Piano Technique – Improvement Resources that You Should Not Ignore

Piano Technique Improvement: Sound Professional with these tips & techniques; make your piano skills stand out using these resources.

Learn proper body posture & the various tricks like runs, riffs, accompaniment, scales, harmony, hand/finger independence, jumps, endurance and other techniques that will make your piano playing sound professional.

Want to know what the pros do differently while they play?…

It is quite possible that you may be able to play many songs after learning the piano for 6-12 months. But I am sure you must have observed some good players playing those same songs and you must have wondered…hey, what else is he doing that I am not doing?

Playing the melody notes correctly and sticking to the rhythm is very important but there is something else which is needed to make your performance stand out.

This is where you will need to learn about piano techniques.

Technique is important in any physical art form, as it lets you do things faster, better & consistently (especially for playing musical instruments). A good technique will also help you to practice for longer sessions, reduce fatigue & prevent any sort of physical injury.

How to maintain the correct piano posture
Learn to use the correct Piano Fingering

And though, the body posture plays an important role, I’m sure you’re looking for something more than that, when it comes to piano technique.

If you have been looking for some tips on how to dress up your music and make your piano paying sound professional, just read on.

With practice (very important, else your playing will sound ordinary), the piano techniques mentioned here are easy to use and if you use them appropriately, it will show remarkable difference in your playing.

Chords, Riffs & Songs

I’m sure this is what every beginner wants to do, to be able to play songs effortlessly on the piano, and embellish them with interesting chords, or just impress the audience with riffs & licks.

However, the fact is that you cannot reach there overnight; you have to put in the time. So even if your mind is willing, the fingers need to be trained to accomplish complex things with ease.

That is why all those finger exercises & technique books (czerny, Hanon) are so useful.

Here are some useful links on how to improve your piano playing technique. If you feel like you’re stuck in a rut with your piano playing, these tips can help you out.

Learn how to play piano songs
Learn to use piano chords in different ways
Piano Accompaniment – How do you accompany someone?
How to play Piano Riffs?

Articulations

These are symbols which tell you things like whether you need to play the notes louder or softer, shorter or longer, whether you need to play additional notes and so on.

Without articulations, any song would sound monotonous and will become boring to hear. The Piano keys themselves are touch sensitive, meaning the sound they produce depends on how hard or soft we press the keys.

Articulations tell the players to use this ability of the piano.

Grace Notes

By definition, a grace note is a note/set of notes that you play immediately before the main note.

You quickly move/slide through the grace notes before you come to the note that is intended to be played. Normally the grace notes are half-step or whole-step away from the main note.

Grace notes are easy to play but it sounds a bit complex to the ears; that is why you should use them. Besides, you will need to use this piano technique while playing blues/jazz.

Here are some of the best Books on Piano Technique

• Burgmller, Czerny & Hanon — Piano Studies Selected for Technique and Musicality, Vol 1
• Famous Pianists and Their Technique
• What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body
• The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide for Mastering Piano
• Piano Technique Demystified
• Virtuoso Piano Technique
• How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons

Trills/Tremolos

A trill tells you to play two notes in rapid succession giving a fluttering effect.

The notes are normally half-step or whole-step away from each other. Tremolos on the other hand, have the two notes more than a whole-step apart.

You can even add a tremolo effect to chords; a perfect example would be rock-n-roll where tremolo chords are commonly used.

Gliss

A Gliss is short for Glissando. Here you slide your fingers quickly across many keys on the keyboard.

Though, this effect has been used in many rock-n-roll songs, you can use it in any fast paced song; it will surely dazzle your audience.

This piano technique is also a hit with kids but you need to know the correct way to do it, which is with your finger nails… else you will surely hurt your fingers.

Note – So go back to work and start practicing these new tricks. I am sure you are going to find these piano techniques interesting, as they are fun to work with.

Besides, some of these tricks can be used to cover for your mistakes as well. Yes, the wrong notes that everybody plays sometimes or the other.

With practice, you can almost every time change the wrong note to a grace note or trill to arrive at the correct note.

---

Become a Complete Pianist with this Piano Software

---

Good Support for Lower Back

Though you may not appreciate it much as a beginner, at some point of time, you should definitely consider getting yourself a good piano bench or drum throne, if you’re serious about playing the piano.

You need something sturdy that will adequately support your body, especially your lower back. Get something that is comfortable, rock solid, and preferably easily height-adjustable.