Lypur's piano lessons on youtube

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rurokenji

Guest
Hi guys,
I have been watching lypur's piano videos on youtube and he says at the end of every video to practice, but i don't understand..what am i meant to practice? How am i meant to incorporate the techniques i have just learnt? I guess, my question is..what and how do i follow his vid's? Should i learn any specific songs while watching his vids that will incorporate the techniques? He does seem to have some pretty useful stuff on there, however.
I am relying on online material atm because i can't afford a teacher
Thanks!
 
Practice is something that has to have direction; without direction it is simply reviewing and ingraining bad technique and idioms and cliches

I have written about this several times over the last 5 years here at fp but a nutshell version follows

Practice should be broken into several phases
  1. warm-ups - scales, chords, arpeggios in various configurations and rhythmic patterns, gradually increasing your tempo
  2. review material previously worked on - older songs that you have previously worked on and have learnt partially or completely
  3. new material - new songs or chord progressions or scales or technical work; anything that is new to you in relation to previous practice sessions/lessons
  4. sight reading - if you are learning to read then this should be based on books with material that is one level below where you are currently working - a teacher would normally select this material for you - the purpose of sight-reading is not to play perfectly but to play without stopping and noting errors along the way reading through a piece more than three times in a session is no longer sight reading but learning
  5. warm-downs - as for warm-ups but getting slower

in phases 2 and 3 you should be working through specific pieces of music even if a technical study it is still a piece of music

how long you spend on practice is a reflection of your current playing level

beginners: no more than 15 minutes a day to begin working towards 30 minutes a day

intermediate: no more than an hour a day to begin with and working towards an hour a day

advanced: an hour to two hours a day

concert performers will normally spend 8 hours or more a day with an hour or so dedicated to each phase above: warm-ups may take two hours to complete as each subsection is worked through; warm-downs should be at least an hour as you are bringing the entire body back to a restful state
 
Practice is something that has to have direction; without direction it is simply reviewing and ingraining bad technique and idioms and cliches

I have written about this several times over the last 5 years here at fp but a nutshell version follows

Practice should be broken into several phases
  1. warm-ups - scales, chords, arpeggios in various configurations and rhythmic patterns, gradually increasing your tempo
  2. review material previously worked on - older songs that you have previously worked on and have learnt partially or completely
  3. new material - new songs or chord progressions or scales or technical work; anything that is new to you in relation to previous practice sessions/lessons
  4. sight reading - if you are learning to read then this should be based on books with material that is one level below where you are currently working - a teacher would normally select this material for you - the purpose of sight-reading is not to play perfectly but to play without stopping and noting errors along the way reading through a piece more than three times in a session is no longer sight reading but learning
  5. warm-downs - as for warm-ups but getting slower

in phases 2 and 3 you should be working through specific pieces of music even if a technical study it is still a piece of music

how long you spend on practice is a reflection of your current playing level

beginners: no more than 15 minutes a day to begin working towards 30 minutes a day

intermediate: no more than an hour a day to begin with and working towards an hour a day

advanced: an hour to two hours a day

concert performers will normally spend 8 hours or more a day with an hour or so dedicated to each phase above: warm-ups may take two hours to complete as each subsection is worked through; warm-downs should be at least an hour as you are bringing the entire body back to a restful state

Thanks for that. Seems like a well structured plan. I will definitely practice alongside it. Going back to the lypur videos. i have noticed that he mostly talks about techniques such as modulation, rolling chords,poly-rhythm etc (these are just examples off the top). How do i add that into the practice schedule you have suggested? I just don't want to watch his video series of 40 videos based on the various techniques and just not know what to do with what i just learnt.


Sorry, if this may sound stupid but he also list of pieces on youtube that he said to look into. It goes in grades order ( 1 to 10). I wouldn't say i am intermediate. Maybe just basic but with some sort of knowledge on howto play. Should i start with learning to play the grade 1 songs, he suggested?


Also, he has a 50 video series on music theory. I already know the basics but wouldn't mind learning more. My point here is how and what do i do with the knowledge i have gained from the series or how do i put it into practice. Like it just feels like i am watching the music theory video's and after watching, it's like what do i do now with what i just learnt. Or do i have to try and find sheet music in order to apply it?


Much appreciated!


Thanks!
 
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The practice outline is something that has worked for me and my students for more than 38 years

always start at grade 1 and work your way forward until you hit problems playing - that is the grade that you should be currently working at and the grade below should be sued for sight reading

as for the rest, the music theory may or may nor integrate into your playing but it should integrate into your writing, even if only at the level of here's something new to try/experiment with; in time it will become part of your skillset for creating, arranging and orchestrating new music
 
Thanks for that. Seems like a well structured plan. I will definitely practice alongside it. Going back to the lypur videos. i have noticed that he mostly talks about techniques such as modulation, rolling chords,poly-rhythm etc (these are just examples off the top). How do i add that into the practice schedule you have suggested? I just don't want to watch his video series of 40 videos based on the various techniques and just not know what to do with what i just learnt.


Sorry, if this may sound stupid but he also list of pieces on youtube that he said to look into. It goes in grades order ( 1 to 10). I wouldn't say i am intermediate. Maybe just basic but with some sort of knowledge on howto play. Should i start with learning to play the grade 1 songs, he suggested?


