# Favorite Piano Books and Exercises?



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

So I'm currently trying to catch up on years of music theory I refused to learn when I was younger. I'm doing so through Jazz Piano lessons, for which I use the Hal Leonard method book. I also have a Real Book (not a word!) but what I seem to be missing are straight up fingering / chord / cadence exercises.

At this moment, I'm working on all major and natural minor scales and chords, but I feel like what I'm doing isn't efficient. I'd like to get a few extra exercise books but have no idea which are actually useful and which are just full of fluff.

I'm now looking at:
"The Complete book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences" by Palmer
and
"he Virtuoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises For The Piano " by Hanon.

*Question 1*: Does anyone have any advice for me concerning this? I'd like to branch out to Augmented and Diminished chords and 7th chords as well and I don't just want to repeat dry scales as this seems inefficient to me.

and to make this topic more useful to other people:
*Question 2*: What are your favorite Piano Theory/Instruction books?


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

Are you practising on a real piano? If so, how strong are your fingers, have you done strengthening exercises? Repeating scales is absolutely essential if you want to be a good player and if you do, you also need to have equality of strength in the fingers for control, this does the job of that very well....


If it's just theoretical then try this for opening your ears...it's free....and amazing. You will have to put fingering in though, but it is mainly theoretical and a wonderful fund of material to write with.
http://www.lapetitedistribution.org/archive/Nicolas_Slonimsky.pdf


----------



## FabMrT (Jan 7, 2019)

This is not specificly for piano, but all instruments. I practise these exercises with guitar and piano (guitar being my main instrument).


----------



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> Are you practising on a real piano? If so, how strong are your fingers, have you done strengthening exercises? Repeating scales is absolutely essential if you want to be a good player and if you do, you also need to have equality of strength in the fingers for control, this does the job of that very well....
> 
> 
> If it's just theoretical then try this for opening your ears...it's free....and amazing. You will have to put fingering in though, but it is mainly theoretical and a wonderful fund of material to write with.
> http://www.lapetitedistribution.org/archive/Nicolas_Slonimsky.pdf




I'm working on an electric piano (Casio CDP 120), which does the job. I have not done strengthening exercises as I figured strength would come with playing. Perhaps I got that wrong.

As I said, I'm mostly looking for efficient ways to learn and exercise scales and chords. I'll look into the link you provided, however


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

The Slonimsky pdf is definitely worth exploring if you are after new sounding scales and chords to write with, highly recommended.
The only efficient way to learn scales is to put the time in with regular and consistent practice over long periods of time - there is no easy way. Start slowly and build up tempo gradually over the months for scales and also try practicing at different dynamics, a good one is to practice loudly for slow tempo and quietly for fast tempo, along with other combinations of course. Don't forget contrary motion and scales in differing intervals, eg, if you are bored try playing a scale in 5ths rather than the usual 3rds and 6ths, be inventive, but also be patient and make sure you have mastered particular techniques before moving on. Like I say, no easy way, but things worthwhile are always hard won.
I don't know your keyboard, but assuming it has weight and touch, then you really should get your fingers on an equal footing with strengthening work because it will improve your playing immensely.


----------



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> The Slonimsky pdf is definitely worth exploring if you are after new sounding scales and chords to write with, highly recommended.
> The only efficient way to learn scales is to put the time in with regular and consistent practice over long periods of time - there is no easy way. Start slowly and build up tempo gradually over the months for scales and also try practicing at different dynamics, a good one is to practice loudly for slow tempo and quietly for fast tempo, along with other combinations of course. Don't forget contrary motion and scales in differing intervals, eg, if you are bored try playing a scale in 5ths rather than the usual 3rds and 6ths, be inventive, but also be patient and make sure you have mastered particular techniques before moving on. Like I say, no easy way, but things worthwhile are always hard won.
> I don't know your keyboard, but assuming it has weight and touch, then you really should get your fingers on an equal footing with strengthening work because it will improve your playing immensely.



I'm glad you're taking the time to provide advice, but it feels like you're missing what I'm about.

I get that there's no easy way and I'm really not asking for an easy way. Maybe I've not been clear, I'm looking for exercises that do not involve just going up and down the major and minor scale a trillion times because rote repetition (as in, playing a scale up and down over and over and over again) is the very least efficient way to learn something.

