Wake up your hands — drills
Technique & practice: Drills · Exercises · Training routines
Before any real playing, spend a few minutes on these tiny patterns. They wake up each finger, teach the two hands to move together, and build the habits that make scales and songs easy later. Start slow — evenness beats speed.
Meet your fingers
Piano fingering uses the same numbers for both hands — and both thumbs are 1. That mirror is why the two hands often use the same number at the same time (you'll feel it in the contrary-motion drill).
| Number | Finger |
|---|---|
| 1 | Thumb |
| 2 | Index |
| 3 | Middle |
| 4 | Ring (weakest — give it extra attention) |
| 5 | Pinky |
On the keyboard below, the number under each note name is the finger to use.
Drill lab
Hand warm-up in C — pick a drill, tick L / R (or both), press Play to watch and listen, then connect a USB MIDI keyboard or microphone to unlock Play along (single-hand drills). Tempo follows the metronome bar. When you want the same ideas in other keys, move to the Exercises lab.
Daily wake-up (about 5–7 minutes)
Work through the Drill menu in order. For each item, tick R, then L, then both when you’re ready. Keep the metronome slow — evenness beats speed.
- Five-finger warm-up — R, L, then both. Add · doubles if you want extra evenness (about 1 min).
- Rolling three-finger groups — up the hand, then · reversed down; each hand (about 1 min).
- Broken thirds — finger skips — up, then · reversed; each hand (about 1 min).
- Contrary (mirror) motion — both hands; feel the matching finger numbers (about 1 min).
- Trill ladder, then Weak-finger focus (3·4·5) — wake the weak pairs and pinky (about 1–2 min).
When these feel loose, move on to the Exercises lab (any key, major or minor) for scales, arpeggios, and coordination — or head back to scales and songs.