This guy is head and shoulders the best piano teacher on the internet. His videos are always so thorough and packed with useful info. Thank you Denis :)
Hello Denis, your teaching is gold. Like you, I got injured and got « repaired » at Godlanski Institute in Princeton with the Taubman approach. I should,have stayed there longer, one week is not enough, however I found out that there is a key element for,better technique added to everything you say which is just great: Put your elbow behind each finger tip. I think it’s a good resume . Once I practiced this, added to rotation, in and out, etc… etc…. I started to understand ….. and the weight became equal to any finger. I renforced my pinky and then got balance. It’s not all, by far, but when I struggle, I,say to,myself, put your elbow behind every note and everything gets better . Thank you for your videos. You are a great pianist and overall a great pedagogue, and this is so rare …..
So it turns out I was taught the forced curve by a few teachers when younger. These concepts Denis is showing are to me so revolutionary it is radically making the piano easier to play. The tension thing is also 'true' in every sport I have played including tennis, table tennis, billiards, boxing, etc. Tension does not allow an efficient transfer of energy from the body to the target. These are now the things I am having to learn. It may seem boring but these very basics, ARE the advanced stuff. So excited. I'll be purchasing Denis' courses soon!
It's a good review for more advanced players, too! :) And yes, I think that one of the most important things is to achieve as soon as possible a conscience on how to use the fingertips and have the correct feeling of that. The second thing is more difficult and it is to learn how not to hit the keys too harshly.
Unfortunately I believe I was ruined in my youth by studying obsolete techniques which caused pain in my left arm when playing technique exercises (Hanon, Tausig, etc). In fact I dropped out because I thought it was too difficult. Today, after "only" 45 years I have resumed and am really appreciating the new approach based on rotation, alignment, choreography and so on, and I can play with much less effort. I don't have a teacher and I study alone and a video like this is truly a very valuable resource. I also appreciate all your tutorials and I think I will be able to enjoy them even if a little late. Thank you a lot.
Self teaching is great up until you find that you have no way of getting feedback and knowledge on the subject from an actual human being. Without that you will only be as good as you can make yourself, on your own, without instruction. Sadly in most towns there are no teachers available. I live in a fairly small town of 50K and with the suburbs added in, there are prob 300K people and still there are absolutely NO teachers here. Even the local community college has scrubbed their piano progerams. I've been playing for many many years, started in 1974, and now in my old age (50's) I've been going back to the piano as I missed it for about 30+ years. I've been looking for anyone, any teacher within 50 miles to help out and there just aren't any. So how do people expect to learn properly rather than just take everyone's word for it...there are TONS of teachers on here and not one of them can give me immediate feedback or personal attention. Its impossible......
Hiya Denis, thanks for the superb videos you compose,your relaxed yet purposeful manner is enticing and I've learned a ton from you. Keep up the fantastic work please, maybe wear a light color shirt to better discern arm position is the only suggestion, thanks and Gbless
Thank you for your wonderful and generous videos, and beautiful performances! Here in the US we have great hopes for the New Year 2023 and for freedom and peace in Ukraine!
Have you any advice for piano players (like me) whose nails cannot be cut short enough to maintain a slight bend in the nail joint. The "quick" of my fingernail goes to the VERY end of my finger. It's very frustrating as I must play VERY flat fingered to avoid the fingernails striking the keys. If I cut my nails any shorter then it will be like a bloody torture chamber! 😒 Thanks for the great videos.
Difficult to say smth relying on a text description. In general, a ‘natural curve’ positioning should be enough for the nails not to hit the keys, make sure you don’t use an intended curve too much.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thanks for replying. Of course it's impossible for you to really comment from a text. I thank you for all your great videos, they are very helpful and fun to watch.
