Essential Piano Technique Level 3 E-Book

Roskell Penelope

• Herausgeber: Faber Music Limited
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 54

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The full eBook version of Essential Piano Technique Level 3 in fixed-layout format. Penelope Roskell, author of the award-winning book The Complete Pianist, is recognised as one of the world's leading exponents of a natural and healthy piano technique. Her series Essential Piano Technique draws on the principles of The Complete Pianist to develop a strong foundation of healthy technique, helping young pianists to progress rapidly and confidently through the early stages of piano playing. Essential Piano Technique Level 3 can be used by pianists working at early intermediate level as a stand-alone technique book or alongside existing tutor books to enhance the teaching of good technique. It includes detailed notes for teachers, giving learning objectives and teaching tips, links to free videos showing technique in practice, and teacher accompaniment duets to provide a rich musical experience. Penelope Roskell is Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London. She is a world-leader in the field of healthy piano playing, and Piano Adviser to the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine. Her award-winning book, The Complete Pianist, is the leading book on healthy piano technique. As a soloist she has performed in major concert halls in more than thirty countries.

Leseprobe

PENELOPE ROSKELL’S COMPLETE PIANIST SERIES

Essential Piano Technique

LEVEL 3

Early intermediate

by

Penelope Roskell

Original music by Aaron Burrows

Author acknowledgements

These books would not have been possible without the support of many friends and colleagues.

In particular I would like to thank:

Huei Flowers, Inês Costa, Garreth Brooke, Monika Walo, Clare Spencer and Christine Dunford,

Richard Dinsmore, Gwen Harborne, Dr Oliver Griffiths and members of the Roskell Academy.

This edition © 2025 by Faber Music Ltd

Brownlow Yard, 12 Roger Street, London WC1N 2JU

Cover portrait of Penelope Roskell by kind permission of John Batten

Page design by Liz Ogden

Illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon and Liz Ogden

Music setting by John Rogers

Video production by Informance

Printed in England by Caligraving Ltd

All rights reserved

ISMN 978-0-57159-323-1

For Richard Griffiths

Contents

Introduction

4

Warm-up routine

5

Tumbling fingers

Tango

6

Elegant endings

Theme

(Gurlitt)

9

Chords

Large parachutes

Midnight Blue

11

Large jellyfish jumps

Little Waltz

14

Accents

Accents – jump LAND

16

Accented syncopation

Polka

(Glinka);

Charleston

17

Scales

Starting on a black note

Czerny-esque

19

Melodic minor scales

Elegy

21

Upbeats

Upbeats

Children at Play

(Bartók)

24

Run-ups

Piper’s Tune

26

Revising techniques

Zingarese

(Haydn)

29

Arpeggios

Two-octave arpeggios (left hand)

30

Left-hand arpeggio groups

31

Two-octave arpeggios (right hand)

Harpist’s Serenade

32

Dynamics explorer

Cosmic Bells

35

Pianissimo cantabile

Valse

37

Melody and accompaniment

Melody

(Schumann)

39

Left-hand melodies

Night Journey

(Gurlitt)

41

Leaps

Wide leaps

Prelude

(Tetsel)

43

Repetition

Duplets and triplets

Triplets in Lydian Mode

(Bartók)

45

Repeated notes

Play It Again

47

Repeated chords

The New Doll

(Tchaikovsky);

50

Celebration Dance

52

Combining techniques

Fanfare Minuet

(Duncombe)

53

Ornaments

Mordents

Grandmother’s Minuet

(Grieg)

54

Trills

The Trickster

56

Inverted mordents

Menuet in D Minor

(de la Guerre)

58

Relaxed hand and fingers

59

Held notes

I Danced With a Pig

(Bartók)

61

Resting thumb

63

Legato thirds

Thirds Against a Single Voice

(Bartók)

64

Pedalling

Direct pedalling

Sad at Heart

(Fuchs)

66

Hat Tip Polka

68

Teaching notes

74

Agility and

shaping

Exploring

sound

Two voices in

one hand

4

Introduction

Welcome to Level 3!

