Anybody out there do Hanon exercises? C'mon people!! I need motivation. I want to take my playing to the next level, so please give me some incentive and share your personal story with me how Hanon has changed your playing forever!

PS-I haven't gotten past exercise 1 yet.

I do. Everyday. The affairs been going on for 8 months now (shhh..don't tell Czerny). Czerny's 40 exercises are great too. These are my two technical studies.

I started out committed to playing classical so I really hammered out the Hanon, page by page.

I truly believe my work on Hanon is the reason why I'm working on Chopin pieces after 8 months.

I do, and I like them. I think they help a lot. I know some people are skeptical of their value, but I, and my teacher, are convinced.

A lot of the fingering patterns in Hanon and other technical studies are frequently found in repetoire pieces. Furthermore, it really develops your left-right hand independence. Practiced with a metronome, its a great tool for keeping a steady beat as well.

I took piano lessons for many years growing up, without ever doing Hanon or anything similar. I didn't become a great pianist, but played well enough to enjoy it. Now, few decades later, I'm taking lesson again and my teacher is a great believer in Hanon. I've now gotten to #15, and I think the exercises are helpful and I don't mind doing them. Has it changed my playing forever? No, sorry, Cebukid.

Thanks, Rui. Chopin is tough, so I can see how that helps.

As you know, I'm mainly ragtime player, and think that Hanon will improve that too. In ragtime, there's lots of octaves, left hand leaps, and tough chords.

I might invest in the Hanon DVD "how-to". The reason: I'm self-taught, too lazy to "read" Hanon, and simply don't have time to struggle with Hanon sheet music...my practice is extremely limited to 0.5-2 hours during the week, , of which I spend that time working on my pieces.

Here's a link to it: http://www.hearandplay.com/hanon.html

Let me know what you think...

I'm using "Burgmuller, Czerny and Hanon, 32 Piano studies".

They're very good, musical and my teacher thinks this is invaluable.

What motivates me Hanon worked with or was a student of Beethoven's and Hanon then went on to teach Liszt using some of the exercises in the book. So in a way it's a direct connection to Beethoven. I find that very motivating.

It does not take too long to read through a Hanon exercise, because the exercises are structured by fingering patterns and one exercise only has one finger pattern. After you go through it a few times at a slow pace, its really just a matter of repeating the same movements over and over.

I don't think its necessary to watch the DVD. There are no rhythm exercises either, so there's no tricky rhythms that would require a listening to grasp.

Spend a week, 30 minutes a day on it and you should get a hang of it.

I was going to ask that question the other day; that is, do you really even increase your sight reading ability with hanon at all? For me it's about the pattern and it's the same for every step up....there are times especially when i'm first doing a new exercise that i'll just use the first pattern over and over because that's the one that has the fingering...so i don't really think 'reading' hanon is even an issue.

As long as you are not looking at your hands when doing the exercises. Having material in front you keeps your eyes on something other than hour hands.

"A lot of the fingering patterns in Hanon and other technical studies are frequently found in repetoire pieces."

There you are. I like the other comments as well. It's not just the exercises; you go through scales, arps, etc., the basic building blocks of quite a bit of music.

The first couple of sections are useful as a warm-up, and because you come to know them, it's easier to give your attention to evenness of the hands' execution of the same phrase, and to making a fine-sounding tone. There is subtlety in their seeming easiness.

When I resumed piano and started taking lessons again last year, Hanon was one of the first things I got started on. (along with Burgmuller and a book of Sonatinas.) I had only taken two semesters of a piano class before that, many years ago.

I think Hanon has helped with strength and stamina more than anything. We mix up the rhythms too--playing the first half of the bar in 32ds, and then going back and doubling the second half. This became evident when I started book two, which starts using longer figures. Number one will seem like a blip when you reach that level.

No, they're not terribly interesting to listen to, but you could do worse. Stick to it!

I have found the Hanon exercises to be very useful. At the beginning you might struggle a bit, but when they start to flow natural and the fingering also comes natural to you etc. you will start to really enjoy them! And other pieces will start to come natural to you too!

I like the Hanon exercises in the first section because they exercise the fingers evenly whereas practicing scales tends to work mostly on the three fingers which are already the strongest. Sometimes I will play Hanon #1 for 20 minutes at a time to help improve my breathing habits because I have a bad habit if timing my breathing to coincide with the phrasing of the music, which doesn't work so well if the the piece I am playing does not have an obvious place to stop and breathe.

I enjoy playing Hanon (just starting no. 12) for many of the reasons noted by previous posters. I find it particularly useful for warm up purposes, getting my fingers used to moving quickly and with precision. Often when playing my assigned pieces, I notice that a particular scale run or other long passage sounds a bit blurred, the notes less crisp and distinct than I would like. Always a signal to me that I need a bit more Hanon time that day.

My instructor has me doing Hanon (amongst other exercises), especially staccato with a high finger lift. Supposed to build strength and independence.

We'll see.

