METHOD OF PRACTISING SCALES

The worst way is to ripple through them over and over again (hands together) while you think about your holidays in
the Caribbean.

The best way is to have a very clear aim when practicing scales and use a variety of approaches to achieve that aim.

Also use the water-boiling approach. If you are going to boil water, you must keep it on the fire until it boils. If you turn
the fire off before it boils it doesn’t. Ever. So if you have a lot of water to boil is far more efficient to distribute it in
small pans on several fires. So plan your practice (of everything, not only scales) so that you achieve your goals within
a practice session of, say, 10 minutes. You will not learn all 24 scales (or a piece) in such a short session, but you will
master an aspect of the scale, (or a bar of the piece). Then you make sure to have a master plan so that the small goals
add up to the big goal. This requires very good planning, lots of discipline and day-to-day consistency. One month of
this disciplined approach will bring awesome results.

So for scales, I do not believe in scales as technical exercises, but you must know them. So here are some variations, in
the order I do them and teach them (they add up to greater things in due time):

Start with the 12 major scales:

1. One finger only, one octave, hands separate. Play the scale and say the notes you are playing aloud. Then do it again
this time say the interval between notes aloud (e.g. major scales: Tone – Tone – semitone - Tone – Tone – Tone –
semitone or major 2nd – major2nd – minor 2nd – major 2nd – major 2nd – major 2nd – minor 2nd). Goal: to know the
notes of the scales. To name black keys and white keys as sharps/flats (e.g, in Gb major, the white key we usually think
of as B is in fact a Cb), to get familiarized with counting semitones (an important skill that will come in handy when
you are studying the different intervals in theory) and to spot straightaway the difference between major and minor
seconds.

In the beginning, do one single scale per day (or even per week). Do not move to the next scale until you have completely
saturated yourself with the one you are working on. It should take only a couple of minutes. Soon you will become
master of one scale (consistent repetition is a sure fire way - but no one wants to do it. Everyone expects to learn by
magic). Then move on to the next scale. You should know all the 12 major scales (as far as notes are concerned) in 2 –
3 weeks (at the most – some people can do it all in one day). Once you know all the 12 major scales, you should be able
to go through them in 2 – 3 minutes.

If you are in a hurry, do all the 12 major scales in one day in 12 different sessions of 2 – 3 minutes. Once you finish
your 2 – 3 minutes on one scale, forget about it completely until the next day. Do not try to make relationships between
the several scales (yet). It will slow down the learning process. Concentrate on one and only one scale per practice
session. Trust that it will add up and in the end you will be able to establish all relationships you always dreamed of.

1
Once you are confident you really know all 12 major scales over one octave (as far as notes and intervals are concerned),
move on to play the scales with all fingers over two octaves, hands separate. Again, stay at this level for as long as
needed to completely master it. Now you do not need to do the previous practice since this one will incorporate it.

2. All fingers, two octaves, hands separate: again just one scale per practice session (which should not last more than 2
– 3 minutes). Goal: to learn and ingrain the fingering, to keep reinforcing the notes (but by now you should know them
back to front). To master a specific movement, namely, the movement that allows you to play scales slow/medium speed
legato. Pass the thumb under. The best scale to start is B major, since in this scale the finger position is the most natural.
At this stage play the scales in this sequence: B major, Db major, Gb major (fingering and scales are the same, you only
need to change the white notes), then follow the circle of fifths in both directions (G – F / D – Bb / A – Eb / E – Ab).
As before, do one scale per practice session, but soon you will be proficient enough to go through all of them in one
single practice session of 2 – 3 minutes.

3. Next you are going to master a way/movement to play scales at fast speed. Now you must pass the thumb over (or
displace the hand laterally). We are still working on separate hands (far more important than hands together for several
reasons). This time play the notes of the scales in clusters (or chords), playing together (as a chord) fingers 123 and then
displacing laterally the hand to play (as a chord) fingers 1234. Do this over one octave, then over two octaves, then over
three and finally over four octaves. This will really improve your visual appraisal of the scale pattern of black/white
keys over the entire keyboard. It will also explain the difficulty of playing scales fast: fingers 123 and 1234 can play
fast no problem (what could be fast than together?) It is going from 3 to 1 and from 4 to 1 that will slow you down. So
isolate this displacement movement and work on it separately. The main problem is to be fast and accurate, but you will
never be as fast here as in fingers 123 or 1234. So this is the only limit to the speed you will play any scale. Later on
you will need to slow down 123 and 1234 to the fastest you can play 3-1 and 4-1 in order to make the scale sound even.
But for the moment, your goals at this stage are visual patterning of the keyboard for each scale, investigation of the
displacement movement and getting used to the arm moving and accurately positioning the hand/fingers. This is very
different form the previous stage, where the passing under of the thumb leads one naturally to use the fingers rather than
the arms for placement and position.

