By emma blair piano

HOW TO PLAY OCTAVES ON PIANO

Want to play octaves well without tension?

LEARN HOW! -->

Focus on staying relaxed.

Keep your fingers gently curved instead of flexing them.  The more you tense up, the harder it will be to play.

Keep your thumb at a 30° angle to the key, like in the photo above.  The thumb joint should not hit the key.

Don't play with flat thumbs!

Play at least halfway up the white keys.

Keeping the hand closer to the black keys, like in the photo below, is correct.

Make sure your posture is correct.

Make sure you're sitting straight at the right height and distance from the piano.

Try playing scales and triads in octaves, then play four note chords and work on studies that focus on octaves.

Practice octaves daily.

Use fingers 1 & 4 on black note octaves.

Use fingers 1 and 5 on white note octaves. This will help your scales have a more legato sound, especially with a little pedal.

Want even more octave tips?

Read them all on emma blair piano!

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