The left hand plays chord tones in quarter notes, except at phrase endings where it holds a dotted half. Move to each new position with the whole hand. The right hand should remain audible over the repeated bass pattern.
Practice without pedal first. If you use pedal later, clear it with harmonic changes and listen for blur; a waltz does not automatically need continuous sustain. The browser audio does not model pedal or reproduce all of the intended phrase shaping.
A reasonable first target is a steady 60 quarter-note BPM in short phrases. A later musical goal is roughly 72–96 BPM if the hands stay comfortable and balanced. This is a suggested range for this study, not a required speed test.
Read what the accompaniment actually contains
The opening left-hand pattern is F3, A3, C4 on the three numbered beats, with fingers 5, 3, 1. These are successive chord tones, not a stacked chord to hold simultaneously. In bar 2 the same pattern repeats. On beat 1, the right G4 sounds over F3; on beat 2, right F4 sounds over A3. The melody need not match the bass pitch at every instant. Preserve both written lines rather than changing a right-hand note because it differs from the bass beneath it. Vertical alignment tells you timing, not required unison.
Bar 3 changes the bass to C3, E3, G3, again with 5, 3, 1. Inspect the join after bar 2's C4. Reaching C3 on the next downbeat requires a lower position. Plan the release and move instead of trying to retain the upper C while reaching the lower one. Test that bass transition without the melody and without a clock first. Then add the count 3, 1, 2 so that the shift has both an approach and a continuation. An isolated correct landing does not establish a timely phrase join.
The same broad bass schedule repeats through the first twelve bars. Each four-bar group has two F3, A3, C4 patterns, then C3, E3, G3, then held F3. The contrasting melody in bars 9 and 10 therefore does not require inventing a new accompaniment. Follow the lower staff rather than inferring bass changes from every melody change. In the final group, however, bar 14 uses B-flat2, D3, F3. That is a genuine written difference. The F-major signature applies to this low B just as it applies to the melody's B-flat4.
At the final phrase, compare bar 13's F3, A3, C4 with bar 14's lower B-flat2, D3, F3, then bar 15's C3, E3, G3. Locate the new starting notes before combining hands. Each pattern still has one quarter note per beat, so the pitch route changes without a rhythm change. If the bass becomes late here, determine whether finding B-flat2 or relocating after C4 caused the delay. The consistent rhythm lets you simplify to root attacks while studying melody, but return to the printed moving bass when testing the complete study.
Prepare the lower melodic position in the middle
Bar 9 begins the contrasting section at p. Its melody descends C5, A4, F4 with fingers 5, 3, 1. The first two moves are descending thirds by letter name. Read their shape together with the starting C5 instead of naming every staff position as an unrelated target. Bar 10 continues B-flat4, G4, E4 with 4, 2, 1. Its last E lies below the preceding F4, so the thumb now finishes on a different key. The soft dynamic changes the relative loudness, while the three-beat measure and F-major signature remain active.
The local route into bar 11 matters more than a familiar scale habit. From E4 under finger 1 at the end of bar 10, move to F4 under finger 2. G4 with finger 3 follows halfway through beat 1, then A4 with finger 4 on beat 2 and G4 with finger 3 on beat 3. The opening F and G are eighths, not two full beats. Inspect the printed 2 and 3 above those notes. Using the thumb automatically on F would abandon the planned lower position before the line has continued.
Bar 12 finishes on F4 with finger 2 for three beats. This differs from the finger 1 endings in bars 4, 8, and 16. The same pitch can have a different finger because the approach differs. Finger numbers describe a route through a phrase, not permanent labels attached to keys. Find E4, F4, G4, A4, G4, F4 in order without time, using 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2. Then restore the written eighths, quarters, and dotted half. This separates knowing the route from fitting it into the meter.
Connect the middle section's ending to bar 13 deliberately. The held F4 under finger 2 is followed by A4 under finger 3 at the return. The bass leaves its held F3 for the next F3, A3, C4 pattern. There is no written tie across this boundary, so the bass F3 begins again on the new downbeat. The right also begins a new note. Do not let the soft middle section become slower merely because it feels less active. Establish the beat before experimenting with any expressive timing beyond the written durations.