Jailbreaking Hanon
Graham Fitch shows how Hanon’s exercises can be used creatively as a blank canvas to experience and develop movements encountered in real music.
The Hanon Debate (Part 2)
This blog post features the views of pianist Peter Donohoe on the use of Hanon’s Virtuoso Pianist as part of our debate on the subject.
How to Use Hanon
In this week’s guest post, Ilga Pitkevica discusses the ubiquitous exercises of Hanon and shares her views on how to use them effectively. *** Mastering all core types of piano…
Developing a Balanced Technique
Mastering core piano techniques is essential in order to have the freedom to successfully express musical ideas at the keyboard. Like a ballet dancer is required to do physical training…
On Technical Exercises
In the nineteenth century there was a widespread belief that hours a day spent practising finger exercises would lead to mastery of the instrument, and many method books were published,…
Feeling Comfortable in All Keys
Do you feel comfortable playing in all keys? Are you able to transpose technical exercises without notation? The ability to play by ear in every key is an important musicianly…
The History of Piano Technique: Studies and Exercises
There has been much feedback and lively debate on last week's post about Czerny and his legacy of studies and exercises. It seems some piano teachers firmly believe in assigning…