Myths of Hanon Part 1: "Lift the fingers high..." | Intermediate Piano Lesson

[@PianistAcademy1]

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[@TranquiloTrev]

I used Hanon. My playing improved greatly. I would certainly recommend it. I used it how it benefited me. I did not read the instructions. Many people criticise Hanon, yet they do not give an alternative.

[@MAC2322]

I've been playing piano for about 3 years, self-taught. I use Hanon for warmups, usually about 10-15 minutes per day, exercises 1-2 at first and 3-5 afterwards (I played only 1 & 2 for close to a year and a half!). I have to admit that, at first, I didn't notice the 'lift the fingers high' instruction, and once I did and tried it for a while, I found it felt a bit counter intuitive and quickly went back to playing it 'normally'. I've found that the exercises, especially when getting into the higher tempos, help in moving the fingers lightly and develop muscle memory, which I feel has helped me a bit in my studies. Personally, I found the more damaging instruction in the text to be the line 'once you have mastered this exercise, move on to the next'. Since I don't and haven't had a teacher, the question of 'how good does it have to sound for me to consider the exercise 'mastered'' is one that bothered me for a very long time. I would often get through the exercises feeling unsure of how well I was performing them, picking at tiny inconsistencies in rhythm or volume and wondering 'Is this good enough to consider the exercise really mastered?' and repeating them endlessly until I could hardly take it anymore. It may well be that striving for this level of precision was helpful to my development as a pianist, but if so it was only at the cost of my enjoyment, which I think is something that a hobbyist should try and never abandon. If I had to give advice to a pianist looking at Hanon for the first time, I would replace that line with something like 'practice the exercise until it is comfortable', or even something like 'practice the exercise until bored'! I feel like having more variety in the practice regimen helps to keep me engaged in learning, rather than feeling like just endless repetition. In the end, music is meant to be fun, and moving past an exercise that's 'only' 90% mastered to keep stimulating the musical brain seems like a perfectly fine tradeoff to me. I still practice Hanon; I find the exercises pleasant and a good way to warm up my fingers, but always now with the thought that I can move through them freely rather than having to stick to the letter of the original text.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Those are great thoughts! The ability to "self diagnose" is incredibly difficult to obtain and equally difficult to apply. It's part of the reason why even crazy good, professional, pianists continue to get coachings and degrees like the Artist Diploma even after they are making a living with music. So don't get bummed by that, it's just a very difficult thing to figure out. If you DO have an opportunity to have a lesson, even just once a month or once every two months (with a teacher who is willing to work on YOUR goals, not theirs) you'll gain an immense amount of knowledge and self awareness. I can tell you that "mastery" feels completely different at every level of playing. For a beginner, that might mean the right notes, played in the right rhythm, with good hand position. For an intermediate, we might start talking about speed and cleanliness of playing. For advanced, we'll be talking about absolute perfection at the highest speeds (faster than the 108 Hanon mentions) and most extreme dynamics. So gauging where you are is very important to determine what 'mastery' truly means. I also agree about moving on to the next exercise being both confusing and potentially harmful. The mastery bit we've now discussed, but the other bit is about not giving the hand a break between exercises. Playing exercises 1-5, even at 108, takes quite a long time and uses far too similar of motions for me to ever recommend a student to do that. I don't see a real value gained in practicing like that. The endurance to play will come more naturally as more time is spent at the piano and more time is spent working and playing repertoire. You don't NEED the type of endurance 1-5 straight through will build until you are playing some of the most difficult repertoire ever written. And by that point, you'll probably have built it up in many many other ways. Keep it fun and enjoyable! That's what music is for!

[@kabelomkhabela4766]

Thanks for this! Also self teaching and literally at this stage😂😂😂

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@kabelomkhabela4766 Have fun and enjoy the journey!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

I've found that different Hanon exercises help to balance and loosen the hands -- in other words, do not wait for "mastery" before starting the next one. I just use #1 and #5 as a warm-up. To make things more interesting and get "double duty" I sometimes combine #1 and #5 - play a measure of #1, then a measure of #5, then #1, then #5 ... etc. To add more interest and musicality try playing them in 6ths (LH starts on E instead of C, RH starts on the usual C) and 10ths (LH starts on the usual C, RH starts on E above the usual C). Also try playing in different keys .. and definitely to *not* play with *any* tension in your hands!

[@bunnyhollowcrafts]

I can play 1 and 2. Never focused on lifting high as I met Mrs. Taubman on KZbin first. She was incredibly helpful as I recovered from tendinitis. I now play just those two Hanons, scales, and arpeggios to warm up. I think Hanon has been helpful taken in little bits. Love these videos!!!

[@michaelcraig2985]

Came here after googling what the hell “lifting the fingers high” means. Thanks for the historical framing and copyediting. I’m mostly self taught and only picked up Hanon after cutting my teeth on actual repertoire. ALL of that repertoire got instantly better after playing through just the first two Hanon exercises. I think there’s something to be said for the granular sort of awareness it brings to the fingers. Without that, my body awareness rests further up the arm (maybe even into the neck and abdomen), and all sorts of weird awareness slip into my hands (missing fingers, extra fingers, no space in the palm between the wrist and certain fingers). If nothing else, the Hanon exercises help improve the accuracy of my image of my hands. Now I’m going to go NOT worry about lifting the fingers high. Thank you!

[@PianistAcademy1]

I'm glad to hear, Michael! Thanks for stopping by the channel and I hope to see you again in the comments!

[@shawnf375]

Years ago, as a 30 something getting back into playing after two decades, I still had some skills left (not to mention I was simultaneously studying theory in music classes at a local community college) but my teacher wanted me to buck up using Hanon. We got to all of number seven when I put my foot down. My weakness wasn't in technique or fingering per se but was in scales and advanced scalar/arpeggio and various key playing. We changed up to Czerny and voila! There's definitely a difference in the pieces--"musicality" not being the least--but an approach that goes beyond finger independence. Hanon still came back and we used it sparingly for technical things, ie the dreaded tremolo, which I'm forever grateful for...but Czerny hands down...or heck, simple etudes along the way to incorporate all of the above without the hum drum boredom that Hanon begets. Rant over ;).

[@PianistAcademy1]

Haha yes, I agree Shawn! I pulled out books and books of exercises while making my 2 Hanon videos (so far)... looking for alternatives to suggest. I also really like Czerny exercises. But I found that, none of the others drill the left hand technique nearly as hard, although they do feel much more like "rep" to the hands. I'll still give my own students scales and arpeggios to drill stuff instead of Hanon, but I was expecting to find another alternative that worked the hands just as hard and... I couldn't!