When you say:

"Start slowly and build up tempo gradually over the months for scales and also try practicing at different dynamics, a good one is to practice loudly for slow tempo and quietly for fast tempo, along with other combinations of course. Don't forget contrary motion and scales in differing intervals, eg, if you are bored try playing a scale in 5ths rather than the usual 3rds and 6ths, be inventive, but also be patient and make sure you have mastered particular techniques before moving on."

I have no idea what you're talking about. Playing a scale in 3rds? Why would I do that and who is supposed to tell me to do that? Other combinations? What particular techniques? build up tempo on what? rote repetition? I have very little basis to build on, which is why I'm asking for useful books with techniques and exercises. To illustrate, my Jazz book has explained voicings to me, which I get. It then gives me about 60 chords to learn. Which is fine, but *how*?

The Slonimsky pdf looks mighty interesting, but also seems difficult to understand at the moment.


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

well it's the vagaries of strangers on the internet, I assumed you wanted to become a better player and learn new ways to do it. I also over-estimated your abilities by the sounds of it so apologies. But just for the record, rote up and down is the _only_ way to get those scales and other things under the fingers and second nature. And, playing scales in 3rds etc is necessary too for more advanced playing.
(and to answer questions, yes, start slowly with scales and increase tempo over time and preferably to a metronome. Other combinations refers to the preceding statement about dynamics)

So, do you want to improve your piano playing technique or are you after technical books that explain harmony, scales, counterpoint etc.


----------



## chillbot (Jan 7, 2019)

Get the Hanon book. That'll keep you busy for a few months and is fun in it's own (kinda dull) way. It's like meditation for the piano. If you can finish the Hanon book at somewhere around ~95+ bpm you'll be ready for anything. (But do the scales too, major and minor in every key.)


----------



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> well it's the vagaries of strangers on the internet, I assumed you wanted to become a better player and learn new ways to do it. I also over-estimated your abilities by the sounds of it so apologies. But just for the record, rote up and down is the _only_ way to get those scales and other things under the fingers and second nature. And, playing scales in 3rds etc is necessary too for more advanced playing.
> (and to answer questions, yes, start slowly with scales and increase tempo over time and preferably to a metronome. Other combinations refers to the preceding statement about dynamics)
> 
> So, do you want to improve your piano playing technique or are you after technical books that explain harmony, scales, counterpoint etc.



The horror. So rote memorization it is. 

Basically, I'm a musician (Guitar, drums and vocals) who always thought he could get by without learning theory. Until I started on orchestration, at which point it became clear just how much I shot myself in the foot. I'm not dumb but I am rather chaotic. What I want is to eventually be able to simply play my ideas instead of having to constantly search for chords and notes during my composing-time.

I've been self-teaching theory (currently on major and natural-minor scale construction) after which I'll branch out to melodic and harmonic minor (because that seems sensible to me). I'm also learning all the chords in these scales and will then branch out to augmented and diminished chords.

Basically, I'm learning stuff as I find it and am assimilating information in what is probably (in my mind) a horribly inefficient fashion.

I have Rimsky-Korsakov's book on Orchestration but that's unhelpful for basic music theory.

I guess I'm looking for instruction on what to practice and how to practice it, because picking up bits and pieces from youtube and music-theory sites at random is giving me the feeling I'm going about this the wrong way.

I came to the conclusion I should pick up some material on arpeggios and cadences so I could learn and practice scales and chords without boring myself to tears.


----------



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

chillbot said:


> Get the Hanon book. That'll keep you busy for a few months and is fun in it's own (kinda dull) way. It's like meditation for the piano. If you can finish the Hanon book at somewhere around ~95+ bpm you'll be ready for anything. (But do the scales too, major and minor in every key.)



Cool. And I've already been doing that, so apparently I'm on the right track .


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

Shiirai said:


> The horror. So rote memorization it is.
> 
> Basically, I'm a musician (Guitar, drums and vocals) who always thought he could get by without learning theory. Until I started on orchestration, at which point it became clear just how much I shot myself in the foot. I'm not dumb but I am rather chaotic. What I want is to eventually be able to simply play my ideas instead of having to constantly search for chords and notes during my composing-time.
> 
> ...



