The Two Finger Exercise
THE TWO FINGER EXERCISE
The 2 finger exercise was devised by Franz Liszt and documented in the book, "Touch and Technique" by Dr. William Mason. He learned the exercise from Liszt in 1853 during his stay in Weimar, Germany, when he was a student of Liszt along with Pruckner and Klindworth (Liszt's only students at that time). Published by Theodore Presser and copyrighted in 1917, the four volumes in the series were picked up by my Dad when he was on the road in 1918 and given to me when I was starting high school in 1949.
Dr. Mason quotes Liszt as saying that inasmuch as all pianoforte pieces consisted of scale, arpeggio, chord and octave passages, the practice of these could never be wholly dispensed with; but, Liszt continued, “of all the exercises of which I have knowledge, for stimulating, strengthening and limbering the fingers, this simple little exercise is the most effective.”
Liszt then went to the piano and played the exercise as presented below, but without observing any particular metrical form. He then continued, “You know that I have given up my concerts and public playing, but when occasionally I do play in private for my friends and feel the need of preparation, I practice this exercise solely and for two or three hours uninterruptedly. As a result, I regain my full technique without practice of anything else, either exercise or piece.”
Tausig, who got this exercise from Liszt at a later period, also held it in high esteem, and, according to the testimony of many of his pupils, he used it in his individual practice more than any other form of exercise.
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We have ten pairs of fingers on each hand. They are:
1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 1-3, 2-4, 3-5, 1-4, 2-5, & 1-5.
Each table shows the C major scale with the correct fingering for each hand. The top line of fingering is for the Right Hand, the bottom line of fingering is for the Left Hand. Counting “one, two, one, two, etc.” makes it much easier when you first start. Always do hands separately first. Then together.
http://www.OwensStudios.com Franz Liszt 2 finger exercise Page 2
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2
5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3
4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 4
3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5
2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3
5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4
4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 2
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 5
3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 1
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4
5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5 / 2 / 5
4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 4 / 1
C / D / D / E / E / F / F / G / G / A / A / B / B / C / C / B / B / A / A / G / G / F / F / E / E / D / D / C / C
1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5
5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 5 / 1
These exercises use all ten pairs of fingers but the hands use opposite numbers so that each finger in each hand is not playing the same note. You must get to the point where you can play the hands separately before you try to put them together. Once you can play the hands together, changing the accent from the first note of a group of two to the second note and then to the third note in each use of the complete exercise is very helpful. Counting in eighth notes, eighth note triplets (1-trip-let, 2-trip-let, etc.) and sixteenth notes (1-ee-&-a, 2-ee-&-a, etc.) is also very useful in gaining control over all of the fingers and achieving smoothness of execution. The next step is to do the exercise in several different keys. Some of them are awkward but who hasn’t found a beautiful piece of music that didn’t have something awkward in it! For a more melodious sound, you can start the right hand a tenth above the left hand.
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I wish you comfort and joy at the world’s greatest instrument!
Musically yours,
Fritz Owens