Transcripts
1. An introduction : Hi guys, I hope this finds you. Well, I'm Ben and I'm a musician living here
in London in the UK. And I wanted to make
a short series of videos on how you might
practice the piano. I'm often asked, what's
the best way to practice? How can I improve my playing? I put together this short
course just to cover a few of my main tips about
how you might improve. So the first thing to think
about is going to be, we're going to look at
the harmony and the use of chords in a piece of bark. So I'm looking at
the Prelude in C. It's going to have a
little look at that. Then we're going to work
on some rhythm drills about how you can increase the strength In your fingers to be able to enable you to
play more complicated music. We're going to look at
specific aspects like, how much time do I need
to devote to practice, which has a question
I'm always asked. And then just some general
pointers about how you can spend your time preparing
in the most effective way. I studied music here in Oxford, at the University of Oxford, and I hope to share
this class with you. So thanks so much for joining me on this journey about
practicing the piano.
2. Awareness of harmony: So in this first section,
we're going to look at some of the codes used in
this piece of bark. Now, if you play the
buck exactly as written, I'll just give you
a demonstration. That particular figuration
can be quite complicated. So I suggest to students
when they first start out on a piece that they simplify
that into its basic chords. So what I suggest is that
you take this bug and you find the code on the
first beat of the piece, which is C major. In our left hand, we're
playing the C and the E. And then in the right-hand
we've got three notes, G, C, and E above it. So there's our bar, one chord that happens twice. Then in bar to the right
hand moves up OneNote. So we've gotten a, D and F.
So even though the sample, it's completely different, it's only the smallest of moves. And this is why it's
really important to have an awareness of the
harmonic structure, how the cords fit together. One really important thing to realize is that the
piece starts in C and ends in C and
in-between bark, it takes us on this wild
journey through lots of keys, lots of chromatic
writing, flats or sharps. So being aware of when we're
returning back to see, I think is really important, but that'll be my
first port of call. Go through the piece. And in order to better gaining awareness at the harmony
practice those block codes. Now, at this stage of
the learning process, I'm not worried particularly
about the rhythm, okay? It, it doesn't, it
doesn't matter too much. But what I do want
you to do is start to feel how those chords
sit under the hands. Moving further on. And also, this
allows you to build a picture of the tension
within the music. Because you can know which
chords sound most dissonant, where you want to aim
for in the piece, but you can start to
put those markings in little crescendos diminuendo. It's a good time. A lot of people leave the dynamics when they're
practicing a piece. They leave the louds
and the soft right until the very end. And I say learn, how are you going to shape the piece from the very beginning? Learn it into your fingers
because it's going to inform your playing
in the long run.
3. Rhythm drills: So the third section is about rhythm and about particular
rhythm drills that we can do. The way to play this back, we want a smooth and even touch throughout all of
those semiquavers. I would strongly suggest
that we don't have particular note sticking
out what we don't want. This one. The thumb especially is prone to sounding louder than
the other fingers just by the nature
of how we play it. So just start to
become aware of that. A couple of rhythm drills
here for you to practice. So once you familiar
with the chords, you've gone through
the piece and you've played this block codes. I would try them stick out. Like every note independent, really short. Now why, the question of
why we play something? Excuse me, stick RT. Well, when we play staccato, there's really nowhere to
hide in terms of the rhythm. You've got to be
accurate and it's got to be really precise. And also playing staccato, you're building up strength in the fingers
because to play good staccato takes
real precise play. Now at this stage
you might want to slow it down a bit so you can keep the precision
and you can be really accurate with your notes. If you're finding
your splurging some. As you play, then
always slow the tempo down a little bit to
just factor in for that. When you've done your
staccato practice, then try some different
dotted with them. So I try to d, d, d, d, d. Once you're happy with
that one, you could try. Now, I hear the
naysayers saying, why, why do you
do this for them? Surely it's better just to play them to practice the
pieces bark intended. Well, the trouble with
that is we don't notice whether a little
rhythmical inaccuracies and we start to build
them into the piece. The process of
practice essentially is going to allow us then to be more controlled in
the final performance. And all of these rhythmic
drills and exercises that we do at the early
stage of learning, a really, really important
in that process. So I wouldn't rush
the learning process. I would allow yourself plenty
of time to get used to. One other thing I recommend
is metronome practice. But writing at the
top of the score, the metronome mark that
you're working at. So say you're playing
it like, I don't know. Di, di, di, di, di crotch it 50 or coach at 60 or something.
I'm not quite sure. Start a bit slower, starts at Koch it 40 and then
work up towards it. It's so satisfying to see at the top of your
score that you are progressing and increasing
in terms of tempo. It's just really a nice
encouraging thing to do. You've got your rhythm drills
and metronome work. Next.
