arpeggios vs scales

[sonata76]

hi i have a question.i play scales every day but i dont often practise arpeggios or broken chords.the question is..do arpeggios and broken chords help improve scales?when you play a broken chord it feels like the fingers are pulling away from each other so does this make the fingers independent?one more thing...when i play say a cmajor triad on the left hand it feels comfortable but when i do the triad in the right hand it feels that my forth finger wants to rest on the keys.i find this strange because im right handed.any suggestions would be helpfull as i find this technique thing is getting in the way of enjoying the music (which is surely the whole point).thanx

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

Well, to answer your first question concerning whether practicing scales will help with arpeggios, they shouldn't. Practicing scales is practicing scales; and practicing arpeggios is practicing arpeggios. Each use different hand movements and each serves a different purpose in playing. Make sure to also practice arpeggios as they are often found in literature. I don't entirely undestand about what you mean by "fingers pulling away from each other," but assume that you mean stretching. Concerning broken arpeggios, it is important to use the wrist as in grabbing the notes. I hope this makes sense. I use the twisting motion, as in the wrist twists. By "rest on the keys" do you mean that your fourth finger wants to play the note? The fingers should at all time be relaxed and not held in the air in tension. This could mean that whilst the other fingers are playing chords the resting fingers are just lying on the keys without playing them. I hope I made some sense.

[overscore]

hi i have a question.i play scales every day but i dont often practise arpeggios or broken chords.the question is..do arpeggios and broken chords help improve scales?

No, but they really do wonders for your playing generally, as well as your musical understanding. I'd say arps are even more important than scales.

[the_duck]

i find that scales are helpful for finger development whereas arpeggios are most beneficial to relaxed lateral movement and hand positioning. practising arpeggios has really helped to improve my 'geography' of the keyboard. in my humble opinion i'd say that arpeggios are a more fundamental exercise- if you can play arpeggios well then you can get through most piano literature. but good scales are essential for evenness, brilliance and fine detail.

i've found the suggestions of chang and bernard (hands separately, up to speed, building up from one octave to two, then three, then four) very helpful indeed and have noticed an improvement in my overall playing.