Hanon Exercise for Absolute beginner

[jcg]

Hi,

I am an absolute beginner in piano. I will start my piano lessons in two weeks but I have with my a book of Hanon exercises. As I was reading for tips, I came across this forum and found out that Hanon exercises are very useful..

My quesion is can I start doing Hanon exercises even if I am only a beginner?

I appreciate any input that you can provide..

have a good day!

[silent-storm]

sure, why not. Although, if you are a complete beginner, you may encounter the problem of not knowing whether you are actually playing it properly. This is where the teacher will come in handy. There's only so much advice you can give a complete beginner over the internet, without seeing you play it. Just try and relax all your muscles, keep your fingers arched and follow the fingering.

[Your_enigma]

That's the thing with Hanon, you are sure to get a mixed bag of opinions from most piano communities. Some say that Hanon is an over-rated series with its technical promises lacking any real foundation. Others swear their technique by them. I personally used them for a few months. They are very effective for beginners to gain finger accuracy, uniformity of scales, and stretching. But it has also been noted that there are things about hanon that can eventually be detrimental to developing technique.

However, you really don't need to worry about that at your level. Start with the first twenty and then follow your teacher's instruction.

[jcg]

Hi, thanks for the replies!

I've actually started it and i'm now in the 7th exercise. hehe

I feel challenged everytime I start a new exercise. At first, there's always a lot of mistakes. But after doing it slowly and increasing the tempo gradually, it's like my fingers are moving by themselves! its a great feeling and i know its gonna be even better if it is an actual song..

The best part is when i go back to previous exercises, i still know them perfectly so that means its already in me.

Its gonna be a long journey to learning piano and im sure to have more questions along the way. I hope receive more advices from this forum on the days to come.

Again, Thanks!

[Chim_Chim]

I just saw an post by EricV suggesting that you should just stick to a few basic exercises for awhile.I think that's some good advice because if you overcomplicate it then you'll probably fall off from practicing it after awhile, or come up with so many exercises that you end up forgetting some of the better ones.Therefore sticking to a few basic ones and doing them religiously is probably a good way to go with it.Atleast from a guitar player's prespective.

[gerloffmk]

I think Hanon exercises are great! The most important thing about any exercise you play if to make it as musical as possible. Don't think of them as just playing the right notes with the right fingers at the right times. There is much more to them than that, and that is what a good piano teacher will bring out of you.

Since you are just starting out, try to focus more on "Making music" than just trying to get through the book as fast as you can. Hope this help!

Keep practicing!

[nickpiano]

I use Hanon also. I think I read that its only a problem for very few pieces, so I wouldn't worry. All I can say is follow your teacher's and the book's instructions.

[jazzmaniac]

Hanon is good. It helped me when I was learning piano at a young age. But it could get boring too sometimes.

What helped me in my playing and having the finger dexterity, speed, musicality, etc. is to find an exercise that interests you. Chopin's Etudes for example. I love them because not only are they exercises (etudes) but they are very musical exercises. You get to target some problem spots on your fingering, runs, octaves, etc. at the same time minding the dynamics of the piece. That also means you're studying a "real" piece, it's like you're almost not minding it's an exercise.

GERLOFFMK is right when he said to play your exercises as musical as possible. In fact any exercise that intersets you will do fine, as long as you play it conciously (minding the purpose of the exercise) and musically.

I hope that helps, JCG. Keep on making music.

[SostenutO]

I just read Hanon is no good. Only because all exercises are hands together. It is extremely important to PRACTICE ALL TECHNIQUE HANDS SEPARATE! If you do not your right hand will always be stronger then your left. And you don't want that.

[silent-storm]

Originally Posted by SostenutO

I just read Hanon is no good. Only because all exercises are hands together. It is extremely important to PRACTICE ALL TECHNIQUE HANDS SEPARATE! If you do not your right hand will always be stronger then your left. And you don't want that.

I don't think there is anyone stopping you from practicing it hands seperate, even if it tells you to play it hands together...

[SostenutO]

True. And that's what I do now. But a lot of people do not know the importance of hands separate practice.