MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN
EXERCISES FOR T HE
MIND AND FINGERS
Adapted from exercis es by Rudolph Gan z, Alfred Cortot,
Vasily Safonov, and Émile-Rob ert Blanchet.
tonebase piano
ABOUT THE ARTIST
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN
“A performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times), pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his
unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his
intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. He regularly performs around the globe with the leading
orchestras and conductors of our time, and gives recitals at major concert venues and festivals worldwide.
Highlights of Mr. Hamelin’s 2022–2023 season include a vast variety of repertoire performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at
Carnegie Hall (Piano Quintet’s by Florence Price and Brahms), Berlin Philharmonic and Marek Janowski(Reger’s Piano Concerto), San
Diego Symphony and Rafael Payare (Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2), Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Gimeno (Messiaen’s
Turangalîla-Symphonie), Netherlands Philharmonic and Joshua Weilerstein (Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue), and Symphony Nova Scotia
and Holly Mathieson (Grieg’s Piano Concerto). Recital appearances take Mr. Hamelin to Vienna, Chicago, Toronto, Montréal, Napa
Valley, São Paulo, and Bogotá, among other venues across the world. The summer of 2022 included performances at many festivals
including Caramoor with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Tanglewood, Domaine Forget, La Jolla, Schubertiade, and Festival International
Piano.
Mr. Hamelin is an exclusive recording artist for Hyperion Records, where his discography spans more than 70 albums, with notable
recordings of a broad range of solo, orchestral, and chamber repertoire. In January 2022, the label released a two-disc set of C. P. E.
Bach’s sonatas and rondos that received wide critical acclaim and in June 2022, Hyperion released the two-disc set of William Bolcom’s
The Complete Rags.
Mr. Hamelin has composed music throughout his career, with over 30 compositions to his name. The majority of those works—
including the Etudes and Toccata on L’homme armé, commissioned by the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—are published
by Edition Peters. His most recent work, his Piano Quintet, was premiered in August 2022 by himself and the celebrated Dover Quartet
at La Jolla Music Society. Mr. Hamelin makes his home in the Boston area with his wife, Cathy Fuller, a producer and host at Classical
WCRB. Born in Montreal, he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the German Record Critics’ Association, and has
received seven Juno Awards and 11 Grammy nominations, and the 2018 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from
Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. In December 2020, he was awarded the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career
Achievement Award for Keyboard Artistry from the Ontario Arts Foundation. Mr. Hamelin is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a
Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.
ABOUT THE COURSE
Rediscover your technique with the help of one of the greatest living pianists, Marc-André Hamelin.
In this mini-course, Hamelin shares special exercises that helped him develop one of the most
formidable techniques in history. But “technique” is much more than mechanics. As the great Italian
pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni once wrote, “technique in its truer sense has its seat in the
brain. It is composed of geometry—an estimation of distance—and wise co-ordination.” It is in this
spirit that Hamelin demonstrates special warm-up patterns and practice devices he has adapted and
developed from lesser-known piano manuals written by great pianists and composers of the past.
Suitable for pianists across ability levels, these exercises are sure to stimulate your mind as well your
fingers, and elevate your technique to new heights.
WHAT IS TECHNIQUE? (5)
MIRRORING PASSAGEWORK (10)
WHAT IS SYMMETRICAL
FOUR-NOTE
INVERSION AND WHY
PERMUTATIONS (13)
SHOULD YOU CARE? (5)
ONE-HANDED POLYPHONY (16)
MIRRORING SCALES &
ARPEGGIOS (7)
tonebase piano
Ben Laude (director) and Marc-André Hamelin
Daniel Kurganov (videographer) and Ben prepare to record with Marc
A few of Marc's compositions
The exercises that follow may be useful to pianists from beginner to advanced abilities. Approach them
slowly and attentively according to your own level, increasing speed and adding layers of complexity only
when you're ready.
WHAT IS TECHNIQUE?
Horowitz said it himself; technique is a misnomer. What we’re really referring to when we discuss the
physical ability to create music are mechanics. For Hamelin, equally as important is the development of
a musical mind through theory, harmony, and counterpoint. However, many pianists find themselves
struggling with mechanics for one reason or another. For Hamelin, the most important set of exercises
for developing mechanics has been symmetrical inversion. The right hand dominates in the piano literature, while the left hand is often relegated to a supporting
role. As a result, most pianists have deficiencies in their left hand. A foolproof way of overcoming this is
by practicing difficult passages using symmetrical inversion.
WHAT IS SYMMETRICAL INVERSION AND WHY SHOULD
YOU CARE?
Human beings are symmetrical. If you draw a line down the center of our bodies,
either side is a mirror image of the other. The piano keyboard doesn’t appear symmetrical at first glance. There are clumps of
black keys among a sea of white keys – and the black keys are clumped in groups of
two or three. However, it only appears this way because we have not yet chosen the
correct line of symmetry.