That tip on keeping stability in fingertips opened a new door for me in my piano learning journey as an adult. I have a very surfacy tone on the piano because I am not sure how to drop weight onto the keys withou sounding harsh. Will try this technique
Thank you for this. Like others have said, good for non-beginners too! You asked about major challenges in piano playing and for me it is playing staccato without the fingers being too tense. I know that I am playing with too much finger and not sufficiently relaxed in the wrist but I can't seem to find a way to correct this at speed. I need to play 4-octave scales at 88bpm (to the crotchet) for an examination. I can play the scales but they sound stiff and harsh, not at all musical and I can really feel the tension in my fingers. For some reason this is most noticeable playing in contrary motion with both arms moving outwards? Perhaps 'relaxed' staccato playing is a topic you might like to cover at some point? In the past you have covered the different types of staccato (finger, wrist, arm) which was very helpful but I can't seem to translate this information to help with longer, fast passages in staccato, such as in scales.
Thankyou so much, ive been playing everything on c and my hands/forarms are in peices, im going to try these steps and learn the e scale with a natural hand/arm position and hope it helps, ive realigned my body position and seat/key height today aswell, my teacher hasnt mentioned any of this and said when u start everyone feels pain! Im going to get a new teacher 😂😂, thanks again for the fantastic video
Really great concepts for beginners. As a piano teacher I have to say it’s not easy to explain this to 6-7 year olds 😅 Most want to play with fingers only and are resistant when I try to encourage playing with the entire arm. I definitely start sounding like a broken record lol. One of the most common problem I see is collapse at the finger joint due to lack of strength. I’ll try some of those tips/exercises with my students.
I sympathise. That's my problem too - especially when parents are not supportive because they either never played the piano at all, or have been taught by someone following finger method. In some cases, when parents are not judgemental towards their children, it can help to let them observe the lesson - if student agrees, that is.
@@silverlinings3946 finger method is essential for kids to train finger strength and independence. And for most kids, it is hard to explain anything to them, It's hard to explain finger playing, and it is also hard to explain how to use arm, and body weight. It's just hard to teach someone how to use their body effectively
@imuien420 actually, it's not difficult to teach children to use their whole body to play, as long as we ensure their correct posture, distance from piano and correct height of the piano stool. Next step is to correct their hand shape and movement along the keyboard as they go along, before teaching them notes. The rest will be just to avoid stressing them, so they can apply good practice while playing. Finger strength and independence will follow naturally from there.
@@silverlinings3946 it doesn follow naturally if you don't train it that's all i can say. Just compare Asian training and Russian training with American training lol. And btw it is difficult to teach them use their body correctly, because you will see kids pushing keyboard
@imuien420 of course if you want "results" quickly, because you won't spend money on a good teacher, you will only go so far. Further, if you push the child at home, without knowing how to supervise them, they'll only get bad habits that teacher won't have time to remedy in one hour weekly lesson. I wish I could teach parents on how to supervise their children practice sessions, but of course "they know better".
Excellent points well explained. I believe what allows advanced piano playing later in life occurs in the very first steps of learning piano, not in later years, it is taught at a very tender age because children are more sensory aware of their body than adults, they can absorb minute things and give a lot of attention without demanding in return. Whereas as we age we become self entitled, bored, and don't give patience and attention without something in return even when we combat this. To the most contentious point, i believe the most important part of piano technique cannot be learned from musical studies (despite a lot of fuss to the contrary, i mean technique not musicality), it has to be learned from purely enjoying the mechanics of the body interacting with the piano apparatus which children innately enjoy as they are still exploring their body interfacing with the physical world. Furthermore, the musical side of piano playing actually disturbs the learning brain's focus away from the mechanical technique fine adjustments acquisition. What the ear wants to hear and the technique required to achieve it are not a linear system that the brain can simply solve when it comes to the mechanics of it, there are micro movements and micro positioning that are not at all intuitive to learn from sound alone. People confuse the psychological pleasant reward of musicality with technique. Even i was long on the other side of that argument in the past. That is why terribly boring very basic simple studies for young children age 8-10 are everything in piano playing. It is better to learn Czerny very basic exercises to 99.9% perfection than learning to play the most difficult studies on the repertoire by Chopin or Liszt to 80% fluency. I actually found that learning to play Czerny to only 70-80% fluency (skimping and not being totally irreproachable) versus learning to play it 99% fluently is all the difference in advance piano technique. Because it is the most critical learning at the piano, and not getting a chopin etude from 40% to 80% will do nothing for your critical piano skills.
