Piano Warm-Up Exercises: A 10-Minute Routine

A good piano warm-up takes about 10 minutes and moves from simple to complex: two minutes of slow five-finger work, a scale and its arpeggio in the key of the piece you are about to play, and one Hanon exercise at a moderate tempo. The goal is to wake up your hands and ears, not to tire them: nothing at full speed.

The routine

1. 2 min · five fingers. One of Schmitt’s preparatory exercises at ♩ = 60, hands separately.
2. 3 min · scale. The one in the key of your piece, over two and then four octaves (fingering chart).
3. 2 min · arpeggio. In the same key.
4. 3 min · Hanon. One of the first 20 at a comfortable tempo, listening for an even sound.

In the app, every step has its suggested tempo and the progressive metronome only speeds up once the take comes out clean.