05
There exist two notes on the keyboard where, if you draw a line there, either side is a mirror image.
You might imagine folding the keyboard over itself, like it were a piece of paper, and getting the
pattern of black and white keys to line up perfectly. These two notes are D and A♭:
symmetrical
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
symmetrical
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
Observe the pattern of keys on either side of these two lines of symmetry. You’ll find that the sequence
of black and white keys is the same. Austrian theorist and composer Johann Joseph Fux called middle D
the “navel” of the keyboard because of this fact. Swiss-American pianist Rudolph Ganz wrote: “It is my belief that symmetrically inverting any difficult
technical problem will help the other hand develop equally. Experience with symmetrical practice over the years
has been of considerable benefit to me and my students. How often have I listened to the whispered conversation
between my two hands: ‘Difficult?’ ‘Indeed.’ ‘I’d like to try it and conquer it too.’ ‘Go ahead. Symmetrically, it is
easy. Use the same fingering as mine!’
Even children should be aware of the symmetrical construction of their hands. Have them join their thumbs and
spread the other fingers to realize this. With symmetrical practice, the often heard complaint about the neglected
left hand can be withdrawn by and by. Practicing a few examples from piano literature in symmetrical inversion
might quickly prove this assertion.”
06
MIRRORING SCALES & ARPEGGIOS
Let’s mirror an E major scale with D as the line of symmetry. Since E is a whole step above D, the
mirrored note will be a whole step below D (C). The second note of the E major scale, F♯, is another
whole step above that, so the mirrored note will be a whole step below C (B♭). If you continue mapping
the notes this way, you get an A♭ major scale, as pictured below:
Now let’s mirror an E major arpeggio, starting on E. When we mirror these notes over D, we still get
notes from the A♭ major scale, but they aren’t the notes of a major arpeggio. Instead, they correspond
to the notes of an F minor arpeggio (the vi chord in A♭ major).
Finally, let’s mirror an A major scale using A♭ as the line of symmetry. The result is an E♭ major scale,
shown below. The corresponding arpeggio is also engraved below.
07
MIRRORING PASSAGEWORK
BEGINNER
Let’s start with two beginner examples of mirroring passages from the repertoire. First, we take the
first 16 bars of Bach’s Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114):
08
Then, the first 16 bars from Bach’s other Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 116):
09
MIRRORING PASSAGEWORK
INTERMEDIATE
Next, we’ll look at two of Bach’s Inventions, starting with Invention No. 1 in C major:
Then, the beginning of Invention No. 8 in F major:
MIRRORING PASSAGEWORK
ADVANCED
Finally, let’s explore two advanced examples. First is the left-hand from the opening of the “Perpetuum
Mobile” from Weber’s Sonata No. 1.
11
Next up is Chopin Etude in C-sharp minor Op. 10, No. 4.
12
FOUR-NOTE PERMUTATIONS
EXERCISES FOR FOUR FINGERS WITH ONE HELD (CORTOT)
Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and prolific pedagogue. Let’s take a look
at an exercise from his book Rational Principles of Pianoforte Technique that addresses the
evenness and independence of the fingers. In the exercise, we hold one finger and play all other four-note combinations of the other four
fingers. As a preface to the exercise, Cortot wrote, “the use of the held finger reduces any participation
of the hand to a minimum in tone production, and while loosening the active fingers, favors their individual
attack.”
The exercise repeats (2b, 2c, 2d, and 2e) for each of the five fingers.
13
14
THE SAFONOV VARIATION
For those seeking a more advanced variation, Hamelin applies a concept that comes from pianist
Vasily Safonov (1852-1918), a Russian pianist, teacher, conductor, and composer. His book “New
Formula for the Piano Teacher and Piano Student” contains a valuable passage about finger
independence, reproduced here:
Hamelin applies this technique to Cortot’s exercises. You can play each of the five exercises five
times, each time shifting the position of the thumb: 12345, 21345, 23145, 23415, and 23451. This is a lengthy exercise that Hamelin only does on certain days when he needs extra help
“warming up his brain.”
15
ONE-HANDED POLYPHONY
EXERCISE ONE
Swiss pianist Émile-Robert Blanchet wrote a collection of exercises for the left hand that emphasize
polyphony, and published them in Volume 4 of his 64 Preludes: Exercises for the Left Hand Alone. Hamelin cites a re-engraving of these exercises by Rudolph Ganz in a book titled “Exercises
Contemporary and Special.” While Blanchet wrote the polyphonic exercise, it was Ganz’s idea to
add the symmetrical inversion. For both exercises one and two, begin by playing the left hand
alone and then add the inversion.
16
EXERCISE ONE: WITH SYMMETRICAL INVERSION
17
EXERCISE TWO
EXERCISE TWO: WITH SYMMETRICAL INVERSION
18
The autograph manuscript of Marc's Paganini Variations
Sasha Kasman (production assistant) with Marc