Piano Exercises For Dummies

Practice, practice, practice to play like Chopin or the Piano Man

The piano will help you add a touch of fun to your life, impress your friends at parties, and even reduce stress. It even makes you better at math (really!). Piano Exercises For Dummies is at your service as you learn to make those 88 black and white keys sing. You’ll get a quick overview of the basics before diving into practice routines and sample songs that you can use to improve your skill, whatever your level. This book gives you online access to audio files of the exercises along with digital access to the sheet music shared in the book. Learn from an experienced pianist, composer, and arranger, and start making beautiful music, the Dummies way!

• Refresh your knowledge of the piano basics so you’re poised and prepared to play the right way
• Play enjoyable practice exercises and songs designed to teach specific skills and techniques in all genres
• Go online to access all the audio files, anytime, anywhere
• Bring a little more joy into your life by stepping up your piano know-how

Piano Exercises For Dummies is for new and experienced pianists alike, and useful for improving your skill in any musical style.

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 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

How This Book Is Organized 3

Part 1: Waking Up Your Fingers 3

Part 2: Developing a Strong, Supple, and Speedy Hand 3

Part 3: Including Your Arms and Body 4

Part 4: Integration and Independence 4

Part 5: The Part of Tens 4

The website 4

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 5

Part 1: Waking Up Your Fingers 7

Chapter 1: Getting Ready to Practice 9

Warming Up Away from the Instrument 9

Releasing tension and releasing your muscles 10

Breathing in an unending circle 10

Massaging, stretching, and contracting your hands 10

Warming up your wrists 12

Swinging and twisting your arms 13

Stretching your shoulders and neck 15

Working on your back 18

Stretching your hamstrings 18

Perfecting Practice with Proper Posture 19

Sitting at the piano: Height and angle 19

Getting a handle on proper hand position 20

Hands on the fallboard: Counting out loud and bouncing 21

Hands on the fallboard: Hand arches and finger drops 22

Hands on the fallboard: Rotation in and out, movement up and down the keyboard 22

