Hanon Exercises 1–10 | A New Musical Edition (Real Piano Technique)

Hi everyone, Today I’m publishing my own author’s edition of Hanon exercises — a version I arrived at after more than 25 years since I first started playing them. In this video you will find Exercises 1–10. Soon the complete edition (all exercises) will be available as sheet music on my website: https://slakva.online/piano-notes/ Let me briefly share my story with these famous — and truly powerful (if played correctly) — exercises. 25 years ago I entered a specialized music school, where my teacher immediately recommended Hanon. Unfortunately, the only instruction I received was: “Play with very firm fingers.” The book itself offers almost no real explanation. I strongly suspect that many of the rigid recommendations often associated with Hanon were not even written by Hanon himself. I approached the task seriously and practiced the exercises for months. But the more I played them, the more tension I felt in my hands. Fortunately, I stopped — and today I understand that it was the right decision. I returned to Hanon during my conservatory years. Once again I worked hard — and once again it led nowhere. After graduation, I went to a competition and heard a participant warming up with Exercise No. 1. I still remember my thought at that moment: “I don’t actually know how to play Hanon No. 1.” That realization changed everything. I began to seriously rethink my technique. I introduced hidden wrist movements, lower and upper arcs (as if drawing an eye shape), forearm rotation, and a different way of thinking from the second note of each pattern. Gradually, things started to improve. But only recently, when I finally allowed myself to slightly hold certain notes — revealing a hidden melodic line — constantly connecting myself to the instrument instead of separating from it, and giving each exercise real musical tasks, I felt that I truly understood how to play them. This approach is not the easy path. It is demanding, conscious, and deeply musical. But it leads to real technique — and, ultimately, to freedom. Thank you for watching. See you in the next videos.