LANDSCAPE exercise - better on piano this way

Since you can play the piano with two hands, somewhat independently, it seems to me that the Exercise #1 LANDSCAPE exercise is more interesting to play on piano if you do it like what I sketch out below. At least it’s more interesting for me when I do it this way.

  1. Play the Staircase exercise with half notes in RIGHT HAND for 8 beats, then reply to that with a phrase of half notes in the LEFT HAND for 8 beats, and keep alternating hands to the beat
  • Do the same for whole steps (and higher intervals if you’re there yet)
  1. Do different intervals in each hand. For example, do half steps in RIGHT HAND and whole steps in LEFT HAND (then reverse)

  2. Play a simple chordish shape in LEFT hand (just Root, or Root and fifth) and do the Landscape exercise in the RIGHT hand. Then reverse hands and put the chordish shape in the RIGHT hand, and the landscape intervals in the LEFT hand.

I’m interested in what other piano players have done to customize IFR exercises to the capabilities of the piano.

Thanks

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Nothing fancy, but when I’m doing my ‘random starting note, random environment[1]’ (‘Seven Worlds’?) exercise on keyboard, I periodically play root-fifth-octave with left hand, either as a chord or arpeggio to ‘ground’ me in the environment, while improving with right hand.

Switching hands would be a good idea.

[1] I don’t recall mentioning my low tech randomiser solution on the forum, so here it is:

I set up a grid (using a spreadsheet) with all variations from A1,A2…A7,Bb1,etc., to Ab7, then printed it out & cut it up.

All 84 (i.e. 12 notes, each in 7 environments) bits of paper were then placed in a small jar. Each time I do the exercise I shake the jar and remove one of the pieces of paper to identify the selection. The used pieces are collected in another jar. When the first jar is empty, the process reverses.

Fully random & no repetition till all have been tried. Kinda fun. :slight_smile:

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David, I like low tech solutions like that

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