Healthy (and Musical) Hanon! | Intermediate Piano Lesson | Pianist Academy

[@PianistAcademy1]

🆓 ➡ Want to learn how to accomplish more during your practice AND get some free sheet music?? ➡➡ bit.ly/FreePianistDownloads

[@PianistAcademy1]

I hope you find some value in these approaches to Hanon. I think they can be valuable to pianists who absolutely swear by Hanon as well as pianists who would never play or teach it. Don't miss the 6 musical ideas I present starting at 11:14! All chapters are in the timeline bar, so feel free to come back and check in again when you have time!

[@O3177O]

How about different keys ?

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@O3177O I know many people like to do Hanon in different keys, but I'm not a big fan of it. First off, unless you are also adding in everything else I present here, it doesn't help technique or musicality. Secondly for knowledge of keys and structures, I'd rather use scales and arpeggios in at least major and minor, if not also adding in some of the other modes. Lastly, the stretches between the fingers when you move away from C can be really large and really awkward. I have pretty big hands (can easily reach a 10th with one or two notes in a chord in between), and even I feel like my hand is too stretched out playing Hanon in different keys. For those with smaller hands, I can't imagine what it feels like. Also, the kind of stretch that Hanon presents especially away from C is the kind of stretch that's completely avoided in repertoire either by good writing or by good fingering solutions, so it doesn't have a practical application either. When I was in high school, I had a Juilliard grad as a teacher. One of his "gems" he passed on to me was that our goal should always be to have the fingers as close together as possible, as often as possible. The more fingerings we can choose that bring the thumb and 5th fingers together, the better for our hand and the better for our performance. Hanon is very opposite to that, it's already difficult to relax while playing it, but add in extra stretch and it becomes even more detrimental to hand and wrist health with no real added benefit, in my opinion. Maybe I'm too sensitive to this, but when I was younger I suffered a wrist/tendon injury from a combination of overuse and over-stretch that still flairs up if I practice "incorrectly." I'm hoping to prevent others from going through what I went though!

[@O3177O]

@@PianistAcademy1 tx dude , you lesson was excellent 👌 and full of greats tips , I just added the suggestion as a self Lerner I found hannon Great for building strength and muscle memory to common motifs , in different keys it also forced me to rotate as well Theyre not meant to be pounded out , thhat just cause injuries

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@O3177O Yes, rotation is great! The first exercise in the book doesn't really need it, but subsequent ones definitely do!

[@clara7517]

My teacher used Hannon (and scales) to develop our dynamic control. It started at a very basic level 1 bar piano - 1 bar forte, then moved on to crescendos and decrescendos that got progressively more complicated. Once we had developed a good range of dynamics, she would begin to make us separate the two hands. We had to play one hand staccato and the other legato, both ways. Once we could do that, we had to play one hand forte and the other piano, both ways (I think of all the variations this was the most difficult). When I got to around grade 9 level (RCMS), she would use our exercises to simulate more complex voicing and phrasing. For example we might be asked to play the left hand piano, while the right hand played short crescendos from mezzo forte to forte over every bar. It got very complicated... but scales never got boring.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Love it!

[@deewatching]

Please please please more beginner level videos 😩. Great, very informative, and comprehensive video :).

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks! I will!!

[@derinderruheliegt]

So this playing from the elbow thing may have just changed my life. As long as I keep proper wrist alignment, it’s like my hands are on autopilot and it feels effortless. Not to mention, I also have much greater voicing control (I went back and tested this playing your Pure Imagination arrangement and couldn’t believe how much more clearly I could get certain lines to speak...amazing). I’m also working up Mozart’s K331 and was trying to get the last variation up to tempo (about 132) but I was stagnating around 110. After experimenting with force transmission through the elbow the last two days, I hit 132 today like it was nothing.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Great news!! That's amazing that it's made such an impact so quickly! I practice tricky passages like this all the time, and I've found it really decreases the amount of time spent working toward performance tempo.

