Why scales are important piano

Why on earth would you want to practice scales, anyway? Why learn piano scales? Scales are the building blocks of all piano playing.

No matter what music you play, from whichever era in whichever genre, chances are you will experience scales somewhere in the piece. The fundamentals of western classical tradition, and by extension all music that followed jazz, pop, rock, etc are based on scales. Coupled with the fact that most students only really want to play a particular piece, people neglect their scales. However, this is counterproductive, because scales provide you with three major benefits that will impact your playing of pieces.

Now, we come onto another contentious subject. Again, I get this from my own students. Let me explain why. Firstly, fingerings have been worked out in scale books for decades for a reason. Following the given fingering just makes things much, much easier for yourself.

If you master the technique, these fingerings are designed to help you play your scales as fast and as smoothly as possible without tripping over your own fingers. The given fingerings also train your dexterity , and help with smoothness in transition points, for example when you have to pass the thumb under the hand, or pass the third or fourth finger over.

However, the main reason why the given fingerings are useful to learn is that once you have them solidified, you will automatically use them in scale passages in other pieces. Imagine if you were playing a Mozart sonata, and you had to work out every single scale passage as you came across it.

It would take you forever. This also helps during sight-reading; you have less to worry about. Having a consistent fingering across your scale patterns is more important than the semantics of exactly which finger goes where.

The great thing about scales is that they are exceptionally versatile. For example, start with your basic C major scale. 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.

You should practise your scales at the 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. At the same time, you also want to be able to think of the relative minor — F Minor and the implications of that.

The only difference between Mozart and you may be the fact that Mozart spent a lot of time with both the melodic and harmonic aspect of music as well as tonality in order to be able to create melodies that came effortlessly. Remember there are only a limited number of possibilities — especially for most of the major harmonic and melodic movements. Yes, music is infinite, but patterns are generally categorised in limited numbers of like-for-like occurrences. He knew how melodies move up and down and how to manipulate certain tones at exactly the right moment to create the right emotion through arranging the notes!

Scales can be practised in single notes, 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, Octaves with a thousand variations…. Yes, knowing your scales may not be the answer to all the challenges you will encounter in music, but it is a good start! So if you are faithful in your piano practice and your piano scale practice, you will be promoted and it will help you in the road towards piano mastery.

In addition to moving towards the path of mastery, it will also help you develop your muscle memory. If you study jazz piano, muscle memory can also aid you when learning your II V I licks. A tough task — requiring immense dedication, mentoring and passion!

Some days you can practice at a more regular tempo, but from time to time it is a very good methodology! There are numerous other time and rhythm exercises of extreme importance, as you progress in your piano playing. The thing to remember is that by practising your scales, in addition to all the other benefits, you will also benefit from developing your ability to play in perfect time.

It is vital to realise that none of this will come overnight — remember only the faithful gets rewarded. Sow your seeds, work the land and eventually you will reap a harvest of stunning piano technique! Along with a very rich history going back over years! Just as you may know where Fenchurch Street is or King Edward Street is, just like that the piano has a type of map or area that you should get to know.

By practising your scales, you really get to know the chords, notes and important pathways of the piano and each key. As long as you practise how to sight-read properly! If you do not know your keys and scales then you will struggle when you attempt sight-reading. And you will shake with fear and turmoil…. For example, if a composition has four sharps in the key signatures, you need to immediately think E Major or C Minor depending upon the context of notes of the composition.

It is absolutely essential that you know your keys off by heart and it is absolutely vital in the long run that you become an expert in all 12 keys! At the London Piano Institute, we pride ourselves on the fact that we offer top-notch world-class piano instruction specifically dedicated to adults. If you want to seriously improve your playing — do not hesitate to get in contact with me.

You can contact me personally: enrol londonpianoinstitute. Whatever road you choose when coming to learn the piano, I want to leave you with this final thought. We would love to see you develop your own piano playing and become the pianists that you deserve to be. Once again — feel free to contact us here. If you enjoyed this page, please do like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter — it will be appreciated a thousand times over! Exclusive music instruction for adults of all ages and abilities absolute beginners are very welcome!

January 22, About the Author: Stefan Joubert. I mean "why not write them" to be from the composer's perspective. Scales feel satisfying to play in a piece speaking for myself at least , so composers can take an opportunity to indulge the performer by throwing in a scale at appropriate moments.

Show 1 more comment. Babu Babu 6, 2 2 gold badges 28 28 silver badges 35 35 bronze badges. Practicing things like scales allows you to augment your playing skill with muscle memory. Adam Tolley Adam Tolley 1 1 gold badge 2 2 silver badges 7 7 bronze badges. Good analogy. User User 1, 9 9 silver badges 8 8 bronze badges. Neil Meyer Neil Meyer Sign up or log in Sign up using Google.

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