Hop

Because of this site I asked my teacher if I should be doing Hanon. He said "sure." I actually was able to dig out my childhood copy. From the date on it, it looks like I worked on it when I was 9 years old! My teacher said to benefit from it you have to work your way up to playing it very fast. (>140 bpm)

Tried it today. It is BORING. I am going to study this thread and others for ideas about how to play-- and why. Is seems like cauliflower-- supposed to be good for you but not enjoyable. I'm sure I'm not thinking about it the right way. Help!

I hated Hanon as a child and I hate it now, but I recognize the need for it. I'll play maybe 2 or 3 of them at the beginning of my practice to warm up and use the metronome to try to keep my speed even.

Since several people have mentioned Burgmuller, I took a look at it and it looks like a good way to break up the monotony of Hanon.

As a child, my piano teacher would have me play Hanon in different keys at complete random. Oh, how I dreaded some of those. I may try that again at a later date.

Are you all playing/learning them in order or by (teacher) assignment?

"My instructor has me doing Hanon (amongst other exercises), especially staccato with a high finger lift. Supposed to build strength and independence."

High finger lift can build you a nice case of tendonitis, too. The directions on the first page of Hanon call for it, but remember, it was published 104 years ago, and this kind of exaggerated finger lift is no longer recommended. Be careful.

I do Hanon every day, but not to excess. It's good warm-up stuff. I use it to work on my form and technique.

Thanks for the tip. Can you direct me to more information? I'm not challenging your comment, I'd just like to see more info and see the degree to which that information is authoritative. Thanks for commenting. I'd have responded sooner, but have been traveling over the holidays.

Hop

I speak mainly from my personal experience of over-doing it, reinforced by hearing the same story here quite a few times. But if you want to see it in a book, try Famous Pianists and Their Technique, Reginald R. Gehrig (2007 edition), Indiana University Press, ISBN 978-0-253-34855-5, a good historical overview of piano technique--- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Art of Teaching Piano, Denis Agay, ed., 1981/2004, Yorktown Music Press, ISBN 978-0-8256-8111-0 is like a master syllabus of piano pedagogy through intermediate level. I can't make out where that particular information is by a quick scan through the index, but I'm pretty sure it's in there--- everything else is.

There are some other books that address hand and joint problems of musicians more specifically (you see it in the biographies again and again; Glenn Gould comes to mind), and the websites are not hard to Google up.

It's a problem that it's a lot easier to prevent than it is to get rid of.

I guess I could add that the difference between lifting the fingers off the keys (a little) for staccato technique--- which is a good thing--- and doing a "high lift" may seem subtle.

BTW, Hop--- I don't mind being challenged; it stimulates the lazier brain cells.

I play Hanon in spurts until I get burned out, and then I take a break and do other things. When I'm in the Hanon mode, I like to play it with my eyes closed once I get a particular exercise pattern down. It helps me to just focus on playing evenly. I usually only play for maybe ten minutes to minimized the possibility of and ergonomic injury.

I just started Hanon Exercise 1 so I am eager to see the benefits it will have on my piano playing. So far it seems much different than I had expected. All the talk about Hanon and how many people dread doing it, kept me from experiencing it before. It is rather fun!!

I hope this thread continues with beginning Hanonites sharing their experiences.

Jeff,

Thanks for the response. I appreciate your willingness to be challenged. I quite agree, although I don't always find it on this forum. Kudos to you.

I also agree that there is a subtle difference between lifting the fingers and lifting them too high. I have been monitoring my condition and have not yet found any negative effects. As far as your first point, I did experience some "tennis elbow" from using a Nordic Trak Ski machine. Foolishly, I continued to use the machine in spite of the pain. Twenty years later, I am still paying the price. So I am quite aware of and fully agree with your statement that tendonitis is easier to avoid than to cure. Curiously, when using an elliptical trainer I started to experience achilles tendon pain, and I consulted with a physical therapist. A combination of stride adjustment, shoe selection, and interval training completely eliminated the pain and I never developed an ongoing problem. In another several hundred years or so I will have figured out a lot of things.

Cheers,

Hop

J&SMom, this made me LOL. I keep talking myself out of Hanon exercises too. ...and I never even did scales as a kid. At least you did Hanon at age 9. I guess some habits never die.

Now..I do still want to purchase some "how to" Hanon videos. I don't feel like sight-reading Hanon either...Just show me how to do it, and I'll do it..lol.

I play Hanon every day for at least thirty minutes. It does strengthen and promote evenness in the fingers. It is also a great warm-up. Scales, chords, arpeggios, and octaves plus a few other things are all necessary if you really want to play piano well. One full hour or more on the above is a good daily habit.

LOL I just found my old Hanon book and my teacher dated the exercises in 1980, when I was 9!

Also, nearly every single one is marked "play faster." ha ha

I've played Hanon (and Czerny) for so many years to begin each lesson and practice session I don't know if I could skip it.

For someone just starting Hanon Exer. 1 it does seem to put the hands and fingers through more of a workout than just playing pieces. So I can see the need to be careful about working up the time spent on it. I can definitely feel it working the fingers and forearms. I don't do very many minutes now. A few times through #1 and that is all.

Wait till you get to No.4.

It's a real workout for the 4th and 5th fingers of the left hand.


Mel