When I'm practicing purely technique, I do major and harmonic minor in all keys hands together up, out, in, down, broken chords major and minor in all keys like C E G C E G C E G C E G C G....two octaves hands together. Chromatic scales parallel and outward, and triad arpeggios in all keys.

What are some other exercises that require a whole new type of technique I could implement? I don't mean doing modes, but I mean like... how would you classify what the left hand is doing at the beginning of the revolutionary etude? Stuff like that.

Thanks.

What do you do?

I think BruceD has a pretty intensive piano work out which he does (or tries to do) every day. When I do my ABRSM grade 8, and i've learnt all of the required scales, I plan on making such a routine, but I don't think i'm ready just yet. From my readings Bruce seems to be a pretty acomplished pianist, so to keep his high standard up, i'd imagine such a daily routine is perfectly necassary.

I can't seem to find the thread in which he shared his routine, but if my memory serves me correctly, it seemed like very thorough work out. If he comes across this thread maybe he wouldn't mind trying to find the link to that thread for you. (Or repost his routine).

Sorry I can't be of more help,

C H O P I N

Joseffy and Pischna are two technique books that are quite difficult, and yield good results.

Both feature exercises where one finger plays a note and is held down, while other fingers of that hand play various things such as thirds, alternating thirds, trills, arpeggios, etc.

They give quite a workout particularly in the realm of obtaining independent movement of the fingers, but must be done carefully, with the hand held quiet and relaxed as much as possible, and the fingers that are not being held down moving as independently as possible....which usually requires very slow tempo at first.

I usually begin the day with all the scales, then 10 or more Hanon, usually from part two, as a warm-up. Next, on to an alternating repertoire of Joseffy and Pischna, to give the parts of the hand worked on today a rest tomorrow. I usually end with the last exercise of Hanon, a fun piece to play.

Hope this helps.

I forgot to mention, I find "The Complete School of Technic" by Isador Philipe Extreamly useful for warming up. I have tried Hanon and Czerny studies before, but the Philipe exercises have been the only ones that worked WONDERS for me.

That book, and Betty's advice on breathing techniques have been wonderful for my general piano technique. Not many people here at pianoworld seem to have tried the Philipe book, except (If I recall correctly) Keyboardklutz, who also speaks highly of the book. I would seriously reccomend this book for any intermediate to advanced players.

All of the exercises vary in difficulty, and focus around the idea of relaxation in the hands. After half an hour of practising the first exercise in the book, my fingers felt fresh and warmed up, so I practised all of my grade 5 scales, and the difference in speed and evenness was amazing.

I imagine your playing ability is quite high, so a general piece of advice I could give you would be to practise your scales and broked chords with different touches. Staccato, does wonders for your accuracy, as long as you start slowly and work your way up in speed. (Thats a key piece of advice, start slow) - Also practise your scales and broken chords in rhythems. This is fantastic for making sure the notes are well and truely UNDER your fingers and UNDER your control. You must do this slow enough at first, so you know where each finger is going next. Then you work your way up in speed.

Hope that helped a little

C H O P I N

A warm up exercise I use:

Hands one octave apart starting on C in unison using RH 1-2-3-4-5 / LH 5-4-3-2-1 play the following pattern: C, C#,D, D#, E and back down D#, D, C#. Then repeat the pattern in whole step C, D, E, F#, G#, F#, E, D then repeat with a minor third between notes C, D#, F#, A, C, A, F#, D# then repeat with a major third between notes C, E, G#, C, E, C, G#, E and then instead of landing back on the C land on C# and start the whole group again until you have gone through all twelve notes of the chromatic scale. Everything is to be played legato with as much ease as possible. (Start slowly.)

You can make the exercise really difficult by adding one last pattern to the group this time in fourths. (C, F, B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, E-flat, B-flat, F).

Yes, I do recommend the Philipp, though I don't do much technique practice myself. Do steer away from turning technique into a drill. Here is Philipp's intro: '...Only the first two harmonic forms of each exercise are given, the remaining ten transpositions having to be thought out by the player, who is by this means PREVENTED from practicing IN THAT DULL, MECHANICAL WAY WHICH SO OFTEN ACTS DISASTROUSLY ON THE MUSICAL INSTINCTS OF EVEN THE MOST GIFTED.' [my caps]

Not to mention that transposing these exercises is also generaly fantastic practise in its self.