Welcome back to our ongoing series of piano exercises. These are meant to be quick techniques you can practice with just a few minutes each day to help develop your strength. The first part in the series dealt with a Broken Triad Exercise and the second was Practicing Major Scales with C Major Fingering. This week we will be covering Broken Seventh Chords.

As long as you know all your seventh chords, you can play them in all keys as arpeggios. Why would you just play major and minor triads as arpeggios? Not only is this is a wonderful way to develop your technique but when you come across broken seventh chords in your music you will already know how to approach them.

The order I play them is:

– Major seventh chord
– Dominant seventh chord
– Minor seventh chord
– Half diminished seventh chord
– Diminished seventh chord

Why this particular order? If you play them this way, there is only one note that has to change between chords. Simply keep playing the chords one by one and go through all twelve of the keys. The video included with this article will show you a great example of this.

Here is the key on how to transition from chord to chord:

– Major seventh chord: Lower the 7th a half-step
– Dominant seventh chord: Lower the 3rd a half-step
– Minor seventh chord: Lower the 5th a half-step
– Half diminished seventh chord: Lower the 7th a half-step
– Diminished seventh chord: That’s it!

Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

The best way to learn this exercise is to watch the video included with this article, if you can’t watch I’ve included a link to download the exercise right here.

When you start with the C-major triad, you simply play the top two notes in the right hand and the bottom two notes in the left hand. From here you simply go back and forth through the scale notes. You’ll want to use all five fingers – this is a crucial step for the exercise as it’s all about building strength.

After you play the major, you simply move on to the minor, the diminished, and finally the augmented. When you actually perform the exercise you will want to go in a seamless line between each form of the triads and you will do this is every single key moving up chromatically.

This whole exercise takes only a few minutes and it’s an incredible workout for your fingers. There is no phrasing or dynamics to worry about; it’s simply a way to improve your strength. Over the years I’ve found this to be an incredibly helpful exercise and something I can do when I simply don’t have the time to sit down and practice for an extended amount of time.

Thanks again for joining me, there will be a couple more exercises for you in the next coming weeks, so stay tuned! Robert@LivingPianos.com

The third part in my series on Hanon’s Virtuoso Pianist comes from a viewer question about how much to practice these lessons. In case you missed them here are the first two parts in my series on:

Part 1 – The First Lessons

Part 2 – How to Practice Scales and Arpeggios

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as over-practicing exercises. One of the great things about the piano is that there is a wealth of music – so much so that it would be impossible to learn it all in a lifetime. So why practice strictly exercises when there is so much other music you could be learning and playing?

There are some instances in which you will need to correct technical problems with your playing and develop fluid a technique. Scales and arpeggios are a great resource for this. But how much is too much practice when it comes to exercises?

Generally, you should think of these as a warm-up to your practice session. If you dedicate 10 minutes to the beginning of your daily practice to focus on scales, arpeggios, or other exercises, it will benefit you immensely. What’s most important for your progress is the consistency of practice.

There may be times in your musical development when exercises can be critical in expanding your technique and developing strength. However, you should not ignore repertoire. You can continue to develop your strength and technical prowess while learning music as well – after all, we learn our instruments to play music!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729.

We have covered the Hanon exercises in the past: Hanon First Exercises, Scales and Arpeggios, and Tips for Practicing Hanon. Today we are going to cover something that was not covered in those subsequent videos – practicing Hanon in different keys.

This is a question from one of our viewers. Matt asks, “Is it good to practice Hanon in different keys?”. In Hanon, the first 20 exercises are all in C major and have repeated patterns. It is good to utilize these exercises as a way to build strength – especially for beginning players. Once you can play through them, you are ready to move on to scales and arpeggios.

But what about the idea of practicing these exercises in different keys? I would say that after you have progressed through the exercises as written in C major and moved on to scales and arpeggios, there could be value in revisiting the initial Hanon exercises and play them in different keys.

It’s a beneficial exercise because you will have new hand positions which will help to build strength and comfort negotiating different keys. You will also have to challenge yourself figuring out the notes to play in different keys. While not essential, it could be worth pursuing.

My father Morton Estrin once suggested a radical practice routine to me which is to practice all the major scales using the C major scale fingering! For example, you could play a D flat major scale utilizing the C major scale fingering. It feels very unnatural and it would seem to be crazy to even attempt this. After all, you would never play the D flat major scale with C major scale fingering. So, why even attempt it?

This exercise is extremely beneficial because it allows you to experience a level of discomfort that you will eventually run into when you approach counterpoint and complex fugues. While you play these pieces you will run into sections where you must use some very awkward fingering to negotiate the notes. By challenging and preparing yourself for these eventual passages you will be able to approach them more easily.

Thanks again for joining us. If you have any questions please contact me Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729.

Thirds on the piano can be very difficult. We only have five fingers on each hand so negotiating thirds can be a real challenge. As with other aspects of piano technique, fingering is critical. Here are some related resources for you:
How to Practice Scales & Arpeggios and Brilliant Piano Fingering Technique.

In this article and video, you will find some tips on how to approach thirds and some routines to add to your practice. Of course, thirds can be practiced endlessly. It’s said that Josef Lhévinne practiced the Double Thirds Etude by Chopin for ten years before performing it! His historic recording of the piece is a testament to this fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XCj-j7TBTY

In the following tips, I utilize a D Major Scale played in thirds.

A great way to practice thirds (this example refers to the right hand) is to play the top notes legato and the bottom staccato; doing this will help to clarify the melody notes. You can make it a bit simpler for yourself by trying to play the top notes and leaving out the bottom notes. You can also try playing every other note on the bottom and then go through and play the notes you left out the first time.

All of these simple techniques will help you develop the muscle memory and strength to play thirds with precision. Try practicing with a metronome to keep consistency and remember that fingering is critical in playing thirds. Check out the videos links above for more fingering techniques.

Thanks again for joining me and keep those questions coming: Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729