Hands on the keyboard: Sound and movement on the keys 23

Overcoming other posture pitfalls 24

Chapter 2: Isolating and Exercising Your Fingers 25

Two-Finger Exercises for the Left Hand 26

Fingers one and two (left hand) 26

Fingers two and three (left hand) 27

Fingers three and four (left hand) 27

Fingers four and five (left hand) 28

Two-Finger Exercises for the Right Hand 28

Fingers one and two (right hand) 29

Fingers two and three (right hand) 30

Fingers three and four (right hand) 30

Fingers four and five (right hand) 31

Three-Finger Exercises for the Left Hand 31

Fingers one, two, and three (left hand) 32

Fingers two, three, and four (left hand) 32

Fingers three, four, and five (left hand) 33

Three-Finger Exercises for the Right Hand 33

Fingers one, two, and three (right hand) 34

Fingers two, three, and four (right hand) 34

Fingers three, four, and five (right hand) 35

Four-Finger Exercises for the Left Hand 35

Fingers one, two, three, and four (left hand) 36

Fingers two, three, four, and five (left hand) 36

Four-Finger Exercises for the Right Hand 37

Fingers one, two, three, and four (right hand) 37

Fingers two, three, four, and five (right hand) 38

Performance Piece: “Come Back to Sorrento” 38

Chapter 3: Music for Five Fingers 41

Smooth Articulation: Playing Legato 42

Legato exercise for the right hand 42

Legato exercise for the left hand 43

Short Articulation: Playing Staccato 43

Staccato exercise for the right hand 44

Staccato exercise for the left hand 44

Developing Right-Hand Finger Independence with Five-Finger Position Scales 45

Major: In sequence, out of sequence 45

Minor: In sequence, out of sequence 46

Whole tone: In sequence, out of sequence 46

Chromatic: In sequence, out of sequence 47

Developing Left-Hand Finger Independence with Five-Finger Position Scales 48

Major: In sequence, out of sequence 48

Minor: In sequence, out of sequence 49

Whole tone: In sequence, out of sequence 49

Chromatic: In sequence, out of sequence 50

Doubling the Fun: Putting the Hands Together 50

Legato articulation, five-finger positions 51

Staccato articulation, five-finger positions 52

Performance Piece: Paganini Variation for Ten Fingers 53

Part 2: Developing a Strong, Supple, and Speedy Hand 55

Chapter 4: Passing Under and Crossing Over 57

One Under Two, Two Over One 58

One Under Three, Three Over One 60

One Under Four, Four Over One 62

Extending Scales with Crossovers and Pass-Unders 63

C- and G-major scale passages 63

B-flat and F-major scale passages 64

Performance Piece: Aria from La Cenerentola 65

Chapter 5: Playing Intervals 67

Playing Seconds with Different Finger Combinations 68

Finger combination: Two and three 68

Finger combination: Three and four 70

Finger combination: One and two 70

Finger combination: Four and five 72

Playing Thirds with Different Finger Combinations 73

Finger combination: One and three 73

Finger combination: Two and four 73

Finger combination: Three and five 75

Finger combinations: One and four, two and five, one and five 76

Playing Fourths with Different Finger Combinations 78

Finger combinations: One and four, two and five 78

Finger combinations: One and three, one and two 80

Playing Fifths, Sixths, and Sevenths 82

Exercise in fifths 82

Exercise in fifths and sixths 83

Exercise in fifths, sixths, and sevenths 83

Performance Piece: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” 85

Chapter 6: Playing Chords without Tension 87

Chord Relaxation 88

A simple two-chord progression 88

A longer progression 88

Voicing Chords 89

Chord Repetition 90

Pulsing rhythms 90

Changing dynamics 91

Simple Progressions, Adding Small Arm Motions 92

Progression #1 93

Progression #2 94

Chord and Melody Combination Exercises 94

Chord and melody combo #1 94

Chord and melody combo #2 96

Chord and melody combo #3 97

Performance Piece: “Battle Hymn of the Republic” 98

Part 3: Including Your Arms and Body 99

Chapter 7: Extending Your Scales 101

The 12 Major, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor Scales 102

C major, C harmonic minor, C melodic minor 102

G major, G harmonic minor, G melodic minor 103

D major, D harmonic minor, D melodic minor 104

A major, A harmonic minor, A melodic minor 105

E major, E harmonic minor, E melodic minor 106

B major, B harmonic minor, B melodic minor 107

F♯ major, F♯ harmonic minor, F♯ melodic minor 108

D♭ major, C♯ harmonic minor, C♯ melodic minor 109

A♭ major, A♭ harmonic minor, A♭ melodic minor 110

E♭ major, E♭ harmonic minor, E♭ melodic minor 111

B♭ major, B♭ harmonic minor, B♭ melodic minor 112

F major, F harmonic minor, F melodic minor 113

The Three Diminished Scales 113

Starting on C 114

Starting on D♭ 114

Starting on D 115

The Chromatic Scale 115

The 12 Blues Scales 116

C blues 116

G blues 116

D blues 116

A blues 117

E blues 117

B blues 117

F♯ blues 118

D♭ blues 118

A♭ blues 118

E♭ blues 119

B♭ blues 119

F blues 119

Gaining Greater Command of Scales 119

Varied articulation 120

Varied rhythmic groupings 121

Performance Piece: Variation VII from “Variations on ‘Twinkle,

Twinkle, Little Star’” 122

Chapter 8: Parallel and Contrary Motion 125

Parallel Movement at the Octave 126

Parallel octave exercise #1 126

Parallel octave exercise #2 127

Parallel Movement at the Interval 127

Parallel sixths 128

Parallel tenths 129

Contrary Motion Away from the Center 129

Scalewise motion away from the center 130

Chromatic motion away from the center 131

Contrary Motion Toward the Center 132

