These developmental techniques makes Hanon more desirable to play. As a self taught pianist and only almost grade 4, Zhdanov has really helped improve on some problematic techniques. He explained things well and importantly illustrates extremely well visually and physically which many accomplished pianist don’t do and only cater for well established pianist which defeats the object of teaching. Zhdanov caters for all levels of pianist, including beginners. Thank you Zhdanov.
Went from 80 bpm to 100 bpm with Hanon in a matter of days with the in/out tip 💯 It always amazes me how small adjustments do more than several hours of mindless practice 😅 Definitely getting the course when I'm on my computer!
This is very valuable. I haven't seen any other hanon video where each finger is elaborated and explained on their own. I had also discovered this myself that if I apply a certain hand position, fingers 4 and 5 suddenly become stronger and more controllable. You have now made it clear for me. Thank you very much... For the expresiveness part, your way of isolating the topic to make it more focusable is great. You also give great examples. I really love your channel and your way of teaching.
Denis you are teaching so deeply, so much detail, so much of your teachings I have not yet encountered elsewhere :D You are giving us so much! Very very appreciate your effort and keep it up. Definitely severely underrated channel.
I practiced with your in/out tip for the pass few days. I struggled a bit at first with coordinating the in-out of the fingers of the different hands but once i "got it" it made a huge difference. The movements feel so good in the hands and I am playing with more evenness and ease than ever before. Now I feel confident that with more practice I can break my speed wall. Thank you so much for sharing your techniques so generously with us. You are a great teacher with the ability to explain those not-so-obvious things that great players do but are underneath the hood. I just bought your Hanon course on technique and musicality and am looking forward to many hours of learning from you. Cheers!
Thank you Denis! I'm a very impatient adult beginner and wishing I had started many years ago so your frank advice just again reinforces what many others have told me to get the foundation layed firstly before the building starts. Your lessons are precise and logical and it's clear that your aim is to help by passing on your learning experience in a kind and generous manner.
I have to say this course is a game-changer even for concert pianists, who I dare to consider myself 😬 especially due to a less typical construction of my wrist, hand and joints there were open questions on my piano agenda and the temporary answers were: I’m not physically so well adjusted to this technique as to others. So, in most cases I could much more successfully help others with their technical questions than myself. And here I am, couple of days later, all bricks are put into places and quite touching revelation “it’s not about me it is about the method” has come into my life. Brand new hands ready to kick off 😬😬😬🥳🥳🥳 Having said all that, thank you so so much dear Denis for this amaaaaazing product💙💙💙💙💙 for a price of 4(!) cups of coffee, maybe even 3 in good cafe in Zürich 😀 colleagues, take your chance before it’s too late!!
I recently bought this Hanon course and it was not an impulse purchase. Years ago I had a French teacher who put me on Czerny. To her credit she didn’t bad mouth Hanon, it was not in her sphere of reference. I had read through the years many unflattering articles about the Hanon exercises. I then read and saw a video by a concert artist (unnamed!) that I greatly respect. I liked his approach and his reasoning. I started working on Hanon and then I saw Denis’s excellent video. Super interesting and with a musical element to it. I think it’s fine for concert artists to look down on Hanon- they don’t need it. I believe that for us amateur pianists it definitely holds value and we don’t need to practice them for hours a day😊
Excellent explanation. This is why Chopin never started teaching a student with a C major scale, it is unnatural for the hand and the fingers. He first recommended to start with scale exercises that contained black keys to familiarize with the natural action of each finger. As a pianist you definitely need to know all the things you explained. But as seen in the video these aren’t early beginner facts. It takes a lot of practice and adjustment in order these skills become part of your piano playing. This might explain why Hanon isn’t a collection of beginners exercises even though it might seem like that. As a sidenote, I congratulate you for your very clear explanation on your insights on basic technique. You link perfectly the purpose of developing technique as a mean for better musical performance and not only as a hand strength development.
Great video, Dennis! I didn't play Hanon in music school (the Czerny was the primary device, and I really hated it for the constant V-I resolutions), but I played it a lot while recovering from the overplay injuries, and it helped me massively. And the trick with inventing lyrics (I guess, coming from Artobolevskaya?) helped develop my son's musicality. Looking forward for your videos on Brahms etudes! Keep it up, I really enjoy watching your videos!
OMG on the in-out revelation. I am so pumped about this Denis! This is amazing for such a small adjustment. I spent one day very slowly coordinating this new movement and it feels absolutely incredible. I actually do have strongn 4-5 fingers. But with this adjustment they are now relaxed with 'easy' power using the forward and slightly up motion. So I used on Dr. Grattis which I drilled hours and hours and endless hours on in years past the first part. In 5 minutes it smoothed out with complete evenness and so much physically easier. Thank you so much for this information.
My instructor (from 50 years ago) would have been *reminding* me to curl my fingers (like a claw shape). For my students, I try to keep playing as fun and creative as possible. Thanks and Cheers from Seattle!
Hi Denis, thank you for sharing your tips and approach to practicing using Hanon exercises. My little son signed up for the piano class in the local school of arts and I decided to start plating piano with him to be sort of a guide when my son needs an advice or so (i myself graduated from a music school in the 80s, palying botton accordion). Needless to say my son said he listens to his teacher only:) But my interest to playing piano is growing and I decided to start practicing on a regular basis using my accordion playing experience when playing scales. I was shocked to see how fast consistent and regular practicing brings results - from not being able to play simple scales with both hands it took me 1 months to being able to play chromatic scale at a high speed with both hands. Now I bought a Hanon book of exercises (8 dollars in the US and here in EU I paid 22 eur). And your priceless tips are just on time. I've read bio memories of those who knew Chopin and he once said when criticized for not level or even robotic playing as was expected that time, that each finger is diffefent and has its unique voice like a member of a choir, that's why his music is live, etc. It was great to learn about different position of the fingers when playing Hanon exerises. Your tips for practicing while singing is great as well, especially when playing without metronom, it really imroves phrasing. I just practiced a bit as you recommended and in a few minutes break I played a very simple edude and immediatly noticed more smooth and balanced transition. In other words it really works. I'm in the beginning of the journey, bit it feels great with your support. Big thanks!!!
Really a nice lecture, also very good for beginners. Watch the last part especially! Is it not true that all things in life start to become "musical" or beautiful when they become meaningful? So will become our playing giving meaning to each phrase.
