Piano practice: scales, arpeggios and Hanon
Technique for every key. Pick a scale or an arpeggio, choose the hands and the number of octaves, and follow the falling notes or the sheet music with its fingering.
- ScalesAll 12 major and 12 natural minor scales: one hand, hands together, contrary motion, octaves, broken octaves and thirds.
- ArpeggiosMajor and minor triads and dominant sevenths in every key, one hand or both, over up to seven octaves.
- Hanon exercisesThe Virtuoso Pianist, exercises 1 to 30: one figure climbing and descending the keyboard, for strength and evenness in every finger.
Three ways to practise
Listen first to hear how the exercise goes. In Wait mode the music waits until you play each note, so you can concentrate on the fingers. Play along keeps the tempo: slow it down, loop a few bars, or practise one hand at a time.
Questions
- Which scale should I learn first?
- Start with C major, which uses only the white keys, then G and F major, which add one sharp or one flat. Their relative minors, A, E and D minor, use the same notes.
- Where do I see the fingering?
- Every exercise page has a fingering table, and the sheet music view shows a finger number on every note, for any number of octaves.
- Can I use my digital piano?
- Yes. Connect a digital piano or MIDI keyboard over USB or Bluetooth in Chrome or Edge on a computer or Android. You can also tap the keys on screen.