by Susan Quilty

Created on: September 29, 2008

It's more fun to do something when you do it well, and playing the piano is no exception.

You may think that technical exercises are only for professional musicians, but 5-10 minutes of daily exercises can provide many benefits for even the casual pianist. Exercises can improve your dexterity and confidence which will make playing the piano more enjoyable.

So why do so many people resist practicing piano technique? Let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of technical exercises.

PROS

1.) Warm-up Muscles

Playing the piano may not seem as strenuous as playing a sport, but piano injuries can happen. Frequently, piano strains occur when a difficult or rapid song is played without first warming up.

Scales, arpeggios, and other technical exercises steadily move your fingers across the keys, warming the muscles in your fingers, wrists, hands and arms. This loosens stiff muscles and prepares them to play.

2.) Gain Dexterity

Dexterity refers to the ability to move the hands with skill and grace, a valuable asset when playing the piano. Technical exercises practiced regularly will improve finger dexterity in the same way that lifting weights regularly will strengthen your biceps.

Learning to fluidly move your fingers through the cross-overs of piano scales and arpeggios will make playing songs more comfortable and effortless. Additional techniques, such as Hanon exercises, will further improve your agility and finger control.

3.) Improve Timing

Everyone has their own internal rhythm and most people feel like they are playing in time until they play along with a metronome. Metronomes are devices that taps out a steady rhythm. They can be purchased at any music store and are often used to keep time when practicing the piano.

Technical exercises for the piano are often repetitive and many students rush through them at an uneven pace. By practicing these exercises with a metronome, you will play them more steadily. This increases the physical benefits of the practice and also helps train your internal clock. In time, you will find that your timing will improve even when you turn off the metronome.

4.) Reinforce Music Theory

If you want to be able to write your own music, create arrangements from a fake book, or add your own style to sheet music, it will help to have an understanding of music theory.

Regularly practicing piano scales, arpeggios and other technical exercises will reinforce the concepts you have learned about music theory. For example, piano scales will teach you the

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