dude I just wanna say thank you. also the hanon course is so doable. I was thinking goddamn this guy knows a good bit but I bet this course cost is gonna be outrageous. but nah it's an affordable $20. you're a angel. god bless you sir
Good vid! I was taught (as you say) to maintain a natural curved hand/curved finger position. It is so easy to keep and helps to prevent fatigue and/or tension. I am fascinated, however, by the hand position Horowitz used. Yes, he would at times curve his fingers too but he used flat fingers a good deal of the time. I have tried to flatten my fingers while playing as I wondered what the advantage could be, and my fingers became tense and I don't have as much control of touch as with curved fingers. I am curious as to why Horowitz was so fond of flat fingers. I do agree there are times when flat fingers helps but only as a momentary technique. I am curious what advantage flat fingers have over curved when maintained as the 'neutral' position. Have you explored the flat fingers versus curved fingers position?
One of the most confusing things for learners is trying to copy well-known artists without knowing the whole picture. Some people just have a unique physiology. Reg. Horowitz, I have heard different versions from researchers, some suspect a hyper-mobility syndrome (I also have a student who has it and they can’t play with curved fingers at all, resembling Horowitz’s posture). Some piano playing physiology specialists suspect that he might have had severe hand issues, which is no wonder if to look at how he played in his younger years, and which would explain his long mysterious breaks in performing. If a certain set of muscles is heavily damaged, one would need to compensate with other muscles. Anyway, better never copy someone just because they’re famous.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have never heard the theory that Horowitz had some difficulty/issues with his hands. I wondered if he had mastered a technique that was so difficult (and yet advantageous) that most pianists could not master it . . . or perhaps it was a unique style he used since childhood and as a consequence, the soft tissue structures of his hands simply developed in such a way as to encourage/support his flat fingers approach. But as you say, better to use the method/technique that works for me! It is, after all, about the quality of the tone one produces. I just hoped I may, through exploration, discover Horowitz's 'secret'. :)
Just stumbled across this channel. intermediate player here but I realise I have let bad habits become ingrained into my playing after years I need to review basics rather than keep looking at more advanced material.
Wonderful video. I found your channel through Frederick Viner...and I'm delighted. My 79-year-old fingers can do some things, but I constantly have trouble ensuring my thumb doesn't thump! For example, Von fremden Ländern und Menschen ..the third note in the middle voice is difficult for me to control. Any tips? Actually, I have problems producing a quieter sound in several pieces. Sometimes I can, but I'm not sure why. Maybe more relaxed... This is my first look at your channel, and you've probably already addressed this difficulty, so I will keep looking! Thank you!
Hi and welcome! I have a special video on this channel and a link to a detailed course on Traumerei ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SlkhZy7psIo.html There is also an older video called how to whisper on piano which might help you ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qnHrRfjSYjY.html
It doesn’t help much if you are in a dark environment wearing dark clothes…I can’t clearly see your arm/shoulder position as you play. Good class though. Thanks anyway…
I met this piano teacher because my current teacher doesn’t teach any exercises like Hanon, and he said he could teach me (I’m already in my senior year) the basic scales and hanon. He told me to repeat scales and #1 of hanon without moving wrist and elbow. I started piano during pandemic, but I never had any arm pain until this teacher. After 2 days of doing scales and hanon without wrists and elbow movements, I had wrist, forearm, elbow pain. I couldn’t use my right hand for 3 weeks. It got better finally but every time something like scale come in a piece, my right forearm starts to have pain. I guess I got a bad habit from this teacher😢. This video is much better than that teacher who charged so high (almost like €800 for 3 sessions). Now I’m scared to play any scales. My current teacher teaches musicality very well, but when it comes to technique, he’s a bit vague. In fact I came into this channel because he gave me Schubert 90-3, but I have no idea how to play inner voice. My teacher told me to use circular motion of wrist, but my fingers are not following😂. Now I know that my finger nails are not activated. I was trying to produce sound but entire fingers! Although my piano teacher demonstrated and his finger joints are activated but just because he doesn’t want me to get used to high finger technique (as you mentioned high finger is wrong), he didn’t tell me to activate finger nail. Or may be he’s unconsciously doing it. I’ll explore more videos on your channel. Thank you so much!
