Sunday, December 21, 2008

Piano Exercises for Students

By Georgia Reader

There's no way around it, piano practice is very necessary to learn your pieces if you want to sound good or perform for an audience. Set up a weekly plan for yourself either on your own or with the help of your teacher. It helps to have an organized set of steps to help you accomplish a goal each week, as you will eventually learn the piece if you follow through.

If you want to become a good pianist, work on strengthening your fingers through studies when you practice. When you work on building strength and power in the arm you can also develop finger dexterity when you practice piano exercises for warm ups. After a few weeks, you will begin to notice a difference as your playing is more skillful, endurance is better, and your arm strength is much better.

In order to play properly your fingers need to be nimble and flexible. You should be able release in a controlled manner and articulate cleanly with finger exercises. Slow, methodical practice of such finger patterns is essential, but not to be overdone as your playing will become faster as time goes on.

A good way to start off a practice session is to play your exercises to keep your fingers agile and ready to play your pieces. Do not spend too much time doing extra exercises fingers and your hands as this will not benefit your piano technique. Actually, this can delay your build up of finger dexterity as large muscles can slow it down.

The major finger muscles are actually located in the forearm, and bending your wrists or fingers at strange angles can even cause permanent damage. You want a comfortable technique that allows for full music expression so that the wrist should be loose, not locked. If you are in physical pain after a practice session, than you are pushing yourself too hard, don't forget that about 75% of piano technique is all about relaxation.

Most piano students do not look forward to playing finger exercises, as they seem to be monotonous. Piano instructors do not expect students to spend most of their time playing these exercises, as they serve as a warm up to practice. Playing exercises for just five or ten minutes will make a good preparation when students play their pieces.

Students do not necessarily have to repeat scales over and over. The selection of certain etudes are a great choice as many contain scales already in the piece, depending on the composer. Piano exercises are important as they assist the student to increase finger agility so that their technique is improved for their learning their main pieces.

The long-term results of practicing piano exercises can be increased finger dexterity, which is always a good thing. However, you want to make sure that they do not do damage to your fingers or make you lose interest in your practice sessions. Keep in mind while you are practicing exercises that this is not the music you wish to make as they are merely a means to an end. - 16928

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