Hanon 1-5:

Hanon and his Exercises

First bar of Hanon Exercise 01 Many pianists may have come across the Hanon Exercises. Charles-Louis Hanon (1819–1900) was a French composer and pianist, but he is best remembered as the author of the "Hanon Exercises". These exercises are aimed at piano students, and their aim is to help to increase finger dexterity and flexibility, and to aid in the practice of particular piano techniques with a view to improving performance. Hanon has had a major influence on piano teaching and practice regimes, with many piano teachers, pianists and composers using these exercises, including Rachmaninoff for example. Today these exercises are still published and used quite widely, though they have fallen out of favour to a degree with some critics questioning their effectiveness, and alternative exercise regimes being promoted.

In total there are 60 Hanon Exercises with the complete set of 60 being published under the title "The Virtuoso Pianist". Those 60 exercises are split into 3 groups:

Exercises 1-20 are "preparatory exercises" to practice general flexibility, strength and stamina
Exercises 21-43 concentrate on developing particular techniques, and includes scales and arpeggios
Exervices 44-60 are much more technically difficult, and focus on advanced techniques

Although aimed at pianists, it is possible to play versions of the Hanon Exercises on other instruments with appropriate changes for monophonic instruments and range. However musical instruments all have their own idiosyncrasies and suit different techniques, so the applicability of piano exercises to other instruments is doubtful. It might be best to find exercises specifically designed for your particular instrument.

Hanon Exercises 1-20

On mfiles we have published the first group, exercises 1 to 20. These exercises use different note patterns in the key of C, with both hands playing an octave apart. They all start on C and go up step by step over 2 octaves, before descending back down again to end on C. The intention is that each exercise can be repeated a few times in a regular practice session. Since based on the white notes in the key of C, each exercise can be transposed into different keys to hone the additional flexibility afforded by the particular spacing of black and white notes in those other keys. We have used a metronome mark of 60 beats per minute, but this is indicative only and you can start slowly to begin with and gradually increase the tempo as you become familiar with the patterns and improve fluency.

However you use these exercises, there is no doubt that they can help teachers and piano students to identify particular finger weaknesses to be the focus of practice sessions and improved. Here in list format are the preparatory exercises 1-20 as originally published by Hanon in the key of C. Only one repetition is included in each of the corresponding audio files. Videos are also included for Exercises 1 through 5. Scroll down this page for an alternative visual index of exercises 1-20:

Below you will see the first bar of each exercise 1-20, allowing you to compare and identify exercises at a glance. Click on the name or image for more detail and downloads for each exercise: