6 ms·

It's sad that this book is written in such a self-validating tone (the very first sentence is "This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the pian

It's sad that this book is written in such a self-validating tone (the very first sentence is "This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the piano!" for crying out loud), because the content is excellent. I read it a couple years ago and it completely changed how I approach practicing.

rossjudson 5y ago
I agree; it is surprisingly good. And conceited...which is an acceptable tradeoff ;)
- rossjudson 5y ago
  I'll also point out (to myself!) that the third edition is a considerably better read. It's available for free at the author's web site (http://www.pianopractice.org/ http://www.pianopractice.org/).
amelius 5y ago
> "This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the piano!" for crying out loud It fits with the current zeitgeist, where clickbait is everywhere, even in respected newspapers.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  It was written long ago.
  - amelius 5y ago
    Yes. But maybe it explains why it resurfaces now.
- rackjack 5y ago
  People have been doing this for decades, probably centuries... there was a book on shorthand (Eclectic shorthand) I found on the Internet Archive and the first couple of pages were extolling its virtues compared to the others. The difference is that you're seeing it.
- rossjudson 5y ago
  I am pretty sure the current zeitgeist is to do the minimum possible amount of observation/research before passing judgement on something.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mtalantikite 5y ago
Could you elaborate on what in it helped change your practice approach? I tried reading it a while back and I couldn’t really get past the style. I’m sure there is good advice in there, but it’s very off putting due to the rambling style.
- cloogshicer 5y ago
  The main takeaways for me were: - Do not try to practice the whole piece at once. Split it into pieces - Start by listening to the piece. If possible get multiple performances/recordings (usually easy with YouTube) to get a feel for different interpretations. - Take the piece and number each measure from 1 to finish. Figure out where the repetitions are, which measures are the easiest, which the hardest (this will differ for left and right hand usually), where key/timing changes happen - Practice both hands separately, start with a single measure that is one of the hardest (if need be you can split it up even more). Overlap the measures slightly so that you also practice the transitions. Play as slowly as you need to so that you can play expressively from the very beginning (albeit with only one hand). As you learn the measure, increase speed, but only so much that you can still play expressively. Switch hands once your hand gets tired. - Since one hand (usually the left hand) is often much easier to play in many measures or even entire pieces, it will get much less practice. To offset this, make sure to also practice the hardest measure for each hand first. Sometimes you might even need to practice the left hand from a different piece (if the current piece only has easy stuff), while the right hand is resting. - Keep practicing all the measures in the piece in this fashion (with one hand) until you can play them expressively even at higher speeds than the piece is usually played at. - Now is the time to put the hands together. Use the same method of practice as described above (splitting up the piece into overlapping measures, starting with the hardest one), only this time use both hands. There are other nuggets of wisdom in the book, for example: - How to properly practice playing chords - Very fast notes played in succession are really just "imperfectly played chords", where your hand is already in the position of playing the chord, except one or more fingers are slightly lower than the others as your hand goes down. Thinking of it this way, you're not trying to speed up individual notes, but "slow down" a chord.
  - 5y ago
jmchuster 5y ago
That's a preface by the individual who found this book only after years of research and then decided to post it online. This is not the author of the book talking about their own book.
- cloogshicer 5y ago
  Oh, you might be right. I downloaded the book a long time ago as a PDF from somewhere. It also included this sentence and it stuck out to me because it was so weird. The rest of the tone of the book felt in the same style to me so I never second guessed it, but you might be correct.
  - mkl 5y ago
    Probably from the canonical site, http://www.pianopractice.org/ http://www.pianopractice.org/, where a more up to date edition is available for free. The second edition (that the submission link is based on) does contain that sentence, so it is from the original author. The third edition does not.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    He isn't, that is exactly what the book says.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  This is incorrect, this is the preface lifted straight from the 2nd edition pdf on the original site: "This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the piano! The revelation of this book is that there are highly efficient practice methods that can accelerate your learning rate, by up to 1,000 times if you have not yet learned the most efficient practice methods (see IV.5). What is surprising is that, although these methods were known since the earliest days of piano, they were seldom taught because only a few teachers knew about them and these knowledgeable teachers never bothered to disseminate this knowledge. " http://www.pianopractice.org/ http://www.pianopractice.org/
  - jmchuster 5y ago

rossjudson 5y ago

I agree; it is surprisingly good. And conceited...which is an acceptable tradeoff ;)

rossjudson 5y ago
I'll also point out (to myself!) that the third edition is a considerably better read. It's available for free at the author's web site (http://www.pianopractice.org/ http://www.pianopractice.org/).

