Week 1 - Scales, arpeggios, chords and trills!

Dominic_Cheli
updated 3 wk ago
94replies

This week, we’re diving into four essential areas of piano technique: scales, arpeggios, chords, and trills.

In the video, Piotr will guide you through each of these, sharing tips on how to approach them with ease and musicality. We'll also look at specific examples from the repertoire to ground the technique in real music.

Your task: For each element, find at least one example from a piece you know, have played in the past, or are curious to learn. The goal is to apply the technical concepts to music that already feels familiar or accessible.

Write down below any questions, or submit your video excerpts so that Piotr and help you further!

Here are the examples Piotr will show in the video:

Scales: Beethoven Sonata in E major, Op. 14 No. 1, mm. 91–93 (left hand running scales)
Arpeggios: Mozart Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, 3rd movement, mm. 67-69 (shaping and transitions between hands)
Chords: Chopin Fantasy in F minor, middle section (voicing, shaping the outer lines)
Trills: Scarlatti Sonata in D minor K. 9 (light, elegant trills that fit the character of the phrase)

After watching the video, spend time exploring where similar techniques show up in your own repertoire. Practice them with the ideas we covered, and focus on sound, ease, and expression.

Let this week be about connecting technique with real music.

Have fun and let me know what you discover!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHVRVs4OTcA

- Mom, fitness instructor, lover of music
- Michelle_Russell
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
Here's a short snippet of the scale passage in the Little Prelude (Bach BWV 939) which I'll be learning in the next month or so. After watchng the recording, I think I need to work on keeping the wrist more level.

I'll post some other recordings soon - we've had our local Chamber Music Festival (with Jon Kimura Parker) over the past two weeks, and I'm the Festival patissiere so I've been busy cooking! Today is the final performance, so I now have more time to practice.
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  Exactly! Glad you're doing chamber!! :)
- Mom, fitness instructor, lover of music
  
  Michelle_Russell
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  Thanks - I'm enjoying watching the musicians. My role has been to provide backstage treats!
  
  Here is another recording with the scale section. I think it looks better. Now to work on evenness. Do you have any suggestions to improve this short section?
  
  After the scale I played the first three measures of the Little Prelude. I have not worked on this piece before, so the arpeggios are slow right now. Does everything look ok at this tempo? I see a little drop of my wrist in the second half of the section, and will try to analyze what's happening there.
  
  Thanks so much!
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  It looks good! The scale you can try shaping even more. With the arpeggio try grouping more so your hand adjusts to the positions quickly (C Major-F Major-G7-C). Maybe try speed up small chunks of the arpeggio that stay within the same chord now?
- Naomi.1
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
Thank you for this course, I’m new to tonebase and I’ve enjoyed finding these techniques in my pieces and focussing on them and it is helping! I have chosen:

Scales: Chopin C# minor nocturne op. posthumous, especially that 35 note one at the end! I have been practising it as 8/9/9/9 RH notes grouped with LH, and thinking in triplets at first, it seems to be helping my brain to organise it.

Arpeggios in Bach Cm Fantasia BWV 906. I’m enjoying these!

Trills: same two pieces, very different types of trills!

Chords: Clara Schumann Adagio from Piano Sonata in G minor. These chords have lots of interesting voices, sometimes it’s hard to decide what to bring out. I’m not great at voicing with my left hand yet.

I’m unwell this weekend so making a video will have to wait, but if I feel better in time I will have a go!
- marcus
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
I have played (primo) Mozart KV 381 with my friend. Is there enough material for this TWI ?
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  If you can find enough chords in the primo part then I am sure it is :)
- marcus
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  The piece is quite chordless and I'm practising a piece that looks pretty much the same. So I study your examples. Thank's for the TWI
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  It's ok! You could do everything else except the chords :) and get ready for the week 2! :)
- Sedef_CANKOCAK
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
Dear Peter, I will not be able to do all the exercises but I would be grateful for advice on trills. I am working on a Rameau piece at the moment (Entretien des Muses) and there is a 4-measure trill in the right hand while the left hand moves up the keyboard. I am doing two 16th notes in the RH starting on the A against one 8th note in the LF. What other solutions would you recommend? Also, should the RH trill remain static at p or pp level against a crescendo in the LF orshould it get louder as well?
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  Hi Sedef! I do know the piece very well :) Maybe that will be my first Tonebase masterclass piece haha
  
  What you mean is that you divide the trill evenly, always adding two 16th notes per 8th note in the LH? I think it is the correct approach at the beginning of working on the piece but after a few days, I would let it go and not calculate precisely the number of trills/notes... think of the RH here as a background voice that adds a little bit of intensity until it takes over when the trill ends. Also, yes, I would crescendo with the LH just a little bit, or rather add intensity, especially in the lower notes C–D–E–F.
  