Also, he has a 50 video series on music theory. I already know the basics but wouldn't mind learning more. My point here is how and what do i do with the knowledge i have gained from the series or how do i put it into practice. Like it just feels like i am watching the music theory video's and after watching, it's like what do i do now with what i just learnt. Or do i have to try and find sheet music in order to apply it?


Much appreciated!


Thanks!


Learn songs (that means reading music, too. "boo hoo")

Transcribe songs

Analyze songs

Practice improvisation
 
The practice outline is something that has worked for me and my students for more than 38 years

always start at grade 1 and work your way forward until you hit problems playing - that is the grade that you should be currently working at and the grade below should be sued for sight reading

as for the rest, the music theory may or may nor integrate into your playing but it should integrate into your writing, even if only at the level of here's something new to try/experiment with; in time it will become part of your skillset for creating, arranging and orchestrating new music


Thanks for the advice. Yeah, that's the thing..i don't want the music theory knowledge i have learnt to go to waste. Ah, so i guess, i will be able to use it for when making/writting new music.

Thanks everyone!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Practice is something that has to have direction; without direction it is simply reviewing and ingraining bad technique and idioms and cliches

I have written about this several times over the last 5 years here at fp but a nutshell version follows

Practice should be broken into several phases
  1. warm-ups - scales, chords, arpeggios in various configurations and rhythmic patterns, gradually increasing your tempo
  2. review material previously worked on - older songs that you have previously worked on and have learnt partially or completely
  3. new material - new songs or chord progressions or scales or technical work; anything that is new to you in relation to previous practice sessions/lessons
  4. sight reading - if you are learning to read then this should be based on books with material that is one level below where you are currently working - a teacher would normally select this material for you - the purpose of sight-reading is not to play perfectly but to play without stopping and noting errors along the way reading through a piece more than three times in a session is no longer sight reading but learning
  5. warm-downs - as for warm-ups but getting slower

in phases 2 and 3 you should be working through specific pieces of music even if a technical study it is still a piece of music

how long you spend on practice is a reflection of your current playing level

beginners: no more than 15 minutes a day to begin working towards 30 minutes a day

intermediate: no more than an hour a day to begin with and working towards an hour a day

advanced: an hour to two hours a day

concert performers will normally spend 8 hours or more a day with an hour or so dedicated to each phase above: warm-ups may take two hours to complete as each subsection is worked through; warm-downs should be at least an hour as you are bringing the entire body back to a restful state


Sorry for this. I have heard using a metronome helps. How can i include this with your practice outline?

Thanks
 
Sorry for this. I have heard using a metronome helps. How can i include this with your practice outline?

Thanks
Practice EVERYTHING you do to a metronome or jam track. For instance, when practicing scales, practice playing at a slow click in quarter notes, then eighth notes, and so on. Focus on keeping your playing steady with the click and feeling the pulse. The metronome can also help you measure your progress, I can now play a couple Charlie Parker tunes at 120 bpm (which is not impressive, lol). I wanna work up to 200 bpm.
 
Practice EVERYTHING you do to a metronome or jam track. For instance, when practicing scales, practice playing at a slow click in quarter notes, then eighth notes, and so on. Focus on keeping your playing steady with the click and feeling the pulse. The metronome can also help you measure your progress, I can now play a couple Charlie Parker tunes at 120 bpm (which is not impressive, lol). I wanna work up to 200 bpm.

Ah i see! Sorry, to sound like a newb but is it possible to practice playing pieces with a metronome? How would i go about doing that? I can imagine playing scales with a metronome but not sure about playing a piece with it.. lol

Thanks!
 
Sorry for this. I have heard using a metronome helps. How can i include this with your practice outline?

Thanks

as with everything else it is about structure

start slow - seriously slow

30 bpm (1 beat every 2 seconds - agonizingly slow for quarter notes but a breeze for 16ths and 32nds)
- increase in steps of 6
36 bpm, 42 bpm, 48 bpm, 54 bpm, 60 bpm, 66 bpm, 72 bpm, 78 bpm, 84 bpm, 90 bpm, 96 bpm
- now increase in steps of 4
100 bpm, 104 bpm, 108 bpm, 112 bpm, 116 bpm, 120 bpm, 124 bpm, 128 bpm, 132 bpm, 136 bpm, 140 bpm, 144 bpm, 148 bpm, 152 bpm, 158 bpm, 164 bpm, 168 bpm, 172 bpm
increase of steps of 8
180 bpm, 188 bpm, 196 bpm, 204 bpm, 212 bpm, 220 bpm
increase in steps of 10
230 bpm, 240 bpm

the bit about increasing in steps of 4 may seem out of place but the advice is based on the range of tempos found in this middle range. Most of the tempos given above are standard in the classical literature though some have been omitted such as 88 bpm

note also that along with a metronome you need to vary your rhythmic units for your scale and arpeggio work something along the lines of

quarters
QD-8th
8th-QD
QT-QT-QT
HT-QT
QT-HT
8th-8th
8D-16th
16th-8D
8T-8T-8T
QT-8T
8T-QT
8T-16T
16T-8T
8th-16th-16th
16th-8th-16th
16th-16th-8th
16th-16th-16th-16th
and all of the dotted and triplet versions as well within the broader groups of 16ths

Q=quarter note
D=dotted
T=triplet
H=Half-note
 
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