How to welcome piano exercises into your practice
Unless you have some experience learning other instruments that heavily involve your fingers, it’s likely that you’ll have started your piano learning journey wondering how on earth you’ll be able to get that flexible! Everything from coordinating your two hands to pressing notes that are quite far away can seem like impossible tasks when you’re a beginner. But don’t worry, in the same way you would train your body if you planned to run a marathon, you can train your fingers with specific exercises!
But how do you get started? Let’s have a look.
Find the right exercises for you
You can find plenty of resources online on piano exercises and, at the end of the day, the ones that will work best will be whichever suit your learning journey and preferences. For example, Czerny has developed numerous exercises on piano technique, developing speed, and even ones targeting specifically people with small hands (you can find many of these resources here). If you’re someone that does well learning by following guides, this type of resource from renowned composers like Czerny or Hanon may be enough to get you warmed up to improve your piano playing.
However, some might prefer to learn by practicing scales and arpeggios. Ask your teacher about some suggestions that are suited to your practice style and don’t be afraid to try a few different exercises until you find what works best for you!
Know your technical level
Piano exercises are only effective if they challenge you while still being achievable. Think of them like any other type of physical exercise - you wouldn’t try to run a 10k without first achieving a 5k, would you?
The same goes for the piano. If you’re just starting out, forcing your fingers to follow some really challenging Franz Liszt piano exercises is only going to do more harm than good. Follow your grade level or speak to your teacher to identify the best-suited piano exercises for your piano expertise.
Pay attention to every movement
Many pianists fall for the pitfall of absent-mindedly repeating their piano exercises, eventually no longer paying any real attention to what they’re doing. This is the moment when we get sloppy with repetitions, and risk teaching our fingers to adopt uncomfortable positions or get used to a technique that’s bound to hinder us more than help our playing.
Be present when you do these exercises, even if it might not be the most fun part of piano practice! And if you start to think that you might be doing something wrong with them, make sure you double-check with your teacher to avoid any bad piano habits.
It’s not all about the hands
So you’ve finally started doing finger exercises to help your hands get used to playing the piano… but what about the rest of your body? You’ve heard about the importance of good posture when playing but let’s talk about your body before and after you sit down to play. Your fingers aren’t the only ones to take the brunt of playing, and you’re likely to feel some tension even in your neck and shoulders.
That’s why it’s important to learn how to relax to avoid tension, and to carry out regular stretches to keep your body comfortable during, and after, playing the piano.
Criticise yourself
Knowing how to self-critique is an important skill for any pianist. Don’t just follow these exercises without questioning whether the way you’re doing them is correct or not, and noticing any progress you’re making. This can be more difficult at the start, which is exactly when a piano teacher can help develop your ability to self-critique.
In the same way you’d criticise yourself when playing a piece, spot any mistakes you make when doing your exercises and learn from them, rather than ignoring them to only later harm your progress.
We hope that this blog has helped you decide to take the leap and introduce piano exercises to your practice. Like scales and arpeggios, they’re really beneficial to your piano skills development, and shouldn’t be ignored as you focus on learning your piano pieces.