[@michaelanthony9068]

This is genius, but can be so counterintuitive. I’ve just recently been trying to apply this with slap bass, which seems to have an extremely physical, even violent application, but when I force myself to relax and let the mechanics of the bass and my arm and fingers just happen, my practice moves forward faster. I’m anxious to apply this to the piano today. THANK YOU ! Of course I subscribed and liked.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks, Michael! Great to see a multi-instrumentalist here! I also play bass and a bit of guitar as well.

[@robbbmm]

Videos like this are great for us who can play causally but really want to get great at the fundamentals.

[@wannabeiroh4658]

It amazes me how responsive you are to comments and I just want to appreciate just how supportive you’ve been to everyone of different levels of advancement who is asking questions, and how clearly and concisely you’ve answered them. I’m an intermediate pianist who has played for quite a long time but only recently started trying to use Hanon exercises and this video really couldn’t have come at a better time! Channels like this are such a breath of fresh air.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you, I appreciate that! My goal here is to help people out, so I'd be missing half the point of the videos if I only put them out and never responded to comments! I'm glad the timing of this is working out well for your playing! The channel has kind of exploded over the last week, so I'm starting to thinking about doing a weekly 1-hour livestream to answer specific and individual questions about technique, rep, etc. I hope you'll stay tuned in and perhaps join one of those streams when they start!

[@wannabeiroh4658]

@@PianistAcademy1 incredible, literally within minutes of me commenting. A live stream for advice sounds like it could be amazing for learning more about technique! I’ll be sure to try and catch it if I can. Maybe I’ll compile some questions to ask myself, lmao.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@wannabeiroh4658 Perfect!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 - a livestream would be awesome -- I don't think anyone else has done that yet.

[@slavagn]

This is much more solid content than what I expected when I clicked your channel. Hopefully you will keep developing it and get some recognition

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for watching! I just started the channel on April 1... only a month and a half ago, so things have been going quite well! I'm planning to continue posting videos at least weekly and at least for the next few years, so I hope to see you again!

[@xanestudio]

Thankyou

[@DansChessLounge]

Thank you for this video. I started going deeper into more Hanson exercises recently and sure enough I started experiencing pain in my hands & wrist now. I think I’ll take a few days off from practicing then come back with the technique mentioned in this video.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Dan, also check out the Hanon-Faber book. I review it on the channel here as well. It’s really a fantastic approach to playing select Hanon exercises in a very healthy way.

[@Jburt571]

Hanon is definitely public domain. You can post the sheet music just fine.

[@PianistAcademy1]

This is true!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

you nailed it -- just about all my favorite practice technics -- all help to increase focus and attentiveness and musicality. I also like: - combining staccato in one hand with legato in the other, then switch hands - playing in 10ths -- very easy, at least in the key of C, and adds more interest, musicality - playing in 6ths -- fairly easy, although the hands will nearly collide in some patterns

[@PianistAcademy1]

Also great suggestions! I usually do 3rds, 6ths, and 10ths, in my scale practice, hadn't thought about adding that to Hanon in particular.

[@santinowulff2482]

Really good video I feel like he knows what he is talking about. I will do as said in the video and hopefully develop a better technique.

[@Sam_Saraguy]

Great advice and some wonderful suggestions for variations on Hanon. I also do rhythmic variations e.g. long-short-long-short-long-short then repeat the exercise short-long-short-long-short-long. Another variation I have seen is doing staccato in the left hand and legato in the right ascending, then the reverse for descending.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Those are also great ideas to vary the exercises! Nice!

[@cutiejumps4088]

Truly amazing! Thank you for posting

[@susandrakenviller3683]

I really like the repetitive nature of Hanon because it resets my musical brain and I can focus on pure training.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I feel like even in technical training, we shouldn't lose sight of producing a good tone. I've learned that tone is something that even a lifetime isn't long enough to master, so I love to take every opportunity to work on it that I can, especially when the notes are so easily drilled into "muscle memory."

