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roachboy · 06-25-2008, 06:06 PM

alot depends on what you want to do.

personally, i don't bother with scales---but i'm not interested in the same kind of outcomes as it sounds like you are.

for dexterity stuff--like strengthening the outer fingers of your hands and starting to flatten the distinctions between the strikes in your stronger and weaker fingers and working on crossing over and all that sort of stuff--- hanon is better.

piano is a pretty demanding instrument physically, so alot of what i do is about strengthening my hands. so i work on speed alot. speed and organization and independence of my hands.

starting out, though, i'd play around with the instrument, get a feel for what it can do, the sounds you can get out of it. try to work out stuff you like by ear--it's a kind of training of your hearing and a process of connecting what you hear to the keyboard. don't listen to anyone who tells you there's only one way to approach the instrument---it's a world of sound and there are lots of ways into it and most pianists that i know have little idea of just how much sound you can generate with a piano. you're only as limited as your thinking makes you.

play around, get to like the instrument more and more. get a teacher if you like--but get one that is sympathetic, that you like, that encourages you to experiment. if you want to play straight stuff, then go that way. you'll want to learn to read conventional notation and will probably need some help getting through the early stages of that. most technical matters can be worked out yourself, but you may find it easier to have a teacher.
but that's only one set of possibilities.
there are lots of them.

listen to everything.
listen to lots of stuff, lots of styles, lots of instruments.

06-25-2008, 06:06 PM	#8 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	alot depends on what you want to do. personally, i don't bother with scales---but i'm not interested in the same kind of outcomes as it sounds like you are. for dexterity stuff--like strengthening the outer fingers of your hands and starting to flatten the distinctions between the strikes in your stronger and weaker fingers and working on crossing over and all that sort of stuff--- hanon is better. piano is a pretty demanding instrument physically, so alot of what i do is about strengthening my hands. so i work on speed alot. speed and organization and independence of my hands. starting out, though, i'd play around with the instrument, get a feel for what it can do, the sounds you can get out of it. try to work out stuff you like by ear--it's a kind of training of your hearing and a process of connecting what you hear to the keyboard. don't listen to anyone who tells you there's only one way to approach the instrument---it's a world of sound and there are lots of ways into it and most pianists that i know have little idea of just how much sound you can generate with a piano. you're only as limited as your thinking makes you. play around, get to like the instrument more and more. get a teacher if you like--but get one that is sympathetic, that you like, that encourages you to experiment. if you want to play straight stuff, then go that way. you'll want to learn to read conventional notation and will probably need some help getting through the early stages of that. most technical matters can be worked out yourself, but you may find it easier to have a teacher. but that's only one set of possibilities. there are lots of them. listen to everything. listen to lots of stuff, lots of styles, lots of instruments. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 06-25-2008 at 06:08 PM..