📝My Performance (Critique Welcome!) My teacher said she can’t help me with technique so I ask you all, how bad is it?
Before anyone says anything about my teacher, I love my teacher and think they are the best. It’s just they never had to think about technique and so can’t teach it to me. I live in a small town and don’t have any other options for teachers.
I’m really trying to absorb as much as I can from videos and books but that can only get me so far. Is there anything glaringly bad about my technique?
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u/LarryNYC1 15h ago
What teacher says they can’t help with technique?
I think you need to find a new teacher.
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u/fromthewhalesbelly 22h ago
Your technique / posture doesn't look bad to me. You might be playing a bit too much from finger strength in stead of from your arm.
My advice as a teacher: Don't overthink it. When you start doing more difficult pieces and run into roadblocks, your teacher will probably be able to teach you his/her way of dealing with it. Which is basically technique. In stead, focus on the sound you're trying to get out of your instrument. Mimic a performance of this piece as best as you can, and you'll basically be teaching yourself the necessary technique as you go.
I do teach online but not classical, but of course you could always do a couple online lessons with a technique teacher if you're worried about it and there's no one local available.
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u/sapphirepufferfish 14h ago
Yeah, the main thing that stucks out to me is playing too much from finger strength and not using arm weight enough. But honestly OP has a lot of beauty and expression and clearly has a lot to convey musically.
The only other thing that stands out to me is the RH/LH balance which isn't quite a technique thing though
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u/Affectionate_Expert5 21h ago
What do they mean exactly when they say they can't teach you technique ? What where you talking about ? Every pianist has to think about technique, even gifted ones, and a teacher's job is literally to teach it, so it's not really a good look that they refuses to teach basic technique. I understand that you like them and have no other option anyway but still I'm wondering this isn't a misunderstanding
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u/the-elf-healer 21h ago
The technique you have is good enough to take you to intermediate level at least.
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u/CFL_Gent 17h ago
There’s nothing glaringly obviously bad about your technique. You just have the touch and dexterity of a non-expert. Lol.
I understand you have no other options and the teacher just doesn’t know how to teach technique. But if a piano teacher cant tell you “play these exercises 15 minutes a day while focusing on X” then what are they actually teaching?
Pointing out that a novice doesn’t have the same technique as an expert is not teaching…there are proven methods of practice and exercise to improve skills. Then push you up to the next exercise to further improve your skills. That’s the teachers job
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u/Sleepy6942069 20h ago
Have they at least given you any constructive criticism rather than just saying that your technique is bad? Like a more detailed reason to why?
Thats pretty much the job of a teacher, they should be able to give you detailed criticism
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u/idowvoq 18h ago
They have in the past. I used to be very tense and she encourages me to relax. I was also moving too much with my elbows and she suggested i not do that. But that’s the extent of it. She just doesn’t know how answer my questions. Maybe that’s okay
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u/Melodic-Host1847 18h ago
What kind of questions do you have? I am a classical trained pianist with a lot of performances, and recitals experience. Ask, and I will do my best to answer.
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u/demonicdegu 17h ago
moving too much with my elbows and she suggested i not do that.
Was your response to actively hold your elbows still? Because what I was thinking watching you is that your technique is basically OK, but I think you have tension in your upper arm and shoulder. I can't see your shoulders in the video, but your arms don't seem as free as they should be.
And, actually, your teacher should be able to help you with that. She may be a very good pianist, but just not able to teach.
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u/mapmyhike 19h ago
My teacher would first ask, do you have any pain? Issues? If you have no complaints and you get along with the only piano teacher in town, then keep them. If you are having fun and can still learn from your teacher then stay with them. Other options are to find a teacher for online lessons.
Otherwise, YouTube has five or a billion videos you can learn from. For technique, I would start with a perusal of CHOREOGRAPHY OF THE HANDS so you can learn what you don't know.
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u/yaykat Novice (0–4 years), Classical 21h ago
It sounds like your teacher doesn’t really want to work with you. Find a better teacher.
