Treasures in Technique, Book Two - Lessons in Technical Coordination: All levels Piano Book

Rossi and Warren have engineered a technique book that actually teaches coordination rather than simply assigning exercises. The progression from legato and staccato foundations through pedaling and dynamic balance mirrors how professional pianists actually think about their hands and feet working together.

The pieces have a purposeful, methodical character. Each study zeroes in on a single technical challenge without sacrificing musicality, so students experience themselves solving real problems that matter to making music sound good.

This book serves students at all levels working through their first years of piano study. Whether a student is strengthening fundamental hand position and finger independence or refining the nuance of pedal control, Rossi and Warren meet them with targeted, approachable exercises.

• Record yourself playing the legato passages, then listen back focusing only on weight transfer between fingers. Uneven tone often signals the hand is tensing rather than rolling smoothly.
• When working on staccato sections, keep your wrist loose and let the key do the stopping. Tension in the forearm will create a brittle sound instead of articulate clarity.
• Practice the pedal changes without playing the notes first. Get your foot comfortable with the timing before adding the coordination demand of hands and feet together.
• Separate dynamic balance work from technical execution initially. Play the passage at one dynamic level to lock in the coordination, then layer in the dynamic shape once muscle memory is secure.

Integrate these studies into your weekly lesson plan aligned with the technical demands of the repertoire students are learning concurrently. If a student is struggling with legato touch in their chosen piece, assign the corresponding legato studies here to build the muscle memory in isolation.

• legato touch and weight transfer between fingers
• staccato articulation with proper hand position
• coordination of legato pedaling with melodic phrasing
• evenness and control in eighth-note passages
• dynamic balance and shaping without tension
• independence between hands and feet