Finger Independence Exercises for Younger Piano Students and Adults with Small Hands-Philip Kim

I have composed the following 31 short exercises for my piano students, mainly for young students with small hands and for adults with small hands. There are so many technical studies out there and I have been using the traditional ones like Hanon, Czerny, etc. But these exercises are a bit difficult for kids with small hands and are tedious and boring (at least I thought so). But like it or not, these mechanical exercises are a necessity for a good foundation of piano technique. I was inspired to write these finger independence exercises watching one of my piano students who I think has the potential to be very good but is still very young with small hands. These studies were also meant to be a preparatory exercises for the far more advanced Pischna and Dohnányi.

These exercises were designed to mirror each other and will work on the same fingers on both hands. There aren’t any big stretches. The largest stretch is a 6^th. As with any technical exercises it is very important to practice safely. Practice them SLOW. I can’t stress this enough. Try to play relaxed without tension. Do NOT repeat mistakes. You will practice your mistakes and play them perfectly WRONG! Once you have mastered each exercise at a slow tempo, play them faster.