Top row — QWERTYUIOP + reach without abandoning home

What this lesson covers

The top row contains the four most-used letters in English: E (most common), T, O, I. Lesson 3 introduces all 10 top-row keys but spends most of its time on E-T-O-I drills. Your fingers spend more time on these four keys than on any others in real English text.

The key skill is the upward reach. Your finger leaves home row, hits the top-row key, returns to home. Only the active finger moves; the others stay anchored. The classic test: after each top-row press, check that F and J are still under your index fingers.

Five days, 30 minutes each. By the end of the lesson you can type any letter on the top row without looking.

Drills — type along, do not skip

Drill 1 — E and T (most-used letters)

Build the index and middle finger reach for E and T. The most-frequent letters.

ed ed ed ed te te te te ed te ed te ed te ed te

Net WPM 0 Accuracy 100% Errors 0

Drill 2 — All 10 top-row keys

Find each top-row key without looking. Goal: 30 seconds, no errors.

qwerty uiop qwerty uiop qwerty uiop qwerty uiop

Net WPM 0 Accuracy 100% Errors 0

Drill 3 — Common words

Real English words using top + home row. Sentence-building.

the her get our pot got lot hot top quit pop rot

Net WPM 0 Accuracy 100% Errors 0

Drill 4 — First proper sentence

Continuous sentence. Practice the rhythm of typed prose.

the lad got a glass of water from the old well

Net WPM 0 Accuracy 100% Errors 0

Why this lesson matters

After Lesson 3, you can type roughly 50 per cent of English vocabulary by touch. The remaining 50 per cent needs the bottom row (Lesson 4) plus numbers and punctuation (Lesson 6). Conjunct-like skills (capitalization, 'special characters) come in Lesson 5.

The E-key drill is the most-important single drill in this entire curriculum. E appears in roughly 12 per cent of English text — more than any other letter. Fluent E-key typing is the difference between 30 WPM and 45 WPM.