Thank you!!! I use Hanon exercises tomas part of my fingers warm-up … I mix between ex. 1 and ex. 8 I find your video interesting and it allowed me to look for ways to play these exercises which I truly enjoy. Greetings from Brussels
The Expressivity tips are priceless. Hanon always felt a little like torture, especially to other people present in the house while one is practicing X)
I believe an exercise, whatever it is, will change shape depending on what the teacher will do with it. I can use the first prelude of the WTC book 1 and make someone play it as a Hanon exercise : completely devoid of musicality and boring as hell. I often heard Andras Schiff complaining about Czerny exercises but if you look closer at the score there are many dynamics indications that probably many teachers don't pay attention to and don't make their sutdents follow, focusing only on the mechanical aspects. You can even add many dynamics to scales and modifing rythms to make them really challenging and enjoyable to play.
I cannot stop laughing because of singing the fun words along the passages! I felt sad after hearing some people condemning Hanon, but now I'm very glad to find the way to keep me inspired and not get injured. Thank you for letting us know how to utilize it.
Hello Denis, i have a question for you: I practice 6-hour all day and i do not know how much time spend on Czerny Etudes in daily practice. What could you recommend me, how much time should i spend all day only developing piano techniques? could i reach the virtuosity without Czerny and other etude?
Some players reach a good level of technical ability with little exercises and etudes, but it is rather rare. But it’s too personal, I cannot give you a recipe for your question..
Beautifully presented lesson. As an adult, especially. Piano is my second instrument and I'm improving dramatically lately thanks to ideas like these. Unfortunately, my kids just want to magically be great, and bridging the gap between fun and necessary is very difficult for me (since I'm a professional musician and their teacher).
You know, piano playing is a very demanding activity, where a stress management plays not the last role. You should treat it as a part of the training 😛
Previously I was struggling to get the first exercise over ♩= 80, but after a few hours getting to grips with this in out technique I can comfortably play it at ♩= 112 and if I go hell for leather ignoring scrappiness can reach 130+. I’ve always struggled to get my speed up so looking forward to incorporating this into my wider playing over the next few days. Hopefully I can finally work towards playing those Beethoven sonatas closer to Barenboim speeds! Thanks so much for this, will be getting some of your tutorials soon for sure!
Thank you veeeeeery much for advise us like this. I restart to practice after twenty years and my forth and fifth fingers are so weak that I think I cannot do it...I will follow your orientation and see what happens 🙌🏼
Hi Denis I'm very eager to buy your courses, but I have a question. Do you go through all scales in your hanon excercies ? My problem is, I'm ok with C scale, but haven't practiced anything with black keys. So I'm wondering if your courses generally go through the black key, or just C just like the rest of the internet ? Thank you
The course that will cover developing piano technique in a great detail will be published later this year. For now, you can check videos on the scales, I have two in the Tutorials playlist, easy to find by using the keywords.
Oh that depends. In most of cases some budget ones like Rode NT5 and BeyerDynamic MC930, but when I get a chance I try getting some better ones like Sennheiser or Neumanns. In my personal experience, the principal issue in most of cases is not how great are your mics, but how good is the space and your audio engineering skills. In some places I was reaching really good results with budget mics listed before plus a professional sound engineer treatment, however for my current situation they are not the best option, and I would need to upgrade it sooner or later. For this particular video I think I was using Sennheiser MKH8020 for the piano
Hi Denis, I'm Brazilian and I would like to buy your hanon course. The videos have subtitles in Portuguese or automatic translation into Portuguese. If so, I'll be buying it today. thanks
Hello, thanks for your interest! I have ordered to generate automatic subtitles to Portuguese and Portuguese-Brazil on the Hanon course, they should be available within a couple of hours I think. Best Denis
What would you recommend for training the ability to play hands independently? One thing I struggle with is putting both hands together when the measures are complex, I can do it eventually but it just feels so difficult sometimes… is there anyway to make it easier? Also do you have a suggest in how to make chords sound better and more even? Or exercise to help with that
Synchronization is a complex topic that I could explain in a working session, but not in a comment. I will try to make a video on that topic sometime, but now I am far behind my desirable schedule unfortunately.
I don’t explain there which notes to press, but solely how to coordinate motions in order to form healthier playing habits. So it means you have to first learn how to play the correct notes by either reading the score, or else-wise for example picking up it by ear (Hanon exercises are easy, you always have just one pattern played from the same key), or by using any other “monkey-style” tutorial first.
Thants to bad. I think that if you’re going to say for beginner then it should be created assuming they don’t know theory and for you as a course creator to take the effort to demonstrate the technique and which notes to press. Other wise, it’s not a true beginner course but one of advanced beginner maybe. It’s a shame because I do feel that even a complete novice would have benefited from this to get started working on good technique even if they can’t read sheets yet. I would encourage you to redo this course for true beginners and charge a premium price for your efforts accordingly!
Thanks for the advice and your friendly feedback. No matter how much I simplify the material which I present, there are always people who find it too advanced, which makes it impossible to suit everyone. A knowledge where on the staff the notes are placed in my humble opinion should be formed during the first few learning sessions, so a person should be able to figure out the notes of something as basic as Hanon in matter of days after starting the course of piano studying. You might not be able to sight-read it smoothly, but you don’t need many learning hours in order to be able to decipher this score, figure out the notes, and memorize the patterns, which are basic and repeating. In other words, there is a substantial difference between being a beginner and having simply no intention to invest a little effort in the skill of reading the notes. Also, there are things that you can easily learn yourself, and things that must be explained by a teacher. The information how to read notes (unlike piano playing efficiency strategies) is too easily accessible, if you have ever been introduced to a web search concept. Using _me_ for explaining you stuff that you can easily access by a 10 second googling is a terrible waste of my pedagogical potential.
