Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 63
 I'll bet your piano teacher sent you over here... June 14, 2001
Eddie Landsberg (Tokyo, Japan)
200 out of 202 found this review helpful
As a child, I hated technical exercise books like this. I remember the old teacher with the ruler, the Bartok book, the red pen, the check marks the circles, and ahhhhhhhhhh... I shudder... But now, years later, I've not only become a professional Jazz musician, but I teach too, and you know something, even though my particular method of teaching involves very little reading (mainly because I teach Jazz improv) this is the one book that not only do I reccomend to my students, but also that I've started picking up again, because actually the exercises are relevent to players of all levels. The reason is because regardless of what type of music you play, the finger pattern exercises in this book are universal and relevent. On the surface they look very simple, almost childish compared to some of the more nightmarish books (Czerny, anyone?) but the truth is, once you've mastered them, melodies will fall under your fingers and hopefully you'll feel as home on your piano as you do on your computer keyboard ...
These exercises really work. August 20, 2003
Michael P. Cohan (St. Louis, MO United States)
149 out of 151 found this review helpful
If you want to strengthen your fingers and learn note patterns relevant to all types of music, you need this book. Yes, the exercises sound repetitive, and they'll drive anyone listening to you practice them nuts, but they work. And after practicing them for a while, you begin to realize that they are not as repetitive as they seem. The patterns vary in a way that becomes more obvious as you practice them more. The exercises are carefully designed to (1) strengthen the weak fingers of the hand (3-4-5), and (2) teach patterns of notes that recur not only in classical music but in melodies of all types of music. Each exercise varies in a manner that rests the fingers worked on in the previous exercise, so you can play through a series of them without overly tiring out your hands. For this reason they work great as warm-ups. The book is divided into three sections of 20 exercises each. I use the first 20 as warm-ups, playing them for about 15 minutes. The later exercises are more advanced and teach things like fast running octaves, arpeggios, and repeated notes. Since I started using these exercises, my hands are noticably stronger. I've been playing piano for 32+ years, and play at an advanced level. But these exercises (at least numbers 1 through 20) would be useful for a pianist of any level, from beginner to advanced. Yes, they can be boring to play, but the improvement you will notice from 15-20 minutes a day is worth it.
Wow... July 6, 2005
40 out of 41 found this review helpful
I'm a beginner pianist and my teacher felt it necessary to have me not only practise my scales but also to strengthen my fingers, and so she gave me this book. I can't believe the difference its made. My fingers are a hundred times stronger than before!
When I first opened the book the first words out of my mouth were "You want me to play THIS!?!?!?!". But when I started playing them I realized they were actually really simple. Once you learn the first measure, you pretty much know the rest of the excersise. The excercises were really tiring at first, but after only a few days I could play the first six 4 times in a row without feeling overly tired.
I had some trouble with some of the later exercises (I've only gotten up to # 15), but that was because I didn't spend enough time on the earlier ones. Each excercise builds for the next, so that when you finish one your all ready for the following one. I don't think any of the excercises will be hard if I study the excersises I already know.
I think the excersises are alot more fun than some of the other things my teacher wants me to play. I don't think their annoying even if I repeat one over and over. I highly recomend this book.
prefer spiral binding January 10, 2004
Michael J. Cashen (Glen Burnie, MD USA)
63 out of 68 found this review helpful
For $8.95 list, Alfred has a spiral bound edition of this great exercise book
Hanon hurts, but in a good way! July 14, 2002
S. Guy (Charlottesville, VA USA)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Hanon is a great tool to pianists of all levels. The only limit is your discipline to practice it. 15-30 minutes a day minimum will yield excellent results that you will notice quickly. I also recommend it as a warm up before you begin to practice actual music. If you think there is a ceiling to your ability, I guarantee you, you don't know what it is. Practicing these exercises will enable you to play better over time than you imagined. Practice practice practice!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 63
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