Rediscovering “The Hanons” Piano Exercises
IT IS TIME TO DUST OFF THE OLE CHOPS.
There’s never a good excuse for not practicing piano, nor for that matter any skill that requires dedication and focus. yet there seems to be numerous valid reasons why don’t get around to doing things we committed to! As most piano teachers will relate, it’s rare to have students that regularly do their music assignment, no matter how simple it may be. Heck, when I was both a student and a teacher at the same time, from week to week I’d see how important it was for my students to practice while finding myself not practicing my assignments completely!
That all being said, I have definitely let my piano playing slide drastically during the pandemic: most of my playing had been focused around getting and preparing for piano gigs in the DC area, so when those all dried up I no longer had anything solid to based my piano craft on. But I’m moving past any regrets and taking it as an opportunity to go back to the basics and clean up some areas that I’ve glossed over for many years.
So STARTING TODAY I’m committing to #piano365: practicing piano EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (Well, let’s be reasonable: how about 365 times this year, but I can double up multiple practices on a single day in case I’ll be away from the piano. Anyway, you get the idea.) Each practice entails:
- Hanon Exercises for at least 10 minutes, working through the Hanon book. (Good online resource here too: www.hanon-online.com)
- Scales for at least 10 minutes
- Occasional posting of YouTubes