Learn more than just the notes:
https://www.petersonpianoacademy.com
Video Transcript:
As a professional classical pianist, I’ve probably done hundreds of exercises over the years. Many of them I’ve played and then forgotten about. But there are 10 exercises that I keep coming back to. These are the exercises that I play every single day to keep myself in shape.
They hit all the main facets of piano playing.
Everything you need for a really strong technique. And if you try these exercises, I guarantee that they’ll whip you into shape really fast as well. So, let’s see what they are. My top 10 exercises to do every single day on the piano. Here we go.
Number 1: Scales
Now, everybody plays scales, but I have a special way of practicing them. This is often called the Russian way of practicing scales. What it is, is basically taking a four octave scale, breaking it in the middle, and then going apart in contrary motion.
We play two octaves up. Once we get to this midpoint, we go apart. We go in contrary motion and back together again. Once we reach the midpoint, we continue up and back down. Once we get to the midpoint, we again break the scale, go in contrary motion, back to the midpoint, and then coming back down.
Now, a lot of people just like to practice scales in a very matter-of-act way, everything the same every time. Mezoforte dynamics, same tempo, same articulation. I like to change it up a lot. So, I practice different articulations. I play staccato.
I’ll practice strongly or I’ll practice piano. I’ll practice with crescendo diminuendo. And what I always do every day is run through all of them in all the scales in all the keys. So I’ll do C major all the way up through B major and then I’ll switch to the minor scales and do the minor, particularly the harmonic minor scale as well, this one. So I run through all of those every day.
And these scales happen so frequently in music that it really pays to invest some time with them.
Number 2: Arpeggios
Arpeggios belong in the technical arsenal of every pianist, whether you’re playing classic, jazz, pop, anything under the sun, because these happen everywhere in music. And they’re great training for the thumb under. Now, what do I like to do with these arpeggios?
A lot of people play them in groups of three. That puts the accent on the same note every time. It puts it on the thumb in the right hand. Thumb, thumb, thumb, thumb.
Try switching that up and instead do groups of four. 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4. Because that really makes you emphasize a different note every time. And it’s really helpful for strengthening the fingers and working on this thumb under motion, trying to get the independence of that thumb moving under.
Now remember that all major and minor scales as well as all major and minor arpeggios have official standardized fingerings that all pianists use. You need to learn them and you need to use them.
That’s why it’s so important to practice these scales and arpeggios in all the keys.
Number 3: Thumb under exercises
These are so crucial both for the scales and the arpeggios as well, but just developing that thumb under motion. What I like to do is practice doing under the second finger like this. I go as fast as I can.
1 2 1. And then I go under the third finger like this. And I do the other combinations well. So 1 2 3 4 1. tucking the thumb under the fourth finger.
1 2 3 4 1. Going as fast as I can. And by the way, trying to use as little sort of wrist motion as possible because I want the thumb to really work here. And I’ll do these, of course, in both hands. And I’ll even go under the fifth finger.
1 2 3 4 5 1 and back. This is a great exercise for improving the flexibility of the thumb.
Number 4: Thirds
This requires a special kind of coordination in the hands.
We want to work on keeping them smooth and legato. So that’s the whole idea with this exercise. What I’ll often do is do groups of four. One 2 3 4. I’m playing in both hands, of course.
Then I go up a step and continue all the way until I’ve gone through one entire octave. This really helps you build up that legato facility in the hands. And I’ll also play them both in parallel like this as well as contrary motion which is symmetrical actually quite a bit easier. But it’s important to work on both of those. So I love to do those every day.
It can be hard to learn piano from YouTube. Picking up a little bit here and a little bit there but never really knowing is this something I need to know right now. Where does this fit in with my overall development in the piano? That’s why I created the Peterson Piano Academy piano course. It’s a 15-level course with over 200 videos.
We really go into detail on theory, technique, repertoire, and every piece we play in the course is in the original version as intended by the composer. You can use the AB looping feature to loop over a particularly tricky portion of the video for practice purposes. You can obviously slow down the video. And best of all, anytime you have any questions, you can use this ask Jason button to contact me. You can send me an audio recording.
You can send me a video recording and get personalized feedback on your own playing. There are also quizzes so you can test your knowledge along the way. Peterson pianoacademy.com. The link is in the description.
Number 5: Wrist ricochet
A lot of places in piano music we have to play quick repeated notes. Chords, octaves, whatever it might be. Super important to get that sort of wrist motion going. So what I like to do is an exercise like this.
