Hanon for Students, Book 2: 7 Varied Exercises from The Virtuoso Pianist for Early Intermediate Pianists: Piano

The repetition of each exercise across five different musical framings transforms what could feel rote into genuine problem-solving. Students aren't just playing the pattern; they're discovering how the same finger work adapts when the musical gesture changes, which builds the kind of flexible technique that actually transfers to repertoire.

Clean and purposeful. These exercises have the directness of an etude but without the sprawl; each one distills a specific technical challenge into something manageable. The varied presentations create small moments of discovery as students realize the same notes can feel entirely different under a legato touch versus staccato, or with a whispered dynamic versus a strong one.

Early intermediate pianists working through their first systematic technique book, as well as students returning to fundamentals after time away from the piano. Teachers who want their students thinking musically about scales and finger patterns, not just executing them mechanically.

• Begin with legato and lock in consistent hand position before introducing articulation changes. The first presentation establishes muscle memory; variations build on that foundation.
• Pay attention to how dynamics shape the phrasing across the five iterations. A crescendo-diminuendo arc often emerges naturally when students think about the musical intention rather than just the mechanics.
• Use the transpositions (B-flat and D) as readiness checks. If a student struggles with the transposed version, the original key wasn't yet secure enough for variation work.
• Stagger when you introduce varied rhythm. Many students benefit from solid work through legato, articulation, and dynamics before rhythm changes complicate the picture.

Assign exercises systematically as part of a student's weekly practice routine rather than in a single sitting. A student might work through exercise 7 in all five forms over two weeks, then move to exercise 8, building consistency while preventing fatigue. This approach integrates naturally into a curriculum where technique and repertoire develop in parallel.

• Legato touch with sustained finger contact
• Articulation control across staccato and varied touches
• Dynamic shaping and expressive control over repeated patterns
• Rhythmic flexibility and syncopation within scalar patterns
• Transposition fluency in nearby keys
• Hand position stability across repeated figures
• Musical intention applied to mechanical patterns