PRACTICE TIPS #56: Czerny & Hanon: Really, Really, the Last of
the Reader Repl
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Brent Hugh
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Feb 03, 2001 20:02 PST
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PRACTICE TIPS #56: Czerny & Hanon: Really, Really, the
Last of the Reader Replies
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OK, OK, so I broke my promise--here are yet more interesting reader
replies. But this is really, really, really the last of them. Cross my heart!
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Karl wrote:
My teacher always told me the same thing - forget about Czerny because
of the boredom. She had me work through some books of Etudes by Waxman
instead, which were much more musically stimulating. Also she had me
work on some Shostakovich Preludes opus 34, which I have a feeling were
for technique. To me it makes sense to forget about Czerny for the most
part, but not entirely. It might make some sense to try and tackle a new
Czerny exercise every couple of days at the beginning of a practice
session, before moving on to other things, but playing hundreds per day
is insane.
[You make a good point, that if you *can* learn the same technical
objectives while practicing a piece of "real" music, it seems wise to do
so. But finding the right pieces to help with the techniques you most need
help with is not easy! An experienced teacher really can help with this. --B]
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James wrote:
Interesting question. When I got back into piano at 21, I did literally 3
hours of Hanon a day, non-stop for about 3 years. I did them in all the
keys and broke the rhythms up. Yes I had picked up technique some of which I
still have. However, it was a waste of time for I did not improve site
reading and the expression of the music was gone. Only now can I begin to
fathom what I should have been feeling listening to and playing back in the
day. I think a bit in moderation is OK but really, pieces will do it and
some scales I suppose. if you really break down a part of a piece that is
giving you technical difficulty you will be improving your technique AND
learning music. The hours at Hanon drained me for what I should have been
doing, a nice balance between working on complete pieces new pieces some
site reading maybe some ensemble piece and a few warm ups.
[Very interesting experience. I think your experience coincides exactly
with the point Whiteside was trying to make: You may be able to learn a
good deal from Hanon and Czerny. But since each of us has a limited amount
of time and energy, why not use that time and energy to play "real" music
instead of exercises? It may take time and effort to find just the right
"real music" to do for you what exercises do. But that time and effort may
be far less than the time "wasted" on exercises. --B]
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And last, but not least, Sue wrote:
Strange that you should mention Hanon. Just this past Sunday there was a
member of the congregation of about 40 regular members that said how much
they enjoyed that music they first hear when coming into the church. You
just never know. I was whipping through the first two of Hanon's exercises
as a warmup.
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Happy Practicing!
--Brent
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