Charles-Louis Hanon (1819–1900)
A French teacher, Hanon wrote <em>The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises</em>, the most widely used book of technical exercises in the world.
Charles-Louis Hanon was born in 1819 in Renescure, in northern France, and spent most of his life in Boulogne-sur-Mer, where he taught piano and organ. He died there in 1900.
His name is tied to a single book, The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises, published in 1873. These are not pieces but repeated patterns that climb and then descend the keyboard, designed to make all five fingers independent, strong and equal, and then to train scales, arpeggios, repeated notes, octaves and trills.
The method has been criticised (it can encourage mechanical playing and tension), yet it remains a universal warm-up tool. Used well — slowly, listening, varying rhythms and dynamics — it builds evenness and stamina.
Piano sheet music (12)
- The Virtuoso Pianist (Part I) — Hanon17 · level 6
- The Virtuoso Pianist (Part I) — Hanon20 · level 6
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 1 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 2 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 3 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 4 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 5 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 6 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 7 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 8 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 9 · level 3
- The Virtuoso Pianist, Exercise No. 10 · level 3