You must keep working at both steps 2 and steps 3.

4. Now you are going to do no. 3 again, but this time you will “separate” the thumb. That is you play: 1 (alone) 23 (as
a chord) 1 (alone) 234 (as a chord). You can do this in two ways (and you must do both): displacing the hand laterally
(passing the thumb over) and passing the thumb under. Observer carefully the movement patterns you must do in order
to accomplish each of these movements. You will see/hear/feel quite clearly why it is impossible to play fast scales with
the thumb under. You will also se/feel/hear why playing with the thumb under is necessary for slow legato playing of
scales.

5. Now that you have informed yourself of notes, fingerings, movements and pattern recognition for all the 12 major
scales, you go back to play them normally (still hands separate) over four octaves. Play them slowly and legato with the
appropriate movements and fast, again with the appropriate movements. From time to time remind yourself of the
movements by going over again items 3 and 4. Playing all the 12 major scales in less than 2 – 3 minutes should be easy.

2
If not, have that as your goal. Do not rush, it is more important to fully master one single scale than to rush through and
be sloppy in all of them. Also remember that you can split your task throughout the day in 2 – 3 minutes sessions. It is
not a good idea to spend a continuous hour on scales, It is far better to have twenty 3 minutes sessions throughout the
day (e.g. every time there is an advert on TV go to the piano and do a session).

6. Now you should start doing variations. Over four octaves (hands separate) play the scales with rhythm variations
(fast-slow and slow-fast), accent variations (accent every other note, accent every three notes, starting with note 1, then
note 2 then note 3, then accent every fourth note) articulation variations (staccato, legato, detached), dynamic variations,
and perhaps the most interesting, cantabile variations: create a melodic line within the scale by accenting certain notes.
You should be able to clearly bring out the melody with the rest of the scale notes in the background.

7. Still with hands separate, play each major scale starting on a different note (but keeping the same fingering – e.g.,
play C major, but start on D with finger 2. Then start on E with finger 3 and so on). This is really playing the seven
modes.

8. Finally, (still with separate hands), play through all the 12 major scales in the order of the cycle of fifths, and also in
a chromatic order. You should also be able to play any of the 12 major scales chosen in a random order. You are now
ready to join hands.

9. Joining hands will be a nightmare because of the co-ordination. The fastest way to overcome this is by playing the
scale hands together in groups of notes, overlapping the groups. This is a long practice session (it will take anything
from 20 minutes to one hour), so brace yourself. The good news is that you only need to do this once (or maybe twice)
for each scale. Then you will know your scale hands together forever (even if you do not practise it ever again). This is
how you do it (I will show over one octave, but you have to do it over two octaves).C Major:

a) Play, hands together, correct fingers the notes CD hundreds of times (since it is only two notes, you can do several
hundred times in 1 – 2 minutes). Until it becomes easy and automatic. Move on to DE. Then EF (difficult for the RH
hand, easy for the LH – so you will probably need to spend more time on these two notes). Then FG. Then GA (difficult
for LH, easy for RH), AB and finally BC.

b) Now do three notes, spending more time on the difficult sequences: CDE – DEF – EFG – GAB – ABC

c) Four notes: CDEF – DEFG – EFGA – FGAB – GABC

d) Five notes: CDEFG – DEFGA – EFGAB – FGABC

e) Six notes: CDEFGA – DEFGAB – EFGABC

f) And last but not least seven notes: CDEFGAB – DEFGABC

g) You should now be able to play the scale perfectly hands together over one octave. Extend the system for two octaves.
You don’t need to do it for more than two octaves, since the other octaves will take care of themselves.

10. Now, just like you did with separate hands you must do all sorts of variations. Do all the ones you did for separate
hands, and add these ones:

3
a) Play the scale in contrary movement.

b) Play the scale in counterpoint: One hand plays two octaves, the other hand one octave at half the speed. Alternate
hands

c) Play one scale (e.g. G major) with the right hand and a different scale (e.g. B major) with the left hand. This will
really show you how ironclad your fingering is.

d) Play the scale with the hands a third apart, a sixth apart, a tenth apart (and since you are at it, why not do all the other
intervals as well?)

e) Play the scale with crossed hands (RH plays the bass, LH plays the treble). Experiment with one hand on the top of
the other and then reverse.

f) Other.

11. Now you must start making a connection between the scales and the pieces you are playing. Identify the key of your
piece and any modulation. Practise together with your piece the scales of the keys you identified in your piece.

12. If your piece has a characteristic rhythm, practice your scales in that rhythm pattern.

13. If your piece has a defined accompaniment in the left hand (e.g a waltz), play the appropriate scales on the RH
instead of the original melody of the piece. This will allow you not only to practise both the scale and the LH of your
piece as it will be an eyes (ear?) opener on how Western tonal music is all organised around scales. It will also show
you straight away if got the harmonic progressions correct (if you have not the scale will not fit.)