@@charliecental5657 Every one of the first twenty Hanon exercises is essentially five of the first six notes of the major scale in C Major played in a variety of patterns, and then the identical pattern shifts up by a single white note. It would take you a month tops to learn how to read music to a level massively beyond anything in Hanon - it is worth doing - but, in all honesty, if you cannot work out a sequence of five notes by ear when there are only six possible options then it seems somewhat unlikely that you're going to get very far with the piano. The truth is, you CAN work it out very easily and you will gain something from doing so. The best way to get good at the piano is to do things for yourself. This is how people make faster progress. I probably sound mean and self-important - I don't actually mean to - but you're asking people to spoon feed to you to a level that is unhealthy for your development. It is also unreasonable to expect a concert pianist who is teaching technique to spoon feed you information that is amongst the most basic possible for someone to learn on the piano - information that is freely available elsewhere and aimed at complete beginners, unlike what is on this channel, as a rule. We are talking five notes in C Major in the treble clef, with the same notes in the left hand - it does not get any simpler than this. Learning the piano can be slow going but there are people that make quicker progress. There are people who make very quick progress. If you want to make progress that justifies your practice time, you'd be well advised to be more pro-active and not to place unnecessary limitations on what can be achieved without the input of other people. I say this in an attempt to be helpful, not to be a know it all, or, indeed, to be mean.
Wonderful explanation and demonstration. This makes me try to visualize the movement for all scales. Cases like RH F & D major ascending place the 4th finger on a black key followed by a white key. Or how would one move the hand when playing a RH five finger scale in Eb major? Fingers want to land between the black keys. Troublesome for wide fingers.
Hi, I tried to bought your Hanon course and failed. I tried with chrome and safari from an IPad, and it was imposible to complete the transaction. More serious functionality issues with safari. In chrome all goes well up to the final step. There is no error sign but simply does not proceed to buying. please let me know if there is an alternative. I do not play
Hi, this is very strange, because people from different countries buy it daily with no issues. I suspect the problem might be still on your end, maybe your bank is blocking it, or maybe you can try it from just another device…
I guess I am in the minority about Hanon... I enjoy that it is a repeating pattern and I can mindlessly just travel up/down the keys basically racing myself while keeping it as clean as possible. It is a good memory from my childhood lessons. The piano exams? Not so much... 😂
That is of course useful, however I would spend more time playing other more artistically demanding etudes and pieces instead of sitting on the same exercises for too long. I would say one-two additional keys for each exercise is enough.
Oh my goodness! What a fantastic vid. I always thought of Hanon exercises as just that - exercises. They were always, to me, something to just limber and develop the individual fingers - a very mechanical process. Boring in fact. The expression you to bring Hanon is so amazing - it changes my entire way of seeing Hanon. I never thought that Hanon could be expressive. Thank you for the different approach. I don't think I will ever see or play Hanon the way I use to before watching this vid. Wonderful!
Honestly, I don’t know, they are just different. A Hanon course is just a collection of quick tips for frequently used piano playing pattens. The Late Beginners course has in-depth tutorials on 16 little pieces, so in addition to technical advice relevant to those pieces, you’ll get also plenty of information of theory, expressiveness, and so on.
Thank you, great lesson. Im tired of Hanon. But there is no thumb crossing wich is hard when you have artrithis. I have played it in all keys as a part of learning the circle of fifth. Will continue to use Hanon but really need more of something else. No longer a beginner, more early intermediate.
No need to torture yourself with Hanon too much, there is so much music that might be suitable for you! Poulenc Villageoses No. 1, Bach Prelude in C-minor BWV999, Kabalevsky Toccatina. There are plenty of pieces that don’t have much position changes. But I am also sure that with a proper guidance by someone who knows about physiology of piano playing, you could overcome your thumb difficulties, developing your own technique. Today I have released a new course with 4 etudes by Bertini, one of them - No.11 has also no position changes and it is a beautiful piece. I explain in detail how to master it in this course: pianoskillsandmagic.teachable.com/p/bertini-4-etudes-from-op-29-no-1-7-8-11
Dear Denis , I have tried all your links, and none is working for PayPal. They are asking for name,username,email or mobile. Obviously not mobile,but what is used by successful diners ????
I am not sure what you mean, please could you explain what links and for which purpose did you try? If this is regarding donations, you have either paypal.me link for one time payment via the PayPal website, or subscribing to my Patreon for monthly donations of any tier your choice.
@@DenZhdanovPianist hi Denis, thank you so much for the rapid reply . I just wanted to make a one off donation ,and I have contacted PayPal lots of times in the last three days and they try to walk me through the processes ( and each advise differently ! ). Finally someone from PayPal called me and helped me,however because I wanted not to loose the page again and write a message before thinking I e was ok from then on I finished the conversation, but then I found another stumbling block. None of the links on your “ more “ are acceptable to actually finish the payment, because they need email address or username. I went through all of the like removing bits,or combining other bits , but nothing works . I called my bank and they said that I had set up the PayPal but nothing had gone out,which of course I knew. I am sorry to bother you about this, but I am so impressed by your teaching and your playing that I thought I would like to just make a small contribution, and the more difficult it got to do this the more determined I became to achieve it . Unfortunately I have a teacher and also have joined an online class too ,so I will not have the time to join your class as well ,but always watch any of your videos that TH-cam shows. BTW, LOVE your Hanon video and …….all the rest.
Interesting. You said at the start that you are not the one to judge but a minute later you state as a fact that if someone doesn't teach Hanon musically, they can't teach anything. That's pretty judgemental ☺️ what you explained during phrasing makes sense but it seemed over complicated. As long as you add natural dynamics (cresc on the way up, dim on the way down) to the exercises, you basically phrase it and make it more musical. Also, when you demonstrated the exercise, you played with curved fingers but when you showed it slowly you played with flat fingers which can be very confusing for a beginner. Worth mentioning that the faster you play, the less time you have for position adjustments on the keyboard to compensate for finger length.
