One of the most important obstacles a new pianist can have is learning piano scales. Many ask if scales are really essential and if so , what function do they really serve. Scales themselves aren't melodically pleasing or varied and their only real purpose is prepare your fingers and your brain into playing certain patterns dependent on the key of the scale.
The concept is if you learn a particular scale then you'll find it easier to play a chunk of music written in that key as the finger movements will generally incorporate only the notes of that particular scale. If you have committed that scale to memory and then you attempt to play a piece in the same key you'll find the movement between the notes to be familiar. The idea is that if you learn all the scales (twelve major and 12 minor) then you will be in a position to play more comfortably just about any musical piece.
The only actual method of learning the scales is to methodically play them repeatedly. This can become a little bit of a bore but you can use it as a kind of a warm up to your practice sessions. You might want to dedicate five or 10 minutes every day at the start of your practice to just playing scales.
You'll learn much more thoroughly if you utilise a metronome while practicing your scales. Keep in time as much as you can with it and if you have Problems keeping up then simply slow it down until you are comfortable. Repetition again and again is the way to really learn your scales so set the metronome so that you can do this nicely.
When you're just starting you do not have to learn all of the scales right now. Go through them bit by bit. Start with the primary ones which are C F G then progress onto E An and D for instance. Spend a couple of days or weeks concentrating on learning a totally new scale. Once you have learned it you have to keep playing it frequently else you may forget it. Start each session by playing the ones you already a number of times before going on to doing the other ones. Remember to refer to your distance learning course or your mentor to make certain you're using the right fingering as this is quite important.
To actually practice them you should begin playing the scales slowly to begin with. Use only 1 hand and make sure you start with the right finger. Then try with the other hand. If you're struggling with getting the right notes then slow it down again, really slowly. Then simply keep repeating again and again. When you are comfortable you might want to speed up the metronome little by little.
You'll find that after 1 or 2 minutes of playing a scale, when you have it slow enough to play flawlessly then it will become second nature to play and you won't even have to contemplate it. Over a period of a few months you could successfully integrate all the scales into your brain with just a couple of minutes regular but strict practice each day.
The concept is if you learn a particular scale then you'll find it easier to play a chunk of music written in that key as the finger movements will generally incorporate only the notes of that particular scale. If you have committed that scale to memory and then you attempt to play a piece in the same key you'll find the movement between the notes to be familiar. The idea is that if you learn all the scales (twelve major and 12 minor) then you will be in a position to play more comfortably just about any musical piece.
The only actual method of learning the scales is to methodically play them repeatedly. This can become a little bit of a bore but you can use it as a kind of a warm up to your practice sessions. You might want to dedicate five or 10 minutes every day at the start of your practice to just playing scales.
You'll learn much more thoroughly if you utilise a metronome while practicing your scales. Keep in time as much as you can with it and if you have Problems keeping up then simply slow it down until you are comfortable. Repetition again and again is the way to really learn your scales so set the metronome so that you can do this nicely.
When you're just starting you do not have to learn all of the scales right now. Go through them bit by bit. Start with the primary ones which are C F G then progress onto E An and D for instance. Spend a couple of days or weeks concentrating on learning a totally new scale. Once you have learned it you have to keep playing it frequently else you may forget it. Start each session by playing the ones you already a number of times before going on to doing the other ones. Remember to refer to your distance learning course or your mentor to make certain you're using the right fingering as this is quite important.
To actually practice them you should begin playing the scales slowly to begin with. Use only 1 hand and make sure you start with the right finger. Then try with the other hand. If you're struggling with getting the right notes then slow it down again, really slowly. Then simply keep repeating again and again. When you are comfortable you might want to speed up the metronome little by little.
You'll find that after 1 or 2 minutes of playing a scale, when you have it slow enough to play flawlessly then it will become second nature to play and you won't even have to contemplate it. Over a period of a few months you could successfully integrate all the scales into your brain with just a couple of minutes regular but strict practice each day.
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