10 Technique Refinement Ideas for Returning Pianists
You’re getting back to playing again, but feel your technique needs some improvement? Here are some tips and ideas you might use to assure future success and to overcome challenges.
1. Start with Self-Assessment: Before you start making progress toward your future goal, you need to assess your current level of piano proficiency. What are your current skills?
· You can work through a few exercises to gauge where you stand.
· Record yourself playing old pieces and see how long it’s taking you to get back to where you left off. Were your old pieces mastered and to what level? You’ve probably heard that muscles have memory. This means, after a few days or a week of regular practice, your hands will start recalling the old repertoire.
Bonus: Now that you’re clearer on your challenges, identify your weak spots. You can start working on specific areas you feel you’re struggling with. If your hands are hurting when you practice, you may need to massage your hands and stretch your fingers before each practice session. If your finger strength and coordination are not there, warm up with scales and arpeggios.
2. Set Realistic Goals: I know you’ll want to sit behind the piano and be as good as you used to be right away. You won’t be at first. But don’t get discouraged. Setting up short-term objectives and starting small will get your faster to your goal.
· Maybe the first few weeks, master all the major and/or minor scales. Or pick an easy piece of music that’s for beginners. Playing a beginner’s repertoire doesn’t always mean that you’re a beginner, but being able to learn an easier piece will build more confidence in you.
· Long-Term Plans: Once you’ve mastered a few easier songs, you can create a broader plan for improvement. Gradually find music that is more complex and train your brain at a more advanced level. Practice certain techniques you find challenging and work through it.
Bonus: If you can hire a teacher who can work with you through your struggles, you’ll advance quicker.
3. Develop a Consistent Practice Routine: You need to realize that the more consistent you’re every day, the better you’ll get. Practice piano every day not a few times a week. I can’t emphasize enough on the importance of regular practice. If you play 30 minutes a day, you’ll get better results faster than playing 2-3 hours per week.
· Create Practice Routine Sessions: Start off with warm up exercises (scales, chords, arpeggios), then move to more technical exercises (Hanon/Czerny). Once your hands and fingers feel relaxed, proceed with playing your repertoire.
4. Focus on Technical Exercises: We already talked about the importance of practicing Scales and Arpeggios. If it’s been a while since you’ve last played them, start off with all the major and minor scales, as well as arpeggios. This will build finger strength and dexterity.
· Hanons and Czerny: Incorporate exercises from Hanon’s “The Virtuoso Pianist” or Czerny’s “The School of Velocity” to improve speed and precision.
Bonus: There’re other more technique exercise for more advanced pianists by Brahms. You might’ve played them when you’re playing more regularly in past. But start with easier ones for now and expand as you advance in your music journey.
5. Work on Finger Strength and Flexibility: Focus on finger independence when you practice. The above covered tips will help.
· Stretch and Relaxation: Before you start practicing, stretch your fingers gently. While you’re playing, be conscious of how your hands feel. If you’re in pain, stop and re-evaluate the reason. Sometimes when I’m practicing and my hands start hurting, I catch myself thinking of something else instead of my practice session.
Bonus: In order to prevent tension and injury play slower if you feel pain in your hands and fingers. I catch myself playing faster than I’m supposed to, because I think I am ready to play faster. If you’re in pain, this is a sign that you’re not ready to increase the speed to that level yet.
6. Revisit Basic Repertoire: Starting slow and simple doesn’t mean you’re falling behind. Start with familiar tunes that you’ve played before. This will help rebuild your confidence. Remember, progress not perfection (Marie Forleo).
Bonus: Gradually increase the difficulty of pieces as your technique improves.
7. Record and Review: Record yourself when you practice. That way you can keep track of your progress and pinpoint areas for improvement.
8. Seek Feedback: Get a mentor or a teacher you trust and respect. Send your encouragement to find a piano teacher or mentor who can provide personalized feedback and guidance.
Bonus: Join piano groups online, attend music meetups in your community. You can even send your recordings to some peers you value and have them give you additional feedback and motivation.
9. Celebrate your Achievements: Reward yourself when you achieve the smallest milestones. This will encourage you to keep going and not give up when you feel frustrated along the way.
Bonus: Watch your favorite piano performers (mine are Yuja Wang and Katja…), attend classical concerts (I love going to Segerstrom by my house). When you put yourself in that environment, you’ll feel a boost of motivation. Every time I go see a piano performance, I come home and want to play piano.
10. Mentally Prepare for Challenges: Write down on a piece of paper positive words and past successes that will keep you going when you don’t see results right away. Change your practice routine. If on some day you don’t feel like practicing scales (as important as they are), then skip them and just warm up with Hanon.
Bonus: Take breaks when you feel tired and don’t set high enough expectations that you can’t achieve in the first few weeks/months. Be kind to yourself.
Conclusion:
If you apply a few of these tips, you’ll not only start feeling more confident in your technique, but you’ll start overcoming the challenges you may have.