{"id":245,"date":"2020-01-10T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-13T08:50:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T16:50:39","slug":"make-scales-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/make-scales-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Scales Fun (I Bet You Didn’t Know They Could Sound Like This!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scales are like vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t do them you’ll DIE!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. But scales are super important for your development as a pianist. If you want to develop a better understanding of the piano and be able to play faster, scales are a must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But … they can be boring to practice (I hope I haven’t upset all the traditionalists!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing endless scales up and down the piano is no fun. So I have a way to practice scales that will help improve your technique while sounding beautiful at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Key of G<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We’re going to be in G major, just to make things a little more interesting than the usual C major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means we have one black key, F#. Here’s the key of G:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Nothing wrong with it, and you should definitely practice it up and down, hands separately and hands together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there’s a way we can…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make It More Fun<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We’re going to make this scale sound like music, not practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do that we’ll add a chord progression underneath the scale. The progression I’ll use here is the 6-4-1-5 progression. If you don’t know what those numbers mean, click on this lesson here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So in the key of G, the 6-4-1-5 progression is Em-C-G-D. That’s what we’ll be playing in our left-hand while we practice the scale in our right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try playing the scale up and down over those chords. See how beautiful it sounds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also try playing the notes in random orders to find some beautiful patterns. This is especially useful when learning how to solo \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83c\udfb9 Piano Technique Made Easy \u2728<\/h3><\/center>

Technique is the foundation to piano playing. If technique has been holding you back from playing the songs you love, check out Piano Technique Made Easy<\/a> with Cassi Falk. This course, free with your Pianote membership, will take you through all 12 major and minor keys as you master scales, arpeggios, chords, and more.<\/p>

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CHECK IT OUT<\/a>

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Exploring Rhythm Patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once playing the scale over the chords becomes easy you might be wanting to spice things up a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not it’s time to introduce rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But first a warning. This is seriously cool, and once you start trying this you might get lost for hours playing scales!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It involves playing the notes in various orders, and with various lengths. Play some short and hold others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re still playing a scale, but you’re also now improvising!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make Scales Fun<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scales are super important for the development or every pianist, but they don’t have to be a chore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these exercises, you can turn scales practice into something you look forward to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the best part?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You won’t die \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S.<\/b> If you’d like a more detailed and structured approach to learning all your scales, try Piano Technique Made Easy.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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