Intermediate Technique Tip Videos

Following are some intermediate technique concepts we cover in intermediate piano group lessons about technique. The videos provide helpful demonstrations and more detailed explanations. 

 How to play scales more evenly and quickly?

Watch starting at 6:00-6:30

Musicianship Tips and Free Printables

Musicianship is the key to creating beautiful music instead of robotic flat performances. 

It's similar to the difference between hearing an engaging speaker reading your favorite book versus hearing the artificial intelligence robot voice chant with a monotone voice and little expression.

Following a few of the simple tips below can help you play with more expression and musicality.

Intermediate Piano Teaching Videos for Flipped Learning

After several years of music study, music I understood the basic rules of rhythm, note reading, and chords to tackle new pieces. I quickly learned that playing piano is much more of an art than a science with plenty of nuances and exceptions to the rules.

When is it OK to Break the Rules?

Keep your eyes on the music.

Lift the pedal at chord changes.

Keep your wrist level.

Play with a steady beat.

Make sure to follow the fingering in your music.

These rules can be helpful guidelines for beginners but intermediate playing requires the ability to fine-tune skills and adapt to the style of the music or even "break the rules" to achieve more artistry and avoid tension. 

Different fingerings might work better for one player than another, pedaling can be utilized more like a dimming switch than the flip of a light.

Just like a teenager is allowed a bit more freedom than a toddler, approaching music rules at the intermediate level requires more flexibility. On some topics I've discovered that not even the "experts" can agree on the rules. I think the best rule is a principle taught by my moral development teacher in college. Does it help or hurt?  

Piano Adventures 4: Return of the Scale Monster and Fast Passages

This post includes activities that correlate with Czerny's "Return of the Scale Monster" from Piano Adventures 4 TECHNIQUE book. 

  

Music Sample

Watch the sample video of Return of the Scale Monster.

Intermediate Piano Technique Group Lesson Activities

Choose from the activities and tutorials below to learn more about BAPDARP.

Balance

Balance means bringing out the melody line with more arm weight.

Voicing Tutorial

Watch the Chord Voicing and Melody - Graham Fitch Tutorial to hear and see tips for practicing voicing.

Articulation 

Pictionary/Cranium

Illustrate a music dictionary as you watch excerpts from the videos below. 

Then take turns acting (silently), sculpting or drawing the words for your teammates to guess (large group) or play the VMT Articulation Ivy Game (small group).

14 Types of Articulation (slur, legato, phrases, tie, staccato, staccatissmo, portato, accent, sforzando, marcato, tenuto, tenuto/slur, fp, fermata)

Staccato Tutorial

Watch Graham Fitch's 4 Types of Staccato Tutorial Video  to hear examples of how and when to play varying levels of staccato and complete the "Four Types of Staccato Worksheet." 

Phrasing

Watch the first 3 minutes of this Shaping Phrases Video to see how speech relates to musical phrase expression.

Dynamics and Architecture

Pianote Dynamics and Expression- How do dynamics and expression add life to your piece?

Illustrate a poster representing various dynamic levels in music.

Watch an excerpt from the video below to hear an example of Micro and Macro Dynamics Example in Moonlight Sonata and move your hands up and down to match the volume in the example. 18:06

Expressive music is often like a story with moments of tension, rising action and resolution. Identify the form and the main phrase goals of each section in a piece to choose appropriate micro dynamics. Watch an example in the Moonlight Sonata Tutorial above starting at 20:30.

Rubato

Try to sing along with or lead the music of the Happy Birthday song examples in the video with strict time and rubato. 

Pedaling

Watch the video about Intermediate Pedaling Tips including clean pedal, timing and depth of pedaling

Advanced Pedaling Hear and see examples of Advanced Pedaling (Fractional Pedaling) in this tutorial by Graham Fitch

More Piano Technique Tips and Ideas

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson Activities

Piano Technique Wizard Challenges

Piano Pronto Movement 1: #28 Fur Elise and Syncopated Pedaling

  This lesson plan includes activities for Beethoven's "Fur Elise" in Piano Pronto Movement 1.    