Scalewise motion toward the center 132

Patterns toward the center 133

Combination Movement Exercise 134

Performance Piece: “Turkey in the Straw” 135

Chapter 9: Footwork: Using the Damper Pedal 137

Pedaling Chords 138

Broken-chord pedaling 139

Block-chord pedaling 140

Pedaling Changes on a Single Line 141

Uniform pedal changes 142

Varied pedal changes 142

Pedaling for Effect 143

Blurred lines and long sustains 144

Sustaining as the hands leave the keyboard 145

Performance Piece: “Simple Gifts” 146

Chapter 10: Jumping Across the Keyboard 149

Jumping and Landing Accuracy Skills 150

Note-to-note jumps 150

Note-to-chord jumps 151

Chord-to-chord jumps 152

Mastering More Complicated Jumps 153

Accents on the downbeat 154

Accents on the upbeat 154

Jumping with Both Hands Together 155

Two-hand parallel motion jumps 156

Two-hand contrary motion jumps 157

Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns (with Pedal) 158

Bass-note-to-chord pattern in 4/4 158

Bass-note-to-chord pattern in 3/4 159

Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns (without Pedal) 160

Ragtime and stride pattern 161

Waltz pattern 162

Performance Piece: “Lily Pad Rag” 163

Part 4: Integration and Independence 165

Chapter 11: Playing Arpeggios 167

Finger Jumps 167

Jumping thirds 168

Jumping fourths 169

Jumping fifths 170

The Arpeggiator 170

Triad arpeggio exercise #1 171

Triad arpeggio exercise #2 172

Seventh-chord arpeggio exercise 173

Broken Chords (and How to Fix Them) 173

Alberti bass exercise 174

Guitar-style broken chord exercise 175

Blues-style broken chord exercise 176

Octave and extended broken chord exercise 177

Performance Piece: “Harp Heaven” 178

Chapter 12: Alternating Hands 181

Hand-to-Hand Scale Handoffs 181

Scale handoff exercise #1 182

Scale handoff exercise #2 183

Hand-to-Hand Arpeggio Handoffs 184

Arpeggio handoff exercise #1 185

Arpeggio handoff exercise #2 186

Crossing Over 187

Crossing over with the right hand 188

Crossing over with the left hand 189

One Hand on Top 190

Right hand on top exercise 190

Left hand on top exercise 191

Extreme Keyboard Positions 191

Full Keyboard Exercises 193

Full keyboard arpeggios 193

Full keyboard triads 195

Full keyboard seventh chords 196

Chord “Drumming” 197

Performance Piece: “El Choclo” 199

Chapter 13: Stretching Out with Octaves and Broken Octaves 201

Opening Up to the Octave 202

Octave scale exercise 202

Octave interval exercise 204

Octave Jumps 205

Exercise with shorter jumps 206

Exercise with longer jumps 207

Broken Octaves 207

Exercise with wrist rotation 208

Exercise with hand contraction and expansion 209

Octave Chords 210

Adding one inner note 211

Adding two inner notes 212

Performance Piece: “Schumann’s Octave Workout” 213

Chapter 14: Chord Progressions and Cadences 215

Triad Progressions 216

Diatonic triad progressions 216

Chromatic triad progressions 218

Seventh Chord Progressions 219

Seventh chord progressions exercise #1 219

Seventh chord progressions exercise #2 220

Chord Cadences and Familiar Patterns 221

Cadences 222

Turnarounds and sequences 223

Extended Chord Progressions 225

Extended major-key chord progression 225

Extended minor-key chord progression 226

Chords in One Hand, Melody in the Other 227

Chords with melody exercise #1 228

Chords with melody exercise #2 229

Performance Piece: “Awake, My Heart, and Sing” 230

Chapter 15: Trilling Thrills and Other Fancy Ornaments 231

Grace Notes 231

Trills 233

Mordents 235

Turns 236

Repeated Notes 237

Repeated notes in triplet rhythms 238

Repeated notes in eighth- and sixteenth-note rhythms 239

R-R-R-Rolling Chords 239

Rolling chords in the right hand 240

Rolling chords in both hands 240

The Glissando 241

The Tremolo 242

Performance Piece: “Caro Nome” 243

Chapter 16: Maximum Independence: Challenging Rhythms and Syncopations 245

Combining Scale and Arpeggio Patterns 246

Independent rhythms, scales, and arpeggios #1 246

Independent rhythms, scales, and arpeggios #2 247

Exercises with Changing Note Values 249

Scale patterns with changing note values 250

Arpeggio patterns with changing note values 251

Exercises with Changing Meters 252

Changing from 6/8 to 3/4 252

Expanding and contracting meter changes 253

Syncopation Exercises 254

Syncopation exercise #1 255

Syncopation exercise #2 256

Exercises with Polyrhythms 257

Two in the right hand against three in the left 257

Three in the right hand against two in the left 258

Performance Piece: “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” 259

Part 5: The Part of Tens 261

Chapter 17: Ten Dances for Your Hands 263

Jig: “Captain Jinks” 263

Calypso: “Water Come-a Me Eye” 265

Waltz: “Waltz from Faust” 266

Tarantella 268

Tango: “El Porteñito” 269

Mexican Hat Dance 270

Polka: “Pizzicato Polka” 272

Boogie: “Johnson Rag” 273

“Hungarian Dance No 5” 275

Gypsy Dance from Carmen 276

Chapter 18: Ten Great Composers and Their Daily Workouts 279

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) 280

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) 280

Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) 280

Karl Czerny (1791–1857) 280

Claude Debussy (1862–1918) 280

Enrique Granados (1867–1916) 281

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) 281

Edward MacDowell (1861–1908) 281

Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) 281

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) 281

Appendix: How To Use The Website 283

Index 287 

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