Start in the middle of the keyboard
The middle letter row is where your fingers live. Every other key is a reach up or down from it, so once this row is solid, the rest of the keyboard has a fixed reference point. This drill gives you 30 words built only from A S D F G H J K L, such as ask, flask, salad and glass. No capitals and no punctuation, just nine letters and the Space bar.
Finger zones in general terms
Each finger looks after a column of keys that slants slightly as it goes up and down the keyboard. The exact keys at the edges vary between keyboards, but the core layout is the same.
| Finger | Home key | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Left little | A | The A column and the keys at the left edge |
| Left ring | S | The S column |
| Left middle | D | The D column |
| Left index | F | The F and G columns |
| Right index | J | The J and H columns |
| Right middle | K | The K column |
| Right ring | L | The L column |
| Right little | ; | The ; column and the keys at the right edge |
| Thumbs | Space bar | Space |
The index fingers do the most work, because they cover two columns each. In this drill that means F and G for the left index and H and J for the right.
Work outward from the home row
Learn the keyboard in layers. Move to the next layer only when the current one feels automatic.
- Home row. The drill on this page.
- Top row. Each finger reaches up and slightly left from its home key.
- Bottom row. Each finger reaches down and slightly right.
- Capitals and punctuation. Shift with the opposite little finger, then commas and full stops.
- Numbers. The longest reaches, so they come last.
How to use the drill
Type each word with the finger that owns each key, even when another finger feels quicker. Go slowly enough to get most words right first time. When a run is almost free of red, try the full passage on the main typing test and notice which keys outside the home row slow you down. If you are just starting out, the typing practice for beginners page has a week-long plan built on this same drill.