hanons. The reason this particular video made my day though was hearing about the Burgmüller etudes. Lovely! I've been going to bed with the last one I practiced playing in my head.
Thank you for this. I practice no’s. 4 - 15 at 72 - 80 BPM once a day and alternative days no’s 21 - 28 at same speeds on a digital pipe organ. This has helped a great deal with my finger dexterity and flexibility. I’ve been using this warmup exercise for a year and half and I’m now 67 years old. Then I have the confidence to play another hour or two each day. I also add bass pedaling to the exercises and once in awhile change the keys, going around the circle of 5ths. I highly recommend Hanon for warmups and building effortless finger coordination. Thanks again.
Dave, I am 65, and feel motivated to dig into my 2 almost untouched Hanon books! thanks for the motivation. Thank you too Leah . I am enjoying the advent calendar.
Over the years, I've had several runs with the Hanon exercises. I can't stick with them for long because they are sooooooo boring. I know I should do better. Thanks for reminding me to do what I should do!
Being new to piano I hadn’t heard of Hanson. They look useful as warm up exercises in small doses. I think I’ll start giving the ones you’ve demonstrated a try. Thank you for the explanation.
Hi Leah, this sort of cements what I came to on my own: Hanon is good in small doses. As a self-taught, older beginner I was impatient to get my hands moving more quickly and accurately and I pounded away at Hanon every day for months before I realized that I was getting too worn out by the end to give my acutal pieces the proper time and effort and was falling behind in my Alfred's lessons. Now I only do Hanon's easiest excercises as a warm up then on to scales, which help my composing life. I'm almost ready to crack Alfred #2! Your lessons really help ground and inspire my practice. Thank you.
Great lesson. And the background and approach is quite helpful. I've been doing 1 & 2 as part of my warmup for a long time. Probably time to move on to some of the others.
I do only 3 Hanon exercices at 230 because many things to work on (thirds, octaves, arpegios, octaves in thirds, regularity with the metronome, Brahms exercices). It reminds me to take 3 other hanon exercices. One can do more, but it is more understandable when you are working the repertoire... you can see what you need and the need to work fast.
That's just it. Learning piano as a child your muscles in your hands and fingers grow into the piano, so as muscle memory. I studied as an adult. the only thing that sped up my learning process, was I was a percussionist in high school band, and read drum sheet music, which lays notes as rhythm's. I wished I would have learned piano as a child. Fast forward, I studied piano with several teachers over the next 23 years. Results were I became an excellent improvisor. But could not site read very well at all. One teacher had me site read Bartok weekly. We learned several hymns and voicing hymns doubling the bass and picking up the tenor voice in the right. Never got to an late advanced classicist, but Familiar with many composers, and studied all the time at college library for music, as well as music theory classes. I played several Chopin preludes, but, they all require 5- 6 hours a day to master. 8 hours a day for public performance in a couple of years. I never get to where I wanted to be a good site reader. I was failed. Now, it;s been 10 years since i have played, and approaching 60, and do not know If I have the stamina to get back to the level of technique i once had. As one teacher told me, I you cannot play a Bach Prelude and Fugue, you are not a pianist in the classical world. They would laugh at you. Yes, I was an early advanced student, but at 23 years, was it worth it? I do not know. Abilities may come into play, Although many teachers have told me "Sick with me kid" I 'll get you there. My thought at what price? $$$... I never had the money to buy a decent 5'8" Steinway used grand. That's the only piano I Love the most. I love the action, and I love the sound... What do you think? Can someone help me site-read and be better than I was. Or forget it and continue to find other things to do.... Somehow I lost a love for it, I used to be crazy in love with playing the piano. I also want to say I have always had to work a full time job and practicing. Now I am retired, I feel ambiguous. Help this woman out, please...
Hi Lydia, I can sympathise; it's hard to hear so much beautiful music and not be able to play it ourselves. But learning piano is a lifelong journey and we need to be patient and forgiving of our often slow progress. This video might help you find the mindset you need to succeed: th-cam.com/video/v9InJF7xwh8/w-d-xo.html Good luck!
Hi Gustavo, I would say that the exercises are comparable, and to be equally careful not to strain your fingers with them, especially in the ones where you are required to hold down one or two notes while playing others in the same hand. With either approach, once you feel you have developed basic coordination, independence etc it's best to focus more on repertoire and scales/arpeggios. Hope this helps!
Hi Barb, I would first practice a crescendo & decrescendo on just one note, playing it pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff and then back down again. Once you get a feel for the differences (it's not an exact science though so don't worry!), you can then apply it to a 5 finger scale, going from p gradually up to f and back down - and the reverse, i.e. starting f and getting quieter with each subsequent note. Then apply it to your scales or Hanon exercises and finally to your music where needed. Don't be afraid to really exaggerate the extremes of ppp and fff at first; you can be more subtle later on. Hope this helps, good luck!
