5 Piano Mistakes [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

THE 5 MOST COMMON MISTAKES EVERY PIANO BEGINNER MAKES

ARIANA ABEDINI

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:


ARIANA ABEDINI


ABOUT Ariana Abedini

Ariana Abedini is a Piano Performer, Music Teacher and Psychologist from Greece.
 Classically trained but adventurous at heart, she turned passion into creativity and started teaching people from around the world how to play classical their favorite theme songs and soundtracks on the piano. 
 The online lessons combine exercises that promote technique with favorite pieces, making the lessons not only effective, but a fun procedure. So you’re in very good hands with this guide. The examples you will see below are based on her teaching experience and the solutions-exercises used have been tested and proven to deliver great results in a short period of time.

Ready to start the music journey?


The 5 Most Common Mistakes Every Piano Beginner Makes

I have discovered a lot teaching piano to hundreds of people… And I know that when you have a structured practice plan that you follow consistently, along with a clear goal, you will win. So I thought it would be really helpful to put together this guide. I’ve used 5 different mistakes students most often make. No matter what your current level is, you will be able to try and benefit from at least one of the exercises. I’ve seen the incredible effects a successful practicing plan can have and want to wish you the best of luck with yours. Without further ado… here’s my “The 5 Most Common Mistakes Every Piano Beginner Makes” guide.

The Right Technique

What does “right technique” mean and why is it so important? This is the most frequent question I receive every time I start a piano lesson with a new student. “Does the piano really understand if I am playing with flat or curved fingers, or even if I am using my elbows instead of fingers?”. The easy answer is “No, it will not be offended if you turn your back and start playing”. But there’s more to it. Technique is important for a variety of reasons: first of al, because practicing and playing the piano in wrong ways can lead to tension, pain and more serious problems. Furthermore, it is important in order to make music. Hitting the right keys isn’t enough. I.e., lowering the wrist a bit can help when we try to play something in a low volume (piano). Another great example is avoiding lifting the fingers when trying to play something in a fast tempo; when playing something fast, it is recommended that we minimise our hands’ movements.


Flat Fingers

1 One of the most common mistakes that piano beginners and not only! - make is playing with flat fingers. So now you are probably wondering: “Is this necessarily a bad habit?” Think of it like this; if your fingers are flat, it’s more likely to cause tension in your hand and arm muscles. With curved fingers, you can move up and down the keyboard much faster; again, this is because there is less tension involved when the fingers are curved in contrast with flat fingers. Another good reason why we should play with curved fingers is that it’s a lot easier to apply more force to the keys, because, instead of pushing from the metacarpophalangeal joint, we can use all three finger joints. This gives us more control, thus more power. Exercise: Try playing a scale you are comfortable with, let’s say C or G minor. Try to play it with flat fingers at a slow tempo and then try again at a faster pace. Repeat the procedure with curved fingers. Can you notice the difference, not only in the muscle tension, but also the sound quality?


But what happens when we want to reach, let’s say, an octave? Obviously in that case we need to stretch our fingers. The curved-fingers rule applies when playing adjacent notes/ chords. All these do not imply that flat fingers is an invalid technique. Vladimir Horowitz used to play with flat fingers. This technique brings a whole different tone to piano playing. So, we always need to keep in mind why we adopt each style.


Wrists Too Low or Too High

2










Apart from flat fingers, another typical mistake many piano learners make is lifting the wrist up (a lot) or dropping it down, to the point that they (almost) touch the piano with their palms. The wrists should be relaxed and on the same line with your hands and arms. They should extend straight from the arms. Too low wrists cause tension in your arms and fingers, and although this might sound a bit contradictory, they should remain relaxed even when you are playing a fast piece. Low wrists can only reduce your speed and not the opposite. 
 Exercise: Position your fingers on the keyboard in order to play the C major chord (Use 5-3-1 fingers for the left hand and 1-3-5 for the right hand). Try to play these chords simultaneously, at a high volume (forte), keeping your wrists low. Difficult, isn’t it? Now go ahead and lift your wrists slightly (thus they will be exceeding the height of the finger joints), then lift your hands slightly above the keyboard and hit the keys, applying the force vertically.
 In general, it is a good idea to incorporate chords to your 


practice routine. Commit to playing them on a daily basis, starting slow and gradually increasing the speed, and watch your technique improve greatly in just a few weeks!


Playing Everything Fast

3







Yes, I know it is really tempting to play fast, especially if the piece requires it; but it’s very important to practice slowly. I know that this probably isn’t the answer you’ve been looking for, but…. It’s something you should not overlook, especially at the early stages of piano learning, where making your fingers stronger is a key point. The fastest way to mastering the piano is by practicing slowly. This gives you more confidence and, of course, improvement with your performance. It is the key in order to get your technique grounded; it’s the only way you can apply all the techniques you have learnt, being able to watch your hands and fingers at the same time. But apart from these, with slow practicing you can have a better understanding of the piece that you have in front of you. You can understand the chord structure and phrasing, which will ultimately prove to be of great help to mastering the piece even faster, as well as being able to do all the dynamics in order to beautify the piece.
 Exercise: Take the first five notes of the C major scale (C-G) and go from C to G and back, one hand at a time, at a slow tempo, applying the tips we have just talked about (1-2).


Repeat this several times, making sure that the volume is the same. After you have started getting comfortable with this, try to increase the speed a little bit and repeat (5-10 bmp each time). Do this exercise for several minutes everyday and you will see results in just 2 weeks!
 Important note: if you really want to be good at the piano, you also need to practice the left hand. Last, but not least, there are pieces that are written to be slow. Speeding them up takes away all their beauty. 
 And remember, music is about emotion, not just hitting the keys as fast as one can.


Getting Frustrated By Slow Progress

4 Feeling like smashing the keyboard? Or, even worse, burning the piano? Well… This is totally understandable and quite expected. More or less, we all reach a point where we think that we have made little or no progress at all and feel like giving up. But we shouldn’t. Truth is, you can’t learn piano in one day. And of course, you cannot master it in one year. It requires hard work, dedication, but most of all, passion. Rushing is especially common for adult piano learners, because we usually have unrealistic expectations about how fast we should be able to do some things. So this leads us to underestimate some tasks, do some really sloppy work and end up with a lot of frustration. Exercise: Make a plan! Next time you sit down at the piano, instead of saying “let’s play this song, or maybe this one…”, set a specific, realistic goal! You all know it; anything worthwhile takes time. Be patient and don’t give up. And, one more thing; you should always keep in mind how and why you started.

Playing Rather Than Practicing

5 Playing and practicing are NOT the same thing. I know that many of you are going to hate me for this, but when you actually sit down to practice the piano, it shouldn’t sound nice. When you practice a song, you should take it bit by bit. You break it down to several pieces and work on them. If needed, practice each hand separately and then try to put them together. But playing the whole song several times doesn’t mean practicing it. So, remember, if your neighbors don’t complain about your practicing, it’s highly likely that you are mostly playing rather than practicing!

DON’T MISS OUT! 
 Sign up to get your first FREE piano lesson now!
 https://arianaabedini.com/pages/pianolessons