The purpose of these exercises is to develop and achieve
This is very much a user-friendly "do-it-yourself" guide designed for piano teachers with students in their first three years of tuition, and for adult re-starters to study independently prior to recommencing piano lessons.
As a model to be followed, I have written out in full only the first of the Basic Exercises and the more complex of the Variants. The well versed reader will recognise the "etc"s from Brahms' 51 Exercises.
After using the Dexterity Exercises students
The success and popularity of these Exercises and their Variants lies in their shortness and in the ease with which they can be learned. Each lesson gives students a new challenge which stimulates ambition and eagerness to master a new technical difficulty.
As a bonus the practice of these exercises will naturally bring about a practising discipline. Students are generally happy to achieve and apply this because of the real joy to be had in finding out that they can play, in a relatively short time, something they never imagined they could. This in turn gives them satisfaction, pleasure, confidence and a desire to progress further.
About Basic ExercisesBasic Exercises A - K 2
About VariantsVariants:
i Strengtheningii Articulation
iii Independence of Hands; Canon
iv Rhythm
v Leaps
The Basic Exercises are 14 bars in length with one motif---stated in the first bar---which is repeated in a step by step, ascending and descending fashion over one octave. The first bar, the inversion, and the ending need special attention.
Each Basic Exercise, taken in turn, is very easy to learn. Even before students are able to read music they can learn the first Basic Exercise aurally and visually. The Exercises must be played from memory, with hands separately and together, legato and staccato at a comfortable tempo. They should be played mezzo forte and the keys played down to the keybed. Special attention must be given to making a habit of playing with rounded fingers.
Students are recommended to work on one of the Basic Exercises (and its Variants) for three to four months, to become thoroughly familiar with the progression of the note and finger patterns.
Each Basic Exercise, and each of its Variants, presents a new challenge to students which generally they are extremely keen to master. The Basic Exercises and Variants need not be studied in the order given. Students can select from them to meet their individual requirements.
Note: The Basic Exercises are based on Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist.
Variants may be applied to most of the Basic Exercises.
The Variants begin with simple rhythmic changes such as quaver-semiquaver patterns, dotted rhythms, and slurs. The Variants deal with a number of difficulties confronted
by the majority of beginners. Where possible, the Variant selected should be related to problems as they occur in the pieces the student is playing at the time---be they rhythmic, articulation related, or related to embellishments such as grace notes and trills. Each new piece may highlight a need to use a particular Variant or to create a new one, as each student will have their own idiosyncratic weakness or shortcoming. Blank manuscript
has been provided for students and teachers to write their own variations.
It is worth repeating that it is profitable to work on one of the Basic Exercises for a period of three to four months, so that the player becomes thoroughly familiar with the progression of the note and finger pattern, and can concentrate on the different Variants. These progress through degrees of difficulty, and should be applied according to the needs of the student.
Even if perfection has not been achieved in a Variant for one of the Basic Exercises, it is advisable to learn a new Variant using the same Basic Exercise after one or two weeks or lessons. The student will find that the troublesome Variant is easier to handle with each of the subsequent Basic Exercises.
The student learns from memory the first Basic Exercise---ascending and descending, legato and staccato, hands separately and together---and then applies a Variant.
i Strengthening Variants. Use these to begin with. The easiest are the quaver-semiquaver patterns. A little harder is holding the first note of each bar. Dotted rhythms should be used with a loud-soft approach.ii Articulation Variants may be introduced after some finger control has been achieved. The couplet slur pattern is the most basic of these Variants. As the student progresses through the Basic Exercises this pattern should be improved continuously to develop a good "drop-roll" technique.
iii Independence of Hands Variants should be attempted as soon as possible. These include a simple canon. It is best to begin with one hand playing legato and the other staccato, one hand playing even quavers (legato or staccato) and the other dotted rhythm (or any of the strengthening and articulation variants). There are infinite combinations that can be applied. The student is encouraged to create their own Variants according to need. Blank manuscript has been provided for students and teachers to write their own variations.
iv Rhythmic Variants have been developed to cope with unusual rhythms in a number of 20th century pieces. For example: Béla Bartók Mikrokosmos Volume III, No. 85 (two against three) (second grade); Mikrokosmos Volume IV, No. 115 (5/8 metre) (fourth grade).
v Leaps Variants
vi Transposition should be attempted to develop an ability to accommodate black keys naturally and with ease. Transposition is best accomplished using a key which contains at least two black keys. The most suitable is A major. It is important that the student knows the key well before they embark on this Variant. No examples have been given as transposition is a self evident Variant.
Note: All the Basic Exercises and their Variants may be played with dynamic changes in combination with the above.
© Gunhild Marchant 1998 (music and text)
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Last Modified 20000202 © Hovea Music Press