The Secret Of Piano Mastery

Mastery of the piano is a long and difficult journey. There are some secrets though that can ease the frustration. It has been said that the sport of golf is frustrating even with the best golf instruction book in the world. The seemingly simple act of hitting a white ball should not present very many problems. You would think pressing down the black and white keys of the piano would be simple with all the many method books on the market. However, practicing exercises and boring pieces will hinder your journey towards mastering the piano.

Music from the piano is not made from hitting the keys with your fingers. Music is made from a series of smooth complex movements whose energy comes from the torso and through the arms and into the fingers. These movements have a rhythm and a drive that are necessary for beautiful music.

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.

The method of many teachers of making students learn pieces at very slow tempo is unproductive. Not that you should play so fast that you need a digital sport watch to time it but pieces should be practice at real tempos. The same is true of practicing the right and left hand parts alone. You should always both hands together. The coordination of the two hands is what must be learned. Practicing one hand alone is a waste of time. It is the same with practicing at slow tempos. The physical coordination at the proper tempo is different than a slow tempo. Practicing at a slow tempo is a waste of time.

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.

Remember fine piano playing does not come from the fingers. It is produced by the whole body creating the driving rhythmic flow that our bodies respond to. You learn how to do this by playing actual piano music instead of exercises which will bore the student.