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PRACTICE TIPS #43: Eyes Wide Shut . . .
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Brent Hugh
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Nov 16, 2000 23:26 PST
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PRACTICE TIPS is an occasional email newsletter with practical
piano practice tips and ideas, by Brent Hugh
You are receiving PRACTICE TIPS because you subscribed to PRACTICE
TIPS at the Practice Tips Web Page or because you are a student of
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PRACTICE TIPS #43: Eyes Wide Shut . . .
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Here are further random ideas for developing your tactile sense:
* Many pianists, consciously or unconsciously, find themselves practicing
memorized pieces with eyes closed. This can be a very good way to develop
your tactile sense, but make sure you are doing it consciously, and also
practicing some of the times with eyes open. If you always practice with
eyes close and then happen to open them up during a performance because
you're feeling a bit insecure, you'll be in for a big and very unpleasant
surprise (you'll almost certainly have a memory slip--you've got to play
the way you practice, and if you always practice with eyes closed you'll
have to perform that way, too).
* Another "tactile" exercise is to close your eyes, feel for a certain
chord or scale pattern, then open your eyes to check if you're really in
the position you were aiming for.
For an added challenge, once you've found a position, play the notes (to
aurally check for accuracy), then with eyes still closed, moved to the same
position an octave higher, play the notes, move an octave higher, etc.
Do this regularly for 2 or 3 minutes a day for 2 or 3 weeks and you'll find
that your ability to feel your way around the keyboard will improve
dramatically.
* You should be able to find any key, chord, or hand position on the
keyboard by the feel in your fingertips alone, with your eyes closed
tight. If you can't do this, practice until you can--it will be time well
spent.
Happy Practicing!
--Brent
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PRACTICE TIPS is by pianist, teacher, composer, and internet nerd
Brent Hugh. Brent knows about practicing mostly because he *does*
it, and in fact is toddling off to do some of it just about now . . .
Please remember that this tip is but a small spot near the end of the
elephant's left rear leg--it's not even close to the whole elephant that is
"how everyone in the whole world should practice the piano".
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++++++++++++ Brent Hugh / bhu-@griffon.mwsc.edu ++++++++++++++
+ Missouri Western St College Dept of Music, St. Joseph, MO +
+ Piano Home Page: http://www.mwsc.edu/~bhugh +
+ Internet Piano Concert: http://www.mwsc.edu/~bhugh/recit +
++++ Classical Piano MP3s: http://www.mp3.com/brent_d_hugh ++++
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