[@fiscalcpiano]

Thank you so much for this video. I've been playing my whole life and just today started to give Hanon a serious try, following every instruction to the word, and I immediately started noticing discomfort and even a tiny bit of pain in my right hand due to lifting the fingers high - I immediately started looking up people's thoughts about that instruction and this is the first place that popped up; this is a great video amd amazing channel and I am amazed that you don't have as many viewers as you ought to, I wish you the best of success.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you, and best wishes to you on your continued piano journey!

[@suzannedoidge5535]

I've been learning piano for just over two years. The first year was self taught. My teacher, who I started with last year, was amazed at how light my touch was. She had only had two other students like this in seventeen years of teaching. I started with Hanon and within weeks she said I had different hands. I'm now enjoying learning how to play softly with one hand whilst playing loudly with the other :)

[@PianistAcademy1]

That's great, Suzanne! Keep up the good work! I'd be interested to know how you approached playing your Hanon exercises? Did your teacher want you to have your full arm, wrist, and hand engage in practice, or just fingers?

[@JoeLinux2000]

If it works for you, it's the thing to do. Perhaps it's like ice hockey players who have very strong wrist shots.

[@suzannedoidge5535]

@@PianistAcademy1 just fingers...so I'm assuming that what ever I was doing with my arms/wrists was already okay

[@chrisdavis2161]

I notice a lot of people online bashing this book. I'm not classically trained. I learned Jazz Piano in a group setting. This book single-handedly improved my playing abilities and helped me get to the next level with virtuosic improvisation, walking bass lines, double-handed arpeggios and left-handed chord comping. I admit that a person needs to approach this book as literal exercise because if you don't, you'll injure yourself. You have to start off slowly and be conscious of any pain. You have to rest and allow your body to repair itself instead of mindlessly pounding these exercises out every day. The improvement was so dramatic that I ended up getting gigs to play lead at churches. Regardless of what Hanon says, I recommend doing these exercises once or twice a week max to keep your dexterity high. RIP Mr. Dawson... I'm still practicing my 13ths and 251s

[@PianistAcademy1]

Hey Chris! Thanks for the comment! I almost never practice Hanon personally, but it can be helpful to many pianists if, like you say, you practice it correctly and take your time. I did another video with some tips to keep Hanon fresh and work on more than just finger dexterity. I hope you'll check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5W3ZWaYZc6SnNU

[@RUT812]

I used it to play scales & chords. My teacher didn’t have me do the exercises, & I am eternally grateful to her for that.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Absolutely! What kind of music are you working on these days?

[@RUT812]

@@PianistAcademy1 I worked as a professional pianist (soloist & accompanist) for years, then taught piano for a few more years (using 𝙋𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙤 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨). Now I’m retired & mostly working on some pieces by Chopin, Beethoven & Mozart. My hands are rather small; I can reach an octave, but playing fast octaves has always been a challenge for me. My daughter is getting back to the piano, at an intermediate level, so I share teaching videos with her that I think will help her. She has small hands, too.

[@backtoschool1611]

I heard of Hanon years ago!! I picked a copy and dove right in. Tempo was always an issue along with relaxation. An organ tuner suggested I TRANPOSE the exercises, I was on 7-9, cant remember! So I went back to no. 1 and played through all the major and minor keys, of which I enjoyed!! But I still had these issues with tempo and tention. So I put it away. Every once in a while I pulled it out. Then I went to university!! My piano professer tried to teach me these wrist circles, but I just was not getting it! He also had us doing Corotot finger drills, and he told me to lift high my fingers. Again, I didnt get it. I stopped playing after 2014 when I came back from uni. Nearly 10 years later, I started to study organ as a back door back to the piano. The very odd thing I did, subconciously, was doing wrist circles and playing from the shoulder and arm at the organ!! My teacher says, you dont need to do that on the organ, thats piano technique, not organ, you can just use the fingers on the organ. I told him, It helps with relaxation and phrasing. I still dont fully understand it, but I try to do this at piano, and it is as if I have never played piano!! Thats just odd!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

This is a perfect example of how Hanon was written for organ and is still used by organ majors in universities and conservatories across the world, BUT, was never intended for piano! Great, although I bet frustrating, first hand experience!

[@backtoschool1611]

@@PianistAcademy1 Thank you very much! I will add a special note in my current copy about the proper technique. Thank you again.

[@RalucaBojor]

In the Eastern European system, Hanon is very high up the technique list, but not as high as Czerny. In other words, I did use Hanon when I was growing up, but not regularly. I probably got through the first 5 exercises and my piano teacher said "Eh, good enough. Czerny now." HOWEVER - the idea that I had to lift my fingers HIGH and hit the keys with this so-called "precision" was VERY much the norm in Romania - for any piece! When I went to Wheaton College my professor spent 90% of our lessons fixing the bad technique. My fingers were like little hammers, my wrist was hurting, my arms were in pain... My American teacher would tell me: "You want to be able to play well into your 90's!" I'm thankful that she helped me overcome these bad habits!

[@PianistAcademy1]

So interesting! Also great to hear you moved to Czerny quickly… instead of getting Hanon up to 200bpm 🤣

[@RalucaBojor]

@@PianistAcademy1 haha. Czerny was part of our national curriculum for music schools (similar to the Russian system). We played Czerny religiously from 2nd grade through our high school graduation. Hanon was considered "supplemental" technique, but Czerny was our daily bread.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@RalucaBojor Great! Which Czerny opuses did you use during that time?

[@jjrusy7438]

i use the idea of making up patterns to make my fingers do different combinations. I did get the idea to do this from that yellow book from hell, but i dont look up specific exercises in the book. I am learning guitar too and i do hanon-esque exercises there too. piano has really helped my left hand on guitar.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Nice, sounds like a great idea, JJ!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

- speaking of learning on different instruments ... interestingly enough a few Hanons also make for a good pedal warm-up on the organ ... :-)

[@missjuliepiano]

Nice to see Hanon roasted. Killed my arms and hands playing these hours a day. I never use Hanon now in my teaching. A feeling of dread comes over me when a self-taught acult comes in with Hanon book. I believe technique can be learned in the rep, plus scales, chords, arpeggios, etc.

[@PianistAcademy1]

This was a fun one to make. I just filmed a video teaching how to practice exercise 1 with good technique and also giving 6 ideas to make it more interesting and keep the ear engaged. I’m not really a fan of Hanon, but if there’s a way for those who like it to use it more effectively, I’m happy to help. Hope you’ll watch the tutorial when it comes out, probably Monday!

[@missjuliepiano]

@@PianistAcademy1 absolutely!!

[@delroyroberts9244]

"Lateral epicondylitis and "Tendonitis," etc.? That is true what you say. The best 'technical exercises for me come from piano arrangements of overtures: "Zampa" for fast repeated chords, etc.