Thank you for your comment. I will make an effort to address your confusions. It's not as complicated as it seems; it's actually a simple and universally applicable tip about motif structures in music that can be found everywhere. Take, for example, Bach's music and how he organizes it. By examining his first invention, you can observe that it begins with an upbeat, and the 4-note motif always leads to the next strong beat. This tip helps to articulate and play with phrasing in a more elaborate manner. It's not solely about dynamics; it's about perceiving the organization of sounds. If you consider the second 16th note leading to the next strong beat, you have an iambic meter, which is highly flexible for phrasing and enhances the flow in your playing. As you gain more experience, you'll be able to play with flatter fingers because your fingertips will be well-trained to maintain stability. However, for complete beginners, I would still recommend starting with a slightly more curved position to prevent the joints of your nails from bending backward. The faster you play, the more you should minimize any coordination motions until they are barely visible, existing only as micro sensations in your arms. I simply have an opinion regarding professional standards. If you think this makes me judgmental, well, sure, whatever 😉. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that a well-educated musician should be capable of making music, conveying expressiveness and character, and teaching others to do the same with any combination of sounds. If I were a professional lawyer and stated that in order to work in a court, one must be able to comprehend legal documents written in a sophisticated legal language, would that also make me judgmental? 😂
Oh wait you’re also teaching piano here… I see where it all comes from…👻 Nice Czerny, a very clear sound btw. But maybe try to enhance phrasing at least a little?.. 😅
So is it not true that ALL music, I mean each and every piece of music ever written ---- IS A ETUDE --- IS HANON -- IS CZERNY? So why not just go to the music you love and go directly to the ETUDE/HANON/CZERNY sections of that music and practice it. Then when you are finished you can place that EHC section into the music and then you have a just learned a new piece of beautiful music. ALL MUSIC IS ETUDE-HANON-CZERNY.
Or, just play with curved fingers? I don't believe these exercises were meant to be played with "musical expression." I thought these exercises were meant to increase finger strength and one's ability to play with both hands together. Boring? Yes, exactly!
In Italy, I studied in a famous piano school that was based in a castle, which was used as a prison before. We could keep using this castle in some horrible way still, but yet - now we make art there. Even if Hanon were a boring jerk absolutely ignorant to both musicality and physiology indeed, it’s in our power to enlighten any material, including his exercises via both efficiency and musicality. I have chosen these for this video exactly for their reputation of “the most boring and mechanical crap in the world”. However such transformations are possible only when people stop exercising a judge-mental attitude i.e. “I believe” or “I thought”, and start creating instead.
Excellent video but I wonder if by adapting the moves of the hands we are not missing the purpose of the Hanon exercices and the "jeu perlé à la française" ? When we look Camille Saint -Saëns or Samson françois playing there seems to be no wrist movements, only the fingers. There is this excellent film about "le jeu perlé" (in French) th-cam.com/video/U_5lVqKg-0E/w-d-xo.html
Yes there are two opposite ways to approach piano playing technique - one approach fights for a steady wrist and independent finger motions, another aims to help people avoid injuries. It depends on your priorities! Also, please keep in mind that a keyboard of instruments of that time was a few times lighter then of modern pianos. It’s quite dangerous to apply Hanon’s principles to playing a modern piano. I know, unfortunately, too many pianists who wasted their careers because of the severe physiological and neurological disorders caused by playing with isolated finger motions and steady wrists.
It isn't a choice. Good players are both. They go hand in hand and having one without the other is extremely unrealistic. Being musical requires technique. Besides, Hanon is unbelievably rudimentary. Being able to play Hanon fast is limited in terms of what it will enable you to achieve in the world of actual repertoire. Nonetheless, being able to play notes in a controlled way at a variety of tempos and with degrees of volume isn't a bad place to start if you want to be able to create musicality.
When my teacher years ago said me to abandon Hanon and told me to work on 51 Brahms Exercices instead, it was like i had a revelation about piano playing.
Yeah people tend to blame Hanon and idolize Brahms, however this issue is not that straightforward. I would say they just serve different purposes, but of course Brahms sounds richer musically and is generally more enjoyable.
Dear denis Zhdanov, as a piano teacher, I would like to tell you that you have very valuable information to share, however you talk way too much. I believe you would be mich more successful by avoid repeating yourself, talking a whole lot less, and stick to demonstrating. Wishing you good luck!
The talking is also instrumental in making sure that whomever is dialed in understands each faucet of intervention. I have been an instructor for well over 50 years and I can say one thing about human interaction, it is without a doubt not all the same, as far as being perceived. Good job on his part. we all have different levels of saturation. what is good for one may not be the same for another.
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These developmental techniques makes Hanon more desirable to play. As a self taught pianist and only almost grade 4, Zhdanov has really helped improve on some problematic techniques. He explained things well and importantly illustrates extremely well visually and physically which many accomplished pianist don’t do and only cater for well established pianist which defeats the object of teaching. Zhdanov caters for all levels of pianist, including beginners. Thank you Zhdanov.
Went from 80 bpm to 100 bpm with Hanon in a matter of days with the in/out tip 💯
It always amazes me how small adjustments do more than several hours of mindless practice 😅
Definitely getting the course when I'm on my computer!
This is very valuable. I haven't seen any other hanon video where each finger is elaborated and explained on their own. I had also discovered this myself that if I apply a certain hand position, fingers 4 and 5 suddenly become stronger and more controllable. You have now made it clear for me. Thank you very much...
For the expresiveness part, your way of isolating the topic to make it more focusable is great. You also give great examples. I really love your channel and your way of teaching.
My piano teacher taught me everything directly from the repertoire I was learning, and I am so grateful.
Denis you are teaching so deeply, so much detail, so much of your teachings I have not yet encountered elsewhere :D You are giving us so much! Very very appreciate your effort and keep it up.
Definitely severely underrated channel.
Wow, thank you!
I practiced with your in/out tip for the pass few days. I struggled a bit at first with coordinating the in-out of the fingers of the different hands but once i "got it" it made a huge difference. The movements feel so good in the hands and I am playing with more evenness and ease than ever before. Now I feel confident that with more practice I can break my speed wall.
Thank you so much for sharing your techniques so generously with us. You are a great teacher with the ability to explain those not-so-obvious things that great players do but are underneath the hood. I just bought your Hanon course on technique and musicality and am looking forward to many hours of learning from you. Cheers!
Thank you Denis! I'm a very impatient adult beginner and wishing I had started many years ago so your frank advice just again reinforces what many others have told me to get the foundation layed firstly before the building starts. Your lessons are precise and logical and it's clear that your aim is to help by passing on your learning experience in a kind and generous manner.
Thanks for commenting, and good luck with your studies!
I have to say this course is a game-changer even for concert pianists, who I dare to consider myself 😬 especially due to a less typical construction of my wrist, hand and joints there were open questions on my piano agenda and the temporary answers were: I’m not physically so well adjusted to this technique as to others. So, in most cases I could much more successfully help others with their technical questions than myself.
