The Secret Of Piano Mastery

There is no easy way to master the piano. Many people look for shortcuts or for a magical solution. Like learning golf, it can be a frustrating experience. You might have the best golf instruction book in the world but that is no guarantee that you will be a good golfer. You may have the best piano method books but that does not mean you will be able to play the piano well.

Playing the piano well requires fine, complex motions of the body with precise eye hand coordination. The sound is not produced by the fingers. Energy directed from the torso and through the arms which is channeled through the fingers produce the sound. This technique is more easily felt and seen than described by words.

Once you have understood the physical technique of rhythmic body energy, you will produce a sound so large that the listeners will want to wear a black helmet to protect their ears. You do not develop this technique by practicing scales and arpeggios. Playing dry and boring exercises will not give you the tools you need to really play the piano. The best practice of all is actually playing the music of the piano repertoire.

There are two practices that many teachers use that are counter productive: practicing at slow tempo and practicing the left and right hands alone. The physical motions and coordination necessary to play at the proper tempo is very much different than playing slow. Of course, you should not play so fast that you would need a digital sport watch. The interaction of the two hands produces a unique set of physical coordination that is not reproduced properly when each hand plays separately.

Students should not spend time playing scales, arpeggios and exercises. They should be playing real piano music. Some examples of serious piano music that is suitable for the beginning student is the music of Clementi, Kabalevsky, and Bartok. There are many famous composers who wrote piano pieces that can be played by the beginning student. These pieces contain scales and arpeggios and more. You will develop your technique and play interesting beautiful music at the same time.

There is no reason to practice boring scales and arpeggios. Real serious contain scales and arpeggios. It is an unpleasant waste of time to practice them. Simply play the beautiful music contained in the repertoire which contains all the scales, arpeggios and everything else you will ever need to know.

Fine piano playing is produced by the rhythmic movements of the whole body. It does not come from wiggling your fingers. You do not become a good piano player by practicing scales and exercise. You become a piano player by playing real music.

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