[@gregoryworthley4933]

I personally have found teaching Hanon by rote to younger students helpful for technique. It builds finger independence and facility in fingers 4 and 5. I eventually have them transpose to G to introduce the idea of moving in and out of the keyboard to avoid awkward twisting, but often won’t go beyond that. I would never have a student buy the book. I agree that Hanon is often used incorrectly but think that many of the exercises are still great vehicles to introduce and reinforce proper technique.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I agree that it has it merits, especially when a teacher is present to help guide the exercises and check in on technique. I went searching for options to replace Hanon, and, I really didn't find anything. The usual suggestions work technique in a very different way and arguably don't develop the left hand as well.

[@SimpleChinese]

Really useful. Thank you so much for your fine suggestions 🙂

[@PianistAcademy1]

I'm glad you found them helpful! Thanks so much for watching!

[@BettyBie]

In our school we learned piano with Bach “notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach” and Czerny.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Czerny was a go-to for me once I was 13-ish and had been playing for around 9 years. I don't think I did much from Anna Magdalena... I remember a few pieces, but only a few.

[@JoeLinux2000]

@@PianistAcademy1, Obviously you are not a biological descendant of J S Bach

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@JoeLinux2000 Ha, nope! Although there is a high probability that I do have some Chopin in me. We will never know because all of the records in my family's region of Europe were destroyed in WWII.

[@JoeLinux2000]

@@PianistAcademy1, I'm curious about the spelling of your name. What does it look like in the Polish alphabet?

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@JoeLinux2000 No idea, never seen it! My dad's side is 100% or near 100% Polish, my mom's is a mixture of French, German, and Czech mainly.

[@Brennan3691]

I played piano from ages 7 to 18. It wasn’t until I was a freshman in high school, with a new teacher mind you, that I was introduced to Hanon. Made a huge difference in warming up for the dexterity require for the prices I was tackling! But I only would do about 7-10 minutes at the beginning of practice. I didn’t notice any strain from the exercises.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I'm glad it worked for you and that no injuries followed! Do you still play?

[@Brennan3691]

@@PianistAcademy1 ayyy the legend responds! I stopped taking lessons when I got into college sadly. I pick up my guitar and ukulele for some stress relief every now and again! But the legacy lives on through my brother who is still playing and is better than I ever was :)

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@Brennan3691 I'm glad you still have music with guitar and uke! And very cool to have been an inspiration to your brother 😀

[@RolandHuettmann]

I never played Hanon, and I will never play. Never use lifting fingers, but natural gravitation and forearm rotations as well as natural curved movements -- you become a dancer at the piano.

[@PianistAcademy1]

100% agree!

[@chasvox2]

Excellent analysis and presentation. And correct in every detail in my (engineering background in my youth) opinion. I also learn a lot by watching jazz pianists and concert pianists on YT when the video shows closeups of what their hands and fingers are actually doing. I also keep this comment Artie Shaw made about Benny Goodman in mind. "Benny, you don't understand. You play the clarinet. I play music." That is always the target. Or as Ray Charles alway emphasized: "What does it sound like?" (I subscribed based on the zeal you exhibit right out of the gate.....)

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you, Charles! Love those quotes!

[@PlataxJazz]

Thank goodness I only read the notes and not the text, especially at the beginning of the book. So, I have never lifted my fingers high while playing Hanon. I am a senior beginner, having finally taken learning to play the piano off of my buck-list lest I kick the proverbial bucket and move on without piano skills. I like Hanon. I haven't played all 60 exercises, yet, but those I do play I play in 5 different keys, C, 1 & 2 sharps, and 1& 2 flats. I practice them with light contact of my fingers on the keys very much like you describe. I look forward to what else you have in store for us on Hanon.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Good thing you skipped over that part! Check out the comment thread here started by Gina… she translated what the original French edition actually says, and it’s quite different from the English editions.

[@PlataxJazz]

@@PianistAcademy1 Thank you, that is most interesting. That really puts a different light on things. I wonder how that translation came about, maybe a translation of a translation. We can probably rule out Google Translate as the culprit.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@PlataxJazz Right? I've noticed the more and more I research, things that are translated to English especially tend to get butchered. The more I see this, the more I think about trying to find the original wording in the original language. Even Google Translate does a better job with the original French than whoever translated the books 100 years ago!

[@PlataxJazz]

@@PianistAcademy1 That's why I wonder if the French was translated to maybe Italian, then the Italian to German, and then the German to English and the the meaning was "lost in translation". It might be interesting to find out how many different languages Hanon has been translated into, when the translations were done and how good the translations were. Maybe we could actually figure out when the divergence happened.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@PlataxJazz yeah that would be very interesting to find out!

[@jsethanderson]

I like practicing Hanon, although I didn't as a kid. I play Hanon a few times a week now, usually just for a quick warm up.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Sounds good, JSA! I hope you'll check out my subsequent video to this one about how to keep Hanon healthy and a bit more musical!

[@SSAENS-yj3jw]

My teacher makes me play hanon but his approach is very different from the finger school. He makes me use arm rotation or whatever is necessary for each excercise, as they are all somehow different and require a particular technique to be applied 😃 and so far its been really good.

[@PianistAcademy1]

That's great to hear. Does he teach on a per-exercise basis? Or do you use a book like the Hanon-Faber method?

[@SSAENS-yj3jw]

@@PianistAcademy1 we do one Hanon excercise per week. Right know I'm working on the 16th and I really feel it has helped me a lot 🥰 at the same time I'm working on Czerny's school of velocity (etude 3) and practicing all scales (we also did one scale per week) everyday.

[@esparka]

I began serious studies as an adult 20 years ago. The Hanon Studies 1-20 was the most efficient way to introduce my fingers to all of the movements one will encounter while negotiating the piano. I was taught to play 1-20 in “C”. Then, follow the circle of 5ths & learn to play 1-20 in each successive key: C, G, D, A, E, B, F#/Gb, Dd, Ab, Ed, Bb, F & home…. Quite the pain..

[@PianistAcademy1]

Did you find working through the keys valuable?

[@esparka]

@@PianistAcademy1 My piano instructor is none other than Tom Constanten. He is who told me that Hanon is basically the quickest pathway to introducing & familiarizing your fingers to each and every physical movement possible, when negotiating musical pieces. It is his strategy to run through the circle of fifths. So each day you run through one through 20. And as each successive day occurs, you move up the circle of fifths until you return to the beginning, then you start all over again. As for your question, I found learning the successive keys to be quite a bit more difficult than all the white keys. F sharp/G minor was the most difficult for me. I do feel that using Hannon is a very direct approach to shaking hands with every possible movement you’ll make when playing the piano. I am sure that having an experienced instructor who will provide you with successive musical instruction, in conjunction with this Hannan work, certainly will pay off down the road. It has helped me to build a solid repertoire of impressive piano pieces to share with others. Tom was a member of the Grateful Dead & his other classical & operatic work is also well known. So, this advice/guidance comes from a very solid source. Thank you for your time,

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@esparka Interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@benzakourfarah4296]

Thank you so much for making this video Glad I found this bc I was so confused .my piano teacher said that I need to to hanon exercises for dexterity reason but he insisted about lifting the finger and that force should come from the fingers it self not from the arm and the wrist should be locked and that created such a huge tension and my hand I have to talk with my teacher or just change my teacher

[@PianistAcademy1]

Ben, if your teacher is absolutely insistent I'd start looking for a new one!! That is really horrible advice and outdated by about 2 centuries! The very first thing my first *great* teacher did in my own lessons was completely pull me off of playing Hanon altogether. That teacher of mine did 3 degrees in solo piano at Juilliard, so I think there is plenty of validity there!