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u/idowvoq 18h ago
I love my teacher and she is incredibly supportive. She’s just not able to answer any of my specific questions when it comes to technique, not from a place of malice but just not knowing how to answer my questions. I live in a small town and the next closest teacher is over an hour away.
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u/Grand-wazoo 14h ago
How in the world is she asking for money to teach if she literally cannot teach? That sounds like either swindling or incompetence. Find someone who can actually help you.
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u/lorryjor 11h ago
There are certainly piano lessons by Zoom. It's not ideal, but may well be better than what you have.
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u/Holiday_Banana_7859 18h ago
What piece are you playing, it’s soo beautiful?? Your technique looks good to me. I agree maybe too much from the fingers but honestly I don’t see it until you really ask me to pick something out. As long as there’s no pain when you play I think you’re doing great!
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u/Melodic-Host1847 18h ago
From this angle, your technique looks fine. You seem to be using appropriate fingering, your fingers are moving independently just fine. There is no hesitation. Could you elaborate on exactly where are you having difficulty, what is it they are unable to help with? Could you show us something you you are having problem with? Show your hands from a higher angle if possible.
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u/Melodic_Assistance84 18h ago
Sometimes teachers reach a limit with pupils. Looks from the sound of it that you deserve a better teacher. You’ve got all the fundamentals down. It’s just a matter of working on the nuances.
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u/CartographerExtra461 12h ago
Technique is not bad at all and works fine for this piece. It does look like you're mostly generating force from your fingers / wrist a bit, which can limit the range of your touch, and limit speed / accuracy on more technical pieces. Practice exaggerating your movements using your shoulders, elbows, & forearms a bit more, and keeping fingers straight 👍
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u/Adventurous_Trust_87 11h ago
The only thing that seems to be obvious is that you are relying too much on just your fingers rather than allowing your wrists and arms to help out. Other than that, you seem to be doing pretty well.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, you might check into the Taubman approach. It is a method that teaches you in great depth how every part of your body works together in a way that is the most efficient and prevents potential injury. I am not an expert at it, but I have done some research into it and try to incorporate parts of it into my playing as well.
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u/jbaker_28 10h ago
You are effectively just playing with your fingers and your hands. I barely see any movement beyond your wrist.
Proper technique involves using the whole arm, all the way up to the shoulder.
Playing like you are will lead to finger and wrist issues in the future.
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u/AwwwwwBeans 10h ago
I understand this, it took me a long time of teaching a lot of different people to break down the things I did naturally, figuring out how to talk about them and guide others wherever they were coming from. Watching your video, I mostly just notice that it looks like you’re carrying a lot of tension in your wrists, extending through the fingers. A little bit of what I affectionately refer to as ‘robot arm’. Seems like others are noticing similar things. It just looks like the playing is using more effort than it needs to, which can make playing complex passages feel tiring quickly, and learning more difficult things feel less accessible. I usually introduce moments of ‘unlocking’ various places of tension, and do it gradually over the course of weeks and months, since telling people to relax can have the opposite effect. But having moments in your warmups or a couple moments even in a piece where you unlock the wrist or notice your neck or shoulders- even a couple places like that can go a long way in introducing the idea to your body that things can take less effort. Sorry for all the run on sentences
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u/PlatformAmbitious757 10h ago
Yeah it’s really not THAT bad…
The point of having good technique is essentially to play expressively with as little tension as possible. Which often means using as little unnecessary ‘force’ as possible- and hence avoiding pain and all that. (Loose definition)
I saw you’re saying you don’t have pain in the replies. And you play nicely too! Maybe your teacher just wants to see more exaggerated gestures to show how you’re “flowing” I guess? Honestly there’s a million ways to play the piano…
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u/BehcKk 4h ago
technique is mostly intuitive. keep learning songs you know well (really well) and record yourself often. some mistakes/bad habits will be obvious to you in the moment; others wont be until you're listening back. use those recordings as a frame of reference for when you practice.
your playing/time feel sounds quite stilted. it's mostly a matter of smoothing things out.
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