II. Basic Procedures for Piano Practice

This sections contains the minimum set of instructions that you need before starting practice.

• 1. The Practice Routine
• 2. Finger Positions
• 3. Bench Height and Distance from Piano
• 4. Starting a Piece: Listening and Analysis (Für Elise)
• 5. Practice the Difficult Sections First
• 6. Shortening Difficult Passages: Segmental (Bar-by-Bar) Practice
• 7. Hands Separate Practice: Acquiring Technique
• 8. Continuity Rule
• 9. Chord Attack
• 10. Gravity Drop, Chord Practice, and Relaxation
• 11. Parallel Sets
• 12. Learning, Memorizing, and Mental Play
• 13. Velocity, Choice of Practice Speed
• 14. How to Relax
• 15. Post Practice Improvement (PPI)
• 16. Dangers of Slow Play - Pitfalls of the Intuitive Method
• 17. Importance of Slow Play
• 18. Fingering
• 19. Accurate Tempo and the Metronome
• 20. Weak Left Hand; Using One Hand to Teach the Other
• 21. Building Endurance, Breathing
• 22. Bad Habits: A Pianist’s Worst Enemy
• 23. Damper Pedal
• 24. Soft Pedal: Hammer Voicing, Physics of the Piano Sound
• 25. Hands Together and Mental Play
  • Beethoven’s Moonlight, 1st Movement, Op. 27, No. 2
  • Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca, from Sonata K300 (K331).
  • Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66, Fast Play Degradation (FPD)
• 26. Summary