Piano Technique: How to Play a Trill, Plus Finger Exercises
To play a trill on the piano, alternate the written note and the note just above it as quickly and evenly as you can. Use two strong neighboring fingers, usually 2 and 3 or 1 and 3, keep them close to the keys and let a small rocking of the wrist help. In Baroque and Classical music, start the trill on the upper note.
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses US music words (measure, quarter note, staff); the UK version uses bar, crotchet and stave. · UK version of this page
Updated · By the Classfern Music Department
Key facts
- A trill (written tr above the note) alternates the main note with the note one step above it in the key.
- Best trill fingers: 2–3 or 1–3 (thumb and middle finger). Fingers 4 and 5 are the weakest pair.
- In music by Bach, Haydn and Mozart, trills usually start on the upper note. In many later pieces they start on the main note: check your edition or ask your teacher.
- Charles-Louis Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist (1873) has 60 exercises in three parts; Nos. 1–20 are the preparatory exercises.
- Build speed with a metronome: quarter notes, then eighth notes, then sixteenth notes at 60 beats a minute, before going faster.
- Five exercises on this page play on Classfern’s falling-notes piano, with wait mode and one-hand practice.
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Piano finger exercises to play now
Press a button to load an exercise into the falling-notes piano below it. Use Speed to slow down, Hands to practice one hand while the computer plays the other, and Wait mode so the music waits for you.
Five-finger warm-up in C position
Fingers 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 in each hand (1 is the thumb). Right hand alone, then left hand alone, then both together.
Right hand: C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 F4 E4 D4 C4 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 F4 E4 D4 C4
Left hand: C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 F3 E3 D3 C3 C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 F3 E3 D3 C3
Partly marked Wait mode counts the right notes; you judge how even and relaxed it feels.
Hanon Exercise No. 1, opening (hands an octave apart)
The first seven patterns of Hanon’s Exercise No. 1 from The Virtuoso Pianist (1873), in eighth notes, with the hands an octave apart. Right hand fingers 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2; left hand 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4.
Right hand: C4 E4 F4 G4 A4 G4 F4 E4 D4 F4 G4 A4 B4 A4 G4 F4 E4 G4 A4 B4 C5 B4 A4 G4 F4 A4 B4 C5 D5 C5 B4 A4 G4 B4 C5 D5 E5 D5 C5 B4 A4 C5 D5 E5 F5 E5 D5 C5 B4 D5 E5 F5 G5 F5 E5 D5 C5
Left hand: C3 E3 F3 G3 A3 G3 F3 E3 D3 F3 G3 A3 B3 A3 G3 F3 E3 G3 A3 B3 C4 B3 A3 G3 F3 A3 B3 C4 D4 C4 B3 A3 G3 B3 C4 D4 E4 D4 C4 B3 A3 C4 D4 E4 F4 E4 D4 C4 B3 D4 E4 F4 G4 F4 E4 D4 C4
Partly marked Wait mode counts the right notes; you judge how even and relaxed it feels.
Measured trill: right hand D–E, then left hand G–A
A measured trill: four quarter notes, then eighth notes, then sixteenth notes, landing on the main note. It starts on the upper note. Right hand fingers 2 and 3 (or 1 and 3); left hand fingers 3 and 2.
Right hand: E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 E4 D4 D4
Left hand: A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 A3 G3 G3
Partly marked Wait mode counts the right notes; you judge how even and relaxed it feels.
C major scale, one octave, thumb under
Right hand up: 1 2 3, thumb under, 1 2 3 4 5; down: 5 4 3 2 1, third finger over, 3 2 1. Left hand up: 5 4 3 2 1, third finger over, 3 2 1; down: 1 2 3, thumb under, 1 2 3 4 5.
Right hand: C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4 C5 B4 A4 G4 F4 E4 D4 C4 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4 C5 B4 A4 G4 F4 E4 D4 C4
Left hand: C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 A3 B3 C4 B3 A3 G3 F3 E3 D3 C3 C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 A3 B3 C4 B3 A3 G3 F3 E3 D3 C3
Partly marked Wait mode counts the right notes; you judge how even and relaxed it feels.