If you are autodidactic (you sound as though you are) then perhaps try a course like the one linked below which will ground you in voice leading along with introducing you to counterpoint and advanced harmony - all important for orchestration. Here's the thing though, you must practise composition as you would the piano. there is no point in knowing about (say) augmented chords if you don't then work with them in composing and exploit every aspect of them from inversions through to enharmonic modulation in order to know what they are capable of and how they sound in situ. (the course of books below eases you into all of this). The link below is for the first year of study so google the 2nd and 3rd year books. They have exercises you should complete and if possible, get someone qualified to check your work. 


Sustained, consistent work, focusing on small steps and mastering them before moving on is the key to ridding yourself of any inefficient habits. Do this and within a few months you will start to fly.


----------



## tokatila (Jan 7, 2019)

Shiirai said:


> Cool. And I've already been doing that, so apparently I'm on the right track .



Yes, if you want to kill any enjoyment you might otherwise have from learning playing the instrument. Get Hanon, that will do the job of boring you out of you mind extremely efficiently and will teach you to get cold shrivels even approaching the piano in the future.

If you are adventurous, the recommended Dohnanyi book will do the same almost as fast.


----------



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

tokatila said:


> Yes, if you want to kill any enjoyment you might otherwise have from learning playing the instrument. Get Hanon, that will do the job of boring you out of you mind extremely efficiently and will teach you to get cold shrivels even approaching the piano in the future.
> 
> If you are adventurous, the recommended Dohnanyi book will do the same almost as fast.



I do appreciate the sarcasm as it echoes my own sentiments. So what would you suggest instead?


----------



## chillbot (Jan 7, 2019)

tokatila said:


> Yes, if you want to kill any enjoyment you might otherwise from learning playing the instrument.


I love Hanon. It may just come down to the person.

For 1... I am pretty much going nonstop from 5am to 10pm every day without pause. So roughly 15 minutes per day or so that I can sit down and do Hanon is just a time to shut off the mind and zone out, it's a nice break.

For 2... the rest of my piano practice stresses me out. I work on a lot of improvisation and my teacher pushes me hard, the stress literally makes me sweat sometimes. It's so much brain-working-with-motor-skills-and-reflexes-and-muscle-memory. Anyway I enjoy the mindless practice of Hanon because it's just something I can do and see myself getting better at and all you have to do is put in the time and you'll improve. It is... satisfying.

For 3... I'm sure you've done this but to spice up Hanon start putting accents on certain 16th notes. Like accent the 3rd 16th in every group of 8. Or accent the 4th and 7th 16th in every 8. Any random combination you pick, but without affecting the rhythm in any way or taking your fingers off the piano. Every time I do this it breaks me down and I have to rebuild it back up again, but I enjoy that process. And it's great for jazz. Oh and then we can swing Hanon, and then 'reverse' swing it.


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

tokatila said:


> Yes, if you want to kill any enjoyment you might otherwise have from learning playing the instrument. Get Hanon, that will do the job of boring you out of you mind extremely efficiently and will teach you to get cold shrivels even approaching the piano in the future.
> 
> If you are adventurous, the recommended Dohnanyi book will do the same almost as fast.



so what do you recommend for a good piano technique? Are you a pianist?


----------



## bbunker (Jan 7, 2019)

One fun thing to try with Hanon is to pick one of the first volume exercises and do it in all twelve keys. That's something that will actually help with fingering things 'on the fly.' And rhythmic iterations, like sixteenth-eighth, eighth-sixteenth, two sixteenths and an eighth, etc. Helps your velocity, too. The real anti-Hanonites would probably say that doing the same with scales or Bach would be a better practice, but to each their own.

Tokatila beat me to it - but the Dohnanyi will really get you up to speed quickly. Personally I think they're especially great for Jazz players - there isn't a 'piece' to drill fingerings on, so you need flexibility and to drill the logic of fingering more than rote memorization, and the Dohnanyi does that better than anything I know.

Drilling those 'vanilla' scales is pretty essential, though. If you start going through exotic scales where you need to basically invent fingerings that work for you, then you need to first understand some of the stranger logics of the further flung flat keys to be able to identify and use the same patterns in exotic scales.