And here I am, couple of days later, all bricks are put into places and quite touching revelation “it’s not about me it is about the method” has come into my life. Brand new hands ready to kick off 😬😬😬🥳🥳🥳
Having said all that, thank you so so much dear Denis for this amaaaaazing product💙💙💙💙💙 for a price of 4(!) cups of coffee, maybe even 3 in good cafe in Zürich 😀 colleagues, take your chance before it’s too late!!
Thanks Asia for a great feedback! I am so happy it was helpful! ☺️⚡️🔥
I really enjoy learning and playing them. Fantastic morning warm-up
I recently bought this Hanon course and it was not an impulse purchase. Years ago I had a French teacher who put me on Czerny. To her credit she didn’t bad mouth Hanon, it was not in her sphere of reference. I had read through the years many unflattering articles about the Hanon exercises. I then read and saw a video by a concert artist (unnamed!) that I greatly respect. I liked his approach and his reasoning. I started working on Hanon and then I saw Denis’s excellent video. Super interesting and with a musical element to it. I think it’s fine for concert artists to look down on Hanon- they don’t need it. I believe that for us amateur pianists it definitely holds value and we don’t need to practice them for hours a day😊
Excellent explanation. This is why Chopin never started teaching a student with a C major scale, it is unnatural for the hand and the fingers. He first recommended to start with scale exercises that contained black keys to familiarize with the natural action of each finger.
As a pianist you definitely need to know all the things you explained. But as seen in the video these aren’t early beginner facts. It takes a lot of practice and adjustment in order these skills become part of your piano playing. This might explain why Hanon isn’t a collection of beginners exercises even though it might seem like that.
As a sidenote, I congratulate you for your very clear explanation on your insights on basic technique. You link perfectly the purpose of developing technique as a mean for better musical performance and not only as a hand strength development.
Great video, Dennis!
I didn't play Hanon in music school (the Czerny was the primary device, and I really hated it for the constant V-I resolutions), but I played it a lot while recovering from the overplay injuries, and it helped me massively.
And the trick with inventing lyrics (I guess, coming from Artobolevskaya?) helped develop my son's musicality.
Looking forward for your videos on Brahms etudes!
Keep it up, I really enjoy watching your videos!
The camera angles made it very clear. Thank you ♥️
OMG on the in-out revelation. I am so pumped about this Denis! This is amazing for such a small adjustment. I spent one day very slowly coordinating this new movement and it feels absolutely incredible. I actually do have strongn 4-5 fingers. But with this adjustment they are now relaxed with 'easy' power using the forward and slightly up motion. So I used on Dr. Grattis which I drilled hours and hours and endless hours on in years past the first part. In 5 minutes it smoothed out with complete evenness and so much physically easier. Thank you so much for this information.
Thanks for commenting! Yes, it’s a pity that these techniques are still not a common knowledge, promoted only by a fraction of piano teachers.
My instructor (from 50 years ago) would have been *reminding* me to curl my fingers (like a claw shape). For my students, I try to keep playing as fun and creative as possible. Thanks and Cheers from Seattle!
Hi Denis, thank you for sharing your tips and approach to practicing using Hanon exercises. My little son signed up for the piano class in the local school of arts and I decided to start plating piano with him to be sort of a guide when my son needs an advice or so (i myself graduated from a music school in the 80s, palying botton accordion). Needless to say my son said he listens to his teacher only:) But my interest to playing piano is growing and I decided to start practicing on a regular basis using my accordion playing experience when playing scales. I was shocked to see how fast consistent and regular practicing brings results - from not being able to play simple scales with both hands it took me 1 months to being able to play chromatic scale at a high speed with both hands. Now I bought a Hanon book of exercises (8 dollars in the US and here in EU I paid 22 eur). And your priceless tips are just on time. I've read bio memories of those who knew Chopin and he once said when criticized for not level or even robotic playing as was expected that time, that each finger is diffefent and has its unique voice like a member of a choir, that's why his music is live, etc.
It was great to learn about different position of the fingers when playing Hanon exerises. Your tips for practicing while singing is great as well, especially when playing without metronom, it really imroves phrasing. I just practiced a bit as you recommended and in a few minutes break I played a very simple edude and immediatly noticed more smooth and balanced transition. In other words it really works. I'm in the beginning of the journey, bit it feels great with your support. Big thanks!!!
Thanks for such a detailed feedback! I wish you a quick and joyful progress with piano!
Denis videos are incredible !! He is very pedagogue, clear and straight forward ! Thank you for this quality ❤️
Most Fantastic teacher on youtube. Just excellent and straight forward
I liked this video so much that I immediately went and bought the course! Looking forward to studying it!👍🏻
Really a nice lecture, also very good for beginners. Watch the last part especially! Is it not true that all things in life start to become "musical" or beautiful when they become meaningful? So will become our playing giving meaning to each phrase.
2:24 the sudden loud noise nearly gave me a heart attack💀😂
For somebody from the 18th century it should be definitely too shoking🤣 sorry Wolfgang😅🙈
Thank you!!!
I use Hanon exercises tomas part of my fingers warm-up … I mix between ex. 1 and ex. 8
I find your video interesting and it allowed me to look for ways to play these exercises which I truly enjoy.
Greetings from Brussels
Brilliant and informative teaching.Thank you.
The Expressivity tips are priceless. Hanon always felt a little like torture, especially to other people present in the house while one is practicing X)
Lol yep😂
Probably the best tutorial of finger I had on youtube
Hi Denis. I completely agree.
Denis, you are such wonderful teacher and performer :) Thank you
Sir, you are really smart! Chapeau bas!
Probably one of the most important lessons on piano playing that I took part in. Thank you very much!
I wish you'd been my oiano teacher when i was a teenager!
I believe an exercise, whatever it is, will change shape depending on what the teacher will do with it.
I can use the first prelude of the WTC book 1 and make someone play it as a Hanon exercise : completely devoid of musicality and boring as hell.
I often heard Andras Schiff complaining about Czerny exercises but if you look closer at the score there are many dynamics indications that probably many teachers don't pay attention to and don't make their sutdents follow, focusing only on the mechanical aspects.
You can even add many dynamics to scales and modifing rythms to make them really challenging and enjoyable to play.
I cannot stop laughing because of singing the fun words along the passages! I felt sad after hearing some people condemning Hanon, but now I'm very glad to find the way to keep me inspired and not get injured. Thank you for letting us know how to utilize it.
All your videos are on point 🙏🏻 thanks for all your hard work and dedication to teaching these values.