This book will guide you progressively from elementary

level through to early intermediate level. You will

study many new techniques which will give you a

solid foundation in healthy piano playing and help you

progress quickly and enjoyably. You will also learn

how to play many beautiful new pieces expressively

and with artistry.

If you are new to this series, you may find it helpful to

look at the Revision suggestions in the Teaching notes

at the back of the book which direct you to related

exercises in other books in the series.

The Practice pointers and Technique tips will remind

you of the most important points to remember when

practising. To explore techniques further, do also check

out the extension activities

and the recommended

pieces which have been carefully chosen for you.

To the teacher

This is the fifth book in the

Essential Piano Technique

series. It develops some of the techniques studied in

the previous books, as well as introducing many new

techniques. On completing the book, students will

have progressed from around Grade 2 (elementary)

to Grade 4 (early intermediate) level confidently and

with ease.

Technique is all taught within a musical context. Each

technique is introduced initially as a simple exercise

away from the piano, followed by an exercise at

the piano and a musical piece which focuses on that

particular technique.

Students who are new to this series will benefit from

revising some of the fundamental techniques from

previous books in the

Essential Piano Technique

series,

especially

Rainbows

, the

Parachute touch

,

Down-

ups

,

Jellyfish jumps

, the

Skipping-rope

technique

and

Legato pedalling

.

The progression has been planned very carefully to guide

your student successfully through all the challenges

encountered at this level. However, you can dip in

and out of chapters as and when the need arises for

particular students.

Explanations of the learning objectives, more detailed

teaching tips and further suggestions for related pieces are

available in the Teaching Notes at the back of the book.

These Teaching Notes can be supplemented by accessing

the Roskell Academy website (www.roskellacademy.com)

which offers teachers supporting material and access to

training and certification in the Roskell method. You can

also find more information about each aspect of technique

in

The Complete Pianist: from healthy technique to natural

artistry

(Edition Peters, 2020).

Video demonstrations can be accessed via the QR code, or by visiting

www.fabermusic.com/ep/essential-piano-technique

ONLINE

DEMO

5

Warm-up routine

Warming up before playing will help you begin your practice with relaxed arms and hands.

You can do all these standing up.

Windmills

Swing your arms in a

big circle like a windmill.

Swing each arm

separately,

then together.

Empty sleeves

Twist your body from

side to side, letting your

arms swing loosely

around your body.

Deep breathing

Take several deep

breaths in and out.

Shoulder rolls

Place your right hand lightly

on your right shoulder and

your left hand on your left

shoulder. Draw big circles with

your elbows. Breathe in as your

elbows float up; breathe out

as they float down.

Shoulder shrugs

Breathe in as you raise your

shoulders. Breathe out as

you drop your shoulders

back down. Repeat five

times, feeling your arms

hanging loosely.

Ready to play

Breathe in and lift your

arms above the keyboard,

then breathe out and let

your hands sink down

to rest on the keys,

ready to play.

Monkey

Lean your body

forwards a little and

swing both arms from

side to side like

a monkey!

ONLINE

DEMO

6

Tumbling fingers

ONLINE

DEMO

Here you will learn to play quickly, in semiquavers (sixteenth notes).

Have you ever typed on an old-fashioned typewriter? It’s hard work! It’s easier to play

jjjq

when your

fingers play lightly, as if you are tapping on a laptop.

Keep your arm light, like a floating parachute, as you play the next exercises.

The Mexican wave

On a flat surface such as a table, let your fingers tumble down one after the other as if you’re

twiddling your fingers.

Cloud hands

Imagine your hands are clouds floating in the air, then twiddle your fingers

lightly, like rain drizzling down.

Wavy arms

Draw some big waves in the air in front of you, then draw smaller scoops

with the right hand, then the left hand, then hands together.

Twiddle your fingers as you draw each wave.

The parachute