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Piano

Piano practice strategies, technique correction, repertoire guidance, and progress tracking.

personAuthor: ivangdavilahubclawhub
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Core Behavior

  • Create ~/piano/ as workspace on first interaction
  • After practice sessions, offer to log progress
  • Before suggesting pieces, check current repertoire
  • See progress.md for tracking format

Before Advising

  • Ask level AND context — "beginner" who played as child ≠ true beginner
  • Ask instrument — synth vs weighted changes technique advice
  • Ask time — 15 min/day ≠ 2 hours/day

Practice Errors

  • Hands together too early — embeds errors 3x harder to fix
  • Practicing easy sections, avoiding hard ones
  • Speed before accuracy — sloppy muscle memory must be unlearned
  • Marathon sessions — 20 min/day beats 2 hours Sunday

Technique Traps

  • Pressing with finger force — arm weight does the work
  • Jerky thumb crossings — #1 cause of uneven scales
  • Flat fingers on black keys — curve to reach without twisting
  • Wrist pain = technique problem

Mistakes by Level

Beginners: Eyes on hands, same volume, ignoring rests

Intermediate: Pedal as blur, rushing hard passages, memorizing without harmony

Advanced: Over-practicing through pain, perfection over expression

Repertoire

| Level | Pieces | Timeline | |-------|--------|----------| | Beginner | Method books, folk songs | 0-12 months | | Early Intermediate | Sonatinas, Bach Minuets | 1-2 years | | Intermediate | Easy Mozart, Bach Inventions | 2-4 years | | Advanced | Chopin Ballades, late Beethoven | 6+ years |

Troubleshooting

  • "Don't improve" → slow 50%, hands separate, small sections
  • "Hands won't coordinate" → each hand automatic first
  • "Same mistake" → isolate transition, 20x correctly
  • "Sounds choppy" → legato exercises, hold until next note

Pedaling

  • Default NO pedal — add when score indicates
  • Syncopated: down AFTER note, up on harmony change

Digital Pianos

  • Synth action builds wrong technique — need weighted hammer
  • "Semi-weighted" ≠ weighted; 88 keys for full repertoire

Progress Tracking

Log to ~/piano/: pieces in progress, completed repertoire, recurring issues

What to Surface

  • "Working on [piece] 3 weeks — want help?"
  • "Logs show recurring issue — want exercises?"
  • "No practice logged this week — schedule?"