How to practice piano scales

      
Music and You Piano Articles
  How to Practice Scales        Back to Piano Articles

How to Practice Piano Scales
A Practicing technique that can be used on all scales.  Major scales, minor scales, blues scales and jazz scales.  By Alana LaGrange


Plus 1 practice:  Do you want to be able to play scales very fast up and down the piano? I call it zipping up and down the piano.  You can't do it with the normal finger action practicing. 

We are learning a method of practice that is similar to a hold then push.  Have you ever been pushed.  It creates a momentum and one can't stop moving.  Also, instead of the normal up and down finger action, which is vertical, we will be using our wrist to roll our hand and the hand will push the fingers.

Of course plus 1 is exactly as it sounds, gradually practice adding a note at a time.  Let's use C scale as an Example.
The first note played in the scale will be struck hard, then you will hold until you are ready to move to the next key.

1. Start with C:  Strike and hold, Play D and lift your hand.
2. Bring your hand down on the note C, hold, Play D and E as fast as possible. 
3. Bring your hand down on the note C, hold, Play D, E and F as fast as possible, remember
   to start rolling your hand with the wrist.
4. Continue adding a note at a time. 

Once you get the feeling of the hand movement, it will feel very natural, and you will be able to play with speed and accuracy.

Here is the plus 1 practice written in sheet music.
Plus 1 practice for scales in pdf, click here.



See the music and Listen to How to practice scales.
You will need to download Finale Notepad, it's free

Enjoy the lesson and by the way, Plus 1 practice has more uses
than just playing scales. 

I hope you have enjoyed your lesson, for more lessons go to:
http://www.musicandyou.com
 

How to Use our Articles in your E-zines or Blogs

1.  Music and You gives permission for other sites to use our music.
We ask that you please  contact us first, and acknowledge 
permission by Music and You on your site and add a link to
http://www.musicandyou.com

2.  insert the logo above here is the link.    

<a href="http://www.musicandyou.com"><img border="0" src="http://www.musicandyou.com/Images/logo2.gif" alt="play piano" width="72" height="57"></a>


3. Music and You  Bio if needed

Alana LaGrange is the founder of
<a href="http://www.musicandyou.com">Music and You</a>
A online piano lesson website teaching beginning, Intermediate,
music arranging and jazz. She has published piano lesson books,
and is also an arranger and recording artist.

 

Music and You musicandyou@musicandyou.com                  619-994-3995