1. Know the destination before leaving
Purpose: arrive on the intended key at the intended time, without making every distant note an accent. A leap includes departure, travel, and landing; practice these as a coordinated movement rather than a last-moment search.
Play one hand at a time in this D-minor study. The hands move in opposite directions. The quarter rests give time to release and relocate; they are part of the exercise, not a license to insert pauses into repertoire.
- Name the next note and locate it visually before playing the present one.
- Sound the quarter note at p. Release on the rest, move to the next position, and arrive with the finger resting lightly on its key.
- Play on the next beat. Keep counting through the travel; if there is not enough time, slow the whole pulse.
- Repeat at mf, preserving the same rhythm and a comfortable landing.
The finger number identifies the landing finger, not a stretch to maintain throughout the journey. Let the arm transport the hand. The distance and the surrounding music determine how much movement is needed.
Listen for the landing
A correct pitch with an unintended accent is only a partial success. Compare the two notes’ loudness and tone. If the arrival is harsh, rehearse touching the destination silently before sounding it, then gradually join preparation and attack.
Checkpoint: four accurate repetitions at one dynamic, with no extra pause and no need to correct the finger after landing. Increase the distance only after this is dependable.
2. Remove the waiting time
The destinations below are familiar from the previous page, but the rests have disappeared. Release and travel within the musical timing. Do not hold the departing key so long that the next note becomes a scramble.
Begin with a comfortably detached touch. Aim for an even succession of attacks; physical connection between widely separated keys is not the goal. Once the route is secure, vary the articulation deliberately rather than letting distance dictate it.
Practice the departure as well as the arrival
- Play the first two notes, stop, and notice where the hand finishes. Repeat the pair from a relaxed starting position.
- Add the third note. Make the middle note a passing destination rather than a place to grip the keyboard.
- Complete each bar, then join the bars without a new hesitation at the boundary.
- Combine hands only when their separate routes are reliable. Watch whichever destination needs the most help.
Diagnose a miss
Overshooting or undershooting: reduce speed and check the distance from a consistent starting position. Right note, late arrival: prepare the destination earlier and examine whether the previous finger releases. Right note, unwanted accent: practice a quiet arrival before restoring the phrase’s dynamic.
Do not respond to every miss by jumping faster. A clear target, economical departure, and timely release often matter more than travel speed.
Transfer: in a piece, circle the last note before a leap and its landing. Rehearse that pair in its actual rhythm, articulation, and dynamic, then restore the notes on both sides.
3. Czerny: finish the scale, prepare the leap
The opening of The School of Velocity, Op. 299 No. 1, connects a familiar descending scale with a much larger change of position. That makes it a useful next step: the run itself is predictable, but its ending must also prepare a new beginning.
Practice across the barline
- Play the first descending run slowly, keeping the source’s f character without striking each note harshly.
- Isolate its last three notes, E4–D4–C4, the following sixteenth rest, and the landing on E6. Locate that high E before you leave the low C.
- Play that connection in rhythm. Release and travel during the written rest; if it is not enough time at your current tempo, slow the whole fragment rather than lengthening only the rest.
- Include the first few notes after the landing, E6–D6–C6. A successful arrival should leave the hand ready to continue the new scale.
The jump from C4 to E6 is two octaves plus a major third. It is much wider than an octave pair, and it follows a long downward journey. Avoid letting the hand settle heavily on the low C as though the phrase had already finished.
Watch out · Practicing only the easy part
A smooth descending scale can disguise an uncertain relocation. Begin a few notes before the leap and stop a few notes after it, so the movement you need receives more attention than the run you already know.
The example omits the LH and retains the source’s printed RH fingering indications; unnumbered notes are not new editorial fingerings. Add the original accompaniment from a complete edition after the RH transition is comfortable. No. 35 remains another useful kind of leap study—continuous octave pairs—but No. 1 shows the scale-to-destination problem more clearly here.
Source: Peters edition edited by Adolf Ruthardt, plate 6963, first music page (PDF page 4 in the retained complete scan). RH notes, rests, f, and printed fingers retained; LH and tempo heading omitted. This is a slow-practice excerpt, not a request to begin at Presto.