I am sorry to hear about your difficult experience! Yes, indeed it might be challenging to find a teacher, who would be equally experienced in both physiology and interpretation… I hope you’ll find one!🤞 Otherwise, just contact me for an online lesson.😎
on burgmuller's arabesque i find it kinda impossible to accentuate the 5th finger without lifting it a bit before striking the key, from here i'm guessing it's wrong but i also know there is a technique where you lift the finger before strinking it, don't know much about it tho, would you say it can be done in this context?
Sure, lifting fingers is an effective playing strategy in a short term, but might cause too much tension and be dangerous in a long term. But yes, it’s not easy at all to stabilize the 5th finger and avoid tension in it while playing other fingers, takes plenty of time and slow conscious practicing…
Can you imagine, entire Japan teaches lifting fingers and curled fingers since the piano playing started there. ,Some who went abroad after winning domestic competition had to unlearn those habits before they could start at good conservatories….
Not only can I imagine this, but have a few friends, very talented Japanese pianists, who lost their performing careers because of the Focal Dystonia caused by this approach.
It's worth adding that the weight of the hand and fingers plays a role in playing capabilities. Rotating the hand to add weight to 4th and 5th finger and to the thumb is especially important for smaller hands.
One thing that I struggle with is when you’re trying to play softly like an arpeggio, but some of your fingers are on black keys while at least one is on a white key in the region between black keys (close to the fallboard). This can happen especially if a thumb needs to hit a black key, which forces your hand to be more forward. The problem is that the white key finger can’t get much leverage in that region, because it’s far from the heart of the key. So you somehow have to compensate by playing that finger harder than the adjacent black key fingers? A concrete example is the middle of Widmung, bar 44 “dolce armonioso”. The right hand needs to play the arpeggio very softly but one of the fingers needs to play a white key and the thumb is on a black key just a couple notes before that. Thank you for the great content as always, and happy new year!
Hi, This is one of my favorite topics and I never stop learning about hand positioning. In case of playing in the key of C, I think one can keep his natural hand position by moving the elbow a bit outwards, and so you curve the fingers much less. I find that it works out well. I'm also of the idea that a good hand position should always be used whether you are playing Baroque, Romantic, or Jazz. I hope I am on the right track.
Hello Denis. Will you please consider making tutorial of Chopin Waltz op.34-2. You explained a little bit from this waltz in one of your YT videos. I would very much like to learn it in-depth from you.
Hello Sir, I have a problem with the left hand ring bend finger, especially in the scale exercises and when I playing any Piece Please I need help me any exercise
This is a very common issue that needs both systematic finger training and implementing piano playing efficiency strategies. You might check out my course on piano technique: pianoskillsandmagic.teachable.com/p/a-comprehensive-guide-for-piano-technique-musicality-via-hanon-exercises
Здравствуйте,Денис, очень интересные объяснения, я английский понимаю очень плохо, самое главное я поняла, отправила ваше видео своим ученикам, но не все из них хорошо понимают английский. Я живу во Франции и ученики мои - французы, хотелось бы видео на русском, я им все сама переведу на французский.