4. How long should I practise for?: I'm often asked
the question, how long should I be practicing for? And it's a bit of a silly question like how
long is a piece of string? And there's no real
particular answer. If you've got a concert
coming up and you think, I've got to help, then obviously you're naturally going to do more practice, but you find concert
pianist playing, practicing all day for a
big concert performance. So I do think it really depends on what you have
coming up in the diary, whether you're just
doing it for fun or not. One of the main things
I try and instill in my piano students is
that a little bit of practice often goes
much further than trying to cram in a
lot of practice the day before an exam
or a lesson or a concept to try to go for little blocks of
practice 10 min, and try and be really deliberate when you're
using that time. If your mind is wandering, you're thinking about what you're going to have for dinner. It's really not going
to be effective. So try and say write
the next 10 min. I'm going to rhythm drill. I'm gonna do dotted rhythms. This is what I'm going to do. And then create yourself a
little practice journal. And keep a note of the things that you've done
on the particular piece. I'm also the belief
that people should have a couple of
pieces on the go. I know some teachers
like to complete one entire work perfectly
before moving on. But I found, especially
for younger players, that if you are, you're only focusing on one piece, one area. It can be really disheartening and you sort of lose
your love for the music. So if you've got barking, you might have some Chopin, you might have something contrasting that
you're working on because each piece requires a different set of
technical skills. So that'll be my advice. Have a different works on
the go simultaneously, but try in your practice
time to be absolutely super focused and super deliberate on what
you're doing when.
5. Separate hands : In order to develop the independence of the
left and the right hand and be able to do what do
we need with each hand, a bit of hands separate practice is usually to be encouraged. The thing about this
particular piece, this piece of bark is that the hands are quite intertwined, almost like a sort of hop. Can imagine the harpist
plucking the strings. Not the most useful,
but having said that, it is good to know
which hand is playing which before you dive in
because it can get confusing. So I would suggest that the
left hand place the C and the E the first two nights and then the right-hand takes the other semiquavers. We go on like that. So the
first two notes of each bar, taken by the left
hand, you might just try that separately. So we get now the second note of each bar
needs to be quite incisive, quite, quite quick
and with good rhythm. If it's sloppy. Yes, that's the whole
thing off really badly. It rather census up
quite well that, that second note of
each bar, so Db, Db, quite brr, and then try
the right-hand on its own. Try to feel the
beginning of the bar and the middle bar because
that gives you a nice natural phrase structure. So it's like 12. Now there are slurs, waste
and all over the music. I'm not sure Buck would've
written all of these. Sometimes these are added by later editors to show how
the music should be phrased. But in this instance, I do think it's a
nice idea, EDD, ED. And to me that the phrase starts quite generously and
then diminuendo is away. Maybe not in every bar. In terms of practice,
the independence of the hands is the key thing, I think is one of the
most difficult challenges of playing the piano is the independence
and the control of either hands to taking
each part on its own. It's a really
useful thing to do.
6. In conclusion : So just a couple of concluding thoughts on
practicing the piano. So a couple of key things. A small amount of practice often is going to be
much more beneficial than waiting the night before your next lesson or
exam or concert. Suddenly try and cram
loads of practice in small bursts of practice, but also being really very deliberate in exactly
what you're doing. So it's no point sort
of vaguely play. I mean, the majority of people including media is play the
piece from the beginning. You had had that and just
get to about the third line, it falls apart and
then they give up. Try starting from a different
point in the piece. Each time you practice, you'll then add a new focus. If you really know a piece and
you will know if you know, then you should be able
to pick it up from anywhere by five, by ten B2. And it should, should, should be enough fingers if you're straight, if you
struggled to do that, if you're a person who's got to go back and do you mind if I play from the previous you don't know it as
well as you could. Yeah. Other things when you
can't get to a teacher, when you can't have less
thans is often one of the best things is
to record yourself practicing because you can
then give yourself feedback. Recording is a really, really good device
because it just allows you another
pair of ears to listen back and see which
areas you can progress it. So have a go at that,
recording yourself. Small amounts of practice, keep that good practice
journal and keep em fused. Yet. Remember, we've
got to keep it fun. Keep it light and
joyous and fun. Practice shouldn't
really be a chore. It should be, we're
aiming for a goal. But the thing is like, I don't know, weightlifting, not that I do that, but if you're into that sort
of thing is little, little improvements here
and there that will allow you to masterpieces and
to become a great player. Best of luck with
it all and thanks very much for listening.
Ben Lewis-Smith, Musician
