Piano Technique: Scales, Fingering and the Pedal

Intermediate · 3 lessons · Six weeks

What separates playing correctly from playing beautifully: the thumb crossing in scales, a pedal that cleans instead of muddies, and independence between the hands.

Scales and the thumb crossing

1. The C Major Scale: The Secret Is the Thumb

   Eight notes and five fingers. One small movement solves that, and one exercise cuts weeks off the learning.

   What you'll learn

   • Play the C major scale with each hand separately, one octave up and back.
   • Execute a smooth thumb crossing, with no hole in the sound and no lift of the hand.
   • Know when the hand crosses over the thumb and when the thumb passes under, in each hand.
   • Use contrary motion as a shortcut toward playing with both hands.
   • Derive the fingering of other scales from the rule that the thumb never lands on a black key.

The pedal

1. The Sustain Pedal: When to Lift, Not Just When to Press

   Everyone presses at the start and releases at the end, and the result is mud. This lesson is almost entirely about the question of when you lift.

   What you'll learn

   • Understand what the pedal does inside the instrument, and why it does not make you louder.
   • Execute a synchronized pedal change: fingers first, foot afterward.
   • Keep the heel on the floor and move from the ankle alone.
   • Recognize by ear, on a recording and through the bass test, that the pedal is muddying the sound.
   • Know when not to press at all: in a fast passage, in staccato, and on a written rest.

Independence between the hands

1. Playing with Both Hands: Two Brains, and How to Take It Apart

   The wall where most people quit. This is not a skill of talent but a skill of method, and the method has six steps and an order.

   What you'll learn

   • Understand why this is hard on piano in particular, and why the question never comes up on guitar.
   • Locate the meeting points where both hands press together, and mark them on the page.
   • Work through six ordered steps, from one hand alone to full tempo.
   • Rate a piece against the four levels of difficulty, and pick one that matches the stage you are at.
   • Know when to stop, and why the progress happens between practice sessions.

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