[@RalucaBojor]

Here's the main advantage I see with Hanon - keyboard geography. It's one of the best ways to get to know your keyboard without constantly checking the score. Once you get the pattern, you're good to go!

[@PianistAcademy1]

So what do you think of Hanon vs scales and arpeggios?

[@RalucaBojor]

@@PianistAcademy1 I much prefer scales and arpeggios because they teach so much more than technique, like key signatures. If I recall, most Hanon exercises were in C major.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@RalucaBojor Same. I've found many many people online though who practice Hanon across all major and minor keys as well. I can't get behind recommending that because outside of C and a few others, the stretch between fingers becomes quite large to obtain a 3rd... ie LH 5 to 4 from E to G# if we play #1 in the key of E.

[@kazifcaproductions6835]

I've never heard of hanon until this video, I'm pretty new to it all, but theres definitely a function to that finger style sort of playing, hammer ons on guitar for example, I practice with my keyboard sometimes, though more for the isolated mechanic rather than any sort of piano technique. Guitar also has a different hand position, which may factor into the usage of the finger joint itself. I can see this technique being useful for other instruments, and not as much piano.

[@kazifcaproductions6835]

Raising the finger high is definitely crazy tho

[@PianistAcademy1]

Yes, and to further differentiate, on guitar you are only pressing the string into the neck/fret. That requires some force, but no where near as much as the pounds of force put through each finger and into the keys at the piano. Even the hammer-on motion, if translated to piano, would only produce a soft tone.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 -- although ... with the guitar the pressure is constatnt and continuous, while on the piano (properly played) it's only a momentary instant, after which the back check catches the hammer and the key holds the damper up with (hopefully) *minimal* pressure on the keys ...

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow true!

[@anniescolourfullife]

I stopped playing the piano when I was 10 years old, because I didn't want to do the practice which I found very boring. Fast forward to 67 years old and I started learning the piano again 5 weeks ago. Unfortunately, there are no piano teachers where I live, so I'm learning via books and watching videos online. I considered purchasing the Hanon book. Fortunately, these days it is possible to look at a snap shot of a book online. When I looked at the Hanon, I decided that I'd be bored out of my mind playing all those exercises, which may result in me giving up the piano again........so I didn't purchase it. I may not be going about the right way of learning the piano, but I'm wanting to play the piano for enjoyment and not for a career. Instead of mind numbing Hanon exercises, I'll pick out maybe a couple of arpeggios or a couple of blues scale etc., and use those as exercises whilst varying the order of the notes and making up my own simple tunes. I'll do that for about 15 mins, then I'll move onto playing an easy piece such as a kids nursery rhyme or any easy score, then move onto trying to get a bit further forward playing Fur Elise. I set a timer and only play for a maximum of 60 minutes in total (sometimes it's less) so as to hopefully avoid any injury. Personally, I think that piano lessons can be too rigid and maybe don't always suit everyone.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Absolutely. Just use some scales and arpeggios. 60 minutes is actually a long time to sit especially for a body that isn't used to the posture and position of the hands and arms. Feel free to cut it into 2 30-minute sessions. You might find it easier and more productive. Also, lessons are wonderful but only as great as the teacher is. A great teacher will work with you on your specific goals and for your needs and they will be able to change the 'face' of lessons for every individual they work with. If you can find a teacher like that, even to see just once a month, it would be well worth the guidance.

[@gunorijssel7987]

I've been playing piano now for about 6 years as an adult. That is, unlike those who started at Kindergarten, AI'VE been practicing in those 6 years NEARLY EVERYDAY! After going through the majority of Hanon time and again, I've come to slim it down to TWO SETS OF FIVE A WEEK. That is: I USE HANON JUST TO WARM UP!!...In fact, there isn't a better way to start playing when you're in a mood like: "oops......don't feel like it today....I'm gonna finish reading this article..and then I'm gonna make some tea...O yeah, I almost forgot, I've gotta call A or B." You can overcome this all by having TWO SETS OF HANON to alternate every week. For example: week 1: exercises 3, 5, 7 and 8; week 2: exercises 12, 13, 15 and 17. week 3: BACK to week 1. THIS is how HANON will stay with me till the day I die!!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

That is some dedication! I'd rather warm up with scales myself, but I understand why others choose Hanon. I hope you'll check out the video I just posted today about practicing Hanon in a healthy and more musical way!

[@Andreylarin1]

Let me share some light at what I believe Hannon meant by lifting the fingers. I believe he didn’t mean to strike the key from above but lift the fingers that are no longer playing thus releasing them. One of my teachers shared a very valuable concept that helped me a lot. She told me the next finger goes into the key as much as you release the previous. And coupled with forearm left or right movement (they call it rotation) and wrist it works like magic. I ask my students to unpress or release the the finger that’s no longer playing and it really works. So this is what I believe Hannon meant by lifting fingers.

[@PianistAcademy1]

That may be true, although quite difficult to extrapolate from the text by itself, which is part of the point of highlighting it to pianists, especially those without teachers who have experience with how to teach Hanon well. In my own teaching of all rep, I teach the release to be as immediate as possible, however it shouldn't be an action that requires conscious muscle movement. In fact, the release should be the absence of muscle movement in the correct places. It's a fine balance between "lifting" to release, and "relaxing" to release because, in truth, we can still hold keys from a relaxed position. Rotation is also a huge component to good technique and one, yet again, that at least the English versions of Hanon makes quite confusing. There are many instances in the book where the text says to keep the wrists and hands as still as possible... the opposite of rotation, the opposite of actually decent playing in general. I'm planning to do a video showing ways of approaching Hanon from a healthy perspective that can develop technique, but also contradict what the book itself says.

[@giovannipepe5945]

My fingers just won't lift high no matter how hard I try 😂. There's very little upward motion flexibility between my metacarpal bone and my proximal phalanx ( I googled the technical names 😜 ). Does anyone else have this ? So I never could follow Hanon's advice anyway. I'm so relieved to hear that's it's not actually the desired objective.... phew 🤪. Thanks for the historical context, it now makes much more sense. 👍

[@AntoineVideoLibrary]

When I was a student, I had benefitted a lot from Hanon and Schmitt. However, about 10 years ago, I changed my mindset. I would not recommend spending a lot of time on these type of studies. Nowadays, I recommend learning about piano techniques, and use the right technique for each part of a music piece. If the part, consisting of 1 or a few bars, is very challenging, practice that part until you can play it as perfectly as you can. To conclude, I say, one can use Hanon or Schmitt more intelligently to address a particular weakness, however, you don't really need them.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I'd agree for the most part. I might spend 5 minutes here and there as a warmup, mostly in scales not in Hanon, just to get blood flowing. But the rest of my technique has been and continues to be developed through musical study, not exercises.