[@giovannipepe5945]

Hello. Just found your channel. Thank you sooo much for these helpful hints. I've been plugging away at Hanon on and off for years with grit and determination and perseverance. But not with much pleasure if the truth be known. I'm very much looking forward to trying out your suggestions. I'll be checking out your other vids very shortly. I enjoyed your style and delivery. Excellent stuff. Thanks.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Watching this for the second time, and getting useful hints reinforced. Merci beaucoup. FYI my video finally was uploaded today. You can search for it with Oh My Aching Bach. Exercises and self-treatment to work on your left hand technique (low back) as well as upper extremities.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Lawrence, can you post a link? I can't find it in search, thanks! And thanks for coming back and continuing to learn from this vid!

[@rebanelson607]

This helped me to more aware of articulation. I've tried practicing thirds with this slow, relaxed technique and it has helped with fatigue and tension in my shoulder muscles. It's all about awareness. Thanks!

[@PianistAcademy1]

That's great, Reba!

[@suzannedoidge5535]

Really enjoyed this, especially the 6 musical ideas which I can't wait to try out. Thank you!

[@PianistAcademy1]

You are welcome, Suzanne! Thanks for watching!

[@jdiaz4877]

this very good well done!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for watching!

[@kurthuber7757]

Wow. This is what I’ve been doing wrong. This is why I’ve spent hundreds in physical therapy. Good to know. Thank you!!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

I hope you can stop physical therapy soon! Glad to hear this video was helpful for you :-)

[@sulichen6170]

Excellent demonstration for students!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks, Suli!

[@logicking3765]

Fantastic video! Just speaking from a personal perspective and I do not represent anyone else, it doesn't matter how musical you make the exercises to be, the notes (I wouldn't even call Hanon music) themselves have no musicality in it, so I think it's detrimental to the musical development of a musician. I am not here to bash Hanon, I know there are people who love them and people who don't, but the recent trend favors the latter. Regardless, people who wish to learn Hanon should watch this video because it's very informative!

[@PianistAcademy1]

It's true! I'm definitely a proponent of always practicing all components of making music whether it's an "exercise" a "scale" or repertoire. That was the driving reason behind making this video. Once in a while I'll work a passage only for the sake of the notes and getting them in my fingers. But even when I find myself 'pounding away' there's always still a shape built in and subtle amounts of rubato. So even though the focus in that moment isn't on musicality, it's still being shaded in here and there even in the most technical types of practice. I also tell students to limit that kind of "pounding away" practice to only a few minutes total of their practice time.

[@SarthakPaul]

Just found your channel..and watched 2 videos...your videos are incredibly good, I subscribed ... Waiting for more intermediate piano tutorial ... Because intermediate tutorials are very hard to find in free platform like KZbin

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you! I have a number of beginner ones coming out next, but I'll definitely do more intermediates as well. Did you have any specific questions?

[@SarthakPaul]

@@PianistAcademy1 actually I basically play solo piano (modern pieces, pop songs) .. so I would like to know about Maj7th, minor 7th, Dominant 7th arpeggios on left hand..I mean how will be the fingering on left hand for those arpeggios..?

[@SarthakPaul]

I have already watched that right hand pattern of those arpeggios..I want to know about playing those on bass clef by left hand

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@SarthakPaul Gotcha! Most of the time I demo the right hand in the videos because it's easier to see, but the left hand is the same, mirrored. So most LH arpeggios ascending are going to be played with 5, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 etc. 7th chord arpeggios would be 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1 etc. Then descending would be the just the opposite fingering. Changes from that can occur, but it depends on a lot of the specific context in the piece (key, inversion, how the arpeggios are preceded and where they lead to) and also what your own hand likes to do. What specific pieces are you working on? I can take a look. Or even better, if you could upload a screenshot of a passage you have a question about and link it to a comment, that'd be even easier.

[@SarthakPaul]

@@PianistAcademy1 I understand.. Actually right now I am not working on any particular piece or song that has 7th chords arpeggio..but I wanted to know that for beginning some arpeggios on 7th chords so that I can apply to a song that has 7 th chord...thank you for the information..I have one more request ,,Can I connect you on Instagram if you have any account there?

