Hi all,

Just wondering what other peoples opinion of this book are? I have it and find it really helpful. Anyone else got good or bad reviews? Besides having to take it easy sometimes lol.

It can be tremendously helpful, or worse than useless, depending on how it is used. It won't make anyone a virtusoso, but it can help develop some of the basic skills that a virtuoso needs. On the other hand, you can become a virtuoso without ever playing a single exercise from Hanon.

Some world class pianists swore by Hanon (and still do). Some never touched it.

I find it extremely helpful. I am now doing exercise 25 but have set myself one or two for revision every week. I usually enjoy doing these mechanical things and feel that although they're so repetitive, there is a lot to be learnt every time. What I am sorry about is that I do all the exercises in C major, i.e. as they're presented and wouldn't know how to adjust the fingering in other keys. Besides, it'd be a Herculean task to tackle all the exercises in all major and minor keys, wouldn't it?

I use Hanon for my pupils together with other exercises. For stamina they use it as multiple exercises. maybe up to eight at a time. Also in different keys. For speed, dexterity etc we do different rhythms and different slur combinations. It seems to work!

I bought my Hanon 3 years ago and started to plough through them, as written, and gradually speeding up. I more or less gave up on the plan as it was a) taking up too much practise time and b) making my hands ache.

When I was at the Chethams week back in August my tutor advised the following as the only exercise practise I would need; Hanon Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14 and 29. These are for finger strength and dexterity. Then Schmitt Nos. 34 to 64 inclusive for finger independence. I usually then round off with 3 octaves of the major scales and a contrary motion chromatic scale, 2 octaves, 3 times speeding up each time.

Prior to the above I also do the wrist strengthening/flexibility exercises I was shown. It's 15 minutes tops for all the above and I can certainly report good results for me. Hope this helps.

I too use the Schmitt in conjunction with the Hanon for more advanced pupils (gd5 +) as a kind of preliminary to Dohnanyi, and Schmitt by itself for gd3+, gradually introducing different keys - Bb major is a good one!! It's a good chance for them to watch and feel their fingers move and aim for perfection in an even tone, touch, and movement. After the initial groans when they first open the book, they all seem to really get into it.

Maybe somewhat lowering the tone, but for what it's worth ...

I'm about grade 2 standard. I've recently got the Dozen a Day book 2, and what I have found very helpful (but hard) is to do the exercises, which are essentially 5 finger exercises at this stage, in various keys up to 2 sharps or flats. I almost have to force myself to do them in these different keys, but I do find it very useful.

PatC

I use Hanon, and I think it's fantastic. Rachmaninov & Scriabin grew up on it. I also use Czerny, and would highly recommend Wieck's exercises too. Add to that specific finger independence, stamina, and wrist-strengthening exercises my teacher gave me. And variations on scales and arpeggios (e.g. 4 octaves, similar motion, but starting on a note other than the tonic).

One thing I make sure I do is to vary the exercises. I find if I do the same exercises each day, my mind drifts, and I don't listen enough to what I'm playing. Not very effective practice, in other words.

I haven't come across Schmitt, but will definitely look them up.

I use Hanon on a daily basis and in different keys as it is useful for keeping one in good pianistic shape. However, like all exercises, they need to be played with correct technique otherwise theyare uselss or even harmful. So, when I give these exercises to pupils, I supervise very carefully how they are to be practised. I personally don't think they are very useful for people who are still immature technically and so rarely give them to people below grade 8 standard. In fact there are many other studies to mastered before these and a teacher should be able to advise on this.