Playing arpeggios with a stiff wrist leads to fatigue and a choppy sound. The Hanon exercises are designed to force the pianist to utilize lateral wrist motion. As the hand expands and contracts across the chord shapes, the wrist must act as a shock absorber.
The specific exercises covering arpeggios in Hanon’s system are:
| Mistake | Why It’s Wrong | Fix | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Creates tension and slows you down. | Keep fingers close to the keys (low finger action). | | Twisting the wrist | The thumb tuck requires wrist alignment, not rotation. | Keep your forearm level; let the thumb move independently. | | Ignoring the rest | Original Hanon has built-in rests at the end of each line. | Lift your hands off the keyboard at the double bar line. | | Playing only in C Major | The PDF includes multiple keys. | Cycle through all 12 keys as written. | hanon arpeggios pdf
, remains a cornerstone of piano pedagogy over 150 years after its first publication in 1873. While many students begin with the finger-twisting patterns of Part I, the arpeggio exercises
C - E - G - C - E - G - C (Fingering: 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 5) Playing arpeggios with a stiff wrist leads to
Unlike the early exercises, which keep the hand in a stationary five-finger position, the arpeggio exercises require the hand to move across the keyboard. They focus on two critical technical elements:
These patterns force your thumb to cross under your fingers smoothly and train your hand to memorize the geography of chords. | Keep your forearm level; let the thumb move independently
You mean The Virtuoso Pianist by Charles-Louis Hanon (Part 2 or Part 3). Hanon’s exercises include:
Unlike basic finger exercises that stay within a small range, arpeggios require the thumb to pass under other fingers, facilitating large leaps.