Lang Lang is very involved with piano education and keen to help every young pianist improve and during his launch of the Mastering the Piano books, he explained how he practised, what helped him when he was a young beginner and what is in this series of 5 books. Here are some of his top tips for mastering the piano:
1. Start with the basics and make sure that your hand is in a "holding the apple" position.
2. "Scales are so important to me. I play them at the start of every practice and always begin slowly!"
3. You can then go on to practise them for an hour or an hour and a half, using different rhythms and "demon turns."
4.The left hand is so much weaker and so needs more work.
5. I think about different moods to help me play different dynamics."
6. " I also think of different paintings and sculpture to help me capture the mood and feel of pieces."
7. " Legato playing is about keeping your fingers really connected to the keys- think about the suckers on a gecko's feet and imagine them on your fingers."
8. " To play a great staccato you need to think about a beautiful, very light, very naughtly cat!"
9. " It's so important to learn pieces hand separately- when l was a kid l never played pieces straight away with both hands."
10. If you play Bach every week everything becomes natural.
My review of Book One of Mastering the Piano is in September's edition of Music Teacher and an article on the whole series will be in the November piano special edition.
Lang Lang says that " To me, the piano is like a musical world- it takes me to a place beyond reality. You too, will find that it extends your mind, heart, creativity and communication skills. You don't need a concert hall; you don't need a big grand piano: any piano is enough- and the world will be yours to embrace." Here's a link to a Youtube video where I talk about Lang Lang's Tipsmfor Masteringnthe Piano: http://youtu.be/13WaPWj2zgM
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