"You Must Do Your Scales...."

 Does anybody remember Aristocats?


   Seriously. Some of my students could find that those kittens play better than they do! 😉

   Right. The kittens are fictional Disney characters. As such, Disney could make them supremely and flawlessly talented in the music department. Reality check! 

   Anyways. On to real scales and arpeggios. Because that was one of the things I said I'd be practicing this summer. Yes, it's basic. But that's kind of the point. Everybody, teacher, student, or performer, has to be fluent at scales and arpeggios if they want to be fluent at any music. (Hint, students: You also have to use the right finger numbers if you want to be fluent at any music. Not the haphazard fingering that comes easily and will cost you dearly later in your music journey. I know, Toulouse and Berlioz weren't using any fingering. You, however, do not play with kitten paws, and thus do need to learn correct fingering.) 

   
   But you might be surprised at how many different ways there are to do a scale. 

   Not so many for arpeggios and chords. Chords come in three types: solid, broken, and Alberti-bass (alternate-pattern) style. Arpeggios are even less diverse but way harder. They don't have different styles, but an advanced pianist is expected to be able to play them in any inversion. Tricky, definitely.

   But if you're looking for variety in your scales, try searching online how to play any one of these: 
  • Chromatic
  • Staccato scales in triplets
  • Scales in octaves
  • Formula patterns
  • Separated by a 3rd, a 6th, or a 10th
  • Repeated-note
   That's what I meant when I talked about doing one scale set in the previous post (linked above). I'll start with C major, for instance, and practice it in all those different ways I just mentioned. It not only adds variety, it improves my own technical prowess. 

   So... you want to be a good pianist?

   "If you're smart
    You'll learn by heart
    What every artist knows....
    You must do your scales...
   And your arpeggios!" 


Location: Onoway, AB T0E 1V0, Canada

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