Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon: 32 Piano Studies for Technique and Musicality [Paperback]

Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield (Author)

Book Description

Series: Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon | Publication Date: July 2001

An outstanding compilation of piano etudes and exercises from the ever-popular Bürgmuller's 25 Progressive Pieces, Opus 100, Czerny's Practical Method for Beginners on the Piano, Opus 599, and Hanon's The Virtuoso Pianist. Etudes are organized into four units according to difficulty and emphasize different aspects of technique and musicianship. Hanon exercises are included within each unit to reinforce the need for finger strength, independence and agility. Information about each composer's life, music and books is also provided.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing Company (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739020307
• ISBN-13: 978-0739020302
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Appreciation
  • #26 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Techniques
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Classical

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent technique book and very organized, January 12, 2006

By 

Dara May - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon: 32 Piano Studies for Technique and Musicality (Paperback)

The pieces in this book are organized according to technical purpose and level of difficulty, which make it easier for teacher to assign students. The pieces chosen are very effective in addressing particular technique and musicality. I use this book after my students complete Faber level 2B or after they learn scales, chords, and arpeggios. I don't usually use method books after students reach intermediate level, so this book makes a perfect switch.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oh, I'm drooling over these, January 9, 2011

By 

Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon: 32 Piano Studies for Technique and Musicality (Paperback)

Possibly the best technical collection I've ever seen: it consists of 3 books, all of which are various exercises from the three titular characters, arranged progressively.

I was about halfway through Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Piano Course: Level 3 (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course), when I began work on a dry technique book, Pischna Technical Studies: 60 Progressive Exercises for the Piano. It's not that there was a problem with the Alfred's, no. It's just that since that Alfred's has so many recognizable songs, you start to have counting and dynamics problems because you keep trying to make the songs sound nice.

So I shut myself up for about 10 months working slowly through Pischna. That book is nothing but a bunch of technical scale-type studies, but since they're not recognizable melodies and they're not intended to sound nice, you tend to pay stricter attention to counting and smooth transitions. I wasn't sure how much good this was doing me, but I stuck to it and when at last I resumed my Alfred's I swept all before me and laughed at their "ambitious section."

As proud as I am of my magnificent achievement, I wish that this 3-volume set, edited by Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield, had been around when I did that, as these three volumes are head-slappingly superior. They just didn't exist at the time I did that, having been published around 2005. Shame. Not only do they take you a lot further than the Pischna, they contain funky, off-putting practice in counting, which Pischna doesn't (basically pages and pages of 16th notes).

Another advantage is that Clarfield gives you a lot more textual help on what you're supposed to be focusing on that I've ever seen in any Czerny or Hanon. You can also begin working through these at much lower level than you could any original Czerny or Hanon.

Further advantages:

* Unlike the aseptic Hanon, it'll tell you on each page what each etude is meant to have you focus on.
* Hanon or Czerny alone is unrelieved dreariness: interlarding the text with the more melodic outings of Burgmuller really adds variety.

Disadvantages:

* Not much work in keys other than basic ones of C, G, F, etc.
* Not enough practice in difficult counting systems.

And boy, are they handsome. When the time came to get them spiral-bound, I was so nervous they might screw up the job, it felt like I was taking my firstborn son off to get circumcised!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent technique book, August 7, 2008

By 

M. Hartman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon: 32 Piano Studies for Technique and Musicality (Paperback)

I have been working through this book as a student. It is very thoughtfully organized, with the Czerny exercises preparing you for the Burgmuller etudes. I will be continuing into Book 2.