VYOMA SHAH
The Score Magazine
38 highonscore. com
Practising Piano Away From The Piano
Several instances can keep you away from your piano – long commutes to work, business or leisure trips, neighbors that aren’ t cooperative with the apparent‘ noise’ that music creates and so an and so forth. However if you sincerely want to practise in these circumstances, you can indeed. Here’ s how:
Scales: Learning scales aids in a detailed understanding of music theory, helps develop correct technique as well as the strength and agility required to practically execute advanced concepts. You can easily practise scales on any flat surface. Start by visualizing the notes of the scale that you’ re practising, on the piano. Be mindful of the sharps and flats, unless you’ re practising the C major scale. Then, practise the scale in ascending and descending order with the correct fingers. Do it a few times over, till you feel like it’ s becoming a part of your muscle memory.
Finger exercises: Finger exercises are also something that you can easily work on, in the absence of a piano. Here are a few that you can practise:
• The simplest one is to start on your thumb in both hands and tap all your five fingers in contrary motion. Start at a slow tempo and build up speed.
• You can develop on the above exercise by adding accents to certain taps. For example, you can first accent every third tap; then switch it up and accent every fourth tap.
• Create different patterns based on finger numbers and practise them in both hands. A common one is 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-2( the numbers being finger numbers).
Learning a new piece: Learning a new piece without actually playing it requires a certain level of patience and focus. However, it largely helps in internalizing a piece and developing a strong sense of command over it. Here’ s how you can go about it:
Step 1: Read the score – really dissect it. Make a mental note of the time signature, key signature, repeat signs, dynamic markings and accidentals, if any.
Step 2: Decide on a small section of the piece you want to work on( anywhere between 8-16 bars), depending on the amount of time you have. You can listen to an audio file of the piece if possible, before you start physically playing it with your fingers.
Step 3: Start with the treble clef. Visualize the starting note first and then make a mental map of the following notes. Play through the right hand part bar by bar, at a very slow tempo while trying your best to picture the notes on the piano and imagining the sound of the melody. You can slowly increase tempo, as and when you get comfortable with the all the parts. Follow the same process for the bass clef parts and then slowly practise the treble and bass clef parts together.
Practising a known piece: If you’ ve already learnt a piece on the piano and know it relatively well, you can review it and solidify it while you’ re away from your instrument. You could either sing or hum out treble and bass clef parts separately or play the whole piece on a flat surface, while mentally envisaging your fingers playing the notes on the piano. You can also sing out the right hand parts, while playing the left hand parts on a flat surface and vice versa.
Working on your non-dominant hand: One of my teachers’ once recommended that I do everyday things with my left hand to achieve dexterity, stability and to improve co-ordination while playing. While this has got nothing to do with directly practising, you could try doing daily tasks like opening the door, combing your hair, brushing your teeth or even writing a few lines with your nondominant hand from time to time.
Practising away from the piano is surprisingly beneficial and you will definitely see what all the fuss is about, once you give it a go.