Taught by renowned pianist
Penelope Roskell
Join Penelope Roskell as she leads series of exercises meant for beginner and early intermediate players seeking to internalized the basic movements of fluent scale playing. Once these movements are established, Juliana Han presents the basic principles of scale fingering, leaving you ready to apply the engrained movements in choreographing any new scale.
Principles of Scale Fingering
Scale fingering can be daunting: with 24 major and minor scales to worry about (plus the different forms of minor), it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the different fingerings. Never fear: Juliana Han is here! In this 5-lesson series, Han eliminates the need for rote memorization and guesswork in scale fingering, instead sharing key principles that underpin standard scale fingerings.
Cantabile Playing
In lesson 4 of The Pillars of Piano Technique, Penelope Roskell demonstrates the “Parachute touch,” the essential movement at the core of a singing cantabile sound. Pianists of all levels, from beginners right through to professional, can use this touch. While the exercises seem very simple, they are fundamental to an advanced pianist's movements and can be developed and refined for application in even the most virtuosic of pieces.
The Hand and Finger
In lesson 6 of The Pillars of Piano Technique, Penelope Roskell demonstrates two essential movements that engage the intrinsic hand muscles and allow the fingers greater independence, speed, and control. Practicing the "nimble finger touch" and "singing finger touch" will strengthen your hand arch in a very natural way, and are particularly useful for a pianist with weak hands and collapsing knuckles.
Scale Technique
In lesson 7 of The Pillars of Piano Technique, Penelope Roskell demonstrates technical exercises that will help you play scales as you would want to play them in pieces of music: fluently, with ease, and with a beautiful sound. The exercises help to develop a light arm, solidify fingering positions, and work out the thumb for both ascending and descending scales. Roskell also shares her own original insights on ergonomic alternatives to standard scale fingerings.
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Unlock Course →Equally renowned as a performer of international caliber and as an inspirational teacher, Penelope Roskell is the leading UK specialist in healthy piano playing, and her book The Complete Pianist is one of the most significant recent publications on the art of piano playing.
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