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Five-finger exercise

A five-finger exercise is a musical composition designed primarily to exercise all five fingers of the hand. A typical example is Hanon's The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises. Chopin wrote a number

Other uses#

Figuratively, a five-finger exercise or simply a finger exercise, is an exercise used solely to develop a skill: for example, in philosophy, economics, or writing. As a mnemonic, it is a plan of Christian salvation in the Stone-Campbell Movement, where the five fingers represent “faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit”. It was introduced by Walter Scott in the 1820s.

  • Five-finger practice sheet on Pianocoda
  • The Virtuoso Pianist by Hanon at IMSLP