Sure, I am doing it in detail in my course about the basics of efficient technique: bit.ly/ManyPianoTips And also you can check this video with more useful efficiency tips: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QD9QcmlygKo.htmlsi=c92XZKllCjANsIUZ
Dear Denis! Thank you for your excellent tutorials! Wouldn't you be motivated to do a tutorial about the piano part of the Cesar Franck Violin Sonata, especially about the difficulties in all movements, particularly the 2nd movement (fingering, pedal, what to accentuate, etc.)? This Sonata is so well-known, and an absolute standard repertoire all over the world for piano students, but there is NOT ONE tutorial on YT! It would be so much appreciated! Many thanks and a Happy New Year!
Horowitz? Every video I've seen not only his elbows, but his wrists as well are below the keys. I think you have to find your own Comfort Level based on your own Structure. Rules are for Teachers, Tricks are for Kids, finding Your Own Path is for the Ones who are Willing to Make Their Own Way, Improvise and Play What They Feel and not Follow the endless herd of Followers. You can look at the Keyboard as a Scale in White with Black Chromatic Notes or you can look at the Keyboard as a Scale in Black (Pentatonic) with White Chromatic Notes.
There is a quite convincing evidence regarding Horowitz’s crippled technique, and how it was limiting him at the last decades of his career. Also, it’s worth mentioning that his student Gary Grafman got injured with focal dystonia, which gives us a hint that Horowitz wasn’t able to recognize bad playing habits and warn his student. But this is a big topic and will come as a separate video. It’s a seductive path you are advocating, but you can’t cancel science and physiology by a rather wishful thinking.
I hear that... but tbh...Horrowitz is one of my fav pianists, despite his technique not being the norm... when I hear him play Impromptu no.3 by Shubert. . I am captivated @@DenZhdanovPianist
You do know that Horowitz played on a CUSTOM piano meant to accommodate his poor technique right? It was the key action was changed to be extremely light.
Another question that I have is regarding to the amount of passive force that one must have in the hand (in other words to hold the hand shape, so it won’t be flying uncontrollably to really control the fingers and have good articulations, while knowing that we must allow for energy to flow freely from the scapular, shoulder, arm and wrist to the tip of the fingers, so that sound will be clear and transparent. This is particularly true when playing fast running 16th notes passages and scales, so that every note will be even. If piano playing were to aim for a natural flow and transfer of energy on each finger tip, wouldn’t the passive force of holding the hand shape a way that hindered the natural flow and transfer of energy?
For example, you see many virtuosos pianists having a pair of molded hand shape (that regardless of how fast or how slow they play, the hand shape remains, this is not natural to the human anatomy, therefore I deduce that some force must have been applied passively while keeping everything else relaxed and natural
By retaining the hand shapes, it allows for the energy to be applied controllably through the joints/knuckles. Fingers need not to be standing straight, it could be flat as long as the hand shape is maintained. I’m not sure if I’m right
For example, even for pianists such as Nelson Freire or Martha Argerich, regardless of their spontaneity and free spirited playing, their hands are so firm and strong yet at the same time, so natural and free flowing like water
I guess you are speaking about stability in the metacarpophalangeal joints. Piano playing is a dynamic process: when you get in the contact with the key, you increase the amount of tension for a fraction of a second in this part of your hand, specifically in the joint of a finger that plays right now, which helps maintaining this optimal hand shape. Furthermore, there are choices how much or little of the arm to use in order to dive into the key with your fingertip. You can drive the finger from the metacarpal joint, or the hand from the wrist, or the whole forearm-arm. But right after the hit (i.e. instantly) you release the tension completely (if you release the key), or almost completely (if the finger must keep holding the key down). Thus you don’t get tired. This way of playing is the most natural for human anatomy, because playing like that you activate same hand muscles which you use when you grasp things with hands, and this is the most basic reflex and skill of higher primates.
Thanks for this After years of left and right hand drills playing classical guitar, now I’ve finally returned to my first instrument, 🎹, and dreaming of Minute Waltz glory, I find my fingers in both hands 🤚 🫱 are like pistons and primed and ready! 🙏