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci for this. Great comments about relaxations and preventing injuries. I hope you are doing the exercises for the low back that I gave you. I also have some stretches, exercises and treatments for the hands, forearms, and shoulders. I might have my daughter film me and then you could reference it on your channel. I started the piano just a couple weeks ago after I retired. I have been using yours and other's videos and would like a way to repay you all for your help. Since I have suffered a life altering orthopedic condtion of my shoulder, I had to change my approach to the body. And I would like to help piano players understand the anatomy of the upper extremity in a way to help your playing.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Hey Lawrence! I have been doing some of those that you sent over, as well as some neural glides for the hands and forearms. They feel great! I'd love to share some hand stretches and exercises here, that would be wonderful. Perhaps it could even be an informal video where I try them out, live on-camera, for the first time and give immediate reactions to what I'm feeling. You absolutely don't need to send anything over to repay, but if you feel so inclined, I have a "tip jar" set up through PayPal. I've primarily used it on my music performance channel, but I'll be incorporating it here as well in the near future. bit.ly/CharlesVirtualTips

[@TheDamarGp]

Thank you, this was very helpful!!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

So glad! Thanks for watching!!

[@akshobiya7501]

Thank you. I watch this after earning my first injury from practicing incorrectly. I'm practicing Hanon 1. My right wrist is hurting after trying to push myself to 80bpm.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Just take it slowly and let the tempo come naturally. That is easier said that done, but trust me, the tempo will gradually creep up on its own as your body is ready for it.

[@akshobiya7501]

@@PianistAcademy1 Yeah. I see my Piano instructor tomorrow so I'll bring it up. You don't know what you don't know. I just did an hour session. I stuck with my method book to get ready for tomorrow, and I'm leaving the repetitive exorcises to a simple one run through at a decreased tempo. Thank you for responding.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@akshobiya7501 - breaking your practice up into smaller segments may be helpful -- like two 30-minute sessions

[@WSJade]

Watching your channel grow so fast makes me smile. Are you monetized already? 😉 And please tell me you'll do a vid for that 6:15 tease.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Close! But YT is taking it's time unlocking my community tab, which I was supposed to get at 500 subs... it's now almost 2,000 subs and I still don't have it active. I need another 2,000 hours of watch time to reach the 4k needed for monetization, but the way it's going, I'll have that in about 2 more weeks or so. Gotta love some Schubert/Liszt, right?! Lol, I've never actually played the Liszt transcription, and the last time I played the original Schubert was in theory class in my Masters... I sight read it in front of the class cause we were talking about the piece haha. That said, I have a commission request to arrange the Liszt transcription for violin, piano, and voice... so I'll be getting very familiar with it soon.

[@WSJade]

@@PianistAcademy1 Haha nice! And I mean a PA advanced tutorial on playing with your body/coming off your seat, not a performance. I'm not mean enough to request a piano concerto. :p

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@WSJade Well I just might have to do that then!

[@serwoolsley]

Thanks for sharing, this is very helpful, one question tho: should i be playing everything with the elbow technique or are we emphasizing it on hanon because it asks us do it that way? In other words is knuckle play always bad and i should never use it or is it ok? Cause i find the elbow technique much easier to do on staccato than to do it on legato.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Great question! I particularly like the elbow technique for reducing or eliminating tension in the hand and wrist. I think that it is still present, in moderation, in all technique (even the softest and most lyrical playing), but very much in moderation. Yet like learning anything, it takes lots of practice emphasizing it before it can be tamed back down. I also love using the elbow technique for drilling difficult passages in repertoire, especially when the final product is fast and quiet. I find it gets more of the mechanism working and then, when I pull back the dynamic and speed the tempo, just enough of it is still there to grant great articulation and dexterity, even though I'm no longer "thinking" about attacking from the elbow.

