D.1 Connect a complete prelude and fugue
Prepare the complete F-minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 857, as one paired work. Reduce a phrase in each to its bass and principal line, then compare their different kinds of motion. Use the D-minor held-voice exercise as separate practice in independent lines; return to the F-minor score for balance and harmonic pacing.
- Technique
- F harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- D minor cantabile, hands separately: hold one voice while the inner fingers move
D.2 Pace a complete three-movement sonata
Learn all three movements of Beethoven’s F-major Sonata, Op. 10 No. 2. Map the first movement’s key areas and compare corresponding passages before planning the contrasts and pauses across the complete sonata. Rehearse the finale’s independent entries without letting every new entrance become a heavy accent. The galant keyboard task is phrase-building practice of its own; it is not the sonata’s bass. The C-major voicing warm-up trains balance in an easy key; then bring that balance into the sonata. The card’s C-minor Neapolitan example shows the chord and how it leads to the dominant; call a chord in the sonata Neapolitan only when its notes are those.
- Technique
- F major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- C major moving top voice above held chordal voices, hands together
D.3 Keep figuration below a singing line
Prepare Scriabin’s Étude in B-flat minor, Op. 8 No. 11. Keep the repeated-chord accompaniment, inner chords and left-hand octaves, below the long singing line, separate the surface figuration from its harmonic direction, and test pedal against the harmonic changes rather than one depth for every figure. The C-major voicing warm-up trains the same balance in an easy key; then bring it to B-flat minor.
- Technique
- B-flat harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- C major moving top voice above held chordal voices, hands together
D.4 Let ornament and sequence direct the phrase
Prepare both the F-sharp-minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 859. Compare an ornamented or sequential passage with a simpler reduction of its line and bass. Keep entry rhythm clear while testing an ornament against the other voice. The fortepiano card asks how much sustain and weight a modern grand should add to music written for older instruments; Bach wrote for the harpsichord, and the same question applies. The G-minor trill exercise practises the coordination in a familiar key; read the fugue’s own ornament signs from its score.
- Technique
- F-sharp harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- G minor measured trill, hands separately: equal attacks before acceleration
D.5 Connect two contrasting movements
Learn Beethoven’s complete F-sharp-major Sonata, Op. 78, including its short opening introduction and both movements. Compare the singing opening with the later animated writing, and locate the cadences that govern their pacing. Prepare the printed articulation before adding resonance. A separate C-major voicing model isolates balance; the F-sharp scale and the score’s own passages establish the repertoire key.
- Technique
- F-sharp major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- C major moving top voice above held chordal voices, hands together
D.6 Vary a line over a continuing bass
Prepare Chopin’s complete D-flat Berceuse, Op. 57. Locate the recurring bass framework and compare how two successive decorations change the melodic surface. Practise the bass alone, then retain its quiet continuity while restoring the ornamented line. Use the D-flat inverted-arpeggio preparation for secure spacing, not as a replacement for the original variations. Plan the work’s larger rise and release instead of accenting every new decoration.
- Technique
- D-flat major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- D-flat major arpeggio in second inversion, hands together, 4 octaves
D.7 Keep a dense fugue intelligible
Prepare the complete B-flat-minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 867. Make a map of entries and their voices; compare two entries before deciding whether an answer changes an interval. Where entries approach or overlap, retain the companion line rather than simply making the newest voice loudest. The B-flat-major broken-octave preparation is a parallel-key movement model; return to the minor score for its own phrasing.
- Technique
- B-flat harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- B-flat major broken octaves, hands separately: release and travel
D.8 Keep dance metre through displaced accents
Learn the complete fourth Impromptu from Schubert’s D. 935 in F minor, the last of the set. Count its 3/8 and compare the dance pulse with its cross-grouped accents and scalar runs. Practise a short reduction with the underlying beat clear, then restore the written accent pattern without changing the metre. The separate C-major repeated-note model isolates pulse and release before you return to the F-minor runs. Separately resolve the card’s A-minor augmented-sixth model outwards to E, then compare a real harmonic approach in the score without assuming that every chromatic chord is an augmented sixth.
- Technique
- F harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- C major repeated notes, hands together
D.9 Give each rondo return a purpose
Prepare Beethoven Op. 90, second movement only, in E major. Compare the returning singing idea with the intervening passages: note the harmonic approach and changed setting at each return. Rehearse from those landmarks without a run-up and keep the melody connected over the accompaniment. The lesson is the complete second movement; the first movement is not part of it.
- Technique
- E major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- E major arpeggio, hands together, 4 octaves
D.10 Carry a barcarolle pulse through chromatic colour
Prepare Albéniz’s complete original-piano Mallorca (Barcarola), Op. 202, in F-sharp minor. Maintain the barcarolle pulse while bringing out the melody and independent inner lines. Compare its grace-note approaches with sustained harmonic notes, then balance the arpeggios without washing out the bass. Map the central contrast, long return and coda from the complete score. The D-minor held-voice warm-up trains the hands’ independence on its own; shape the phrasing and pedal in the F-sharp minor score itself.
- Technique
- F-sharp harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- D minor cantabile, hands separately: hold one voice while the inner fingers move
D.11 Keep clarity inside a compact modern sonata movement
Learn Modéré, the complete first movement of Ravel’s Sonatine in F-sharp minor; the other two movements are not part of this lesson. Keep the melody distinct from inner figuration, and coordinate the written cross-staff rolls and grace notes without adding beat time. Compare the opening with its return using bass goals and intervals, then test the final resonance. The D-minor held-voice warm-up trains independent lines on their own.
- Technique
- F-sharp harmonic minor scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- D minor cantabile, hands separately: hold one voice while the inner fingers move
D.12 Carry inner connections into a complete performance
Prepare Brahms’s complete A-major Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 2. Trace the melody and bass through the changing inner parts and compare the outer material with the middle. Use a short outer-voice reduction to plan breathing and balance, then rehearse a full performance without stopping. Write a concise programme note that distinguishes an audible relationship from an undocumented story. The C-major voicing warm-up trains balance in an easy key; then bring it to the A-major score.
- Technique
- A major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
- C major moving top voice above held chordal voices, hands together
D.13 Keep a concert study brilliant and relaxed
Study Tchaikovsky’s Étude in G major, Op. 40 No. 1. Keep the rapid figuration light and even across the keyboard, let the hand move with the figure instead of stretching, and keep the melody inside it audible. This is the level’s second study, beside Scriabin’s Op. 8 No. 11.
- Technique
- G major scale, hands together, 4 octaves
D.14 Enter after the orchestra
Prepare the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor with the app playing the orchestra. Count through the orchestra’s opening, then practise each solo entry after a tutti until it starts on time and in the orchestra’s tempo; next learn the solo exposition as one block; then play the whole movement with the orchestra, keeping the solo heard above it. At bar 416 the orchestra stops on a fermata for the cadenza, which this score does not include: play Beethoven’s own cadenza from another edition, or go straight on to the orchestra’s return.
- Technique
- C harmonic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
- Leading-note diminished-seventh arpeggio of C minor, hands together, 2 octaves