Music Samples and History

Listen to a video of your choice below that features variations of Beethoven's famous piece Fur Elise.

Fur Elise Jam Piano Guys

Learn Piano Chord Progressions with Pop Songs: Try Every Key Challenge

Practicing chords doesn't have to be boring.  I love to pair chord practice with pop songs since the majority of pop songs are limited to just 3 or 4 chords. 

Although pop songs can have some pretty complicated rhythms for beginning piano students, they can enjoy accompanying YouTube videos with an understanding of chord symbols.  Or they can sing along as they play the accompaniment. Choosing songs that they are familiar with really ups their ambition to practice and helps with audiation.  

I've compiled a list of familiar primary songs from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints with just 2 or 3 chords for my younger students, but having some fun pop songs in the makes chord practice more appealing for my older students.

Steps for Choosing Piano Fingering to Create Legato Lines

 Steps for Selecting Appropriate Piano Fingering

Choosing correct fingering can help you play legato phrases without awkward finger twists, leaps or tension. These steps are helpful in playing Simplified Hymns but can apply to other piano music as well.

1. Identify and mark the melodic phrases in the song. 

• Use the words and punctuation as your clues.
• Most phrases for hymns are 2-4 measures in length.

2. "Block" the Left Hand notes one phrase at a time.

3. Identify phrases including notes larger than a 5 finger span.

4. Write in the fingering at the beginning of each phrase.

• Remember, "Thou shalt not finger hop" (within the phrase).
• "Floating off" (a delicate hop) to a new position between phrases is okay.

5.  Decide which fingering technique works the best.

•  Expansion- open hand wider than 5 finger position
•  Contraction- close hand smaller than 5 finger position
•  Finger Crossing - tuck thumb under or cross fingers over as in scale playing
•  Finger Substitution- replace one finger with another while playing repeated notes

Listen carefully as you play with your selected fingering to make sure it doesn't have create awkward accented notes. Write in the fingering you have chosen and follow it consistently as you practice.

Ferris Wheel Piano Improvisation Tutorial

 

When piano students improvise using familiar method book songs, it reinforces concepts in a fun way while allowing them the freedom of expression at the piano within comfortable parameters. 

Major and Minor Scale Pattern Free Printable Posters

This month the focus is on technique in my piano studio so I created these piano scale pattern mnemonic posters to display on my music studio bulletin board.

 

Piano Keyboard Skills Contests

 Tonic Tutor Keyboard Skills Games

Our studio contest focus this month emphasizes technique/keyboard skills.  Students who earn the highest score in their lesson (AIM High Contest) and students who complete the most keyboard skills games (Overachiever Contest) in freeplay mode after their assigned lessons will be recognized at the next group lesson.

Piano Teaching Tips for the Chromatic Scale

A Pecking Fun Rote Piece for Teaching Staccato

You've probably heard this famous piece before... but not quite in this way!
1. Watch Beethoven's Wig My Little Chicken as you tap your hand to the beat on a closed piano fallboard with a hen pecking motion.

2. Watch as teacher demonstrates on the keyboard  What are the first 2 repeating intervals played?
(As I demonstrate this song I sing memory cues to help students remember the patterns)
Start play- ing sec-onds then
Step to the thirds then you
Leap peck peck peck, to the C's
Back to the
2nds then
3rds then
Leap  peck peck peck to the C's
Chorus:
Step down down down then
Leap up then Leap up then Leap up, etc.

Free Sheet Music for Chopsticks

Online Piano Learning Activities Organized by Concept and Level

The online piano activity list includes a variety of links to online games, listening activities, theory/technique videos,

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Videos Levels 1-5

Scales, chords, and arpeggios are the key ingredients used to make music. Although I encourage my students to learn to play their keyboard skills in all keys on their scale level charts, these videos provide a demonstration in just a few keys that students can play to pass off to move up levels on the leader board for "Advancement in Music." For more fun try playing your scales along with a fun backing tracking from Bensound.com.  Click here for a list of  tracks to choose from in the key in of your scale.

