I've been working on my runs for quite a while now, since that's my weakest area. Here are four that I practice....
Eb, D, Bb, G, F
3, 1, 3, 2, 1
(I'm practicing it going down and up)
Whole tone #1:
C, D, E, F#, G#, A#
1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4
...The key with this one is to use the fingers (2,3,4) on the black notes.
Whole tone #2:
F, G, A, B, C#, D#
1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4
One thing that I've found out is that you don't want your fingers to be too stiff, try to keep them as loose as possible. Also, when moving up and down, don't lead/follow your fingers, move your arm as one unit. Don't use your fingers to pull your hand across the keys. To get the maximum speed, your hand should float a little over the keys, only using downward pressure from your fingers to strike the keys. Lastly, your thumb, when doing chromatic-type movements, should float under your third finger, only coming out for a 1,2,3 or 3,2,1 combination, which happens at B and E (going up) and F# and C# (going down).
Chromatic Scale:
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B
1,3,1,3,1,2,3,1,3,1,3,1
