How can i improve my piano skills?

Question

i'm 15, and i'm doing trinity guildhall grade six now.
i can play well, but i still don't feel like my tone is nice. like i keep pressing other keys too when i want to play another, and my tone's always not sharp enough, like not enough strength in it. my piano's just recently tuned, made no diffs anyway. i just need to make my songs sound Clear and Sharp. (my fingers are really soft btw)
and i've just changed a new teacher. she's very unlike my former teacher, whom i loved so very much. well, for instance, when she teaches me a new song, she doesn't play it for you once to help you get a picture of how it sounds like. for some songs it's ok, but for some others, like somthing from 21st century it's really hard for me to play. to imagine. i've only started for a week (her lessons i mean) and i'm already frustrated.
how can i like my teacher more? the only reason i promised myself to continue was only because i told myself, that i would play every song, whether i like it or not, seriously and to play it as well as i ever could.
and, i've already been playing the grade six pieces for a long time now, and the time, the year for the pieces is for 2007 to 2008. and it's over now. i just want to learn the pieces, not planning on taking exams. well, can i, like, ask her to let me try the grade seven pieces? i've already played most from the grade six', and i thought i can try the grade seven's. how can i ask her. like how can i start?

thanks, to EVERYBODY who answers. i'm really serious in asking this question i hope you guys answer just as seriously.

Answer 1

The over-arching answer is, of course, to practice. And practice. And practice some more!



As a comment to one thing you state, however, you should know that the vast majority of teachers do NOT play a new piece for a student, and there are some good reasons for that. An important part of learning any music is "cold" reading of music scores -- depending on only what you see in a score rather than having the back-up (or crutch, in many opinions) of what you heard in addition to the score will push a student to read a score more carefully and completely. Additionally, not hearing "how it's supposed to go" encourages students to learn and develop their interpretive skills. Sight-reading skills will also have a better chance to develop, and those are really very important! One thing you can do to assist with cold-reading is to grab a hymnal or songbook and play through it from beginning to end without repeating any of the pieces. Some you will know, of course, and some you will not, and the ones you do not know will help you with cold-reading and sight-reading.



I suggest you give the new teacher a chance. After all, you are BOTH adjusting at the moment!

Answer 2

Well the obvious answer is "Practice" which is completely true, but I'll try to give you something more descriptive. But really spending at least an hour a day on that bench will help a lot, 3 hours would be the best...



Clear is hard... I had great troubles with muddiness until I learned the better way. Watch your pedaling. The pedal dosen't always have to be depressed all the way down. I think of the pedal in 4 different positions.



1. The pedal is completely up,

2. The pedal is just dipped down

3. The pedal is about half way down

4, The pedal is completely down.



Most people naturally have the default pedal at 4, wich is a ton of pedal. Try to make your default about 3. When you lift pedal, make sure you go all the way up to 1, and not 2. 2 can be useful for impressionistic, or classical period music. Most pianists don't pay attention to their pedaling.



Another thing that can make your music more clear, is to be more accurate. And another think is to make sure you don't depress any extra keys down while you play a note. For example if you play an A octave, you might accidentally press the b and the g, not playing the note, but just having it go down slightly. This raises the dampers on those notes, which can cause them to vibrate and produce a mush sound.



To get a sharper tone, depress the keys faster, and with a more “vertical” finger. You should try some exercises or studies or etudes to get more dexterity or strength. I recommend Cramers studies, and then Chopin's etudes once you've masted the Cramer studes.



About not having her play the a pieces (remember, a song must have voices, so a piano can't play a song), you should go onto you tube and find several interpretations.



Well I hope some of these help... Good luck!



Cheerio

Answer 3

Your teacher may not be playing the 21st century pieces for you for a reason - the 21st century pieces can often lose their emotional impact if you're going off of someone else's interpretation. That's the challenge of these pieces - YOU have to form your own interpretation because they're so widely subjective to the performer. You have more freedom to experiment with them than a standard classical piece where everyone has a certain expectation of what it should sound like.



Not only that, it will build your own musicianship skills. You've relied on your teacher to give you an interpretation and now you're left with making your own - which is hard to do at first. Once you become more acquainted with a piece the interpretation becomes more "clear" in your mind. Be ready to be frustrated - that's part of the journey of interpretation.



Your teacher might also be hoping you take the initiative to research the piece yourself - listen to recordings of other performers, research the history of the composition, and again, build your own interpretation. 21st century pieces often have a story behind them, and, if you listen to other performers, you're being exposed to multiple interpretations, giving you the opportunity to decide if something works or if something doesn't, especially in terms of stylistic choices.



You've only been with this teacher a week - have you even asked her what goals she has made for you? She might not be giving you these more challenging pieces because she doesn't think you're ready - have you even asked her about it? You've got to communicate what you want out of these lessons and ask her the reasons behind her teaching or you won't get the most out of her lessons. If you can't understand her logic you're just going to be angry all the time and basically be wasting your money.



Remember - lessons aren't about solely building technical skills, and, don't be afraid to ask your teacher about their goals for you and the reasons behind what they're doing!

Answer 4

My teacher used to play pieces for me, but he stopped doing that a little while ago. It's really frustrating because it's a lot harder to figure out how to play it, but it's actually the best thing for your skills as a musician. You have to be able to interpret something yourself, and being forced to sight-read something cold is really vital. I have a lot of trouble with this -I'm a good reader but I end up playing with my ears and my fingers very quickly, neglecting the score to my detriment- but I can already tell that it's improving my skills.



The thing that most improved my piano playing (and, oddly enough, the speed of my typing) was doing lots of Hanon. I have a truncated one published by the Hal Leonard Student Piano Library, but you can get the real deal published by Schirmer. You play them for the sole purpose of improving your technique, and they're simple patterns so you can focus on strengthening your fingers, keeping them curved enough, keeping them on the keys, et cetera.



As for bringing up wanting to do more advanced stuff, just come out and say it. Good teachers push you to your limits, but they also respond to you. My teacher was really happy when I asked if I could maybe start playing Shostakovich (too advanced for me so far, but I asked) and if you think about it it makes perfect sense. Teachers are musicians (my teacher actually has CDs out in Europe and used to give concerts; I didn't know that until a month ago though) and musicians like being with other serious musicians. At the end of next lesson, just say, "Do you think I could start on some of the grade seven pieces?"



The only way to get good is to keep on practicing. Because of my family situation I can go for a week without being able to practice, or only practice for 30 minutes for the whole week- but that 30 minutes makes a huge difference. I'd like to be spending about two hours a day practicing -and I have spent that much time and longer when the situation has allowed it, once or twice in my life- but the difference between no practice and 30 minutes of practice is astounding.



Maybe try this for your fingers: imagine that your palm and your fingers are made of crystal that's almost as light as air, but you have lead weights in your fingertips. There are guns in your arms which fire bullets down to your hands, which hit the lead weights on your fingertips and make you press the keys.



I don't know if that makes any sense to you, or if it will help, but it's improved my playing a lot.

Answer 5

The only thing I can say is practice. I remember when I was in a situation lie the one you are in, just do whatever the teacher says, and eventually, you'll get better.