Technique Secrets we Don't Know About?

Hey everyone, Ive been getting back into piano seriously again, and I have a few questions on piano technique?

1. How do those little 8-12 year old kids on youtube have such amazing technique even with small hands, and how have they acquired it so quickly? Do these kids know something we don't, or are they more hardworking than they look?

2. How do the pros play octaves so amazingly fast? are they using muscles from their forearm to push into the keys or are they using their wrists in an " up and down " motion?

3. How long should it take to learn a piece , say at the level of Nocturne Op 9 no 2( chopin), or Pathetique Sonata movement no. 2 (beethoven)? I am trying to gauge my progress so, I can accelerate it as soon as possible.

Hi I moved your topic since this isnt about scales

1: Well, they are for sure really talented, and the practice several hours Every single day!!!!! Often 3-6 hours on a weekday and up til 8 hours in weekends!!

2: Practice to play fast and after a while it will get faster and faster, its a kind of pull, press release tech. Also it helps to use 1 and 4, then 1 and 5, then 1 and 4 etc every other octave I havent practiced that though, but I might

3: Well from you start to play piano or when you are At the level where you can play those pieces!

If you are at the level you shouldn't use very long time to play them.
Im not sure whats normal. But for me, I played Nocturne Op9 No2 after about 8months after I started to play piano, and I used about 10hours to learn it, and another 10-20hours to get it at a fair level.

I usually use about one hour pr page + 20-40 min repetition to get it to stick really good^^

I can play chopins nocturne , I don't remember how long it took me to learn it , but i remember it was about a few weeks of serious practice. Right now, I am trying to find ways to increase technique and ability to learn pieces quickly. I started piano when I was 13, unfortunately was not ever serious, trying to get back into it seriously now.

pair-aces wrote:I can play chopins nocturne , I don't remember how long it took me to learn it , but i remember it was about a few weeks of serious practice. Right now, I am trying to find ways to increase technique and ability to learn pieces quickly. I started piano when I was 13, unfortunately was not ever serious, trying to get back into it seriously now.

Nice well, then I think you are on track

The little kids practice lots AND are naturally talented, always a mix. But don't let it get you down because everyone is talented, its just about unlocking it and bringing your uniqueness to piano with exploration.

The fast octaves and chords etc just develop over time, it gets played slow, then gradually once your hands and brain have adjusted, faster and faster, til you've played the same thing millions of times it just rolls out your brain and into your fingers, you don't even have to think anymore.

How quickly you learn something is like Thomas said, it varies, if you want it enough and practice enough and don't let mistakes frustrate you it can be a surprisingly quick process. Of course playing something WELL is generally about OVERALL experience and knowledge of playing piano and develops over time, til when you look back and are like "Why did my pace slow down? Why am I using that fingering? Why aren't I using the pedal there?" etc.

About the octaves; I'd give a more concrete answer.
To play very fast octaves, you need solid muscles; solid wrists, solid fingers... Whatever; all joints must get a very good stability i.e. your hand and wrist musculature must be developed.
Then, about how to play them: you need a finger impulse into the key: the impact moment, the way down of the key to the impact point of the hammer to the string has to be controlled by the fingers, NOT by the arm or the wrist! It is especially important to activate the thumbs, which are, very often, lame when people play octaves.
After you have mastered this sound control on slow octaves, using fingers, you can start to use your forearm, or, even better, your wrist, to accelerate the up-and-down movement BETWEEN octaves (not the key impact). However, to reach this kind of technical level, you'd need more than a mere text posted on this forum

Practice, practice, practice and alot of passion for what you do. Then you'll see everything will puzzle itself together. You'll never see one without passion for what he do be good.

I remember actually a couple of months after I started playing the guitar, everything I played was slow. Especially Neil Zaza's I'm Alright. I did most of the piece at 50% and some at 75%. Now, three years later I can do it above 100% easily. Practice ^_^

And if you start early you learn stuff quicker because the brain suck up information. Correct technic are also very important.