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Hello again

What kind of exercises do you use before Hannon ? I am looking for easy 5 finger exercises.

Thanks

Hanon #1 is about as easy as it gets...basically 5 notes in a row, at least for the ascending (RH) and descending (LH) parts.

A Dozen A Day

How about learning the major and minor pentascales, meaning the first five notes of each major and minor scale played with fingers 12345? Good practice for incorporating sharps and flats into your exercises, and once mastered they can be played legato, staccato, forte, piano, with a crescendo, etc.

I also second the recommendation for the Dozen a Day books.

I second the above. He is referring to Dozen a Day by Edna Mae Burnam. If you are teaching students using another method book, they correspond well with those (Level 1 of DoD with Level 1 Faber Adventures, etc).

Before suggesting anything, one should know the purpose of the exercises.

Dozen a Day 1 does not correlate well with Faber 1--it's too advanced for a Faber 1 student. I suggest you look over the Dozen a Day series. It starts with a mini book, next level is preparatory, then Level 1.

I have a few students doing Dozen a Day with Level 1 of Piano Adventures. I start them after they can already do C, G, and D scales (one octave, hands together). For most this happens about 1/3 of the way through the Faber book. This is more for students who are at least in 2nd grade (not any younger). I think technical ability can precede reading ability. Most of the dozen a day exercises, I am helping them with reading and we find patterns before beginning exercises. (I also do *most* of the rhythms by ear) The kids seem to love the books and think they are more like "big-kid" music than the Faber books.

Sorry, this is definitely dependent on the child and the teacher. I do a lot of listening and general patterned exercises with students along with just reading. I should have made this more clear. Just handing the student Dozen a Day and sending them home would probably be a bit much.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I second Dozen a Day. The progression of the series is excellent.

I have also had very good luck with the Dozen a Day books. Depending on the child, I have done a page or 2 a week, or as much as an entire group at one time.

In between Dozen a Day books I usually work in major and minor 5 finger patterns, scales, and arpeggios.

For slower students who struggle with note reading, I have also had luck with the Finger Power series- I have them say the note names as they play them.

Skip the Hanon all together and go with Alexander Peskanov's Russian Technical Regimen. Some more difficult for the beginner but still plenty of practical studies that you will see in a lot of the music you play. While his regimen is nothing new and I'm sure you could scavenge up everything in the book or even write it down yourself but for the money and time it's worth it because it's nicely layed out with fingering throughout and very detailed instructions. Have yet to see anything that remotely resembles Hanon exercises in any serious piece of music. I'm sure Hanon doesn't hurt, just not a big help for me. Kinda like doing aerobics if you plan on running marathons, much better to just jog...

One shouldn't teach technique one isn't familiar with.

Well you've gotta start somewhere... and experiment once in a while. How else will you grow as a teacher, pianist, and human being?

Not by experimenting on a student, I would hope.

Who publishes this collection?

Experimenting is an interesting word.
For me it kind of conjures the image of wierd lab experiments with rats and monkeys.

Staying with the scientific analogy, Medical Doctors call their work "practicing" medicine. I think that's a better term.

Each student is a unique individual, and sometimes the educational plan succeeds best by adjusting to that unique individual. I consider that part of "practicing" the art of teaching.

Minniemay had said that one should not teach technique that one is not familiar with. Depending on what is meant by "technique", I agree with this. Your medical "practitioner" has studied medicine, and then had an internship where he/she observed other doctors, and was observed. There should be understanding of how technique works and how the body works before setting out to teach, or you can hurt someone, or if not that, create future problems.

If you do have that knowledge, you still need to "experiment", using what you know, to help students since each person is different. But the knowledge should be there. That is what I am agreeing with.

Technique is a hands-on physical thing. If the book is trying to introduce new physical things, it's best to work with someone who has experience with them. A book cannot teach this adequately on its own.

It seems that so many teachers are looking for the right book to do the teaching. It's not the books -- it's the teacher. A book is only a medium.

For me the image is more of paying careful attention over a period of time to what seems to work and what doesn't. We know from design of science experiments that memory tends to be selective, sometimes extremely so, and that keeping good records can greatly assist this process. It takes a while to become a skilled teacher partly because you need to watch a student develop over time, but partly because you need to have experience with many different individuals who react in different ways, and you don't get all types the same year.

I bolded a piece of the snip from keystring.

I would suggest being observed is the single most beneficial thing one could add to speed the process of gaining teaching mastery. And, one of the most threatening!