http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/robert/faster/
Another great Robert Estrin video on how to play the piano faster.
He points out that the two things that are required to increase speed is finger strength and using proper technique.
Practicing naturally will add strength. Adding scales, arpeggios and exercises to your practice that enhance that strength.
He offers a couple of ways to develop greater speed in your piano playing.
One is to practice slowly, using a metronome, increasing speed one notch at a time.
Another way is to take the piece apart, one small part at a time. Focus on mastering a particular phrase using one hand position/finger patterns. Practice that one phrase slowly, with the metronome. Gradually increase it until you can play it rapidly and fluently.
Take the next little phrase and practice it the same way.
Then then the last couple of notes of the first phrase and add them to the second phrase. Practice until flawless. Then play the entire two phrases together until mastered.
Continue through the piece.
Use minimal arm weight. The fingers are basically fluttering over the keys.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Music Lessons Make Smarter Kids, Studies Show
Children who take music lessons test higher than those who don't, studies show. This article sites sources:
To quote from the article:
"The Canadian study lends support to the idea that musical training may do more for kids than simply teach them their scales--it exercises parts of the brain useful in mathematics, spatial intelligence and other intellectual pursuits.
'With music lessons, because there are so many different facets involved--such as memorizing, expressing emotion, learning about musical interval and chords--the multidimensional nature of the experience may be motivating the [IQ] effect,' said study author E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga."
I believe that music lessons help develop a person's brain because when you're playing a musical instrument, you're utilizing all the modes of learning--auditory, visual, hands-on, etc.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Video #23 Small Hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3NbxmFEXd0
In this video Robert Estrin admits that he has small hands but here is how you get around that difficulty:
1. Develop a great deal of strength to overcome that challenge.
2. Use the pedal to help in the reach problems.
3. Break, bottom up, to get the balance you want.
In this video Robert Estrin admits that he has small hands but here is how you get around that difficulty:
1. Develop a great deal of strength to overcome that challenge.
2. Use the pedal to help in the reach problems.
3. Break, bottom up, to get the balance you want.
Video #20 Pedaling
Another Robert Estrin video, this one on pedaling techniques.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZXsKWt9Xs
Here are some tips Estrin offers when pedaling:
1. Keep heels firmly on the floor.
2. The ball of the foot is how you control the pedal.
3. Always keep the ball of the foot in contact with the pedal. If you don't, and you come down on the pedal, it creates noise.
4. The pedals of each piano is different. They all release the dampers at different points. You have to experiment to see how you can pedal quietly and effectively.
5. One of the first things you want to do before playing a piano, especially for a concert, is how the pedals respond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZXsKWt9Xs
Here are some tips Estrin offers when pedaling:
1. Keep heels firmly on the floor.
2. The ball of the foot is how you control the pedal.
3. Always keep the ball of the foot in contact with the pedal. If you don't, and you come down on the pedal, it creates noise.
4. The pedals of each piano is different. They all release the dampers at different points. You have to experiment to see how you can pedal quietly and effectively.
5. One of the first things you want to do before playing a piano, especially for a concert, is how the pedals respond.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Video #20 How to Handle Large Leaps in Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI7uabNseUc&list=PL499BBD56D503F986
Robert Estrin addresses the situation of large leaps in a piece of music. The way to practice these large leaps, he says, is to stop just before the note after the leap. Study your hand. Make sure you're right over the right note.
Do that again and again, making sure that you are consistently over the correct key.
Once you're used to being over the right key, still pause before playing the note. Gradually shorten the pause between that interval.
You'll never get rid of that pause in your mind even though rhythmically it may be gone.
Eventually you'll get so relaxed, says Estrin, that you won' stop at all. It becomes a fluid motion. That's the objective.
Robert Estrin addresses the situation of large leaps in a piece of music. The way to practice these large leaps, he says, is to stop just before the note after the leap. Study your hand. Make sure you're right over the right note.
Do that again and again, making sure that you are consistently over the correct key.
Once you're used to being over the right key, still pause before playing the note. Gradually shorten the pause between that interval.
You'll never get rid of that pause in your mind even though rhythmically it may be gone.
Eventually you'll get so relaxed, says Estrin, that you won' stop at all. It becomes a fluid motion. That's the objective.
Video #19 More Sight Reading Tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7NaCC3KCDM
Robert Estrin gives sight reading tips.
1. Incorporate sight reading into your daily piano practice.
2. Playing with other musicians add in the objective of not correcting mistakes--to keep on going.
Robert Estrin gives sight reading tips.
1. Incorporate sight reading into your daily piano practice.
2. Playing with other musicians add in the objective of not correcting mistakes--to keep on going.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Video #18 Hanon: Playing Scales and Arpeggios
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4I99R-DXRs
This Robert Estrin video deals with using Hanon in playing scales and arpeggios.
1. The hands are mirror images.
2. Scales and arpeggios utilize a series of finger crossings. Memorize these.
3. The good news is that the fingering for C Major scale is the same for many other major and minor scales.
This Robert Estrin video deals with using Hanon in playing scales and arpeggios.
1. The hands are mirror images.
2. Scales and arpeggios utilize a series of finger crossings. Memorize these.
3. The good news is that the fingering for C Major scale is the same for many other major and minor scales.
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