Popular Hand Exercises Books for Piano

Regardless of your playing level, or whether you are preparing for a piano exam, finger exercises are one of the keys to achieving technical fluency. These finger strengthening exercises give you the chops you need to tackle your pieces (AKA "repertoire").

This is a list of 15 of the most popular books of finger exercises for piano. If you click on the link, you'll go to a page to order it (or get more information on it):

1. The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences: Includes All the Major, Minor (Natural, Harmonic, Melodic) & Chromatic Scales - Plus Additional Instructions on Music Fundamentals

2. Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist in Sixty Exercises, Complete (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, Vol. 925)

3. Piano Essentials: Scales, Chords, Arpeggios, and Cadences for the Contemporary Pianist (Book & CD)

4. The First Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios & Cadences (Alfred's Basic Piano Library)

5. The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide for Mastering Piano

6. Master School of Virtuoso Piano Playing: Volume I Finger Exercises (Dover Music for Piano)

7. Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes & Pieces for PianoMaster School of Virtuoso Piano Playing: Volume I Finger Exercises (Dover Music for Piano)

8. Hanon for the Developing Pianist - Book/CD Pack: Hal Leonard Student Piano Library - Book/CD (Technique Classics)

9. The School of Velocity, Op. 299 (Complete): For The Piano (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics Vol. 161)

10. Burgmuller, Czerny & Hanon: 32 Piano Studies for Technique and Musicality: 1

11. Junior Hanon (Alfred Masterwork Edition)

12. Twenty-Five Easy and Progressive Studies for the Piano, Op. 100: Piano Solo

13. Schmitt Op. 16: Preparatory Exercises For the Piano, with Appendix (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, Vol. 434)

14. Czerny: Art of Finger Dexterity for the Piano, Op. 740 (Complete) (Schirmer's Library Of Musical Classics, Vol. 154)

15. Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist (Complete) (Alfred Masterwork Edition)

Your eyes aren't deceiving you. There are several different editions of Hanon's exercises - all of them are pretty popular.

Time Saving Technique Practice Idea

Are you stuck between studying for tests and logging in much needed time on practicing technique? Try this idea that came up during one of my lessons last week:

This student is working on his Grade 8 piano technique. Four octave scales - woohoo?

He played d harmonic minor for the first octave and d melodic minor for the second by accident. Then, I had him play D major for the first octave, d natural minor for the second octave...you get the idea.

Basically in one pass, you practice all the scales you need to know for a traditional music exam. However, to actually hear any improvement, you'll have to play it this way more than once. More than twice.

You can change things up of course. Try this on all the minors (natural, harmonic, melodic, jazz). Or be bold and try these on some of the jazz scales.

The bottom of the white board refers to an idea I think has already been mentioned. Play the ascending scale one way (e.g., major), and the descending scale another way (e.g. harmonic minor).

You have to be awake to do this kind of practice. Well really, we should be all striving for mindful practice anyway...right?

15 Reasons Why Practicing Technique Can Improve Your Time at the Piano

Once again, Chris Foley posts another musical gem titled 15 Reasons Why Practicing Technique Can Improve Your Time at the Piano.

So folks, keep up with your scales, chords and arpeggios - they're important!

(c) 2008 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Why We Should Practice Scales, Chords and Arpeggios

A few of my students detest their technical exercises. In fact, I have a few students who really need to pull up their socks in this area if they're going to pass their piano exam next month. I hated them too. With a passion. That hatred was reflected in my poor technical skills mark on piano exams.

Since then, I've learned to like them. Elinor Lawson, my piano instructor at university, assigned me some songs from Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm by Béla Bartok. In it, I found several passages where chords progressed up in a scale (e.g. B chord, C chord, D chord, etc.). I started looking at music harmonically - from the chord progressions to how a melody would be stated in one key and then reappear in a closely related key. I learned that looking for patterns like this made memorizing easier.

In Chopin's Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 no. 1, which I'm currently working on, there are virtuosic scale passages that I've spent many an hour on.

As a listener at a concert, I've heard jazz and classical musicians play scale passages that move in parallel, contrary and zigzag motion.

As a teacher, I see chords, arpeggios and scales in my students' songs.

Scales, chords and arpeggios are often called the building blocks of music as I've illustrated above. They also are exercises in motor dexterity and strength. Those tricky passages in the Nocturne demand technical precision. The dramatic effect is lost if I stumble my way to the top.

It comes down to this: it doesn't matter how expressive a musician is, if he or she is weak technically, he or she can't convey the music convincingly. It's like trying to read an essay or a resume that's riddled with grammatical and typographical errors.

Here are a few more articles on the importance of practicing technique:

• Why Practice Scales?

• Using Scales to Improve All Your Music (primarily for guitarists)

• Scales, who needs them?Why and What For, Anyway?!

• Scales Practice

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.