Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Book 1: Piano Technique (Schirmer's Library, Volume 1071) [Paperback]

C.L. Hanon (Composer)

Book Description

Series: Schirmer's Library, Volume 1071 | Publication Date: November 1, 1986

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Product Details

• Paperback: 22 pages
• Publisher: G. Schirmer, Inc. (November 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793551218
• ISBN-13: 978-0793551217
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Classical
  • #88 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Performers > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can almost teach yourself, October 25, 2003

By 

scott_from_dallas (Irving, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Book 1: Piano Technique (Schirmer's Library, Volume 1071) (Paperback)

Ignore my title. No serious student of piano would teach themselves, though a few good ones have. And if you must do it that way, this book should be your first buy. I picked up Hanon 3 years ago when I got back into piano study. For a year and a half, I thought all this book had to offer was exercises. Good exercises, mind you, and that was sufficient for me. However, I only recently got deeper into this book and realized there is a great deal more here for advancing your piano skills -- like proper scale fingerings and such.

Hanon is based on a total of 60 exercises for finger strength, stability, and performance. It takes a long time to work up all 60, but once you are there, you can daily work through each one consecutively or otherwise to warm up and improve your skills.

This book is essential for any pianist, whether you are training classically or to play pop. Whether by ear or by reading (or hopefully both), it isn't a real challenge to learn the basic reading required for these exercises (they start in the key of C -- no black notes -- and stay that way for a while). The beginner can start with exercise one and move forward at their own pace.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A mustn't have!, September 27, 2008

By 

Simon Horsey "Progress isn´t about how m... (Bath, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Book 1: Piano Technique (Schirmer's Library, Volume 1071) (Paperback)

I have posted this for various editions of Hanon. Hopefully this will catch people early!

Going against the grain here I would say DO NOT buy this book! I am a piano teacher and yes, I had to use this book in my younger days. Recent research, however, has shown that using this can potentially give you wrist problems such as RSI. Finger strength is not really a priority when learning the piano. Good technique and understanding of the music is.

Ask yourself: How many times do I repeat patterns such as those in Hanon over and over again when I am playing a piece of music? The answer is never! So why train your fingers to do that? The only thing playing Hanon makes you better at is playing Hanon!

If you want to improve the technique and musicality of your playing find a Mozart (or Haydn, Corelli, Kabalevsky or any other composer) piano piece that you enjoy and that is within your ability or will stretch you just a little and learn it. Practise it slowly and play each phrase with the correct notes and fingering every time. This gives you a piece of music you can perform as well.

In short, if you were an athlete would you train using physical techniques from the early 1900s? Our knowledge of physiology has moved on and even some elements of the piano action have been improved to make actions lighter and more responsive.

If you are looking to improve your piano technique I suggest you read:
Lhevinne: Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing
Gieseking & Leimer: Piano Technique (Paperback)
Sandor: On piano playing

They aren't necessarily the easiest books to read, but playing the piano isn't easy! I use other books as well (e.g. 20 Lessons in keyboard choreography), Czerny for certain things, but never Hanon!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT EXCERCISE BOOK, November 17, 2002

By 

Justin (Chandler, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Book 1: Piano Technique (Schirmer's Library, Volume 1071) (Paperback)

This has got to be the greatest book for technical difficulties in classical music. It has 60 excercises to prepare you for the monumental difficulties of a Mozart piano concerto or sonata, a Beethoven sonata, or any classical composer for that matter. I warm up with this book everyday with a metronome before I even begin to practice my music, (I play all Mozart, I like Beethoven too, but I have a preference for Mozart, I just love his brilliant work. It doesn't make any difference what you play though, this book will guide you to all the technical difficulties like octaves, broken octaves, trills, threefold trills, etc...). There are three sections, each get harder in difficulty, but it is worth it. Your playing will improve ten-fold if you learn this book. Trust me, get this book and your playing will be like it has never been.