This video is absolute gold!
Hello Denis, i have a question for you: I practice 6-hour all day and i do not know how much time spend on Czerny Etudes in daily practice. What could you recommend me, how much time should i spend all day only developing piano techniques? could i reach the virtuosity without Czerny and other etude?
Some players reach a good level of technical ability with little exercises and etudes, but it is rather rare. But it’s too personal, I cannot give you a recipe for your question..
Loved the last explanation about expression and phrasing. I will start to look at scales and exercises in a new way.
As a Hungarian pianist your pronunciation " made me laugh hard 😂😂 ... Love your videos , they are very useful
Beautifully presented lesson. As an adult, especially. Piano is my second instrument and I'm improving dramatically lately thanks to ideas like these. Unfortunately, my kids just want to magically be great, and bridging the gap between fun and necessary is very difficult for me (since I'm a professional musician and their teacher).
2:24 Scared me to death Haha, you should make sudden sounds / sound effects as the same volume as the rest of the video 🙃
You know, piano playing is a very demanding activity, where a stress management plays not the last role. You should treat it as a part of the training 😛
Your presentation is the best!
Great explanation of the vital "in -out" technique!
My friend you are incredible. Only you explained Hanon in a colorful meaningful way. Best on TH-cam!!
Previously I was struggling to get the first exercise over ♩= 80, but after a few hours getting to grips with this in out technique I can comfortably play it at ♩= 112 and if I go hell for leather ignoring scrappiness can reach 130+. I’ve always struggled to get my speed up so looking forward to incorporating this into my wider playing over the next few days. Hopefully I can finally work towards playing those Beethoven sonatas closer to Barenboim speeds! Thanks so much for this, will be getting some of your tutorials soon for sure!
Thank you veeeeeery much for advise us like this. I restart to practice after twenty years and my forth and fifth fingers are so weak that I think I cannot do it...I will follow your orientation and see what happens 🙌🏼
Hi Denis
I'm very eager to buy your courses, but I have a question.
Do you go through all scales in your hanon excercies ?
My problem is, I'm ok with C scale, but haven't practiced anything with black keys.
So I'm wondering if your courses generally go through the black key, or just C just like the rest of the internet ?
Thank you
The course that will cover developing piano technique in a great detail will be published later this year. For now, you can check videos on the scales, I have two in the Tutorials playlist, easy to find by using the keywords.
Thanks for sharing this! May I ask what mics are you using for recording your piano?
Oh that depends. In most of cases some budget ones like Rode NT5 and BeyerDynamic MC930, but when I get a chance I try getting some better ones like Sennheiser or Neumanns. In my personal experience, the principal issue in most of cases is not how great are your mics, but how good is the space and your audio engineering skills. In some places I was reaching really good results with budget mics listed before plus a professional sound engineer treatment, however for my current situation they are not the best option, and I would need to upgrade it sooner or later.
For this particular video I think I was using Sennheiser MKH8020 for the piano
Hi Denis, I'm Brazilian and I would like to buy your hanon course. The videos have subtitles in Portuguese or automatic translation into Portuguese. If so, I'll be buying it today. thanks
Hello, thanks for your interest! I have ordered to generate automatic subtitles to Portuguese and Portuguese-Brazil on the Hanon course, they should be available within a couple of hours I think.
Best
Denis
What would you recommend for training the ability to play hands independently? One thing I struggle with is putting both hands together when the measures are complex, I can do it eventually but it just feels so difficult sometimes… is there anyway to make it easier? Also do you have a suggest in how to make chords sound better and more even? Or exercise to help with that
Synchronization is a complex topic that I could explain in a working session, but not in a comment. I will try to make a video on that topic sometime, but now I am far behind my desirable schedule unfortunately.
I think that in the tutorial on Chopin’s 4th prelude I have mentioned a few tips for even and properly voiced chords
What do you think of Kohler?
As a beginner, can I still do this course without knowing how to read music or does one need to be able to read music to do this course of yours?
I don’t explain there which notes to press, but solely how to coordinate motions in order to form healthier playing habits. So it means you have to first learn how to play the correct notes by either reading the score, or else-wise for example picking up it by ear (Hanon exercises are easy, you always have just one pattern played from the same key), or by using any other “monkey-style” tutorial first.
Thants to bad. I think that if you’re going to say for beginner then it should be created assuming they don’t know theory and for you as a course creator to take the effort to demonstrate the technique and which notes to press. Other wise, it’s not a true beginner course but one of advanced beginner maybe. It’s a shame because I do feel that even a complete novice would have benefited from this to get started working on good technique even if they can’t read sheets yet. I would encourage you to redo this course for true beginners and charge a premium price for your efforts accordingly!
Thanks for the advice and your friendly feedback.
No matter how much I simplify the material which I present, there are always people who find it too advanced, which makes it impossible to suit everyone.
A knowledge where on the staff the notes are placed in my humble opinion should be formed during the first few learning sessions, so a person should be able to figure out the notes of something as basic as Hanon in matter of days after starting the course of piano studying. You might not be able to sight-read it smoothly, but you don’t need many learning hours in order to be able to decipher this score, figure out the notes, and memorize the patterns, which are basic and repeating.
In other words, there is a substantial difference between being a beginner and having simply no intention to invest a little effort in the skill of reading the notes.
Also, there are things that you can easily learn yourself, and things that must be explained by a teacher. The information how to read notes (unlike piano playing efficiency strategies) is too easily accessible, if you have ever been introduced to a web search concept. Using _me_ for explaining you stuff that you can easily access by a 10 second googling is a terrible waste of my pedagogical potential.
@@charliecental5657 Every one of the first twenty Hanon exercises is essentially five of the first six notes of the major scale in C Major played in a variety of patterns, and then the identical pattern shifts up by a single white note. It would take you a month tops to learn how to read music to a level massively beyond anything in Hanon - it is worth doing - but, in all honesty, if you cannot work out a sequence of five notes by ear when there are only six possible options then it seems somewhat unlikely that you're going to get very far with the piano. The truth is, you CAN work it out very easily and you will gain something from doing so. The best way to get good at the piano is to do things for yourself. This is how people make faster progress. I probably sound mean and self-important - I don't actually mean to - but you're asking people to spoon feed to you to a level that is unhealthy for your development. It is also unreasonable to expect a concert pianist who is teaching technique to spoon feed you information that is amongst the most basic possible for someone to learn on the piano - information that is freely available elsewhere and aimed at complete beginners, unlike what is on this channel, as a rule. We are talking five notes in C Major in the treble clef, with the same notes in the left hand - it does not get any simpler than this. Learning the piano can be slow going but there are people that make quicker progress. There are people who make very quick progress. If you want to make progress that justifies your practice time, you'd be well advised to be more pro-active and not to place unnecessary limitations on what can be achieved without the input of other people. I say this in an attempt to be helpful, not to be a know it all, or, indeed, to be mean.
