This is a daily exercise I invented for the whole tone panpipes. The aim is to strengthen the ear to take command of the instrument. With the panpipes you are forced to play blind, unless you use a mirror. But playing blind is a vital part of playing on any instrument, and is something you should develop if you want your ear to take command. Of course this exercise is easy-peasy on the piano, especially if you just use two forefingers, so to the get the benefit pianists will have to sing each note first (it’s great for singers too)!

Here we see it laid out on three staves for those classical musos out there. But you should try playing it using MOVES, starting on any random note near the middle of your instrument. In MOVES the whole exercise can be written out as +1 -2 +3 -4 … and then maybe use some symbol to remind to reverse signs.

Follow me on Twitter @jazzpanflute