Description
Here the usual roles are swapped: the left hand carries a scale while the right supports it with chords. This is No. 2 of Czerny's 160 Eight-Measure Exercises, Op. 821, a collection in which each study confines itself to a single technical problem.
Set in C major and triple time, the left-hand part is written almost entirely in stepwise motion — scale work. Up to six notes sound together, thick enough that the right-hand chords could easily bury that line. The whole thing is over in about thirteen seconds, one of the smallest pieces in the set.
What matters is keeping the left-hand scale even beneath the chords. Left-hand scales are practised far less than right-hand ones, so any unevenness in the weaker fingers — the fourth and fifth — shows immediately. Keep the right-hand chords light enough that the left can be followed by ear. Repeat the left hand alone until it is even, then put the hands together.
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 →