How to Fix Snobby Finger (on the Piano) 

Can't disagree with Chopin :)

and Chopin praised and studied Bach’s 48! Definitely had a huge influence on his technique

Thank you! Right now, with all other work, I haven't been able to spend a lot of time editing, but hopefully this channel becomes big enough so that I can dedicate more time for it.

"Flying fingers" 😂❤

Thank you very much for your kind comment. Moments like this make all the effort worth it!

Thank you very much for your generosity!

Check out my videos on Dozen a Day, scale, black keys, etc. They are what I teach before I start Hanon with my students.

It'll take a long time. So it's important to keep this in mind as you practice, but not to focus too much on it so hat your progress on other aspects won't stop.

@@AkiraIkegamiChannel thank you very much

😂 me too

That sounds about right. I usually say as much time as you feel you need, but you should also distribute time for other things you are working on.

Also incorporate the same technic in your practice of other things

That is very serious finger technique routine. There was a time I was doing an hour or more of Hanon when I was focusing on my technique. How much you should dedicate to Hanon depends on so many variables like your stage, goal, weakness, etc. So unfortunately, I can't give a one-size-fits-all answer to that.

@@AkiraIkegamiChannel Thank you for inspiring me to buy Hanon and incorporate it into my practice, you helped spark my focus on improving my technique in particular, because you have a very solid and inspiring technique. My goal is to reach anywhere close to your Hanon speeds and then 144-160bpm with my scales. Do you think this routine would promise that kind of development with consistency over time? Oh and believe it or not, I cut down my finger technique a little bit recently, actually this whole past month I was doing about 5 hours of pure technique a day. 3 hours of which was spent on Hanon, Scales & Chopin Etude Op. 10, No. 2 in A minor. The rest on Arpeggios, Chords, Sight Reading etc. It was super intense and I'm glad I did that but after a month, I need a break from 5 hours, so I've cut things down a little bit to about 3-4 hours a day, for my sanity 😊

With your dedication and goal, the number of hours don't sound crazy to me. But you also want to make sure you are using that much time efficiently. Good practice comes from both quantity and quality. I try to be as thorough as possible in my videos, but there is only so much you can do in 10 minute RU-vid videos. These are also one-way instruction without seeing how the student is playing. So it doesn't include anything specific to each student's needs. So I think you will benefit from an online session. That way, I can see how you are practicing Hanon or anything else and see if there is any additional tips I can share with you so that you are getting most out of hours of practicing you are dedicated to. If you are interested, you can find the lionk to my appointment system in the video descriptions.

@@AkiraIkegamiChannel Thank you, that's very kind of you! when I get some time, I will definitely look into that. You're amazing Akira

@@PiscesSenpai hi - I'm just curious -- which of the Hanon exercises are you using - 1 through 20? Are you practicing any of them in other keys besides C?

It is not coincidence. Google is watching you!! :) You may not realize, but it is in fact affecting your playing to a certain degree. This problem won't go away overnight, so if you are able to, it's good to be aware of it and try to fix it whenever you can.

The problem is that you're engaging muscles that are unnecessary, and also which conflict with the other muscles. Muscles which are lifting are in conflict with muscles which pull down, and for a brief moment the two will fight each other because the lifting muscles must stop lifting before the finger can play down. This creates tensions and can result in injury. The ideal is to use *only* the muscles that pull down, and "turn off" the muscles that are lifting. That is, pull down, and release (stop pulling down) - but never lift. It can (and *should* ) be learned, but takes time and focus.

It can be a similar finger independence issue, or there can be other things that may be causing it. It's hard to tell without seeing it, but I do have an online studio where you can show me what's going on and discuss solution: www.pianowithakira.com

It may take a while, but that conscious effort becomes a natural habit and you won't even have to think about it anymore.

Glad you found this helpful. Please check out other tutorials on the channel :)

I would say 5-15 minutes, but it really depends on your situation.

Can't change who I am, so I may as well just embrace it :)

It's never OK, but rather common, especially if you haven't gone through proper technical training. You can still correct it, but it will take a very long time. So you can make it a long-term goal while working on other things.

Sorry it took me a while to respond to your comment. For good questions like this, I want to take some time to answer it, but it's been really hard to find time around here these days. Anyways, most ideally, you don't want to lift your fingers at all. If your fingers are totally relaxed while playing, gravity should keep them on the keys. So any lifting is a sign of your muscles contracting and creating tension. However, it takes very long time and lots of experience to achieve this perfectly relaxed state. So this should be a long-term goal and you don't want to spend too much time on it, to the point practicing becomes not enjoyable anymore. And by "rigid," I hope you are not tensing up your fingers to keep them down. Like I said, relaxed fingers should stay on the keys by the gravitational force, not by your muscles tensing up (which causes whole a lot of other issues). Finally, the background music is Chopin's Winterwind etude. It's the audio from this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vPxSjZv2zvw.html If you are asking me what this music is, you must have missed this video and shame on you!!! I mean, please subscribe :)

You are tensing up when you go faster. It's easy to say but hard to do, but if we can just do what we do slowly at a faster tempo without changing anything, most things will just work :)

That's a new way of asking someone to marry, putting a ring on her finger while she's playing the piano :)

You can fix anything. A lot of people, including myself, develop bad habits while learning piano. I myself had to do a lot of repair even at college level. It may take a while, but you should be able to address those issues. Seems like you are playing some advanced music already but missing basic technical foundation. This is seen in most of self learners. Taking lessons from a good teacher can definitely guide you through right steps to avoid developing these habits. I hate to see dedicated people like you not getting the most out of your time and effort. If you cannot find a good local teacher, I'll be happy to help you through online lessons: www.pianowithakira.com

Yes, I definitely were playing some advanced music too early before learning basic technical foudation. Thank you for your answer. Right now I try to find a new job, and hopefully move to another place. Thank you for your offer, if I won’t find a really good local teacher I’ll get in touch :)

After decades of training, my fingers gave up and stopped resisting :)

​@@AkiraIkegamiChannel Leschetisky's close touch is also a great help for this. The dozen a day are variations of it -- the first steps which are good for isolatiing the fingers, but they are still too "fingery" You need to rest your playing fingers on the keys, then drop the wrist slightly and catch the weight in the playing fingers. Then simply release the finger and let the key rise -- but do not lift the finger off the key. Using/transfering weight from the wrist to the finger is critical. Taubman approach can also be useful for transferring weight without lifting the fingers in isolation. Here's an example (the wrist motion is exaggerated for emphasis -- in the final form it is barely visible): ​ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LjUyfTOnafI.html

I have plenty. I learned 3 languages and was once teaching Japanese at a university :) But to begin, check out my video about how I learned English. Same principle applies to learning any language. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2B7limNu9rw.html

Yes!

Thank you for your generosity!