Piano Exercises For Dummies

David Pearl is a freelance pianist, composer, and arranger. He is the author of Chord Theory Explained, Learn to Play Classic Rock Piano From the Masters; books of jazz transcriptions; arrangements of rock, jazz, and classical pieces; and opera arias for piano.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Conventions Used in This Book 2Foolish Assumptions 3How This Book Is Organized 3Part 1: Waking Up Your Fingers 3Part 2: Developing a Strong, Supple, and Speedy Hand 3Part 3: Including Your Arms and Body 4Part 4: Integration and Independence 4Part 5: The Part of Tens 4The website 4Icons Used in This Book 5Where to Go from Here 5Part 1: Waking Up Your Fingers 7Chapter 1: Getting Ready to Practice 9Warming Up Away from the Instrument 9Releasing tension and releasing your muscles 10Breathing in an unending circle 10Massaging, stretching, and contracting your hands 10Warming up your wrists 12Swinging and twisting your arms 13Stretching your shoulders and neck 15Working on your back 18Stretching your hamstrings 18Perfecting Practice with Proper Posture 19Sitting at the piano: Height and angle 19Getting a handle on proper hand position 20Hands on the fallboard: Counting out loud and bouncing 21Hands on the fallboard: Hand arches and finger drops 22Hands on the fallboard: Rotation in and out, movement up and down the keyboard 22Hands on the keyboard: Sound and movement on the keys 23Overcoming other posture pitfalls 24Chapter 2: Isolating and Exercising Your Fingers 25Two-Finger Exercises for the Left Hand 26Fingers one and two (left hand) 26Fingers two and three (left hand) 27Fingers three and four (left hand) 27Fingers four and five (left hand) 28Two-Finger Exercises for the Right Hand 28Fingers one and two (right hand) 29Fingers two and three (right hand) 30Fingers three and four (right hand) 30Fingers four and five (right hand) 31Three-Finger Exercises for the Left Hand 31Fingers one, two, and three (left hand) 32Fingers two, three, and four (left hand) 32Fingers three, four, and five (left hand) 33Three-Finger Exercises for the Right Hand 33Fingers one, two, and three (right hand) 34Fingers two, three, and four (right hand) 34Fingers three, four, and five (right hand) 35Four-Finger Exercises for the Left Hand 35Fingers one, two, three, and four (left hand) 36Fingers two, three, four, and five (left hand) 36Four-Finger Exercises for the Right Hand 37Fingers one, two, three, and four (right hand) 37Fingers two, three, four, and five (right hand) 38Performance Piece: “Come Back to Sorrento” 38Chapter 3: Music for Five Fingers 41Smooth Articulation: Playing Legato 42Legato exercise for the right hand 42Legato exercise for the left hand 43Short Articulation: Playing Staccato 43Staccato exercise for the right hand 44Staccato exercise for the left hand 44Developing Right-Hand Finger Independence with Five-Finger Position Scales 45Major: In sequence, out of sequence 45Minor: In sequence, out of sequence 46Whole tone: In sequence, out of sequence 46Chromatic: In sequence, out of sequence 47Developing Left-Hand Finger Independence with Five-Finger Position Scales 48Major: In sequence, out of sequence 48Minor: In sequence, out of sequence 49Whole tone: In sequence, out of sequence 49Chromatic: In sequence, out of sequence 50Doubling the Fun: Putting the Hands Together 50Legato articulation, five-finger positions 51Staccato articulation, five-finger positions 52Performance Piece: Paganini Variation for Ten Fingers 53Part 2: Developing a Strong, Supple, and Speedy Hand 55Chapter 4: Passing Under and Crossing Over 57One Under Two, Two Over One 58One Under Three, Three Over One 60One Under Four, Four Over One 62Extending Scales with Crossovers and Pass-Unders 63C- and G-major scale passages 63B-flat and F-major scale passages 64Performance Piece: Aria from La Cenerentola 65Chapter 5: Playing Intervals 67Playing Seconds with Different Finger Combinations 68Finger combination: