World Famous Comics: Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Complete: Piano Technique
Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Complete: Piano Technique
From: G. Schirmer, Inc. Publisher: G. Schirmer, Inc. Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: G. Schirmer, Inc. Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 116 Publication Date: November 01, 1986
A MUST to all keyboardist This is my 2nd. The first one got lost and this is my 2nd one. Trust me, this book is a MUST to all keyboardist, pianoist. I use this book at least one hour a day for many years.
Got Here Fast The book was what we ordered and it got here fast, even with Amazon Prime shipping.
An Indispensable Book for the Aspiring Pianist As a pianist of twenty years and a piano teacher of ten, I highly recommend this book to any serious piano student. While the exercises may seem daunting at first glance, one soon realizes that the repetitive patterns are quite easy to play, even for fairly new pianists who are still learning notes.
As stated in the book, these technical exercises help develop "agility, independence, strength and perfect evenness in the fingers." When practiced correctly and diligently, these exercises will do just that.
As a teacher I have seen great improvement in my students' technique through using this book. I, myself, enjoy playing these exercises for warming up and improving my technique.
Obviously this is not the only good technique book out there, but is a great one to begin with. Also, I would recommend for younger students to try Jr. Hanon - it has the same basic exercises in a much easier to read format.
A mustn't have! Going against the grain here I would say DO NOT buy this book! I am a piano teacher and yes, I had to use this book in my younger days. Recent research, however, has shown that using this can potentially give you wrist problems such as RSI. Finger strength is not really a priority when learning the piano. Good technique and understanding of the music is.
Ask yourself: How many times do I repeat patterns such as those in Hanon over and over again when I am playing a piece of music? The answer is never! So why train your fingers to do that? The only thing playing Hanon makes you better at is playing Hanon!
If you want to improve the technique and musicality of your playing find a Mozart (or Haydn, Corelli, Kabalevsky or any other composer) piano piece that you enjoy and that is within your ability or will stretch you just a little and learn it. Practise it slowly and play each phrase with the correct notes and fingering every time. This gives you a piece of music you can perform as well.
In short, if you were an athlete would you train using physical techniques from the early 1900s? Our knowledge of physiology has moved on and even some elements of the piano action have been improved to make actions lighter and more responsive.
If you are looking to improve your piano technique I suggest you read: Lhevinne: Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing Gieseking & Leimer: Piano Technique (Paperback) Sandor: On piano playing
They aren't necessarily the easiest books to read, but playing the piano isn't easy! I use other books as well (e.g. 20 Lessons in keyboard choreography), Czerny for certain things, but never Hanon!
Excellent This has got to be the best $7 you could invest in developing piano playing talents. The exercises are not easy and playing them seems a lot like work. However, if you are serious about wanting to improve your playing skills, the exercises in this book will do that for you about as fast as possible.
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