[@nicolasgiaconia]

I've been teaching myself for 2 years. I worked on exercises 1-8 Didn't use the finger lifting technique. I feel like it helped me a lot to gain some dexterity and not feel my fingers glued and frozen. I recently noticed that my right hand can do a rotation motion faster and smoother than my left hand, which is noticeable in some exercises. I suppose that's because I learned the chromatic descent from op25 no11, which can't really be pulled off without wrist rotation, at least not for me. Recently I've experienced some pain if i play hanon for more than 3-4minutes, even though I'm trying my best to minimize tension. I still don't have a clear verdict but i can say they had their use i suppose, and i would sure benefit from mastering all 60, but the boringness of it and the risk factor when it comes to injury just make me think it's not worth going after exercises 10 or maybe 20

[@PianistAcademy1]

Rotation is a huge key to faster and more efficient technique. Chopin was a master of it himself, and most of his music can be played with "more ease" (relatively speaking haha) if rotation is employed well. Good for you for figuring that out! Most of Hanon is, of course, very repetitive not only in it's sound but also in the position that it forces the hand to be in. When I was younger, I experienced a pretty bad wrist injury from overplaying with not enough relaxation. I actually created a nodule on one of the tendons in my left wrist, mainly from staying too stretched out in the hand for long periods and also then putting large amount of f and ff force through that tension. I got it while working on Beethoven's Appassionata before my undergraduate auditions. It was so bad that at the worst point, I couldn't even hold anything in that hand or clench my fingers. I had to take a complete month off of practicing, only about 2 months prior to auditions starting, to let it heal. To this day, it will flair up if I don't maintain a really relaxed technique. All that said, tension and pain can stem from a whole variety of places, and it's incredibly difficult to have conscious awareness of what all of our muscles are doing. I've found that a little bit of burn in the forearm is... ok... but not desirable. It means too much tension, but in small doses it's not going to hurt us, thus allowing us time to figure out what's going on and fix it. Pain on the other hand should never be played through. That whole sports adage of "no pain, no gain" is horrible advice for pianists and all musicians. Whatever you are playing, if pain comes in, stop immediately and try to figure out what caused it. The sooner you are aware of the pain and stop, the closer you will be to the point in the music and the technique that's causing it. In Hanon in particular, I make a conscious effort to keep the wrist, forearm, and elbow loose and moving, actually trying to articulate the notes more from the elbow than from the finger. I'm planning to make a video about this approach to practicing it. Lastly, there's really nothing you can learn in Hanon that you won't learn in "real" music!

[@rogercarroll2551]

Hanon in moderation and done right (NO high finger strain lifting) AND transposed into other keys. If it hurts, you're doing it wrong. Stop !

[@PianistAcademy1]

I agree! I've never done the transposing bit, I feel like the change of keys makes some hand shapes quite unreasonable for repetition. But completely agree with the rest. I have a video coming out in a few days about how to practice Hanon well. Hope you'll tune in!

[@delroyroberts9244]

Now you tell me! I stopped lifting high 3 days ago.

[@janeS9773]

Yes , the Hanon exercises have strengthened my fingers...doing it like you suggest. I enjoy doing them, of course not with the fingers up lol. Should I not do them?

[@PianistAcademy1]

Jane, I think Hanon can be ok with the right technique and keeping the ear engaged! Check out the video I posted yesterday, in my intermediate lesson group. I go through a whole bunch of how to play Hanon with healthy technique and more musically!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

- for more variety and interest try playing them in 10ths and 6ths ... (and in other keys ...)

[@JoeLinux2000]

I advocate putting energy into musical repertoire. At least you will have something someone might be interested in hearing. Hannon led to the invention of digital pianos equipped with headphones. I wonder if Chopin ever played any of Hannon's "exercises"? As an aside, but mentioned in this video. I was surpised when I found the Yamaha DGX sounds a harpsichord voice at the top of the key press. As for modern pianos with "escapement," it's very important to play completely to the bottom of the key. Finally if you throw your Hannon book in the trash, you will probably make a lot of people who have been within audible range of your practicing very happy.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I'm 99% certain that, had Chopin lived to see this book published in 1873, he would never have played them. It's well known he promoted learning technique in repertoire alone... part of the reason for his 24 Etudes. My digital also sounds somewhere near the halfway point down the key travel, not at the bottom. I've even noticed my technique change to accommodate this if I've been doing too much writing or too much practicing on the digital and not my acoustic. At my then new teacher's request, I stopped practicing Hanon when I was 13. I actually hadn't touched the book or any of the exercises in over 20 years, until I had the thought to make this series of videos!

[@JoeLinux2000]

@@PianistAcademy1 The DGX response differently for the harpsichord voices. It's normal for the acoustic piano voices. The problem with Hannon is that your repertoire is largely Hannon if you invest a lot of time in it. I'm loving Scriabin's Prelude for the Left Hand Only, and believe I have overcome a lot of the initial difficulty. Hannon exercises may develop a limited amount of finger independence, but it really does not develop any sense of melodic flow whatsoever. It's even further away from learning to weight individual notes in a chord to create harmonic flow. My pholosophy is to learn music not exercises. You don't become a skilled floor gymnast from power lifting large barbells.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@JoeLinux2000 Yup, I agree with this! Eventually on this channel we will get into the Czerny, Brahms, and Dohnanyi exercises... and perhaps someday Chopin and Liszt Etudes if pianists here are advanced enough!