  I am attaching my recording... now I would play it differently, I think there was too much crescendo haha. Again, think of the character of the trill, it is one of the most "conversational" movements of the entire piece, "the conversation of the muses"
- Sedef_CANKOCAK
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks ever so much Piotr. It will take some time for me to go beyond the two 16ths per one 8th note but I will persevere. :-) It would be wonderful if you would do a masterclass on Rameau.
- Treasa_Lynch
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
Hi Piotr, I have been doing a lot of travelling lately but am now back at home

First, I want to say that I appreciate the time taken on this - I watched the video while AFP (away from piano) and was mesmerised by the suggestions for working through scales and arpeggios that I had never encountered before, On its own, this provides me a lot of benefit for relaunching what I am doing with the piano.

Regarding scales, I am currently working on the C# minor posth nocturne by Chopin and am finding the closing runs a bit challenging. So from that point of view, I think there's a lot to build n there.

For the trills which you touched on, they come up in several locations in Les Cyclopes by Rameau which I am also working on (for ABRSM grade 8 - it is going very slowly). Trills are something I have always struggled with so appreciate any drills - I think I tend to tense up with them (and always have - a hangup from the way I mislearned them as a child, I suspect). (and yes, I have been working through Dominic's trills course).

Anyway, I am looking forward to what comes from this week and looking through the discussion, I also thank you for the time you've taken for the feedback.
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
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  Wonderful! So happy you're working on Les Cyclopes :) More Rameau! Please feel free to send recordings and questions my way.
- Mark_Goodhart
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
I'm excited about joining the TWI. I have selected 2 pieces by Beethoven and a Chopin Nocturne. Together these pieces are about 13 minutes long. When you said to send a video excerpt, do you just want the few seconds of scales, argeggios, and trills within these pieces? In terms of questions, I only have one and that relates to the continuously descending trills, light scales and arpeggios all mixed together in Chopin's Nocturne Op62 no1 from measures 68 to 75. Any suggestions on how to work through these measures using some of the techniques you mentioned in your video.
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Sure, a few seconds of each element would work, but feel free to record a bit more—it gives us more context.
  
  As for the Nocturne in B Major, it’s quite a unique example, isn’t it… I’d make sure you feel comfortable with each of these note combinations, practicing them in triplets, at ease, so it feels like you could play them forever. The real challenge here is transitioning smoothly between them. Often we need to adjust fingering, so I’d suggest going very slowly through those transitions a few times to really understand what’s happening with your hand and fingers, as well as what’s going on harmonically and melodically.
- Mark_Goodhart
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks. I've incorporated your suggestions. Going slowly and using your suggestions have revealed some mis-fingering (and missed note combinations) that I had overlooked for years.
- Naomi.1
- 2 wk ago
- Reported - view
Hi Piotr, I hope I’m in time for Week 1 still! Here are my videos:

Scales: Chopin Nocturne C sharp minor posthumous. I don’t know how to make it much faster at the moment!

https://youtu.be/TU9DEw49Jk8?si=j-T1_Izwlro7KdTz

Trills: Same piece. I feel like maybe they don’t quite fit expressively. I’m using 2/3 not sure if that’s best?

https://youtu.be/Ug5BFaJU7n4?si=cuL8j72xnZMILz6O

Arpeggios: Bach Cm Fantasia, I’m still learning the notes so a bit slow here…

https://youtu.be/_lMKCqITqZk?si=Rxx-gfO5J6Kt_oR1

Chords: Clara Schumann Adagio

https://youtu.be/4-NaQl6Olig?si=XDTX-ceC7-JluACD

Thank you so much for your help!
- Piotr_Kozlowski
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Beautiful!! I really like your sensitivity.
  The scale doesn’t need to go much faster than that. Trills are fitting very well, and 2–3 seems to be working nicely for you. The Bach arpeggios are also very good. Chords are expressive and well voiced—really good job.
  
  The only thing I noticed is the movements after the chords in Clara Schumann. They are helpful for relaxing the hand, but try to think about the bigger picture: how is the movement bringing you to the next chord? The way you move (or don’t move) can shape the buildup of tension within the progression. It’s not about becoming stiff, but about being aware of exactly how you’re doing it. Just something to reflect on...
- Naomi.1
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you Piotr for your helpful and encouraging feedback! It’s a relief to know that I’m in the right track with those elements and that my intentions are coming across well. I see what you mean with the movements between chords, I will think about that!