Two and three 68Finger combination: Three and four 70Finger combination: One and two 70Finger combination: Four and five 72Playing Thirds with Different Finger Combinations 73Finger combination: One and three 73Finger combination: Two and four 73Finger combination: Three and five 75Finger combinations: One and four, two and five, one and five 76Playing Fourths with Different Finger Combinations 78Finger combinations: One and four, two and five 78Finger combinations: One and three, one and two 80Playing Fifths, Sixths, and Sevenths 82Exercise in fifths 82Exercise in fifths and sixths 83Exercise in fifths, sixths, and sevenths 83Performance Piece: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” 85Chapter 6: Playing Chords without Tension 87Chord Relaxation 88A simple two-chord progression 88A longer progression 88Voicing Chords 89Chord Repetition 90Pulsing rhythms 90Changing dynamics 91Simple Progressions, Adding Small Arm Motions 92Progression #1 93Progression #2 94Chord and Melody Combination Exercises 94Chord and melody combo #1 94Chord and melody combo #2 96Chord and melody combo #3 97Performance Piece: “Battle Hymn of the Republic” 98Part 3: Including Your Arms and Body 99Chapter 7: Extending Your Scales 101The 12 Major, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor Scales 102C major, C harmonic minor, C melodic minor 102G major, G harmonic minor, G melodic minor 103D major, D harmonic minor, D melodic minor 104A major, A harmonic minor, A melodic minor 105E major, E harmonic minor, E melodic minor 106B major, B harmonic minor, B melodic minor 107F♯ major, F♯ harmonic minor, F♯ melodic minor 108D♭ major, C♯ harmonic minor, C♯ melodic minor 109A♭ major, A♭ harmonic minor, A♭ melodic minor 110E♭ major, E♭ harmonic minor, E♭ melodic minor 111B♭ major, B♭ harmonic minor, B♭ melodic minor 112F major, F harmonic minor, F melodic minor 113The Three Diminished Scales 113Starting on C 114Starting on D♭ 114Starting on D 115The Chromatic Scale 115The 12 Blues Scales 116C blues 116G blues 116D blues 116A blues 117E blues 117B blues 117F♯ blues 118D♭ blues 118A♭ blues 118E♭ blues 119B♭ blues 119F blues 119Gaining Greater Command of Scales 119Varied articulation 120Varied rhythmic groupings 121Performance Piece: Variation VII from “Variations on ‘Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star’” 122Chapter 8: Parallel and Contrary Motion 125Parallel Movement at the Octave 126Parallel octave exercise #1 126Parallel octave exercise #2 127Parallel Movement at the Interval 127Parallel sixths 128Parallel tenths 129Contrary Motion Away from the Center 129Scalewise motion away from the center 130Chromatic motion away from the center 131Contrary Motion Toward the Center 132Scalewise motion toward the center 132Patterns toward the center 133Combination Movement Exercise 134Performance Piece: “Turkey in the Straw” 135Chapter 9: Footwork: Using the Damper Pedal 137Pedaling Chords 138Broken-chord pedaling 139Block-chord pedaling 140Pedaling Changes on a Single Line 141Uniform pedal changes 142Varied pedal changes 142Pedaling for Effect 143Blurred lines and long sustains 144Sustaining as the hands leave the keyboard 145Performance Piece: “Simple Gifts” 146Chapter 10: Jumping Across the Keyboard 149Jumping and Landing Accuracy Skills 150Note-to-note jumps 150Note-to-chord jumps 151Chord-to-chord jumps 152Mastering More Complicated Jumps 153Accents on the downbeat 154Accents on the upbeat 154Jumping with Both Hands Together 155Two-hand parallel motion jumps 156Two-hand contrary motion jumps 157Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns (with Pedal) 158Bass-note-to-chord pattern in 4/4 158Bass-note-to-chord pattern in 3/4 159Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns (without Pedal) 160Ragtime and stride pattern 161Waltz pattern 162Performance Piece: “Lily Pad Rag” 163Part 4: Integration and Independence 165Chapter 11: Playing Arpeggios 167Finger Jumps 167Jumping thirds 