amelius 5y ago

> "This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the piano!" for crying out loud It fits with the current zeitgeist, where clickbait is everywhere, even in respected newspapers.

jacquesm 5y ago
It was written long ago.
- amelius 5y ago
  Yes. But maybe it explains why it resurfaces now.
rackjack 5y ago
People have been doing this for decades, probably centuries... there was a book on shorthand (Eclectic shorthand) I found on the Internet Archive and the first couple of pages were extolling its virtues compared to the others. The difference is that you're seeing it.
rossjudson 5y ago
I am pretty sure the current zeitgeist is to do the minimum possible amount of observation/research before passing judgement on something.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

mtalantikite 5y ago

Could you elaborate on what in it helped change your practice approach? I tried reading it a while back and I couldn’t really get past the style. I’m sure there is good advice in there, but it’s very off putting due to the rambling style.

cloogshicer 5y ago
The main takeaways for me were: - Do not try to practice the whole piece at once. Split it into pieces - Start by listening to the piece. If possible get multiple performances/recordings (usually easy with YouTube) to get a feel for different interpretations. - Take the piece and number each measure from 1 to finish. Figure out where the repetitions are, which measures are the easiest, which the hardest (this will differ for left and right hand usually), where key/timing changes happen - Practice both hands separately, start with a single measure that is one of the hardest (if need be you can split it up even more). Overlap the measures slightly so that you also practice the transitions. Play as slowly as you need to so that you can play expressively from the very beginning (albeit with only one hand). As you learn the measure, increase speed, but only so much that you can still play expressively. Switch hands once your hand gets tired. - Since one hand (usually the left hand) is often much easier to play in many measures or even entire pieces, it will get much less practice. To offset this, make sure to also practice the hardest measure for each hand first. Sometimes you might even need to practice the left hand from a different piece (if the current piece only has easy stuff), while the right hand is resting. - Keep practicing all the measures in the piece in this fashion (with one hand) until you can play them expressively even at higher speeds than the piece is usually played at. - Now is the time to put the hands together. Use the same method of practice as described above (splitting up the piece into overlapping measures, starting with the hardest one), only this time use both hands. There are other nuggets of wisdom in the book, for example: - How to properly practice playing chords - Very fast notes played in succession are really just "imperfectly played chords", where your hand is already in the position of playing the chord, except one or more fingers are slightly lower than the others as your hand goes down. Thinking of it this way, you're not trying to speed up individual notes, but "slow down" a chord.
- 5y ago

jmchuster 5y ago

That's a preface by the individual who found this book only after years of research and then decided to post it online. This is not the author of the book talking about their own book.

cloogshicer 5y ago
Oh, you might be right. I downloaded the book a long time ago as a PDF from somewhere. It also included this sentence and it stuck out to me because it was so weird. The rest of the tone of the book felt in the same style to me so I never second guessed it, but you might be correct.
- mkl 5y ago
  Probably from the canonical site, http://www.pianopractice.org/ http://www.pianopractice.org/, where a more up to date edition is available for free. The second edition (that the submission link is based on) does contain that sentence, so it is from the original author. The third edition does not.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  He isn't, that is exactly what the book says.
jacquesm 5y ago
This is incorrect, this is the preface lifted straight from the 2nd edition pdf on the original site: "This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the piano! The revelation of this book is that there are highly efficient practice methods that can accelerate your learning rate, by up to 1,000 times if you have not yet learned the most efficient practice methods (see IV.5). What is surprising is that, although these methods were known since the earliest days of piano, they were seldom taught because only a few teachers knew about them and these knowledgeable teachers never bothered to disseminate this knowledge. " http://www.pianopractice.org/ http://www.pianopractice.org/
- jmchuster 5y ago