@@garethharrison5797 Respectfully laid out.
Wonderful explanation and demonstration. This makes me try to visualize the movement for all scales. Cases like RH F & D major ascending place the 4th finger on a black key followed by a white key. Or how would one move the hand when playing a RH five finger scale in Eb major? Fingers want to land between the black keys. Troublesome for wide fingers.
Hi, I tried to bought your Hanon course and failed. I tried with chrome and safari from an IPad, and it was imposible to complete the transaction. More serious functionality issues with safari. In chrome all goes well up to the final step. There is no error sign but simply does not proceed to buying. please let me know if there is an alternative. I do not play
Hi, this is very strange, because people from different countries buy it daily with no issues. I suspect the problem might be still on your end, maybe your bank is blocking it, or maybe you can try it from just another device…
Im 56 playef about 8 1/2 yrs i enjoy hanon...find it helps me
Brilliant! Thanks.
Nice tips 👌🏻👍🏻
I guess I am in the minority about Hanon... I enjoy that it is a repeating pattern and I can mindlessly just travel up/down the keys basically racing myself while keeping it as clean as possible.
It is a good memory from my childhood lessons. The piano exams? Not so much... 😂
Subscriber count will catch up with your quality of guidance. Very good work. Please do a course on Schmitt Op.16
Thank you for your very clear explanation.
Would you recommend to transpose each exercise in all keys (major and minor)?
That is of course useful, however I would spend more time playing other more artistically demanding etudes and pieces instead of sitting on the same exercises for too long. I would say one-two additional keys for each exercise is enough.
Amazing advice. Explanations. Pedagogy and you’re very funny :)
Forward Motion by jazz pianist Hal Galper covers the topic of phrasing and expression very well
Oh my goodness! What a fantastic vid. I always thought of Hanon exercises as just that - exercises. They were always, to me, something to just limber and develop the individual fingers - a very mechanical process. Boring in fact. The expression you to bring Hanon is so amazing - it changes my entire way of seeing Hanon. I never thought that Hanon could be expressive. Thank you for the different approach. I don't think I will ever see or play Hanon the way I use to before watching this vid. Wonderful!
Question: Out of your beginner courses, would you take the Hanon or the Late Beginner's Extensive Package first?
Honestly, I don’t know, they are just different. A Hanon course is just a collection of quick tips for frequently used piano playing pattens. The Late Beginners course has in-depth tutorials on 16 little pieces, so in addition to technical advice relevant to those pieces, you’ll get also plenty of information of theory, expressiveness, and so on.
excellent thks for sharing 🙏🙏🙏
Very handsome and very good teacher.🤩
Brilliantly helpful!
Thank you, great lesson. Im tired of Hanon. But there is no thumb crossing wich is hard when you have artrithis. I have played it in all keys as a part of learning the circle of fifth. Will continue to use Hanon but really need more of something else. No longer a beginner, more early intermediate.
No need to torture yourself with Hanon too much, there is so much music that might be suitable for you!
Poulenc Villageoses No. 1, Bach Prelude in C-minor BWV999, Kabalevsky Toccatina. There are plenty of pieces that don’t have much position changes. But I am also sure that with a proper guidance by someone who knows about physiology of piano playing, you could overcome your thumb difficulties, developing your own technique.
Today I have released a new course with 4 etudes by Bertini, one of them - No.11 has also no position changes and it is a beautiful piece. I explain in detail how to master it in this course: pianoskillsandmagic.teachable.com/p/bertini-4-etudes-from-op-29-no-1-7-8-11
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thank you.I will explore this.
Thanks!
Merci for this.
Thanks
Love your videos Denis, here’s how to pronounce Dohnanyi:
Doh-(*phlegm*)-NAHN-yee
No chance😂😅
At 15:11, I heard "I love TH-cam, I move TH-cam" 😅
Thanks for this high quality content!
haha that works also!!
Thankyou ❤️
Thx watching now on my bigscreen......
Dear Denis , I have tried all your links, and none is working for PayPal. They are asking for name,username,email or mobile. Obviously not mobile,but what is used by successful diners ????
Sorry that last word should read “ doners”
I am not sure what you mean, please could you explain what links and for which purpose did you try?
If this is regarding donations, you have either paypal.me link for one time payment via the PayPal website, or subscribing to my Patreon for monthly donations of any tier your choice.
@@DenZhdanovPianist hi Denis, thank you so much for the rapid reply . I just wanted to make a one off donation ,and I have contacted PayPal lots of times in the last three days and they try to walk me through the processes ( and each advise differently ! ). Finally someone from PayPal called me and helped me,however because I wanted not to loose the page again and write a message before thinking I e was ok from then on I finished the conversation, but then I found another stumbling block. None of the links on your “ more “ are acceptable to actually finish the payment, because they need email address or username. I went through all of the like removing bits,or combining other bits , but nothing works . I called my bank and they said that I had set up the PayPal but nothing had gone out,which of course I knew. I am sorry to bother you about this, but I am so impressed by your teaching and your playing that I thought I would like to just make a small contribution, and the more difficult it got to do this the more determined I became to achieve it . Unfortunately I have a teacher and also have joined an online class too ,so I will not have the time to join your class as well ,but always watch any of your videos that TH-cam shows. BTW, LOVE your Hanon video and …….all the rest.
Sorry after posting I noticed a lot of spelling mistakes 😩😩
Interesting. You said at the start that you are not the one to judge but a minute later you state as a fact that if someone doesn't teach Hanon musically, they can't teach anything. That's pretty judgemental ☺️ what you explained during phrasing makes sense but it seemed over complicated. As long as you add natural dynamics (cresc on the way up, dim on the way down) to the exercises, you basically phrase it and make it more musical. Also, when you demonstrated the exercise, you played with curved fingers but when you showed it slowly you played with flat fingers which can be very confusing for a beginner. Worth mentioning that the faster you play, the less time you have for position adjustments on the keyboard to compensate for finger length.