I'm baffled how l can do different things on a computer keyboard with my fingers, email...games but as soon as l go on my piano keyboard l become fingerless?
Haha, Christopher, I love a strong opinion! You could argue that if you can strive to play Hanon without sounding like a jackhammer, you'll be able to play anything musically, no? But I agree, beyond the earliest stages, there are more worthwhile ways of practicing.
@@LeCheileMusic there are so many wonderful books to practice like the Czerny, or Brahms full of beautiful and inspiting phrases ... why waste your time with a completely boring and stupid C EFGAGF D FGABAGF ... ? :-)
@@christopherfreud5894 Beyond the earliest stages, I agree, but an absolute beginner may not yet have the skill to access even Czerny, and certainly not Brahms, and need some way to develop control of their fingers. As boring as Hanon exercises are, they have value in that context.
@@LeCheileMusic I'm a 50+ years old beginner who just got into Hanon a couple of months ago, and I actually love it. Hand coordination is my biggest issue and this really helps. It's a wonderful feeling when you start at such a low speed that your metronome can't even go that slowly, still messing things up, and then some weeks later are able to play the exercise correctly at a speed you never thought would be possible. I might think otherwise in the future, but right now Hanon is anything but boring. :-)
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I don't mind drilling away with scales and arpeggios for up to half an hour, but I was looking for a bit of variety and that's how I heard of the Hanons. The reason this particular video made my day though was hearing about the Burgmüller etudes. Lovely! I've been going to bed with the last one I practiced playing in my head.
Thank you for this. I practice no’s. 4 - 15 at 72 - 80 BPM once a day and alternative days no’s 21 - 28 at same speeds on a digital pipe organ. This has helped a great deal with my finger dexterity and flexibility. I’ve been using this warmup exercise for a year and half and I’m now 67 years old. Then I have the confidence to play another hour or two each day. I also add bass pedaling to the exercises and once in awhile change the keys, going around the circle of 5ths. I highly recommend Hanon for warmups and building effortless finger coordination. Thanks again.
Thanks Dr Dave, that sounds like a fun way to use the exercises - I imagine the addition of bass pedaling makes them sound much more interesting!
Dave, I am 65, and feel motivated to dig into my 2 almost untouched Hanon books! thanks for the motivation. Thank you too Leah . I am enjoying the advent calendar.
Thank you Leah, great tutorial. I have to say that the exercise 1 is very addictive, once I start I want to keep going on and one and on!
Over the years, I've had several runs with the Hanon exercises. I can't stick with them for long because they are sooooooo boring. I know I should do better. Thanks for reminding me to do what I should do!
Hello Ms Murphy! Thank you for the training which brings back for me sweet memories.
Your certificates on the wall are impressive!
Thanks Katie - did you do Hanon when you were learning piano?
@@LeCheileMusic dont remember the names but certainly my teacher made me exercise endlessly. Much water has flowed under the bridge, since!
Very nice instruction! I am an adult learning on my own so I really appreciate these lessons.
Being new to piano I hadn’t heard of Hanson. They look useful as warm up exercises in small doses. I think I’ll start giving the ones you’ve demonstrated a try. Thank you for the explanation.
Hi Leah, this sort of cements what I came to on my own: Hanon is good in small doses. As a self-taught, older beginner I was impatient to get my hands moving more quickly and accurately and I pounded away at Hanon every day for months before I realized that I was getting too worn out by the end to give my acutal pieces the proper time and effort and was falling behind in my Alfred's lessons. Now I only do Hanon's easiest excercises as a warm up then on to scales, which help my composing life. I'm almost ready to crack Alfred #2! Your lessons really help ground and inspire my practice. Thank you.
Glad you found a good balance for your practice, Robert, good luck with Alfred 2!
Great lesson. And the background and approach is quite helpful. I've been doing 1 & 2 as part of my warmup for a long time. Probably time to move on to some of the others.
Awesome, four octaves……love them
Thanks so much Leah, another great video! Going to practice this straight away!!!
Good luck with the practice!
@@LeCheileMusic thank you :)
Thank you
Thanks!
Yes love Hannon, I do three octaves with them.......
I do only 3 Hanon exercices at 230 because many things to work on (thirds, octaves, arpegios, octaves in thirds, regularity with the metronome, Brahms exercices).
It reminds me to take 3 other hanon exercices. One can do more, but it is more understandable when you are working the repertoire... you can see what you need and the need to work fast.
A refreshing review for me since a while ago!
Merci for this.
