How Can I Develop My Piano Technique?

I understand basic keyboard harmony. What exercises develop the facility for moving across the piano and moving from note to note and chord to chord quickly and easily?

ANSWER

There are a lot of ways to develop your piano technique. One of the best and lest expensive ways is to practice your scales. You should practice scales in rhythms. Set your metronome and practice playing 2, then 3, then 4 notes per beat. The number of octaves should match the number of notes in a beat. Ideally your goal would be to play all of the rhythms at 100 BPM without stopping between rhythms.

There are many books of exercises to improve your technique. The two best known and most popular are
probably Hanon and Czerny. Some of the exercises are a bit difficult but they are well worth the effort that it will require to master them.

As far as moving between chords, the best thing is to study chord inversions. You will find a detailed explanation of inversions as well as methods for practicing them at Piano Chord Inversions.

Of course another very effective way to improve your technique is to study pieces which require different technical skills. For example, the technique required to play Bach is different from that required to play Beethoven and both are different from the technique required to play pieces by Chopin.

The most important thing is to persevere. Approach your study of technique in a consistent and disciplined manner and you will see amazing results.

Good luck with your playing!

Lynne