14. Improvise by having a standard chord progression on the LH (e.g. C – A – F – G – C) and doing scales in different
rhythm patterns on the RH. You are allowed to repeat notes, but you must follow the scale order (no skips and no
missing notes). Start by having a set rhythm pattern. As your facility progress you will be able to freely improvise the
rhythm.

15. Now you must do the same for the 12 minor scales.

16. In parallel with this work at the piano, spend some time (again no more than a few minutes) writing down the scales
and key signatures on music paper. (This will also improve your sight reading).

17. Always start to learn a new piece away from the piano by identifying the scales and keys in it.

Are you tired yet? Remember you are not supposed to do all that in one evening but in the course of two – three years.
To complete this plan is your long term goal. Now organize in small chunks on your daily practice and make sure it will
all add up in a couple of years time. Consistency is the key.

Finally: Treat arpeggios the same way.

Then try other scales (pentatonic, whole tone, chromatic, blues, etc.)

4
译文

1.一只手，一个八度，双手分开。演奏音阶并说出你正在演奏的音符。然后这个时候再说一遍音符之间的音程
（例如大调音阶：全音 – 全音 - 半音 – 全音 – 全音 - 全音- 半音或大二度 - 大二度 - 小二度 - 大二度 -
大二度 - 大二度 - 小二度）。目标：了解音阶的音符。要将黑键和白键命名为升号/降号（例如，在Gb大调中，
我们通常认为B的白键实际上是Cb），以便熟悉计数半音（这是一个重要的技巧，可以派上用场。你正在研究
理论上的不同音程），并直接了解大二度与小二度之间的差异。

开始时，每天（甚至每周）只做一个单一的音阶。直到您完全深度理解正在进行的练习，才能移动到下一个音
阶。它应该只需要几分钟。很快，你将掌握这个音阶（一致的重复是一种肯定的消防方式 - 但没有人愿意这
样做，每个人都希望通过魔法学习）。然后继续下一个音阶。你应该在2 - 3周内了解所有12个大调（至多有一
些人可以在一天内完成）。一旦你知道所有12个大调音阶，你应该能够在2-3分钟内完成它们。

如果你很忙，在12天不同的2-3分钟内，在一天内完成12个主要的量表。一旦你完成了2-3分钟的音阶，直到第
二天完全忘记它。不要试图在几个音阶（尚）之间建立关系。它会减慢学习过程。每次练习都集中在一个和一
个音阶上。相信它会加起来，最终你将能够建立你一直梦寐以求的所有关系。

一旦你确信自己真的知道一个八度音阶上的所有12个主要音阶（就音符和音程而言），继续用所有手指在两个
八度音阶上演奏音阶，双手分开。再次，只要需要完全掌握它，就保持在这个级别。现在你不需要执行以前的
练习，因为这个练习会包含它。

2.所有手指，两个八度，双手分开：每次练习只需一个音阶（不应超过2-3分钟）。目标：学习和掌握指法，不
断加强音符（但现在你应该知道他们回到前面）。要掌握一个特定的动作，即允许您演奏缩放慢速/中速连奏
的动作。将拇指放在下面。开始的最佳音阶是B大调，因为在这个音阶中，手指位置是最自然的。在这个阶段，
按照这个顺序演奏音阶：B大调，Db大调，Gb大调（指法和音阶相同，只需要改变白色调），然后沿着两个方
向的五分之一圆圈（G-F / D - Bb / A - Eb / E - Ab）。和以前一样，每次练习都要做一次刻度，但很快你就会精
通一次练习2-3分钟，完成所有练习。

3.接下来，你将掌握一种方式/运动来快速播放音阶。现在你必须通过拇指（或横向移动手）。我们仍然在单独
的手中工作（由于几个原因，远比双手重要）。这次播放群集（或弦）中音阶的音符，一起（作为和弦）手指
123演奏，然后横向移动手以演奏（作为和弦）手指1234.在一个八度音程上进行，然后在两个八度音程上，然
后超过三个，最后超过四个八度。这将真正改善您对整个键盘上的黑/白键比例模式的视觉评估。这也将解释
玩快速比赛的难度：手指123和1234可以快速发挥没有问题（什么可以比一起快？）从3到1，从4到1会减慢你
的速度。因此，隔离这种位移运动并分开处理。主要问题是要快速和准确，但在这里你永远不会像123或1234
手指那样快。所以这是你玩任何比例的速度的唯一限制。稍后，您需要将123和1234减慢到最快速度，您可以
使用3-1和4-1进行比赛，以使比例声音均匀。但目前，您在这个阶段的目标是对每个刻度的键盘进行可视化图
案化，调查位移运动并习惯手臂移动并精确定位手/手指。这与前一阶段非常不同，在拇指下方经过时，自然
而然地使用手指而不是手臂来放置和定位。

您必须在第2步和第3步中继续工作。