----------



## Crowe (Jan 7, 2019)

I've ordered the first year Harmony book and Hanon book. I'll keep the Dohnanyi book in the bookcase for when I've found my groove.

Thanks for the advice .


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

good luck with it all....


----------



## tokatila (Jan 7, 2019)

Shiirai said:


> I do appreciate the sarcasm as it echoes my own sentiments. So what would you suggest instead?



I'm not a piano teacher, but since my daughter has determined to be a concert pianist I have had an opportunity to acquire some knowledge from the area and she also now has an excellent teacher who teaches a lot of kids who play quite advanced material for their age. I practice together with my daughter at home, plan her practice schedule (what to play and when) and try to teach her how to practice as efficiently as possible (this is the area I have spent researching hundreds of hours, but feel I'm still scratching the surface). My daughter started to play with Suzuki the method.

My daughter's teacher uses Russian Piano School book published by Sikorski, but when the student's skill improves she basically chooses the songs from piano repertoire (that's the one big benefit of having a teacher, to select just the right level of difficulty for you.) She uses Hanon too, but only when there is some kind of motor problem with the students that needs drilling, when the problem is fixed the Hanon goes away. And most of the time, something more musical is selected (there's boatload of musical etudes available). Hanon is really not a piano school, it's a collection of monotonous technical exercises. If you like that sort of stuff, fine, but I would use that as a supplement only, if you want to play real music and stay motivated too.

Below is my daughter playing some Chopin. At this stage, she has been playing a little over 2 years and practicing seriously since August 2017, when she got her current teacher. She's 8.


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

She's great for just 2 years tokatila. You are right of course, the technical stuff is important but so is learning how to play music, although to do that to your best, you need the technique...ah well. Sounds like she's in good hands.


----------



## tokatila (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> She's great for just 2 years tokatila. You are right of course, the technical stuff is important but so is learning how to play music, although to do that you need the technique...ah well.



Thanks. I'm a firm believer that the technique in inseparable from the music since motor learning is so specialized and sometimes surprisingly poorly transferable (highly specific). I'm also think that the more you like the music you play the more active you brain is and the better you learn, I would never advise to daydream when you play. Even when you choose to play (monotonous) technical exercise you should always try to make it interesting for you changing articulations/rhythm/volume etc.


----------



## sean8877 (Jan 7, 2019)

As others have mentioned Hanon all day lol. For different types of seventh chords play each type in all inversions and arpeggiated, get the inversions under your fingers without having to think about it.


----------



## mikeh-375 (Jan 7, 2019)

tokatila said:


> Thanks. I'm a firm believer that the technique in inseparable from the music since motor learning is so specialized and sometimes surprisingly poorly transferable (highly specific). I'm also think that the more you like the music you play the more active you brain is and the better you learn, I would never advise to daydream when you play. Even when you choose to play (monotonous) technical exercise you should always try to make it interesting for you changing articulations/rhythm/volume etc.



I would say its the same when learning to compose. Learn a technique then practise it in composing and see what else you can do with it. I am, as it happens, re-acquainting myself with Chopin's op27 no2 in Dflat and am amazed at how differently I choose to play it each time, the point being I suppose is that in the learning of the piece, a deep acquaintance is made, a connection and in that connection, you as the player (or composer) find out what is a natural musical state for yourself by the interpretive choices made. She'll soon be badgering you for the Chopin Fminor ballade sheet...


----------



## SoundChris (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> Are you practising on a real piano? If so, how strong are your fingers, have you done strengthening exercises? Repeating scales is absolutely essential if you want to be a good player and if you do, you also need to have equality of strength in the fingers for control, this does the job of that very well....




OMG DOHNANYI was so hard ... I stil remember how much my hands hurt and how extreme it was to play with just the "unbound" fingers. Stil one of the hardest and most painful exercises ever IMO. But the training with it is golden. Stil ... Ouch


----------



## tokatila (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> I would say its the same when learning to compose. Learn a technique then practise it in composing and see what else you can do with it. I am, as it happens, re-acquainting myself with Chopin's op27 no2 in Dflat and am amazed at how differently I choose to play it each time, the point being I suppose is that in the learning of the piece, a deep acquaintance is made, a connection and in that connection, you as the player (or composer) find out what is a natural musical state for yourself by the interpretive choices made. She'll soon be badgering you for the Chopin Fminor ballade sheet...