AIM Level 1 Keyboard Skills- Pentascale + Chord  in C, G, D, A and E Major
For more details see this post.

AIM Level 2 Keyboard Skills-  Pentascale, Chord, Hand over Hand Arpeggios

For more details see this post.

AIM Level 3 Keyboard Skills One Octave Scales, I-V-I Chord, Hand over Hand Arpeggios 

For more details see this post. 

AIM Level 4 Keyboard Skills One Octave Scale, I-IV-I-V7-I Chords, 1 Octave Arpeggio + Inversions

AIM Level 5 Keyboard Skills 1 Octave Scales, I-IV-I-V7-I Chords, 1 Octave Arpeggio, Primary Inversions, V7-I6/4

Related Posts:

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 1

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 3

3 Steps to More Effective Technique Practice

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson Activities

Piano Technique Warmups Caterpillar Crawl Video

How do you prepare beginning piano students to play with proper technique?

Teaching proper piano technique is not a "one and done" activity, but instead something that requires repetition and frequent reminders to master.  

I posted this unique piano warm-up exercise a few years ago that introduces the various movements necessary to play the piano with proper technique as students listen to excerpts from a Mozart favorite, Rondo alla Turca. Written directions and lyrics are included on this post, and the video also includes lyrics .

 I have used it periodically at group lessons, but with this new video, students can also warm up regularly at home as they follow along with the motions demonstrated in the video.  

Frequent repetition prepares students to use the motions with automaticity early on as the brain pathways are already paved before they actually encounter frequent scale thumb tucks, phrase end float-offs and other technical motions in their music. After a brief explanation, the exercise begins at 1:06.

This Free Printable Caterpillar Crawl Music Map can help students visualize the form of the music with it's repeating patterns.

More Tips for Teaching Piano Technique

Proper Hand Position with Nile the Crocodile

Piano Technique Wizard Challenges

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson

New Tool for Teaching Piano Wrist Movements

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 3

Teaching One Octave Scales on the Piano

The transition from pentascales to one octave scales is a big leap that is more successfully taught with some preparatory activities.

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 2

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Level 2

Pentascales, Chords and Hand over Hand Arpeggios

Once students have learned their pentascales and chords around the circle of 5ths (see AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Level 1) , we add hand over hand arpeggios into the mix. 

Sing (Do-Mi-So, Do-Mi-So,   Do,  So-Mi-Do,  So-Mi-Do)

The "float-off" motion for the hand over hand arpeggios and movement of navigating higher on the keys can be tricky for some beginners, so I often have them first practice the motion of leaping left over right and aiming for the tonic note of the scale several times first before actually having them play the broken chord notes.
The 3 step (ALL practice steps) soldify keyboard skills as students focus on the pattern, technical motions and sounds as they practice.  While playing eyes closed during the scales and chords is encouraged so they can focus on tone, I reassure them its ok to open their eyes for the arpeggio leaps.

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Level 2 Free Printable

Related Posts:

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 1

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 3

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 4

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 5

3 Steps to More Effective Technique Practice

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson Activities

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Video Level 1

AIM Piano Keyboard Skills Level 1

Pentascales and Root Chords

Introducing piano students early on to the basic patterns that form the basis of music provides them with a solid foundation to become better sight readers, improvisers, composers and musicians. I introduce keyboard skills by rote first so students can focus on using proper technique but also provide notation on the staff as a visual guide.  The video and staff notation free printable below

Motivating Beginning Piano Technique Mastery with Wizard Challenges

In order to earn the "Technique Wizard Challenge" on my piano student leaderboard, students complete the following technique challenges that correspond with their current level.