[@suzannedoidge5535]

I only play Hannon for ten minutes per day or, yes I agree, my husband and neighbours would murder me :)

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@suzannedoidge5535 🤣 10 minutes seems like a nice amount of time for a warmup before moving on to some other material

[@Spartakus68]

Self taught piano player here, since 15 months or so. Hanon is, IMO half good and laf bad. Half bad because you said it yourself injuries can occur prett fast if you follow teh instructions at some higher speed. And self taught pianist don't usually listen to their body and sometimes tend to push to hard and don't make the difference between muscular fatigue which is normal when you start, and damaging movements . Given this and the fact that Hanon is quiet long with a myriad of different exercise where some amateurs can be discouraged. Half good if somedbody uses it with the right guidance: if the pianist has learned the right hand position, learned to delete tension in hand and wrist movements, i really think those exercices are good for finger independence and strenghtening those fingers. For self taught players we often tend to rely more on our 3 strong fingers, whereas Hanon forces you to work the pinky and the ring finger as well. I don't Hanon that much anymore but in the early months it really helped me build stamina, strengt and finger independance. Still like to use them sometimes when i have cold hands to warm up

[@PianistAcademy1]

I think your analysis is spot on! If you do want to do some extra exercise with your Hanon, I hope you'll check out my "Healthy Hanon" video that came out this past Monday!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

Many people -- if not most people -- when they reference "Hanon" are only familiar with and referencing the single-note five-finger patterns typically found in the first 20 exercises. These five-finger patterns continue thru exercise 31, and then begin with thumb and finger crossings, some scale prep exercises, and, beginning with #39 go into the standard scales, arpeggios, octaves, double 3rds, and more. "Hanon" IS very comprehensive when you consider that "Hanon" is also "scales" and "arpeggios". So -- technically -- whenever you're practicing scales and arpeggios, you're also practicing "Hanon". But very few know or include these as part of "Hanon" -- instead only referring to the 5-finger studies.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow Yes, I've found in teaching that the majority of students never "progress" beyond exercise 20 in the book, so they end up being completely unfamiliar with the rest.

[@chaiyutasawameiteerungroj3255]

Could you recommend me a kind-of Hannon Book as I am beginner?

[@PianistAcademy1]

Absolutely! Check out the "Hanon-Faber" book! It's wonderful for incorporating fluidity and important movements at the piano with these exercises. You can check out a video I made on it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZqcfGZog66Cj6s

[@danielritter6284]

I view lifting fingers high as a practice technique, to strengthen fingers and make the notes feel more secure when learning new patterns. When playing faster, or performing in general, you would not do it. BTW why does no one talk about practicing Hanson in different keys?

[@PianistAcademy1]

There are definitely some different schools of thought about lifting and I actually agree about a VERY slight lift in certain passages to facilitate a preparatory motion... all motion must start from somewhere, and it's rarely good to prepare "in the same direction." BUT that said, I think there's a huge difference between a lift of the finger and a preparation motion. Anatomically, the lift greatly works the finger and tendon in the opposite motion of what is desired, and then works it in the motion to play. Especially if lift is combined with holding the previous key to create legato, we can actually be asking the tendon system to do two opposite things simultaneously which isn't good physiologically nor in learning kinesthetically. The fingers don't have any muscles in them, the movement we feel in the fingers is created quite far up the arm. Instead of doing this, I prefer to use more of a "throwing" motion from the elbow and through the wrist, that propels the finger into the key to add to the "feel" of independence. I've had great success learning very complex and fast passages with slow practice using this "throw" technique. There's still a preparatory motion, but it's mostly made with the wrist and only slightly with the finger. I know about transposing Hanon etc and hear it once in a while from a teacher here and there. Myself, as a proponent of teaching that Hanon truly isn't piano technique (it's organ technique), you'll never hear me talk about practicing transposing it since I don't think it's very valuable practice to begin with. For specific transposition work, I'd rather see scales in parallel octaves, 3rds, 6ths, and 10ths, and doubled octaves, 3rds, and sixths... and see arpeggios learned in every inversion plus dominant 7th arpeggios... and THEN do transposition work within some simpler repertoire itself. There's been extensive research showing that Hanon doesn't help and can possibly hinder technical development on the modern piano. Teachers that still today teach Hanon to their students probably just haven't heard about the research. When I was 12 I had learned all of the exercises in "The Virtuoso Pianist" with my first teacher... when I transitioned later that year to my first "master" teacher, he basically forbade me from playing from the book ever again.

[@rocky49able]

Underestimating a particular style isn't wise. Yes, I agree that the directions of lifting the fingers and other things don't make sense. When it comes to Hanon, I personally focus on the fingering techniques.

[@PianistAcademy1]

I hope you'll check out the video I just posted today about practicing Hanon! I go through a more relaxed technical approach to it, and 6 ideas to keep your ear engaged while playing it.

[@billligon4005]

I hate Hanson. I played Hanon but I never ‘lifted’ my finger high just enough to play the key. And never read that opening statement. I was going to try his octave exercises how would that be??

[@PianistAcademy1]

All of Hanon without extra thought and attention is a bit of a waste of time. Including the scales and arpeggios. I'm absolutely FOR learning scales and arpeggios, but the worst way to go about that is simply going through the notes with little to nothing else. I'd say the same about the octave exercises in Hanon. They do make great examples of exercises we can use to develop technique, BUT, technique won't come simply from playing the notes. Take the octave exercises, learn to understand exactly what they are attempting to teach, break them down into small components, and then learn to play the small components with great technical execution. Then take the components, add them back together as seen in the exercise, but also learn to build your own exercise out of the component pieces as well.

[@QuangNguyen-nh2oc]

One can use the "Anatomical-Physiological School" techniques when doing the "Hanon" exercises. My Hanon (FJH edition) does not mention anything about lifting fingers high, so I never associated "Hanon" with an attempt to teach techniques, but as materials to help develop techniques. So, for Hanon, the question would be: "Is using the materials/drills/exercises in Hanon a good way to develop your techniques?" or should one "develop techniques through playing pieces/etudes that are more musical"? That said, the "Isolated Finger School" vs. "Whole Anatomical-Physiological School" debate is most worth pursuing, but definitely not as part of the "Hanon" vs. "musical etudes" debate.

[@PianistAcademy1]

What do you think about the question you posed? Is it more worthwhile to practice Hanon or better to practice more musical etudes? I agree about not mixing the finger vs anatomical schools when looking at drilling techniques in modern piano practice.

[@QuangNguyen-nh2oc]

And also on this topic of Hanon & past composers attempting to provide etudes to help students, I do wish someone nowadays would publish exercises/etudes/drills that help with improvisation. E.g. Here are 5 or 20 licks/etudes you can use in each chord in a particular chord progression. And after mastering them, as one improvises, one can pull out any one of licks from one's library pool while improvising. Or if Pianist Academy can do this, that would be awesome.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@QuangNguyen-nh2oc Do you mean improvisation in a classical style? Or a specific style? I'd love to work on something like that! Let me know what you are thinking.

[@QuangNguyen-nh2oc]

@@PianistAcademy1 I think it is better to practice more musical etudes. This may be an extreme example, but when learning how to read, learning the patterns "abcd", "acbd", "bacd", etc... would not be the best way to learn the alphabet; I think Hanon is somewhat like that. Learning words like "mom", "dad", etc..., though not covering the alphabets in a systematic way, would be something most people can relate to; which I think a more musical etude would be like. Why not learn a beautiful melody while practicing techniques, learning how to read and familiarized w/ finger patterns at the same time?

