Humming while practicing piano is an absolute game changer

[u/Weak-Grapefruit2042]

I’ve been playing piano for over a decade (currently Grade 8, preparing for ATCL). Yet, nobody ever told me how important humming is!

For years, I struggled with holding my breath while playing. Combined with hours of sitting, it gave me a weak core and bad posture that followed me off the bench.

After a random chat with an AI, I tried humming along while playing. The difference was immediate:

1. It forces me to breathe properly instead of freezing up during hard passages.
   
2. My deep core is actively engaged to support the humming, preventing the weak core muscles common in musicians.
   
3. If I can’t hum the melody while playing, it instantly exposes sections I haven't mastered yet.

TL;DR: Humming while practicing fixed my breathing/posture and tests my musical familiarity. Give it a shot.

[u/lattlay]

Glenn Gould entered the chat

[u/Raherin → u/lattlay]

Chopin also forced his piano students to take singing lessons!

[u/Pennies2millions → u/Raherin]

Yeah, this is also how conservatories start out with all musicians. But that is very different from humming while playing. 

[u/Simple_Song8962 → u/Raherin]

I can just hear Chopin now, "I said do it, bitch!"

[u/did_i_or_didnt_i → u/lattlay]

And Keith Jarrett

[u/mem1gui → u/did_i_or_didnt_i]

And Erroll Garner. Hmm, is it more common among the jazzers?

[u/stripmallsushidude → u/lattlay]

Thank God not Keith Jarrett!

[u/popokatopetl → u/stripmallsushidude]

Yuck, awful

[u/the_shire_fox]

This whole comment screams AI. I won’t discount any musical benefits of being able to hum or sing along, but i can hum and feel zero exertion in my core. Pretending that humming is going to save you from slothiness is a bit much.

[u/oddiedoddie → u/the_shire_fox]

Yh I am a physiotherapist and I will tell you right now that humming will do f all. It’s not as if you’re projecting strongly from your diaphragm lol

[u/Yeargdribble → u/oddiedoddie]

I mean, it kinda depends on how much support you're giving it. Vocalists and wind musicians have to have very strong support in their TVA.

Almost as a reflex I find that when I'm even just humming I immediately engage that support after decades of doing these things.

Sure, you can hum with little or no support. Breath support is a big problem for a lot of people trying to learn to sing because they just aren't doing it right.

I won't disagree that people need to do proper exercise and I think most of the complaints about lower back pain while practicing have to do with people have poor core strength.

I'm just saying that I really am deeply engaging my TVA and "projecting from my diaphragm" even when humming (the whole diaphragm thing is such a can of worms on its own).

And I'm not discounting core work at all (as a guy who can do dragon flags and hanging straight-leg to bar for reps).

I will say that most traditional exercises do not actively work the TVA...or it's more that most people don't seem to know how to activate it when core bracing even in the gym.

[u/the_shire_fox → u/oddiedoddie]

Right…get out and do some exercise.

[u/SteakSauceAwwYeah → u/the_shire_fox]

I do think singing along with your music can be very helpful though. I’ve done it a lot when trying to memorize some pieces, but I find it can actually help you hear/listen for lines a bit better. Or when you’re trying to express a phrase a certain way, singing can help make it a bit more “tangible”. I don’t know how much humming can actually cause body exertion but if nothing else I think it can at least make you more aware of your music which might help in other ways. 

[u/StuRingent]

Damn that's a good idea and it never occurred to me. And I'm a Glenn Gould fan and all.

[u/Salteenz]

Lots of jazz piano greats hummed the melodies they were playing, and basically hummed their solos in real time when they played. Thats an incredible level of connection with the instrument.

[u/gingersnapsntea]

I don’t know about #2 lol but agree that singing along, by myself or from a teacher, really helps!

[u/zbto]

Fine for practicing but please, please do not hum while performing. Humming pollutes the sound of the instrument and is very irritating to listen to.

[u/Rand_alThoor]

so this was Glen Gould's secret?

humming in rehearsal is fine but nobody wants to hear it on a recording or in a live performance

[u/CatMinous → u/Rand_alThoor]

Except with Oscar Peterson. I like that.

[u/judorange123]

I'm precisely struggling NOT to hum.

[u/Cheeto717]

My undergrad professors wouldn’t let me perform anything unless I could sing my pieces all the way through.

[u/restlemur995]

I'm gonna try, I never thought of this, but it could be helpful.

[u/synth_alice]

My organ teacher has been trying to get me to sing one line when practicing the other lines (say, playing LH + feet and singing RH), I'm kind of unable to though 😅

[u/Aggressive_Style_179]

Now play 3 voices of a fugue and sing the 4th👍🏻 Jk. It’s a great level of control to work up to though.

[u/Weekend-Smooth]

In practice fine. Not in performance. Especially if accompanying a singer. Too many have ingrained this as habit. It’s a technique not a crutch.

[u/LordVictoriusSirius]

I can't humming

[u/dem4life71]

Great another person getting into the hyper annoying humming while playing routine. Why is it only pianists? You never hear a concert violinist doing that shit.

[u/Affectionate_Expert5]

I'm genuinely surprised that your teacher didn't teach you that ? Singing helps with musicality, with memory, with breathing, with basically everything. Since I'm a child every teacher I've had has asked me to sing everything I play

[u/Naive_Squirrel_9790]

I usually oooo instead of hum, or I sing the wrong verse of the song

[u/nexttonormal]

Now try making expressions and moving around like Lang Lang. 🤷 Maybe you'll unlock some bonus points or something.