Hanon - Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Complete: Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics

I was very happy to find this exercise book from my youth again. Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist remains a fundamental resource for pianists who want to build strength, control, and independence in their hands. The book offers plenty of progressive exercises that are excellent for developing finger strength, agility, and endurance. It’s ideal for daily technical practice and works just as well for beginners as for more advanced players revisiting their fundamentals. This is truly a must-have in any pianist’s library. The only minor downside is that the paper quality feels lighter than it used to be compared to older editions, but this doesn’t affect the content or usability. Overall, this book is as relevant and effective today as it ever was.

I'm returning to piano as an adult, and haven't played in 40 years. This book was recommended by a friend who teaches piano, and it's been really helpful. The exercises are good and start off pretty easy (assuming you can already read music, of course). I love the spiral bound option, makes it much easier to use the book.

Really like this book. It presents some challenges to the pianist which can be easily reworked in different keys and with different tempos. I refer back to the basic exercises during practice as a way of generating interesting melodic progressions. Some of these ideas are not obvious based on the book itself. I had to provide some of my own interpretations to make these melodic progressions work so this book would be useful for an advanced student, a beginner pianist would have a hard time approaching some of the concepts.

Regardless of the skill level you're hoping to attain, these exercises will be a great help. Although the book is titled, "The Virtuoso Pianist," you don't have to be a virtuoso to benefit from it. Some of the drills are designed to increase the strength in the 4th & 5th fingers which are naturally weaker than the 1st, 2nd & 3rd. Others are designed to stretch the fingers - which is necessary, even for playing popular tunes where the bass involves broken chords with notes that are far apart. The metronome numbers are provided from slow to fast so speed & dexterity can be built up gradually. Also included are useful suggestions - like lifting the fingers as high as possible & playing each note with distinction. I recently started playing again after 42 years. When I started, I couldn't play anything-not even two or three notes together; I had lost all the coordination & dexterity. This was the first music I purchased, having remembered it as a child "prodigy." Within a couple of weeks of completing only half of this book, I was able to resume playing my favorite Bach Preludes & Fugues & Inventions at full tempo. I stopped playing the Hanon Exercises to spend more time learning new compositions but I noted I lacked the dexterity for the more difficult pieces. After resuming the Hanon Exercises, I was able to play one of my favorite pieces at tempo: "Flight of the Bumblebee." I've learned that even if you want to play Nocturnes, Mendelsohn's "Songs Without Words" & other quieter pieces that don't require much dexterity, you need finger strength to control the dynamics & bring out the main themes of the music. In many compositions, the main theme involves the weakest fingers (3rd, 4th & 5th) & many of these exercises are designed to strengthen those fingers. Try playing the middle section of Rachmaninoff's C-Sharp Minor Prelude with a weak pinkie. Impossible...that's the finger that carries most of the melody. I couldn't bring out the melody until I practiced the Hanon Exercises for several weeks. I learned how important stretching the fingers was when I started learning Liszt's "Liebestraum" & Rachmaninoff's Prelude. Both composers had huge hands & they wrote music for THEIR hands, not normal-sized ones. Before resuming the Hanon Exercises, my hands would be too tired & painful halfway through a piece & the second half wouldn't be well played. And, I'd need to rest my hands before trying to play another piece. Not any more! These exercises reminded me of "The Karate Kid" when the kid was bored & tired because his teacher had him wax cars & paint fences ("Wax on...Wax Off...Wax On...Wax Off.") He was benefitting a great deal & not realizing it.

Definitely above my level, but i am working up to it. A lot of opportunity to read the notes if you are working on that as well.

Chances are if you've taken piano lessons, you've come across this book at some point. Just to be different, I'll explain this book to you by age: Under 10: So many notes. So boring. Very chance of wrist injury. This book is premature for a little kid unless they want a reference for scales. If you practice daily or even a few times a week, with a few scales here and there, chances are your hands are in good enough shape that you don't really need this book. 10-14: Time to separate the wheat from the chaff! Now that you can read music really well, you can focus on the techniques in the book. You should be able to understand what each exercise is trying to improve, instead of fixating on getting the notes right. This will help you get to a higher level if you can read music well and want your playing to sound better. 14-18: You should get this book if you're looking to take music exams or study music in university, OR you want to spite your piano teacher's stupid jerky student that plays sonatinas really well or shows great agility in his or her technique. Or if you want to date someone that's really impressed by arpeggios. Otherwise, don't torment yourself and go play something enjoyable instead. You will eventually learn to love some of the genres (jazz, baroque, contemporary) that your teachers made you learn, but you will never come to love this book. 18+: If you've been out of lessons for a few years and are getting back into piano, it's worth picking this up to speed up your transition back into playing regularly. It will help if you can tell that you don't sound as good as you used to.

This book is really good for practice!

Love the book but delivery was not so great. The book was bent it in half and placed it in my mailbox. Suggest better packaging or a different delivery service.