[@clockfixer5049]

Does all this apply to scales and arpeggios? Doing those quite often I do not tense up really but maybe it’s just that they are somehow different from Hanon exercises and I still do something wrong just without noticing it.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I still love doing all of what I talk about in scales as well, yes. Scales and arpeggios are somewhat repetitive as well, but not as much as Hanon both in terms of notes as well as the physical act of playing. Because of this, they don't put the hand and wrist in the same sort of danger of extra tension... they feel more like typical repertoire. As a teacher, I'd rather use scales to work on technique and musical motions. But since it applies to Hanon (and Hanon has such a potential to injure pianists) I wanted to specifically apply it there.

[@chowbow573]

Hello! I just want to ask a question… Whenever I play hanon, I always try to maintain a C shape hand posture to avoid my knuckles from collapsing. Because I’ve watched a video from Piano Lab that says that one of the main reasons why we feel tension when playing is because our knuckles are collapsed, and so to fix that, we need to maintain a C shape hand posture. Here’s the link from his video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYLWioOZjrukrK8 So I’ve been practicing that for quite a months now and I did noticed that it does improved my playing (e.g. playing trills, scales) but sometimes though, especially in playing hanon, I still feel tension in my elbows whenever I try to maintain a C shape hand posture. While I was watching this video of yours, I saw that your knuckles are a little bit sunken and collapsed but you said that didn’t felt any tension. So my question is, should I rigorously maintain a C shape hand posture or is it okay for my knuckles to sunken sometimes?

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for the question! Having raised knuckles is, I think, a bit of a misconception about correct hand posture. Knuckles too far raised produce an over-curve of the fingers which isn't what we actually want. Piano shouldn't be played on the finger tips, it should be played with the pads on the bottoms of the fingers. The bit that's "hidden" in between Piano Lab and the way I look when I play is that the "bridge" (the area of the large knuckles) needs to be firm and supported. Firm doesn't mean tension elsewhere in the hand and arm, it just means structured. It's easier to form the structure with knuckles higher, but we want to as quickly as possible get back to a more relaxed and actually less-rounded finger shape if we are after the best technique. Despite my knuckles sitting lower and more in line with the top of my hand, if you could push straight down from the top of my hand you'd feel a huge amount of resistance because the right structure and firmness is there. It's actually not collapsed (there isn't a V shape with the wrist and 2nd knuckles higher than the first knuckles), but it's as low as I can keep it without it actually collapsing. This is a very difficult thing to teach online because the teacher can't see or feel the changes in tension our suggestions are making. You are completely right to be looking to eliminate tension. But we need to find a balance between the exact points to maintain structure (ie, through all of the knuckles, bridge especially) and where to release tension (ie the top of the hand, the wrist, the forearm, etc). A lot of times when we attempt to add structure we unknowingly also add tension in the wrong spots. Simply placing the hand in this more rounded/arched shape that Piano Lab talks about doesn't actually add the underlying structure, but it simulates it. It's a good place to start (and even spend a few years) while the hand gets strong and used to the position. Then over time, and as music gets more advanced, we want to maintain that level of support, but actually bring the knuckles down and play on the pads of the fingers instead. This is especially important when we get to repertoire that uses octaves and passages with more spread arpeggios. I've found that students who keep the bridge too high for too long in their study lose reach/stretch (so an octave causes tension and is hard, when their hand can actually reach a 10th if used properly). To sum up, we always want to avoid feeling "collapsed" or "sunken"... make sure you don't form a slight V shape in the top of the hand. If that means making a shape with more arch for the time being, that's a much healthier alternative. When that shape begins to feel comfortable, very slowly, try to let the fingers be more relaxed. If you shake your hand out and let it come to rest at your side, then take a look at it, that's the perfect hand shape to play the piano with (video coming out on this in a few weeks). For 99% of people, it's much more relaxed and spread (but not collapsed) than what Piano Lab shows.

[@chowbow573]

@@PianistAcademy1 thank you for the response! ❤️

[@PianistAcademy1]

​@@chowbow573 Absolutely!

[@chowbow573]

@@PianistAcademy1 I didn’t knew you should be playing on the pads of the fingers rather than the finger tips, thanks for pointing that out!

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@chowbow573 No problem!