I take sixths. I’ll do it in one hand. C and E just because sixths sound nice. And I do D. Really watching that my wrist is providing the motion that I’m not trying to play with the fingers, but really with a nice wrist motion.
D. And I’ll do that in the left hand and the right hand together. And once I’ve got that going, I’ll add some more fast notes in the middle. So turning the middle into a triplet. Driplet.
D. And you can even add some more notes in the middle. and so on until you’ve really got that going. Well, great exercise to try.
Number 6: Octave scales
Octaves also really prevalent in piano music and it’s it pays also once you’ve got that wrist motion going to practice this in scales. I love to run through all of the major scales just like this going up in octaves and back down and really focusing on that wrist motion. Really helpful thing to do and trying to build up the speed of octave playing.
Number 7: Trill exercises
The speed of the individual fingers is so important.
There’s no better way to work on that than with trills. So, what I like to do is take the different finger combinations. We’ll start with one and two here and do 1 2 3 4 stop 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 stop 2 3 4 And I’ll go through all the way up. And once I get to the top, I’ll do one octave. Once I get to the top, starting on the D, I’ll go in the other direction.
da da da da da da da da ending on the D and then going down 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 and so on and I go through the different combinations. So I’ll do two and three I’ll do three and four and I’ll do four and five and I’ll also do them not only with the hands individually but I’ll also do them with both hands together. This is a little tricky for the coordination using one and two in the right hand and five and four in the left hand. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 And be sure that you’re really playing the notes together.
You want to do D. Want those notes to be attacking at the same time. Great exercises. And you want to really try and push the speed and see how fast you can get those trills going.
Number 8: Rotation exercises
One motion that we haven’t talked about yet, which is really important in piano playing, is this sort of motion. And great pianists always have the ability when they’re holding one note to be able to attack another one using this sideways wrist motion. It’s great for playing deeply into the keys. And when you have melodies like this, you know, Shopin, you’ll see a lot of pianists rotating to play those notes in the right hand. Really helps.
It’s a great way to get a beautiful sound at the piano. Here’s the exercise that I love to do. I hold a note like the C and without even really activating the finger, I just rotate from the wrist. Let me slide up a bit so you can see this better. And I play the second note three times using wrist rotation.
Then I hold that note, the D, and I’ll play the E, three times using wrist [music] rotation. Holding the E, continuing on. Once I get up to the top, I’m on the G. Then I come back down and I do the exact same thing with all the finger combinations, obviously, in both hands. And again, it’s not just about playing the notes.
It’s about really working on that wrist rotation, which is so helpful.
Number 9: Finger independence exercises
I know there are some people on YouTube who say that these aren’t very helpful, but I find them amongst the most helpful exercises there are on the piano. We hold a note and we play the other ones. Okay, so I’m holding the C.
I’m playing all the other four notes. That might be easy enough, but let’s see what happens when we switch the other fingers. Now, try playing the D. And now keeping the D held down, play all four other notes in the right hand. So each time we’re in a five finger position, we’re in the same five finger position.
Now I’m holding E. And now I’m playing the other four. Ooh, this is tricky even for me, right? It’s a really sort of condensed exercise. And if you play a lot of Bach, for example, you’re going to end up doing things like this, not just Bach.
All kinds of composers require us though to hold one note and play the other. So this is a great way. Hold each finger. Play all of the other four while keeping that note held down.
Number 10: Two note slurs
This sort of gesture is very common in music and you’ve got to play it with the right sort of hand motion, falling into the keys and then coming back up. And so what I like to do is an exercise where I really focus on dropping in the wrist on the first note and letting the wrist up on the second one. C D. And then I proceed up by step with the combination two and three. You can do these in both hands with both hands together if you like.
Makes it go a little faster. And I do this up one octave and then coming back down. And I like to go through all the finger combinations. So I’ll go through 1 2 and then I’ll do 2 3 all the way up an octave and back. And then I’ll do 3 and 4.
Then I’ll do 4 and 5 and I go all the way up one octave coming back. And this really helps you develop that idea of the two note slur. The first note needs to be emphasized and the second one needs to be less.
So these are 10 exercises that will really whip you into shape quickly as a pianist. I hope you find them helpful. If you like this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe. And I’ll see you again soon.
#1 FAST Way to Learn Piano – Find Out How
- Concert Pianist Practices these 10 Exercises Every Day - September 21, 2026
- What Learning Piano Actually Does to Your Brain 🎹 - September 10, 2026
- Can You Teach Yourself the Piano? 5 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them - August 1, 2026
