A Dozen a Day Mini Book: Technical Exercises

These are great little books, and my pupils are often astounded that they can play 'riffs' that look and sound so impressive very early on - such as acciaccaturas and hand-over-hand arpeggios (these come later, in book 1). I also find that the repetition of notes and chords is invaluable for sight reading and confidence building.What's slightly more difficult as a teacher is encouraging pupils to play these as intended - a set of 12 exercises every day, as a warm up - which is the most effective way to use the book.I don't think there's anything else like Dozen A Day out there, and as far as I'm concerned, every piano student will be a much better pianist for working through the whole series (and then moving on to Hanon and Czerny).

These books have been around for generations now and proved their worth. The concepts of the "physical" exercises make it easy to explain the techniques being demonstrated and capture the imagination of today's children just as effectively as they did their parents and grandparents. The exercises start very simple and build in difficulty through each book, introducing new concepts gradually and with plenty of opportunity for repetition. A bonus is that repetition of patterns with small variations builds up into a good basis for sight-reading other music. Very useful alongside other tuition schemes.

Bought on piano teacher’s advice to support my 6 year old’s practice time. Gives some structure, and has certainly helped with note recognition and muscle memory. Fun (simple) illustrations. Slightly small print. Would recommend.

Great starter exercises for little one beginning to play the piano.

A brilliant series to accompany a tutor book. Fun 4bar exercises for touch. Based entirely on c , establishes a strong knowledge of all C’s across the keyboard throughout the books.