Thank you for your comment. I will make an effort to address your confusions.
It's not as complicated as it seems; it's actually a simple and universally applicable tip about motif structures in music that can be found everywhere. Take, for example, Bach's music and how he organizes it. By examining his first invention, you can observe that it begins with an upbeat, and the 4-note motif always leads to the next strong beat. This tip helps to articulate and play with phrasing in a more elaborate manner. It's not solely about dynamics; it's about perceiving the organization of sounds. If you consider the second 16th note leading to the next strong beat, you have an iambic meter, which is highly flexible for phrasing and enhances the flow in your playing.
As you gain more experience, you'll be able to play with flatter fingers because your fingertips will be well-trained to maintain stability. However, for complete beginners, I would still recommend starting with a slightly more curved position to prevent the joints of your nails from bending backward.
The faster you play, the more you should minimize any coordination motions until they are barely visible, existing only as micro sensations in your arms.
I simply have an opinion regarding professional standards. If you think this makes me judgmental, well, sure, whatever 😉. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that a well-educated musician should be capable of making music, conveying expressiveness and character, and teaching others to do the same with any combination of sounds.
If I were a professional lawyer and stated that in order to work in a court, one must be able to comprehend legal documents written in a sophisticated legal language, would that also make me judgmental? 😂
Oh wait you’re also teaching piano here… I see where it all comes from…👻
Nice Czerny, a very clear sound btw.
But maybe try to enhance phrasing at least a little?.. 😅
Thanks for this wonderful video very useful for beginners like me ❤️
люблю эти упражнения, как и гаммы.
So is it not true that ALL music, I mean each and every piece of music ever written ---- IS A ETUDE --- IS HANON -- IS CZERNY? So why not just go to the music you love and go directly to the ETUDE/HANON/CZERNY sections of that music and practice it. Then when you are finished you can place that EHC section into the music and then you have a just learned a new piece of beautiful music. ALL MUSIC IS ETUDE-HANON-CZERNY.
th-cam.com/video/ntnX-cpD-Fo/w-d-xo.html
Or, just play with curved fingers? I don't believe these exercises were meant to be played with "musical expression." I thought these exercises were meant to increase finger strength and one's ability to play with both hands together. Boring? Yes, exactly!
In Italy, I studied in a famous piano school that was based in a castle, which was used as a prison before. We could keep using this castle in some horrible way still, but yet - now we make art there.
Even if Hanon were a boring jerk absolutely ignorant to both musicality and physiology indeed, it’s in our power to enlighten any material, including his exercises via both efficiency and musicality. I have chosen these for this video exactly for their reputation of “the most boring and mechanical crap in the world”.
However such transformations are possible only when people stop exercising a judge-mental attitude i.e. “I believe” or “I thought”, and start creating instead.
after studying hahnon, all your fingers become strong ...
My piano teacher never told me about hanon LMAO
It’s not important what you play but how
Excellent video but I wonder if by adapting the moves of the hands we are not missing the purpose of the Hanon exercices and the "jeu perlé à la française" ? When we look Camille Saint -Saëns or Samson françois playing there seems to be no wrist movements, only the fingers. There is this excellent film about "le jeu perlé" (in French) th-cam.com/video/U_5lVqKg-0E/w-d-xo.html
Yes there are two opposite ways to approach piano playing technique - one approach fights for a steady wrist and independent finger motions, another aims to help people avoid injuries.
It depends on your priorities!
Also, please keep in mind that a keyboard of instruments of that time was a few times lighter then of modern pianos. It’s quite dangerous to apply Hanon’s principles to playing a modern piano. I know, unfortunately, too many pianists who wasted their careers because of the severe physiological and neurological disorders caused by playing with isolated finger motions and steady wrists.
@@DenZhdanovPianist haha, nice differentiation!
I'd rather be musical than technical
It isn't a choice. Good players are both. They go hand in hand and having one without the other is extremely unrealistic. Being musical requires technique. Besides, Hanon is unbelievably rudimentary. Being able to play Hanon fast is limited in terms of what it will enable you to achieve in the world of actual repertoire. Nonetheless, being able to play notes in a controlled way at a variety of tempos and with degrees of volume isn't a bad place to start if you want to be able to create musicality.
It sounds a lot better after shifting the accent to the second beat, say good bye to those mundane tedious exercises.... thank you!!
When my teacher years ago said me to abandon Hanon and told me to work on 51 Brahms Exercices instead, it was like i had a revelation about piano playing.
Yeah people tend to blame Hanon and idolize Brahms, however this issue is not that straightforward. I would say they just serve different purposes, but of course Brahms sounds richer musically and is generally more enjoyable.
Фуууу Ганон 😂😂😂 sorry, couldn’t resist 🤣
От создателей «…ммм Данон…»
I can’t hear the name “Hanon” pronunced as “haynon”.. Please don’t do this again! (Oh and fantastic video, by the way!!!)
Thanks!
You didn’t yet hear me pronouncing FocUs lol
А на русском языке можно Вас где-то послушать?
Нет!😊
@@DenZhdanovPianist печаль вселенская 😟. Ладно, будем учить английский
Dear denis Zhdanov, as a piano teacher, I would like to tell you that you have very valuable information to share, however you talk way too much. I believe you would be mich more successful by avoid repeating yourself, talking a whole lot less, and stick to demonstrating. Wishing you good luck!
The talking is also instrumental in making sure that whomever is dialed in understands each faucet of intervention. I have been an instructor for well over 50 years and I can say one thing about human interaction, it is without a doubt not all the same, as far as being perceived. Good job on his part. we all have different levels of saturation. what is good for one may not be the same for another.
Hanon is not donne for phrasing. It is 60 exercices in 1 hour. No need for ridiculus 'I love you too'.
Nothing is created for phrasing, when you have no need to play expressively, and vice versa.
😛
whoooosh! 🤦🏻♂
5 minutes of blah blah blah and no end in sight.
Thanks for commenting twice! Very helpful!
@@DenZhdanovPianist You're welcome.
Is it necessary to talk so much?
Thank you very much.
Thanks!
Thank you!☺️