Technical Exercises
Technique refers to the technical aspects hand movement as it relates to the instrument. Developing good technique is critical to becoming a proficient musician. Assuming your hand position is good, there is really only one way to develop good technique, Repetition. By playing scale patterns and chord moves over and over, you gradually develop "muscle memory" or motor memory. This is when your hands seem to play through a series of notes or moves without any thought or effort. Your playing becomes automatic and fluid as effort is reduced. The best players make even the most difficult passages look easy. This is because their technique is so well developed that to them these passages are easy. This page leads you to a few exercises to help you develop your technique. But first, you must learn a few scale patterns. These will form the foundation you will need to begin building your skills.
| Quazi-Chromatic Exercise #1: Primary strength and independence builder | |
| Quazi-Chromatic Exercise #2: Slightly more difficult skill builder | |
| Exercise #1: Scale in thirds | |
| Exercise #2: Scale in fourths | |
| Advanced Exercise: Hannon (one of the best exercises) | |
When practicing these patterns, note that the tempo of the .wav examples has nothing in common with the animated example ((The .wavs were recorded at various tempos in bpm (beats per minute). The animations move every .2 to .5 seconds.)) So, don't try to follow the animation while playing along.
How to practice the exercises:
Step #1 - Learn the scale pattern. If you haven't memorized scale patterns #1, #2, and #3, go to the botton of this page and do so now. This will take a few hours but will save a lot of frustration as you work through the exercises.
Step #2 - Listen to the .wav example to get a feel for how the exercise works. Listen to it several times until you recognize the pattern in the note sequence.
Step #3 - Play the exercise following the "bouncing ball." (Don't try to listen to the .wav example as you do this. Sorry, the tempos don't match). In short order, the tempo will seem painfully slow. Don't move on until you reach this point.
Step #4 - Play along with the .wav example. Use your memory only to recall the pattern. (If necessary, cover the animation with a Post-it© or tape.)
Step #5 - Set your metronome to 100bpm and play the exercise on your own. When this becomes second nature, increase the tempo to 110bpm, and so on. Only practice as fast as you can play perfectly. Don't be in a hurry to get to blazing speed, just work through the exercise and focus on relaxing your hands.
| Learn these scale patterns for memory | |
| Pattern #1 | |
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| Pattern #2 | |
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| Pattern #3 | |
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