Hanon exercises for folks who don’t read sheet music (part 2)
February 5th, 2008This is the second installment of the two-part series on playing the Hanon exercises. You can find the first part here.
Exercise 2
Now that you’ve seen how Hanon works, we can go through the rest of the exercises quicker. They all work in the same fashion — a repeating pattern going up and down the keyboard — except that the notes and fingering are slightly different each time.
This pattern is already slightly more complicated.
The right hand plays:
| Thumb (1) | C |
| Pointer (2) | E |
| Pinky (5) | A |
| Ring finger (4) | G |
| Middle finger (3) | F |
| Ring finger (4) | G |
| Middle finger (3) | F |
| Pointer (2) | E |
The left hand plays:
| Pinky (5) | C |
| Middle finger (3) | E |
| Thumb (1) | A |
| Pointer (2) | G |
| Middle finger (3) | F |
| Pointer (2) | G |
| Middle finger (3) | F |
| Ring finger (4) | E |
Notice that the right hand uses the middle finger twice, but the left hand uses it three times. And not even always on the same note! This may be a little tricky at first. Pay attention to it: using the correct fingering is essential!
You know what to do for the next measure: move all fingers up one white key on the keyboard and repeat the pattern.
The notes for the second measure are:
D-F-B-A-G-A-G-F
And so on. As in all Hanon exercises, we go up two octaves. Repeat for 14 measures until you hit:
B-D-G-F-E-F-E-D
Time to turn around and descend:
You play:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Thumb (1) | G | Pinky (5) |
| Middle finger (3) | D | Pointer (2) |
| Pinky (5) | B | Thumb (1) |
| Ring finger (4) | C | Pointer (2) |
| Middle finger (3) | D | Middle finger (3) |
| Ring finger (4) | C | Pointer (2) |
| Middle finger (3) | D | Middle finger (3) |
| Pointer (2) | E | Ring finger (4) |
Again, the notes are the same but the fingers are different.
Move down the keyboard until you are back where you started.
Hanon recommends playing exercises 1 and 2 four times in a row without interruption.
Exercise 3
This pattern looks a lot like exercise 2, so don’t get confused.
Upward:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Pinky (5) | C | Thumb (1) |
| Middle (3) | E | Pointer (2) |
| Thumb (1) | A | Pinky (5) |
| Pointer (2) | G | Ring (4) |
| Middle (3) | F | Middle (3) |
| Ring (4) | E | Pointer (2) |
| Middle (3) | F | Middle (3) |
| Pointer (2) | G | Ring (4) |
Downward:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Thumb (1) | G | Pinky (5) |
| Middle (3) | D | Pointer (2) |
| Pinky (5) | B | Thumb (1) |
| Ring (4) | C | Pointer (2) |
| Middle (3) | D | Middle (3) |
| Pointer (2) | E | Ring (4) |
| Middle (3) | D | Middle (3) |
| Ring (4) | C | Pointer (2) |
As always, move up two octaves, and then move down back to where you started.
Exercise 4
Upward:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Pinky (5) | C | Thumb (1) |
| Ring (4) | D | Pointer (2) |
| Pinky (5) | C | Thumb (1) |
| Middle (3) | E | Pointer (2) |
| Thumb (1) | A | Pinky (5) |
| Pointer (2) | G | Ring (4) |
| Middle (3) | F | Middle (3) |
| Ring (4) | E | Pointer (2) |
Downward:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Thumb (1) | G | Pinky (5) |
| Pointer (2) | F | Ring (4) |
| Thumb (1) | G | Pinky (5) |
| Middle (3) | D | Pointer (2) |
| Pinky (5) | B | Thumb (1) |
| Ring (4) | C | Pointer (2) |
| Middle (3) | D | Middle (3) |
| Pointer (2) | E | Ring (4) |
Exercise 5
Upward:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Pinky (5) | C | Thumb (1) |
| Thumb (1) | A | Pinky (5) |
| Pointer (2) | G | Ring (4) |
| Thumb (1) | A | Pinky (5) |
| Middle (3) | F | Middle (3) |
| Pointer (2) | G | Ring (4) |
| Ring (4) | E | Pointer (2) |
| Middle (3) | F | Middle (3) |
Downward:
| Left Hand | Note | Right Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Pinky (5) | C | Thumb (1) |
| Ring (4) | D | Pointer (2) |
| Pinky (5) | C | Thumb (1) |
| Middle (3) | E | Middle (3) |
| Ring (4) | D | Pointer (2) |
| Pointer (2) | F | Ring (4) |
| Middle (3) | E | Middle (3) |
| Thumb (1) | G | Pinky (5) |
Hanon recommends playing exercises 3 to 5 four times in a row without interruption.
That’s it! Those are the first five exercises from The Virtuoso Pianist. These should keep you busy for a while…
Advanced
If you are becoming good at these exercises, transpose them to other keys.
Right now we’ve been playing in the key of C (white keys only). Try exercise 1 in the key of F, then in Bb, Eb, and so on, until you’ve covered the entire Circle of Fifths.
You can also move on to the rest of the Hanon exercises — there are 60 in total. No doubt you can find the complete set on the internet somewhere. (Here, for example)
The original exercises are no longer covered by copyright, so a lot of sites carry the sheet music. Google is your friend. ;-)Or buy the book; it’s fairly inexpensive.
Final words
Not everyone approves of the Hanon method. Critics claim that training the fingers in this fashion may not actually be helpful at all — and could even be harmful. Your mileage may vary.
Remember: Playing the piano should be fun. If it hurts, you’re not doing it right.
Enjoy!