Yes, that's true. I also believe that it's also a great way to learn technique, to play piece with different interpretations. Since you are basically doing the same thing, which you absolute need to do in order to learn something, but doing it a little bit differently enables you motor skills to get more foolproof, also that keeps your mind interested too.

We'll see with the ballade, but one great thing with her teacher is that she emphasizes not rushing too much difficulty-wise in order to avoid tensed playing with too difficult material. She'll get there eventually...


----------



## ed buller (Jan 7, 2019)

Shiirai said:


> So I'm currently trying to catch up on years of music theory I refused to learn when I was younger. I'm doing so through Jazz Piano lessons, for which I use the Hal Leonard method book. I also have a Real Book (not a word!) but what I seem to be missing are straight up fingering / chord / cadence exercises.
> 
> At this moment, I'm working on all major and natural minor scales and chords, but I feel like what I'm doing isn't efficient. I'd like to get a few extra exercise books but have no idea which are actually useful and which are just full of fluff.
> 
> ...




I guess it's how much of a jedi you want to be !.....this floored me but i'm still trying. She's a very inspiring teacher and the video exercises are straightforward. They also deal with the sort of sonorities that I like. As they are basically from Chopin the harmony is sophisticated but essentially painistic which helps.

https://flatfiv.com/collections/nahre-sol/products/piano-technique-intensive


Good luck

best

ed


----------



## sostenuto (Jan 7, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> Are you practising on a real piano? If so, how strong are your fingers, have you done strengthening exercises? Repeating scales is absolutely essential if you want to be a good player and if you do, you also need to have equality of strength in the fingers for control, this does the job of that very well.... *******



Looong ago …. most parochial grade school training with Hanon. Yep; ruler on knuckles too .... 
_Later_ _ some special time with Howard Brubeck and 'immediate' move to *Dohnanyi* !
Aarrgghh …. should have been there much sooner.


----------



## jonathanparham (Jan 7, 2019)

In addition to Hanon, I also like Czerny


----------



## jonathanparham (Jan 7, 2019)

ed buller said:


> I guess it's how much of a jedi you want to be !.....this floored me but i'm still trying. She's a very inspiring teacher and the video exercises are straightforward. They also deal with the sort of sonorities that I like. As they are basically from Chopin the harmony is sophisticated but essentially painistic which helps.
> 
> https://flatfiv.com/collections/nahre-sol/products/piano-technique-intensive
> 
> ...


Nahre Sol also has some suggested exercises with modes in her Youtube video channel


----------



## MaxOctane (Jan 7, 2019)

I realized (accepted?) finally that my piano is limited not be my manual dexterity but by my ability to _recall quickly _the next notes to be played. So sure, I'll never have the speed for Chopin's Etude #12, but even the Nocture op9 n2 above, I get tripped up and play a Bb instead of Ab every few measures, or my brain simply can't remember that the next phrase is an F. This has plagued me my whole life -- I can't usually remember lyrics, and have songs I've sang along to a hundred lines and I can't tell you what the words are, end-to-end. My brain draws a complete blank, 404 Not Found.

I've had the idea to take something like that Nocturne, and write out in Sibelius my condensed version of it, which would be just the parts that I forget. It'd be like measure 1, measures 7-8, 17, etc.

Also, there's a technique called Spaced Repetition that folks on Hacker News are talking about. The idea would be to play a piece end-to-end every day for a few days, then a refresher after 2 days, then another 3 days later, then 4 days after that. And every time you get part of it wrong, you reset the clock for that section. Apparently this takes advantage of how the brain encodes memories.


----------



## sostenuto (Jan 7, 2019)

Can't speak to lyrics, but remembering notes ... ??? 
Understanding here is repetitive recall _ from playing repeatedly, many times (~ x14) '_without error_' (NEVER playing past mistake /no speed involved). 

This came to me, far too late via ( MA _ Stanford Music and PhD work _ BYU ) organist-friend helping me transition from piano.
Kinda space-time position learning, not remembering notes. 

