| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: technique questions | |
| mstore -- 02/14/2005, 06:54:00 -- #11201 | |
| hello! I have no trouble playing my solos, but sometimes when i go out from my regular lines i get trouble with the technique. I suddently stumble over the new lines i try to create... playing slowly. I have tried to work this out by playing the tunes in hard keys such as Gb and B etc... One problem seems to be that i allways seem to get the thumb on a place that isn“t good for the next phrase... Is there any cure for this type of problem. i seem to have a space right there in my technique. martin | |
| Scot -- 02/14/2005, 13:00:10 -- #11209 | |
| The cure is easy- practice. Practicing RIGHT is the only cure. So you are working out solos slow at home and you see taht your thumb is in the wrong place. So back up and try that line again, but try different fingerings until you find one that works. When you find one that works, play it over and over and over and over again until it's stuck in your brain and then try it faster and faster until it's second nature. You may also consider practicing classical technique books- Hanon, Czerny, etc, and also practicing Bach fugues and preludes that have the fingerings written in. Getting the right fingerings is something that nees to be second nature and the classical music is one of the best ways of getting them, plus it helps your technique. On the other side of the coin, you should practice your difficult passages with fingersing that DON'T work as well as with fingerings that do work. Sometimes your thumb is always going to land somewhere it shouldn't, so you need to practice scales and arpeggios that will help your hand get out of jams. For example, practice all scales with the fingerings: 1 2 1 2 1 2 Practice arpeggios the same way. Then do it again with different fingerings- 1 3 1 3 or 1 4 1 4 or 1 5 1 5, then change it up to other ones: 2 3 2 3 and 2 4 2 4 and 2 5 2 5 etc etc etc. If you spend quality time practicing stuff like that, you'll never have any fingering problems. | |
| Jazz+ -- 02/14/2005, 13:26:31 -- #11213 | |
| I found playing all the Bebop scales (12 Mixolydian, 12 Ionian, 12 Dorian, 12 Melodic Minors) with 1234 1234 symetrical fingering to be one of the greatest technique builders. The Bebop blues scale is also fast with 1234 1234 | |
| Scot -- 02/14/2005, 13:27:17 -- #11214 | |
| One thing I forgot to mention is that it's nice to hear that you are having "finger problems" :) Why do I like to hear that? Because it means you are playing music that you hear, not music that is easy for your fingers to play. Playing what you hear instead of what you "can play" will always put you a step ahead of "finger players". | |
| Jazz+ -- 02/14/2005, 13:28:06 -- #11215 | |
| I'm talking about the "Bebop Scale" forms of the 12 Mixolydian, 12 Ionian, 12 Dorian, and 12 Melodic Minors. Not the 7 note classical versions. | |
| Kai -- 02/14/2005, 14:26:14 -- #11216 | |
| In addition it might be worth looking at Pianoforte Technique on an Hour a Day by Geoffrey Tankard and Eric Harrison , Novello Publishing £8.95. I have also found it useful to practice arpeggios, dominant 7ths, dimisheds in groups (it helps you 'get' the chord shapes) , such as Ab, Eb,Db, F#, C#. G# using the fingering 2 1 2 4 right hand and 2 1 4 2 left hand. | |
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