Thank you .. I love ur teachings
You are so welcome
That's just it. Learning piano as a child your muscles in your hands and fingers grow into the piano, so as muscle memory. I studied as an adult. the only thing that sped up my learning process, was I was a percussionist in high school band, and read drum sheet music, which lays notes as rhythm's. I wished I would have learned piano as a child. Fast forward, I studied piano with several teachers over the next 23 years. Results were I became an excellent improvisor. But could not site read very well at all. One teacher had me site read Bartok weekly. We learned several hymns and voicing hymns doubling the bass and picking up the tenor voice in the right. Never got to an late advanced classicist, but Familiar with many composers, and studied all the time at college library for music, as well as music theory classes. I played several Chopin preludes, but, they all require 5- 6 hours a day to master. 8 hours a day for public performance in a couple of years. I never get to where I wanted to be a good site reader. I was failed. Now, it;s been 10 years since i have played, and approaching 60, and do not know If I have the stamina to get back to the level of technique i once had. As one teacher told me, I you cannot play a Bach Prelude and Fugue, you are not a pianist in the classical world. They would laugh at you. Yes, I was an early advanced student, but at 23 years, was it worth it? I do not know. Abilities may come into play, Although many teachers have told me "Sick with me kid" I 'll get you there. My thought at what price? $$$... I never had the money to buy a decent 5'8" Steinway used grand. That's the only piano I Love the most. I love the action, and I love the sound... What do you think? Can someone help me site-read and be better than I was. Or forget it and continue to find other things to do.... Somehow I lost a love for it, I used to be crazy in love with playing the piano. I also want to say I have always had to work a full time job and practicing. Now I am retired, I feel ambiguous. Help this woman out, please...
Hi Lydia, I can sympathise; it's hard to hear so much beautiful music and not be able to play it ourselves. But learning piano is a lifelong journey and we need to be patient and forgiving of our often slow progress. This video might help you find the mindset you need to succeed: th-cam.com/video/v9InJF7xwh8/w-d-xo.html Good luck!
Thank you for this lesson Leah! 😊 Do I practice this? It seem like the 3rd lesson seems easier than the second lesson. 😁👍🏼🙏🏼
Hi Mon, you can practice these for sure, they'll help your coordination - you can do the 3rd ahead of the 2nd if you prefer!
@@LeCheileMusic Cool! 😎 Thank you Leah! See you soon! 😊🙏🏼
Hi, thanks. What about Schmitt's exercises ? Are they comparable to Hanon ? I was using them. Do you think Hanon is better ?
Hi Gustavo, I would say that the exercises are comparable, and to be equally careful not to strain your fingers with them, especially in the ones where you are required to hold down one or two notes while playing others in the same hand. With either approach, once you feel you have developed basic coordination, independence etc it's best to focus more on repertoire and scales/arpeggios. Hope this helps!
I am still a new piano player! I cannot figure out how to build a crescendo. And suggestions?
Hi Barb, I would first practice a crescendo & decrescendo on just one note, playing it pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff and then back down again. Once you get a feel for the differences (it's not an exact science though so don't worry!), you can then apply it to a 5 finger scale, going from p gradually up to f and back down - and the reverse, i.e. starting f and getting quieter with each subsequent note. Then apply it to your scales or Hanon exercises and finally to your music where needed. Don't be afraid to really exaggerate the extremes of ppp and fff at first; you can be more subtle later on. Hope this helps, good luck!
@@LeCheileMusic thank you. I will try that. My practice has really been helped by following so many of your suggestions
I'm baffled how l can do different things on a computer keyboard with my fingers, email...games but as soon as l go on my piano keyboard l become fingerless?
Nooooooooo ! Hanon in the trash can ! Now ! You would be turned into a jackhammer !
Haha, Christopher, I love a strong opinion! You could argue that if you can strive to play Hanon without sounding like a jackhammer, you'll be able to play anything musically, no? But I agree, beyond the earliest stages, there are more worthwhile ways of practicing.
@@LeCheileMusic there are so many wonderful books to practice like the Czerny, or Brahms full of beautiful and inspiting phrases ... why waste your time with a completely boring and stupid C EFGAGF D FGABAGF ... ? :-)
@@christopherfreud5894 Beyond the earliest stages, I agree, but an absolute beginner may not yet have the skill to access even Czerny, and certainly not Brahms, and need some way to develop control of their fingers. As boring as Hanon exercises are, they have value in that context.
@@LeCheileMusic I'm a 50+ years old beginner who just got into Hanon a couple of months ago, and I actually love it. Hand coordination is my biggest issue and this really helps. It's a wonderful feeling when you start at such a low speed that your metronome can't even go that slowly, still messing things up, and then some weeks later are able to play the exercise correctly at a speed you never thought would be possible. I might think otherwise in the future, but right now Hanon is anything but boring. :-)
Great to hear, Kata, and well done - progress is a wonderful feeling! 😊