[@QuangNguyen-nh2oc]

@@PianistAcademy1 Not sure I want to use categories/styles such as classical, pop, rock, blues, Jazz, etc... right off the bat in this context, as this can be a slippery slope. I'd like think of music improvisation starts out with being able to learn & USE basic building blocks, and the more you basic building blocks you possess, you can start carry out simple conversations , then eventually can get into debates, and using more specialized words for specialized topics (only now, you get into styles). Let's say the first thing you learn is "tonic, whole note", then "dominant, whole note", then "tonic, half note", "dominant half note", then "leading tones", etc... By the time you get to all seven notes in a simple major scale, and with whole notes to 8th notes, the permutations get quite staggering as to what you can put together. Many permutations are not musical. Classical composers, in the past, presented the permutations that are musical. But the presentations are in the form of a composition, be it a nocturne, sonata, etc... with pretty much one option to play. So the "Improvisational Etudes Composer" presents musical permutations, not presented in a formal composition, but as multiple options that improvisers use in a chord as part of a chord progression. The more versatile the permutations are, the better it is for improvisers to learn them. Aside from providing the versatile musical permutations as options, a framework/environment for improvisation is needed. The framework can be musical, such as a chord progression (12 bars blue, ii - V - I, I - vi - IV - V), or environmental, such a book w/ exercises, a youtube video w/ backing tracks, etc... This framework is aimed at helping the improvisers not just to learn, but USE what they learn when improvising. Also, don't take improvising as just for solos. One can learn various accompaniment patterns to accompany a pop song, e.g. (the waltz is an example, but we need to invent and learn a lot of new accompaniment patterns).

[@artschiloyan9101]

Thing is, that a lot of people who actually start playing the piano, have difficulty moving their fingers individually at all. Most of my students usually play a note and then they leave their finger on the key and when they have to play it again they're not producing any sound, because their finger is basically still on the key. That's usually when I start teaching them these types of "exercises". Not necessarily Hanon, but lifting the finger up and playing from there. I am always careful to make them understand that it's not supposed to be something that hurts and they shouldn't exaggerate with the motion, but what they usually do, is far from exaggerating. I think it's important to have a good feeling of the full motion of the finger and that is the main thing that these exercises are trying to teach I believe.

[@PianistAcademy1]

All good points, Artschi! Would you pick working on Hanon over working on similar motions in scales? And if you would, could you mention why?

[@artschiloyan9101]

@@PianistAcademy1 Hey, much appreciated! I also really enjoy your videos btw! I can imagine that I'd pick Hanon over scales, if I would want to put some more focus on a specific hand position. Scales are great but they are still kind of limited to the fact that you play one note after the other and have a relatively closed hand positioning for them. So if I would see that a student is having trouble with "opening" or spreading their hand, I would probably prefer Hanon, or honestly more probably just make up my own exercise adjusted to the piece of music that they would be working on at the time. 😁 I usually think that's better, because then they also work on the piece itself at the same time. So 2 birds with one stone!

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@artschiloyan9101 Nice! Love the bit about making up your own exercise! One of my teachers (who pulled me off of Hanon when I was pre-teen) explained to me that we always want our hand in a closed position. So, even if we need to stretch to reach things, we always want to follow that with a relaxed shape whenever possible, even if its just a fraction of a second. Hanon doesn't allow that to happen at all (which is now why I think he pulled me off of them). He saw my hands would get stuck "open" and stretched which ended up making passagework in most repertoire more difficult to execute.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 - hmmm - I hadn't thought about that -- what if you actually *did* play Hanon by " ... following the stretches with a relaxed shape whenever possible" I.e. what if you pretended that "Hanon" was an actual piece of music you had to play, and you wanted to play it using as much of a closed -hand technic as possible - ?

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow If we just take #1-5 as an example, other than pausing in the middle of the exercise, there isn't a place in there for the 5th finger and thumb to retract toward one another until #5 is completed. There isn't any rep that I can think of that comes close to 70 bars of music that doesn't allow the hand to 'relax.' So, I'm not sure that it's possible to play it "like repertoire" when the structure of the notes themselves is so different. Even the Liszt Transcendental Etudes have spots to relax the hand more often haha

[@delroyroberts9244]

I play Hanon part 1 daily. Was told by my famous teacher to raise the fingers high. 3 days ago I decided to ignore this advice. The most difficult ones are nos. 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26-30. Practice slower and with the L.H. alone to begin. DON'T RAISE THE FINGERS HIGH! Bad for your arm. I know it. have hardly been able to play for 5 months. Just got back carefully. Hope I can remember the how to play the "Appasionata"!

[@PianistAcademy1]

I’m always amazed when I hear stories like this! I’m glad you are no longer following that advice!!

[@charlescxgo7629]

I think you misunderstood the purpose of why a lot of professional pianists recommend this as teaching material. Hanon has a bad rep for teachers who don't know any better and actually advocate for people to play with 'lifting of fingers' without any context or relaxation of the wrist. All the training I've received in regards to Hanon was meant to strengthen the independence of each individual finger so that when your weight of the wrist moves around in fast passages, your fingers can properly transfer weight themselves independently without stickiness of the 4th and 5th. Any lifting is to complement the ability of the fingers to 'throw' themselves and their weight around, not to apply force in and of themselves.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Hey, Charles! Thanks for the comment! I hope you'll check out my other Hanon video where I do talk through all of the way to practice Hanon well, healthily, and keep it more interesting! In my own life, I started with my first "professional" teacher at 12 years old. He held 3 degrees from Juilliard and promptly pulled me off of playing Hanon for the exact reasons I describe in this video. I definitely think he was a teacher who knew what he was doing. He rebuilt my technique from the ground up, in many ways making it possible for me to work today as a professional musician. I knew it would be a controversial topic when I made the video, so I expect plenty of people to disagree with me haha. That said, I DO believe that Hanon has a purpose when a great teacher can monitor it closely. I also believe that it can be extremely harmful to the immense number of self-taught pianists who get most of their education through KZbin and other apps.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 - again -- considering that when one says "Hanon" they typically are equating it to mean the 5-finger patterns. The last half of the 60 exercises includes scales, arpeggios, double 3rds, octaves, and more. But most people when they say to "practice scales" don't equate "scales" and arpeggios as "Hanon".

