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Joined: Dec 2007
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I probably did. I have a major problem with names - not just people, even things (Like insisting that the light is blue so step on the gas.)
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Joined: Oct 2010
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Does anyone knows of finger/hand exercises to do on a table to improve 4th (and 5ft) finger independence? I don't know whether this will help, but I used to do it regularly during the many years when I had no access to any piano. I'd rest all my fingers lightly on the table (relaxed and therefore curved), with fingertips resting on surface, as if about to start playing on the table like a piano keyboard. Then, I'd lightly lift up my 3, 4 and 5 fingers slightly off the tabletop, without moving 1 and 2. Once I feel comfortable, I start 'playing' with fingers 3, 4 and 5 on the tabletop, lightly. The rest of my hand (and my 1 & 2 fingers) are still, and totally relaxed, 1 and 2 fingertips resting lightly on the tabletop. Just my 3, 4 and 5 fingers playing. I'd 'play' 3-fingered scales back & forth (3-4-5-4-3-4-5 etc), then trill (3-4, 4-5 and 3-5), then play 'Mary had a Little Lamb' with just my 3, 4 and 5. And make up other 'tunes' using just those three 'notes' . Despite having no access to any keyboard, I actually improved my finger independence, and strength & agility of my weak fingers, just by doing those simple exercises on a daily basis. And I can do them anywhere, e.g. on an chair's armrest, even on the bed when lying down, before going to sleep .
If music be the food of love, play on!
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 413
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Does anyone knows of finger/hand exercises to do on a table to improve 4th (and 5ft) finger independence? I don't know whether this will help, but I used to do it regularly during the many years when I had no access to any piano. I'd rest all my fingers lightly on the table (relaxed and therefore curved), with fingertips resting on surface, as if about to start playing on the table like a piano keyboard. Then, I'd lightly lift up my 3, 4 and 5 fingers slightly off the tabletop, without moving 1 and 2. Once I feel comfortable, I start 'playing' with fingers 3, 4 and 5 on the tabletop, lightly. The rest of my hand (and my 1 & 2 fingers) are still, and totally relaxed, 1 and 2 fingertips resting lightly on the tabletop. Just my 3, 4 and 5 fingers playing. I'd 'play' 3-fingered scales back & forth (3-4-5-4-3-4-5 etc), then trill (3-4, 4-5 and 3-5), then play 'Mary had a Little Lamb' with just my 3, 4 and 5. And make up other 'tunes' using just those three 'notes' . Despite having no access to any keyboard, I actually improved my finger independence, and strength & agility of my weak fingers, just by doing those simple exercises on a daily basis. And I can do them anywhere, e.g. on an chair's armrest, even on the bed when lying down, before going to sleep . its called Leschetizky
"Doesn't practicing on the piano suck?!?!" "The joy is in the practicing. It's like relationships. Yeah, orgasms are awesome, but you can't make love to someone who you have no relationship with!"
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,065
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I am not sure if this relates, you may have a specific issue solved by a single exercise or it may be something more general which I would like to give some of my thought on. I tend to play fairly relaxed anyway but I have noticed my fingers are tense during specific movements and just exploring around the keyboard I can find many instances of where I have poor to very poor dexterity/freedom of movement. This would be normal I suspect for all beginners but probably varies person to person. Interestingly when I brought this up with my teacher she was quite vague, however when I showed her a Donanyi exercise she suddenly remembered doing them as a child. This all touches on the bigger subject of "technique", what is it? where do I get it? and how much does it cost? There seems to be two points of view, the first that technique will develop naturally through repertoire and Bach is often cited as the bringer of good technique. The second view is technique needs to be helped along with exercises, Hanon, Czerny and the like. During my 2.5 years of learning I have been vacillating between the two camps and have championed both as any gullible newbie would. Today I am probably more in the middle of the two as I have watched/felt my technique improve both with repertoire and with some exercises, but it may also just be time at the piano and I cannot discount that. Although my view of exercises has softened I am still somewhat critical of the "method" exercises. If I want to get good at Hanon I will practice Hanon but frankly having wasted some time on Hanon I do not want to waste more. My method at the moment is to keep Bach in my repertoire at all times and luckily for me I just love it. On the exercise front, I learned all major and minor scales and playing them I feel has ironed out a lot of problems. I have taken some exercises from Donanyi & Leschetizky and simplified them to my needs. In addition I have made some exercises up from where I find a movement difficulty, or from sections of a piece which I might be struggling with. A final word is that pursuing technique improvement will be with you for as long as you play piano. So I take the long view and keep my exercising down to a minimum. It seems the more I improve and more things I find to fix so it can become a bit of a slippery slope. Your teacher is the ultimate guide so at all time consult with him/her for the best advice.
Surprisingly easy, barely an inconvenience. Kawai K8 & Kawai Novus NV10 13x
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,272
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Here's a new video on this subject from Robert Estrin: http://livingpianos.com/performances/why-you-must-relax-while-playing-a-musical-instrument/His three points are: 1. Develop enough strength that it's physically easy and you don't have to struggle 2. Get the bench and your sitting position absolutely perfect 3. Find little places in the music where you can just for a split second let go and relax.
-- J.S. Knabe Grand # 10927 Yamaha CP33 Kawai FS690
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 205
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Hello! Sorry this is a late response, but I just joined the forum and happened to find this post. I had the same sort of problem with my pinkies...they were straight (not curled) and floating in space while my other fingers were resting on the keys. There's a great video by Josh Wright and I can't find it now . But it's similar to this video by Josh: https://youtu.be/TLEfQSFjYzI?list=RDf647vYV6NnkOn the other video, he has an exercise where you press a key, and shake out your hand while holding the key down (your whole arm, really, because your whole arm/shoulder should be relaxed too), and then press the next key, shake, relax, key, shake, relax etc. You can play either a piece of music, or scales, doesn't matter. Josh has a lot of videos on relaxing your hands....they've helped me a LOT. Hope this helps you.
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Joined: Nov 2012
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Practicing in a relaxed way really is a whole-body kind of thing. Often when unused fingers curl it means there's too much emphasis on finger technique and not enough use of the arm (weight of the arm). Slow practice as many have already said is indeed one of the excellent remedies.
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 6,427
6000 Post Club Member
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6000 Post Club Member
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If we were relaxed all the time, couldn't we simply play naturally?
Learner
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
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