Description
A trill-like figure in the left hand, the neighbouring notes F and G alternating in rapid thirty-second notes, opens the piece. The key is F major, the metre 3/4. The right hand plays eighth-note figures that spread out F major chords, laying a bright sound over the busy left hand. The left hand has 95 notes and the right 85, so the left is slightly busier. It lasts about 26 seconds, with 180 notes.
Every piece in Op. 821 is eight bars long, as the title says, and drills a single technical point briefly and intensively. Among the numbers on this site, Nos. 6 to 10 are all in F major, and No. 6 is the only one of them in 3/4.
It is rated beginner, yet keeping two fingers of the left hand, usually given the accompaniment, moving fast and evenly is harder than it looks. The secret of keeping it going is a loose wrist and no excess force in the fingers. Slow the playback first to hear whether the left-hand notes are even, and use the hand colours to follow what the left hand is doing. The range runs from F2 to C6, 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 →