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow I'm still not sure I'd attribute scales and arpeggio practice to Hanon haha. But it's true that somewhere near half the book is devoted to exposing scales and arpeggios to students. What do you think of the repeated note exercises? For me, it's another exercises that's unique and not presented anywhere else that I can think of, but yet again, I've never played a piece that requires anything like it haha. The repeated notes in the LH of Fur Elise are much slower and don't ascend and descend a scale.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@PianistAcademy1 - for repeated notes you might try Debussy's Danse (Tarantelle Styrienne) - (I played this one in college): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHfdlJlon7N3fdE&ab_channel=ShimkusMusic (repeated notes start at 0:50) Or Scarlatti's Sonate K.141: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZmciIttibCZoas

[@aBachwardsfellow]

- perhaps "Hanon" would be better used if "taken prn" (i.e. "as needed") instead of being served daily as "meat and potatoes". In other words, if there's a technical issue, and there's a corresponding Hanon that would help overcome the issue, use *that* Hanon until the issue is resolved. But do not repeatedly, robotically, mindlessly do "all of Hanon every day" .... (... although "all of Hanon" includes *all* major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor *scales* (Ex. 39), chromatic scales (Ex. 40), *all* major and minor root position triad *arpeggios* (Ex. 41), diminished 7th arpeggios (Ex. 42), dominant 7th arpeggios (Ex. 43), repeated notes (Ex. 44, 45), trills (Ex. 46), scales in double 3rds (Ex. 50, 52), octaves (Ex. 51, 53), etc.) ... so really, taking *all* of "Hanon" into consideration, one can not despise "Hanon" too quickly ...

[@maryhealey6739]

Please don’t lump Hanon into only the 1-20 exercises; there are 60 Exercises. For people who have only a small amount of practice time daily, I would find Hanon to be very acceptable. As far as injury to fingers, let’s not even go there unless a person is practicing for 2-3 hours DAILY!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Mary, thanks for the comment! One of the big reasons I made this video is because of lots of self-taught pianists today who don't get the guidance from a teacher about good and healthy ways to go about Hanon. It sounds like you are a teacher, so I'm sure you guide your students very well! I followed up this video with another one this Monday where I talk about healthy ways to practice Hanon. The vast majority of Hanon players I've come across stop playing them by exercise 5 or 10, they never go through the rest of the book. And, as I explore in my other video on the topic, I give an example of poor technique playing it and can, myself, feel the detrimental effects in my hands and forearms after only 30 seconds... and that's with a great technique **other than** doing lifting of the fingers. After having a tendon and overuse injury many years ago, caused by incorrect practice of the Appassionata, it would only take minutes of bad practice of Hanon to have that sort of thing to come back in my hands, definitely not a few hours. And I do require my students from Intermediate level onward to practice a minimum of 1.5 hours per day, so 2 hours isn't far off from my requirement. According to author Kochevitsky, there's nothing about the brain or musculature of piano playing that isn't already pre-wired by the young ages of 5 or 6. His statement, generally, is that practice is merely the matter of correctly connecting the neural pathways that already exist, but that even the most virtuosic piano playing is no faster or more difficult than what an untrained child is capable of. If that's truly the case, then I think all teachers everywhere have a responsibility to make sure that technique will never be the source of injury, be it 30 minutes, or 8 hours per day on the bench.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

- and (fortunately) many of those 60 "exercises" include the standard scales and arpeggios that we all play when we play scales and arpeggios ...

[@elbertpratt4719]

😄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙢

[@ginabisaillon2894]

No no no you don't just lift a finger you lift the whole hand including the finger come on! I have been doing this daily for 40 years, no damage whatsoever.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Actually, another edition of Hanon literally says to lift the finger "without moving the hand or wrist." That said, how did you discover to move the entire hand? That little bit (that's missing from the text) is the key to playing these without injury. I do think there are some benefits of the exercises if the attack of the key is structured correctly in the hand/wrist/arm mechanism. My teacher at conservatory completely pulled me off of Hanon exercises when I was 13 because, in his words, "your technique isn't good enough right now to not injure yourself."

[@ginabisaillon2894]

@@PianistAcademy1 In order to strike the note "with precision you have to lift the whole hand - at least that's what I was told to do. I don't know where people get the idea that you can just lift a finger without moving the hand and I don't think that was Hanon's intention.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@ginabisaillon2894 Yes, I agree completely about the technique. There MUST be hand, wrist, and arm involvement to ensure healthy technique. I'm sure you've heard stories about teachers who put quarters on the tops of their student's hands with the instruction to never let the quarters fall off. This type of teaching stems from the "Finger School" I mention in the video where technique is taught only from the knuckles down. Reading Hanon reminds me of those teachers and it's kind of a chicken and egg question... which came first? Did the text in Hanon inspire this sort of teaching that still exists today? Or does that form of teaching have roots all the way back in Bach's time which subsequently informed Hanon's writings? Historically we do know, absolutely, that teaching for older keyboard instruments was done exclusively from the knuckles down. The keys took very little force to depress, the stretch required of the hand wasn't very large, the keys on the instruments themselves were narrower, and dynamic wasn't controlled by the hand or by force applied to the key. It really wasn't until the early to mid 20th century that modern piano technique began to be codified in a different manner. I'd love to read an original French edition of the 60 exercises and have it translated by a fluent speaker. That might shed some extra light on what exactly Hanon meant. I'd also love to know how Rachmaninoff practiced these exercises. They are still an enormous part of the modern Russian school of technique which is currently producing some phenomenal players.

[@ginabisaillon2894]

@@PianistAcademy1 I'm a fluent French speaker but I don't have the original edition to translate for you. Unfortunately.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@ginabisaillon2894 Maybe someone out there will be able to help answer our question!

[@back-seat-driver1355]

Beginning pianists never will get motivated from these stupid kind of exercises. Does anybody believe a student will read through all the measures and pages and practise that? I have never used any of pieces in the book - this book was a wrong purchase several years ago and i have thrown it away a few days after that! Mechanical work on the piano was never my goal nor my practise! I hope no one will feel insulted but i see Charles on my side ;-))

[@PianistAcademy1]

Motivation is so important! I’m definitely on your side about not using Hanon, at any level of achievement. But sometimes in your journey you will end up needing to spend time working on the playing mechanics. Does it have to be in boring exercises? No, it doesn’t!

[@turtlecat7856]

You totally misunderstood

[@PianistAcademy1]

Could you elaborate on this?? I'd love to hear what you mean!

[@turtlecat7856]

I think it's all about provide for the very begginer some sort of easy mobility on the piano. It's not thought to teach piano techniques, instead it gives you confidence to go fast and steady over the keys. It's more for doing along with other piano classes. To me, I'm a beginner obviously I don't have the knowledge to discuss but I improved in overall learning process.

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@turtlecat7856 Thanks for sharing! I do think it can have value to beginner, intermediate, and even advanced pianists. I just very much worry about self-taught beginners who follow what the book says to do with fingers, hands, and wrists. There are even teachers who teach playing with added tension because of these lines in the book. I'm planning on following this video up with a tutorial of how to play Hanon with a healthy technique and also ways to keep the ear engaged so it doesn't just stop working during the exercises.

[@lucaschin8898]

Too much talking.

[@mojooftheg5961]

Do not use Hanon!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

I don’t give it to my students, BUT considering just how many people DO use it, I’m coming out with a video tomorrow explaining how to play it with healthy technique and how to keep your ear engaged with it so it, hopefully, will injury fewer people and also not just be a rote exercise.