KALAMAZOO COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

TECHNICAL EXCERCISES FOR PIANISTS

After John Perry
Leslie Tung
I. 5 FINGERS ON KEYS
A. Position
C 5-finger position
Rounded hand, knuckles highest part of hand, last finger joint
curved
Bottom of wrist even with white keys
Knuckles horizontal, support 5th knuckle if necessary
Fingers aligned and evenly spaced (esp. 3 and 4)
Weightless and rest on keys without depressing
Floating arms
B. Play
Hands alone OK
Always touch key surface
Finger isolation; no excess baggage; inactive fingers remain at rest
Wrist passive, relaxed
No gripping, finger down muscle only
At bottom of key, feel 5 resting fingers
Let key push finger up
Feeble sound OK at first
C. Development
Both hands, parallel (two octaves apart) or contrary
Gradually quicken finger descent to lightening quick throw
Rest position at key bottom
Build to 5 finger pattern ascent on white keys (C position to D
position, etc.); thumb on new key with third finger
Go up and down three octaves
Even tone and rhythm (weak fingers tend to come in early)
Sound has sharp, precise attack
Speed, not power
Double tempo with each 3 octave repetition (never accelerate
within a 3 octave
pattern)
At high speed, rest point at key bottom no longer felt
Apply to interlocking thirds, chromatic, whole tone, minorthird
(fingers still
curved), white key thirds
Apply to repertoire

II. 5 FINGERS OFF KEYS

A. Position
As above but with finger tips 1/2 to 1 inch above keys
Finger tips even
Floating arms
B. Play
Quick Down and Up muscles
No tension in inactive fingers
No pressure on key bottom
Passive arm
Finger tips move perpendicular to keys
Finger isolation
Simultaneous up and down throws in two fingers
Wrist alignment
Same patterns
III. REPEATED NOTES
RH 4,3,2 on C to 5 on G
Up chromatically
Double, then triple repeated groups
4,3,2,1 to 5 octave higher
Mirror in LH
IV. MORDENTS
All adjacent finger pairs
3-note mordent, resting on last note
Repeat four times
Hands alone or in contrary
Up and down white key pattern
Drop into first note
Grip next notes
Hand up toward fallboard with last note
Expand to 4, 5, 6, 7-note mordents

V. ROTATION
Non-active fingers
Quick, small rotation of lower arm plays notes
Pattern A: 23; left-right-right; continue up on white keys
Pattern B: as in 5-Finger On Key; 12345; l-r-r-r-r
Pattern C: as in expanded 5-Finger on Key
Pattern D: Broken octaves in interlocking thirds, starting on thumbs,
then with fives

VI. WEIGHT TRANSFER

Higher wrist for weight flow
Relaxed (ball bearing) elbows and shoulders
Start with 2 and 3, back and forth with legato overlap
Finger tips feel weight
Bridge bears weight
Bridge maintained by active finger tip
No up or down finger muscles, only supporting joints
Feel like all covered keys were always on bottom; no sensation of
descent
Finger and knuckle in straight line with arm
Alignment motion smooth, continuous
Fast natural speed; don't freeze weight
Expand by adding fingers 4, then 5, then 1
Pattern A: 5-finger major-minor; c-d-e-f-g up and down; c-d-eb-f-g up
and down; c-db-eb-f-gb up and down; c-db-eb-f-ab-gb-f-eb-db;
repeat on db, etc.
Pattern B: 4 octave arpeggios; c-e-g-b up; c-a-g-e-c down; c-eb-g-b
up; c-ab-g-eb down; c-eb-gb-a up; c-ab-gb-eb down; repeat on
db, etc.; vertical, high knuckle and long fingers; trigger finger
(thumb tuck)

VII.

SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS

Outstretched but curved fingers
Entire finger felt as one unified moving unit
Always on key before playing and legato
Moderate weight, motion, attack
[Practice hands alone, only up or only down until mastered.]
[Tilt hand in direction of scale to help 2 outward, 3 and 4 inward]
[Practice fast groupings, first from thumb to thumb, then in octaves
starting and ending on different scale degrees for integration]
Prepare thumb with 2nd finger
[Thumb "kick" to get hand over quickly]
Slide over, don't cartwheel
[Lean hand over, thumb almost plays on back of nail]
Flowing, floating arms
Quick horizontal motions, slow vertical ones
Scales in 3rds, 6ths, 10ths
Arpeggios in triads, dominant, and diminished 7ths in inversions

VIII.

CHORDS
Triads in inversions
Prepare first (on key)
Quick grip with finger tips which springs passive wrist and arms up
Add arms to grip
Add shoulders (forward to "shove" the piano)

IX. OCTAVES
Start on key touching octaves with 1-5
Lift hand (not arm) as if pulling from back of knuckles
Then drop hand into keys with slight gripping of 1 and 5 at contact
Lift and Drop are two distinct movements
Pattern A: Octaves in minor thirds, use 4 on black keys
Pattern B: Octaves in slow quarter notes (lift-drop) repeated on
same notes; then in eighth notes (drop-bounce); then
triplets(drop-bounce-bounce); etc. up to sextuplets
Pattern C: Octave scales in all keys over a two octave span.
Pattern D: Octave arpeggios over four octave span covering major,
minor, diminished seventh in all keys.