Description
The left hand shuttles between neighbouring notes, B-flat, C, B-flat, A, in a sixteenth-note figure that makes up about two thirds of the notes; here, in B-flat major and 4/4, it is the left hand that leads. The right hand has a melody with leaps and chord tones, setting a clear outline above the left hand's fine motion. It lasts about 18 seconds, with 162 notes, at a fairly brisk tempo.
Third in the B-flat major group, it reverses the layout of Nos. 11 and 12, which put the right hand at the centre: here the left does the busy work and the right takes the upper voice.
A beginner piece, it still needs care with fingering: shuttling between neighbouring notes in the left hand becomes steadier once the fingering is fixed so that the same finger is not used twice in a row. The right-hand leaps tend to upset the left-hand rhythm, so practise the left hand alone at a slower playback speed first, then check the roles of the two hands with the hand colours before putting them together. At about 18 seconds, the whole piece also suits being looped with an A-B loop. The range runs from B-flat 2 to F6, which fits a 61-key keyboard.
A set of 160 short studies by Czerny, each condensed into just eight measures so a single technical point can be worked on quickly. Their brevity makes them well suited to beginners building basic piano technique efficiently.
Browse all songs in 160 Eight-Measure Exercises Op.821 →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Carl Czerny was a Viennese pianist and composer who studied under Beethoven and later taught Franz Liszt. He is best known for his enormous output of piano etudes, which remain widely used in piano pedagogy around the world today. This site includes selections from the 160 Eight-Measure Exercises, Op. 821, and the 50 Progressive Studies in All Keys, Op. 840.
View all works by Czerny →