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 Portenito" 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
Frederic 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