168Jumping fourths 169Jumping fifths 170The Arpeggiator 170Triad arpeggio exercise #1 171Triad arpeggio exercise #2 172Seventh-chord arpeggio exercise 173Broken Chords (and How to Fix Them) 173Alberti bass exercise 174Guitar-style broken chord exercise 175Blues-style broken chord exercise 176Octave and extended broken chord exercise 177Performance Piece: “Harp Heaven” 178Chapter 12: Alternating Hands 181Hand-to-Hand Scale Handoffs 181Scale handoff exercise #1 182Scale handoff exercise #2 183Hand-to-Hand Arpeggio Handoffs 184Arpeggio handoff exercise #1 185Arpeggio handoff exercise #2 186Crossing Over 187Crossing over with the right hand 188Crossing over with the left hand 189One Hand on Top 190Right hand on top exercise 190Left hand on top exercise 191Extreme Keyboard Positions 191Full Keyboard Exercises 193Full keyboard arpeggios 193Full keyboard triads 195Full keyboard seventh chords 196Chord “Drumming” 197Performance Piece: “El Choclo” 199Chapter 13: Stretching Out with Octaves and Broken Octaves 201Opening Up to the Octave 202Octave scale exercise 202Octave interval exercise 204Octave Jumps 205Exercise with shorter jumps 206Exercise with longer jumps 207Broken Octaves 207Exercise with wrist rotation 208Exercise with hand contraction and expansion 209Octave Chords 210Adding one inner note 211Adding two inner notes 212Performance Piece: “Schumann’s Octave Workout” 213Chapter 14: Chord Progressions and Cadences 215Triad Progressions 216Diatonic triad progressions 216Chromatic triad progressions 218Seventh Chord Progressions 219Seventh chord progressions exercise #1 219Seventh chord progressions exercise #2 220Chord Cadences and Familiar Patterns 221Cadences 222Turnarounds and sequences 223Extended Chord Progressions 225Extended major-key chord progression 225Extended minor-key chord progression 226Chords in One Hand, Melody in the Other 227Chords with melody exercise #1 228Chords with melody exercise #2 229Performance Piece: “Awake, My Heart, and Sing” 230Chapter 15: Trilling Thrills and Other Fancy Ornaments 231Grace Notes 231Trills 233Mordents 235Turns 236Repeated Notes 237Repeated notes in triplet rhythms 238Repeated notes in eighth- and sixteenth-note rhythms 239R-R-R-Rolling Chords 239Rolling chords in the right hand 240Rolling chords in both hands 240The Glissando 241The Tremolo 242Performance Piece: “Caro Nome” 243Chapter 16: Maximum Independence: Challenging Rhythms and Syncopations 245Combining Scale and Arpeggio Patterns 246Independent rhythms, scales, and arpeggios #1 246Independent rhythms, scales, and arpeggios #2 247Exercises with Changing Note Values 249Scale patterns with changing note values 250Arpeggio patterns with changing note values 251Exercises with Changing Meters 252Changing from 6/8 to 3/4 252Expanding and contracting meter changes 253Syncopation Exercises 254Syncopation exercise #1 255Syncopation exercise #2 256Exercises with Polyrhythms 257Two in the right hand against three in the left 257Three in the right hand against two in the left 258Performance Piece: “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” 259Part 5: The Part of Tens 261Chapter 17: Ten Dances for Your Hands 263Jig: “Captain Jinks” 263Calypso: “Water Come-a Me Eye” 265Waltz: “Waltz from Faust” 266Tarantella 268Tango: “El Porteñito” 269Mexican Hat Dance 270Polka: “Pizzicato Polka” 272Boogie: “Johnson Rag” 273“Hungarian Dance No 5” 275Gypsy Dance from Carmen 276Chapter 18: Ten Great Composers and Their Daily Workouts 279Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) 280Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) 280Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) 280Karl Czerny (1791–1857) 280Claude Debussy (1862–1918) 280Enrique Granados (1867–1916) 281Franz Liszt (1811–1886) 281Edward MacDowell (1861–1908) 281Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) 281Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) 281Appendix: How To Use The Website 283Index 287