Technique
Fingering, hand positions, playing hands together, arpeggios, dynamics, and articulation.
26 articles · 2 tools
Guides — 5 guides
Guitar practice routine: a daily plan for 15, 30 or 45 minutes
A guitar practice routine in six fixed slots, tune, finger warm-up, chord changes, strumming, scales and fretboard notes, and a song, scaled to 15, 30 and 45 minutes, with a sample week.
Piano pedals: what each pedal does and how to use them
What the three piano pedals do on a grand, an upright and a digital piano, how pedal markings look in sheet music, syncopated pedaling step by step, common mistakes and five pieces to practice on.
Piano hand position: posture, finger numbers and scale fingerings
How to sit, shape the hand and number the fingers at the piano: bench height, the curved hand, C position and other five-finger positions, thumb-under crossings, the left hand, common faults and a fingering chart for all 12 major scales.
Piano exercises for beginners: the daily drills that build even fingers
Eight piano exercises for beginners with the notes and fingering written out, what each one trains and how many minutes it needs, plus hand position, a first Hanon pattern and the technique books that fit any method.
Barre Chords: the 8 Movable Shapes and How to Make Them Ring
A barre chord turns your index finger into a movable nut, so one shape gives you twelve chords. Here are the eight shapes that cover 96 chords, a fret-by-fret root chart for both root strings, and the fixes for every kind of buzz.
From the books — 21 articles
A Word About Fingerings
Why the suggested fingerings aren't set in stone, and how to pick the ones that fit your hand and the passage.
Dynamics, Slurs, and Articulations
Play Clementi's "Sonatina in C Major" while learning dynamics, slurs, articulations, and cut time to shape phrases with smooth, separated, loud, and soft notes.
Introduction to Boogie-Woogie Styles
Discover the fast tempos and driving left-hand patterns of boogie-woogie, the percussive blues-rooted style pioneered by Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis.
More Advanced Left-Hand Patterns with Arpeggios
Expand your left-hand accompaniment with open triad arpeggios, spreading chord tones beyond an octave to create richer, fuller broken-chord patterns from fake-book symbols.
Arpeggios
Break left-hand chords into flowing arpeggios in a new version of "Wonderful Tonight," working with a metronome and the damper pedal for a lush pop-ballad sound.
Pop and Classical Tunes
Tackle real repertoire with arpeggios and triad voicings across Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight," Dire Straits' "Walk of Life," and classical works by Clementi and Satie.
Moving Your Hands to the Notes as Needed
Break free of fixed five-finger positions and learn to move your hands freely to the notes, looking ahead to anticipate register changes.
Adding Triads in the Left Hand
Accompany the melody of "Buffalo Gals" with full left-hand triads, practicing the 5-3-1 fingering and the back-and-forth hand shifts between F and C chords.
Adding Single Notes in the Left Hand
Give your right-hand melody a left-hand bass line in "Ode to Joy," with a finger-crossing move that makes the two hands sound truly independent.
Playing the Melody with Both Hands
Play your first true hands-together song with "Jingle Bells," doubling the melody an octave apart in both hands while staying in C position.
Moving Hand Positions While Playing
Shift between hand positions mid-song to cover a wider range, using thumb-turns and finger crossings on the Beatles' "All My Loving."
Extending the Basic Five-Finger “G Position”
Extend G Position so both hands can stretch up to E, then play the spiritual "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" with smart fingering for repeated notes.
G Position
Find your way into G Position, placing the right thumb on G and the left pinkie two octaves below, building on the positions you already know.
Extending the Basic Five-Finger F Position
Stretch your thumb and pinkie out of the basic F Position to reach extra notes, then put it into practice with the folk tune "Marianne."
F Position
Set up F Position with both hands, resting your right thumb on F and remembering the B-flat the key of F requires, ready to move beyond the basic five-finger shape.
The Left-Hand C Position
Move your left hand into C position and play your first left-hand song, the spiritual "Dry Bones," while mastering fingering, steady counting, and a tricky pickup measure.
Fingers and Finger Numbers
Start developing left-hand technique and bass-clef reading with the 1-to-5 finger numbers, keeping both hands progressing at the same pace from the outset.
The Right-Hand C Position
Set up the right-hand C Position, resting your thumb on middle C and pinkie on G, the anchored five-note shape behind your first one-position songs.
Fingers and Finger Numbers
Learn the 1-to-5 finger-numbering system for both hands and why beginners need fingerings marked beside the notes before playing their first songs.
Warming Up Before Playing
Prepare your hands and mind with warm-up routines built around scales and arpeggios, so you arrive at any performance ready to play your best.
Best Positions for Your Back, Arms, and Hands
Set up relaxed, healthy posture at the keyboard, from a straight back and level forearms to the correct bench height for your hands and wrists.
Tools — 2 tools
Technique tools →Interactive tools for Technique — try them right in your browser.
Metronome
Set the tempo and time signature and practice in steady time, or open the Pro tab for subdivisions, per-beat accents, a speed trainer, a gap trainer, click sounds, and recording yourself under the click — all free, right in your browser.
Tuning drone
Hold a steady reference pitch on any note, in any octave, at A = 440, 442 or baroque 415, with an optional fifth — tune to it and practice intonation, scales and long tones right in your browser.