When practising the Arpeggios in the Hanon exercise book, does the the exercise require that we roll the thumb under when going from the third finger back to the first or do we simply jump the thumb to the next note?

Thanks.

For good arpeggios, the two most important elements are the thumb and the wrist.

First and foremost, your thumb needs to be free of tension. A good away from the piano exercise is to make slow clockwise and counter-clockwise circles with the them, ensuring that it is nice and relaxed the whole time. Not only will this free it from tension, but it will also help you gain thumb independence. When executing an arpeggio, don't wait until the last moment to move your thumb under your hand - try to make it a fluid, gradual movement.

Your wrist can also help out by making quick counter-clockwise circles (for ascending arpeggios). An exercise that you can try:

C major arpeggio, hands separate, only one octave, with this fingering:

C E G C G E C
1 2 3 1 3 2 1

Do it slowly and gradually increase speed, at first using lots of wrist motion and then decreasing once you get faster.

Brendan