Dotted Rhythms (Right Hand)

Long-short, long-short: the bouncing rhythm of marches and hymns.

Level:
3 of 6
Hands:
Right hand
Key:
C major
Notes:
10
Range:
C4 to G4
One run:
about 10 seconds at 80 bpm

The notes, in order

10 notes, one at a time.

  1. C4
  2. D4
  3. E4
  4. F4
  5. G4
  6. G4
  7. F4
  8. E4
  9. D4
  10. C4

How to practise it

  1. The long note lasts three quarters of the beat, the short one a quarter
  2. Count "one-and-a-two" to feel where the short note lands
  3. Resist the urge to play it as a plain long-short-long-short of equal halves

The scale behind it

This one is built on the C Major scale: C D E F G A B (no sharps or flats). Its right-hand fingering runs 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5, and the scale page has the full diagram if you want to hear the shape on its own first.

How to play it here

Play along on the keys with your mouse, your computer keyboard, a touch screen, or a MIDI keyboard you have plugged in. Every key can show its own name, and the metronome will hold the tempo while you work through the 10 notes.

What it trains

  • rhythm
  • dotted
  • counting

More rhythm

Subdivision and steady time, which is the skill people skip and then cannot hide.

All piano exercises