Even left hand: broken-chord (Alberti) pattern
The left hand plays a broken chord, low–high–middle–high, the pattern Classical composers such as Mozart used. Keep every eighth note the same loudness while the right hand holds long notes.
Right hand: E4 D4 F4 E4 G4 C4
Left hand: C3 G3 E3 G3 C3 G3 E3 G3 D3 G3 F3 G3 D3 G3 F3 G3 C3 G3 E3 G3 C3 G3 E3 G3 C3
Partly marked Wait mode counts the right notes; you judge how even and relaxed it feels.
How do you play a trill on the piano?
Alternate the main note and the note above it with two neighboring fingers, as evenly as you can, starting slowly and in time. Begin with a measured trill (counted notes), then speed up a notch at a time with a metronome.
- Find the two notes. A trill on D in C major uses D and E; a sharp, flat or natural sign above the tr changes the upper note.
- Choose fingers 2 and 3 (or 1 and 3). Rest them on the keys with curved fingers and a loose wrist.
- Play it measured: four quarter notes, then eight eighth notes, then sixteen sixteenth notes in one measure, as in the trill exercise above.
- Keep the fingers close to the keys. Use only as much weight as the key needs; a small rocking of the hand from side to side does much of the work.
- Practice the ending: stop on the main note, then add the last notes (often a little turn) once the trill itself is even.
- Speed up one metronome notch at a time. A slower, even trill sounds better than a fast, lumpy one.
Which fingers should I use for a piano trill?
Use fingers 2 and 3, or 1 and 3, in either hand. They are the strongest and most even pairs; avoid 4 and 5 unless the music leaves no other choice.
Some pianists also use 3–1–3–2 so that three fingers share the work, which helps in long trills. In two-part music, where the other fingers of the same hand are busy holding notes, you may have to trill with 3–4 or 4–5: practice those slowly with the exercise above, changing the fingers you use.
Does a trill start on the upper note or the main note?
In Baroque and Classical music (Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart) a trill usually starts on the upper note. In much later music it usually starts on the main note. The style of the piece, the edition and your teacher decide.
A small note printed before the trill, or a short line through it, shows which note to start on in many editions. If you are not sure, play both and listen: the upper-note start leans on the note above like a sigh; the main-note start sounds plainer.
What are the best piano finger exercises for beginners?
Start with five-finger patterns in C position, a one-octave C major scale with the thumb passing under, and the first exercises from Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist. Add a broken-chord left hand for evenness. Ten minutes a day is enough.
All five are in the list above, written out note by note so you can read them away from the screen too. Play each one hands separately first. Then try them in other keys: G major (one sharp, F♯) and F major (one flat, B♭) are the next easiest.
| Minutes | Exercise | Listen for |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Five-finger warm-up | Every finger as loud as the next |
| 2–4 | Hanon No. 1, opening | Even rhythm, fingers 4 and 5 not collapsing |
| 4–6 | C major scale | No bump when the thumb passes under |
| 6–8 | Measured trill | The same speed in both notes |
| 8–10 | Broken-chord left hand | Soft, even left hand under a singing right hand |
How long should I practice piano technique each day?
About 10 minutes of technique a day is plenty for most beginners, followed by real pieces. Short, careful, daily practice works better than one long session a week.
Stop if anything hurts or feels tight: technique should feel loose. Sit at a height where your forearms are about level with the keys, feet flat, with the bench far enough back that your elbows can move freely.
What does good piano technique look like?
Good piano technique means getting the sound you want with the least effort. The basics are the same for every level:
- Posture: sit tall at the front half of the bench, forearms level with the keys.
- Hand shape: curved fingers, as if holding a ball, playing on the fingertips; the thumb plays on its side.
- Loose wrists: the wrist follows the fingers rather than locking.
- Evenness: scales, five-finger patterns and Hanon train every finger to play with the same weight and timing.
- Listening: technique serves the music. Record yourself on a phone and listen back.
Classfern’s free piano tools on lessonplanner.info run in your browser: the exercises above use the same falling-notes piano as the full falling-notes piano with over 2,000 free tunes. Exercises are Classfern’s own versions of public-domain material (Hanon, 1873) and simple patterns.
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