Not offering authoritatively; hoping for knowledgeable, relatedcomment.


----------



## yellowtone (Aug 8, 2019)

tokatila said:


> I practice together with my daughter at home, plan her practice schedule (what to play and when) and try to teach her how to practice as efficiently as possible (this is the area I have spent researching hundreds of hours, but feel I'm still scratching the surface). My daughter started to play with Suzuki the method.



@tokatila I realize this is an older thread but instead of creating a new one this looks to be along the lines of my inquiry. I'd be very interested to know more about what you've learned regarding efficiency with respect to learning piano. I'm just getting started myself, having played guitar for many years, and I'd like to ensure I'm being structured and not wasting time in my learning. I currently live in Luxembourg but may be moving soon so I don't have the option of a teacher just yet. Anything you can share regarding efficiency?



tokatila said:


> My daughter's teacher uses Russian Piano School book published by Sikorski, but when the student's skill improves she basically chooses the songs from piano repertoire



Also, do you have a link for purchasing this book/series in English? I did a search online and found some German-language versions but couldn't find it in English. Does it exist in English?


----------



## Crowe (Aug 8, 2019)

yellowtone said:


> @tokatila I realize this is an older thread but instead of creating a new one this looks to be along the lines of my inquiry. I'd be very interested to know more about what you've learned regarding efficiency with respect to learning piano. I'm just getting started myself, having played guitar for many years, and I'd like to ensure I'm being structured and not wasting time in my learning. I currently live in Luxembourg but may be moving soon so I don't have the option of a teacher just yet. Anything you can share regarding efficiency?
> 
> 
> 
> Also, do you have a link for purchasing this book/series in English? I did a search online and found some German-language versions but couldn't find it in English. Does it exist in English?



I might get a bit of flak for one of these, but I ended up doing the following:

I got the two books I mentioned in the first post:


"The Complete book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences" by Palmer, which I've found to be vital to get me started on my scales and arpeggios. It's all relatively easy once you get the hang of it.

"The Virtuoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises For The Piano " by Hanon, of which I've internalized a couple of the exercises. Honestly, I mostly use them for warm-up.

I then bought "Pianoforall" on Udemy, which has been my source for lot of progressions and rhythms and has served to keep things fresh.

And finally I got "Intro to Jazz Piano" by Mark Harrison which I regularly move forward in.

All in all, I like my speed of progress. I have a feeling that when it comes to learning to play the piano, the actual most efficient thing to do is to not try to move forward to fast and to have fun actually playing.


----------



## yellowtone (Aug 9, 2019)

Shiirai said:


> All in all, I like my speed of progress. I have a feeling that when it comes to learning to play the piano, the actual most efficient thing to do is to not try to move forward to fast and to have fun actually playing.



Thanks for sharing @Shiirai. I went ahead and bought the first book you mentioned and will consider the Hanon, Udemy series and Jazz books as I progress. I completely agree that learning (anything) requires inspiration and motivation - which rarely comes from the mundane technical learning aspects (scales, theory, etc.) and more often comes from small, but significant, successes - like learning a new skill, song, chord progression, etc. That said, I have always found scales a bit therapeutic (in short stints) and the long term gains from regular practice can't be overstated.


----------



## Crowe (Aug 9, 2019)

yellowtone said:


> Thanks for sharing @Shiirai. I went ahead and bought the first book you mentioned and will consider the Hanon, Udemy series and Jazz books as I progress. I completely agree that learning (anything) requires inspiration and motivation - which rarely comes from the mundane technical learning aspects (scales, theory, etc.) and more often comes from small, but significant, successes - like learning a new skill, song, chord progression, etc. That said, I have always found scales a bit therapeutic (in short stints) and the long term gains from regular practice can't be overstated.



You can find the Hanon exercises online so there's no real reason to buy the book.

Using learned scales to improvise and play over backingtracks on youtube has also done wonders for my piano-fun-levels.

Finally, Nahre Sol (praise be to Nahre) has a video in which she explains the concept of taking a piece you want to learn, splitting it into small chunks and making exercises from them that work around repetition. This may actually be the one that should've been most obvious but never really landed with me before I watched that video. In short, it's awesome.


----------

