Why scales piano

Sounds familiar? Scales are considered a fundamental tool to develop pianistic technique. I cannot overstate the importance of allowing technique to develop at a slow, healthy pace. Where do the notes sit? Scales are more than sequenced notes Did you know that scales develop your inner ear?

Scales form basic theoretic building blocks of much of Western music. To Recap… Scales are important because they can help you develop: Your piano technique Your awareness of keyboard geography Your theoretic understanding of music Your musical vocabulary Your musical ear In other words, scale practice can do a world of good and should be part and parcel of your daily practice after the early elementary levels. Happy practising! Want to learn more about my online lessons?

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below. A scale is a collection of related notes moving in a stepwise sequence, like a ladder. Scales are usually played ascending going up then descending going down.

The main way piano scales differ from scales on other instruments is that you can play them with both your hands at the same time! Here is a great lesson on Skoove to familiarize yourself with the C-major scale in the left hand. Enjoy your practice , Skoove waits until you have hit the right key and gives you feedback read how plugging your keyboard lets Skoove give you more accurate feedback.

Learn lesson Tones and Semitones — the building blocks of scales Before learning how to build these scales here is a reminder of tones and semitones. Semitone : This is the smallest step on the piano. Tone : A whole tone or tone spans 2 semitones.

In making a whole tone you will always skip either a white or black key. For a clear explanation and demonstration about tones and semitones watch this video.

Tones and semitones are two types of intervals but there are many others. For instance, middle C to E above it is a major 3rd, while middle C to Eb above it is a minor third. Here is a tutorial of the basics, linking intervals to faster note reading. Practicing scales every day will greatly improve your skill on the piano.

Not only do they increase your instant awareness of key signatures, but also build powerful finger muscles and muscle memory. Gradually building up speed in scales will transfer to speed in pieces of music you play too. There are so many productive ways you can practice scales that will make playing them fun rather than a chore!

Here are some great ideas to incorporate into your daily practice:. Watch out for tension. Before you start any scale, take a deep breath and drop your shoulders, relax your arms, and check you have a rounded hand position over the keys. Think of dropping each finger onto each note.

The most common types of scale are major scales, minor scales and the blues scale. Major scales are usually associated with upbeat and optimistic music. To build a major scale you follow this pattern of semitones and tones. While major scales sound quite happy, minor scales sound mysterious, sad, or exotic. They are often used to express more complex emotions. The construction of a natural minor scale looks like this:.

This scale uses the same fingering pattern as the C-major scale above. Work out a fingering, and stick with it.

Again, I highly recommend going with standard scale fingerings as featured in your scale books. Go through every key, every scale, and learn which fingers to put where. This is more important than anything else. However, nobody who can do this was born able to do it. They had to practice, just like you and I. They practiced slowly and methodically , too. This advice stands for any music. Look up my concept of deliberate practice in an article I wrote about practicing the piano efficiently.

This is related to the previous point, but you need to use a metronome when you start practicing scales because it will train your internal ability to keep time. Set the metronome to a slow speed, and run through one scale. Keep doing this until you can reach your desired tempo. This is how you learn how to play scales super-fast. By the way - if you're a beginner working through a beginner book, you will also want to supplement your exercises and pieces with scales on a regular basis, as these books often don't emphasise the importance of good scale-playing.

I truly believe scales are much more beneficial to your technique than anything else. Learn to play your scales! You should also be practicing your arpeggios and broken chords , as well as your sight reading.

The easiest way to do this is to buy a book of songs. Open the book, and just play through it. The key things are rhythm and continuity. Do not stop playing, even if you get lost; make something up. Think about it. The singer will never want to work with you again. Czerny is a good place to start, as well as some of the Bach inventions and sinfonias.

Over time you can move onto Chopin studies and Bach Preludes and Fugues. Experiment with the music you like; just remember to keep practicing those scales! Great advice. I am a beginner with 15 months experience and I practice scales every day but will add a metronome as I struggle with rhythm particularly when playing pieces.

I will also site read every day from now on. I have been playing for a year and a half. Now, on my second scale book. Slogging through it. Learning all 12 scales, in multiple octaves is brutal! Then minor scales. Got any motivational ideas? Learn each Major scale along with its relative minor scale.

Work on them in pairs! Same key signature, same notes, they just start and stop on a different note.