Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [exercises]

Activities designed to help develop a skill.

149 questions
43
votes
8 answers

What are some useful and effective exercises for training absolute pitch?

I think by now most people agree that perfect pitch is not genetic. We understand that most people who do possess perfect pitch acquire it very early in life, (around the same time most people acquire language) which makes techniques for training…
NReilingh
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39
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3 answers

How can I train my ear for music?

I have noticed that some people are better at hearing music, e.g. they are better in distinguishing the notes or noticing mistakes when someone is play. Is it possible to train oneself to hear music better? If yes, how?
user107
36
votes
8 answers

Finger Exercises for Piano when not playing

Are there any finger exercises I can perform even when I am not near a piano to improve my dexterity and strength of my fingers?
iddober
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33
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11 answers

Is there a way to develop "Perfect Pitch"?

I was wondering if there is/are any aural exercise('s), analogous to how playing scales can develop your muscle memory, that can help to develop "Perfect Pitch"?
JustnBeaver
31
votes
9 answers

What exercises can I do to improve my timing?

I recently made a recording consisting of overdubs in GarageBand. Playing it back, I was horrified to hear that while I felt as if I was in the groove while recording, I had actually been wildly inconsistent with my timing, despite playing with a…
slim
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25
votes
7 answers

Improving fretting hand strength

I've been playing for years now as a hobby guitarist, but my fretting hand strength plateaued - it never really improved much beyond what I could do 2 months after I started playing. Since then, I'm at the point, where playing a full F chord F is…
Chris Lercher
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5 answers

Are Hanon exercises mindless unmusical repetiton or a great way to develop finger strength and dexterity?

There are a lot of different opinions about Charles-Louis Hanon's "The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises". Some say it is unmusical and can even lead to wrist damage, while others think they are the best exercises around. I am a beginning piano…
iddober
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21
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3 answers

Improving breath support

What are some exercises or tips to help singers improve their breath support?
rshallit
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20
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6 answers

How to relax my wrists?

I began learning the piano recently. When I begin playing, my hands form nice 70-80 degree curves with the wrists relaxed. I can maintain this for trivial pieces with no significant hand motion. But as soon as I have to put any effort into playing,…
Jordan
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20
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9 answers

When singing, how to avoid being distracted by vocal harmony or other vocal lines?

I'm not a professional singer but I love singing. I find it very difficult to focus on my own vocal line when I hear other vocal lines. For example, When I was in the college choir, I sang bass, and sometimes I get distracted by other vocal parts,…
netvope
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19
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4 answers

What is a string skipping exercise?

What is a string skipping exercise? I've heard about this exercise a lot, including on this website. What is it? What skills does it develop? Can you give an example?
Silver Light
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18
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3 answers

Piano exercises post-chemotherapy

Not a common question, not a common situation, and I am not using my primary Music.SE for obvious reasons. The question is simple but not so easy, and I hope you might help not only me, but many with this experience: What exercises can I do now,…
K. 545
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18
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6 answers

Right hand accuracy

I've realized, that I have a big problem with right hand accuracy, when using a pick, especially, when I play arpeggios and have to skip a string or a couple of stings. Sometimes, I hit the wrong string, hit two strings instead of one or even miss a…
Silver Light
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15
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4 answers

Pinky is raised uncontrollably when doing finger exercise

When I do finger exercises (e.g. Hanon's), my pinky finger is being raised after I play (press and release) a key with my fourth finger, and then is raised even more and is striated after the third finger plays a key. I try to fight it, in order to…
iddober
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1 answer

What kind of guitar exercise is "the caterpillar"?

What does it consist in and how do you practice it?
reg
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