Technical Excercises

[pianohenry]

My piano teacher says that i MUST do scales and arpeggios every day for about 20/25 minutes (which isnt that much really, its just im quite busy at the moment and it usually slips my mind)

At the moment they are at an awful standard, so i agree with him that i should do them. I think my technique is going downhill a bit.

How can you practice scales so that they get better and better? and how do you know youre not practicing them with bad technique, so that all you are doing is worsening your bad playing... does anyone have any particular guide to what makes "good technique"? Also when i do staccato, after a while i get cramp. is it because my fingers arent strong enough? unnecessary tension? or again poor technique... etc.

and will doing scales for 20 minutes a day REALLY make my fingers stronger, my technique better and fluency in playing increase?

To be honest, the MAIN reason i dont play scales is because they SOUND boring to me. I usually play stuff which i like the sound of. so i prefer doing them in 6ths, 3rds, 10ths or whatever rather than just octaves. is that ok? or is octaves a better way to practice them?

i think i COULD do them well, i was fine for my gr. 8, but i barely played them since and now theyve sort of gone worse than ever, so i dont know how to go about doing them again.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

Yes, and in my own experience also, it is alot more benefitial to do scales and arpeggios(chords too) everyday, and those that stand alone and not necessarily found in pieces. 20-25 minutes isn't much yes. It is quite little actually. I spend around 40 to 60 minutes on scales and arpeggios and chords daily.

I agree. Keeping them in good condition does improve the technique.

First of all, make sure you are staying as relaxed as possible. Not just the fingers, but the whole of hand and arm, and every other muscle of your body, including feet and facial features. Always make mental notes to yourself to "stay relaxed." Many members do not advocate such study of scales and arpeggios because it tends to tense up the hand and thus lead to injury. That is true, if they are not practiced correctly. Always make sure every part of the hand stays as relaxed and natural as possible. Playing scales staccato is very important. I also practice them in very legato-only wrists action(arpeggios too), and portamente touch. The reason for your tensing up on the staccato scales is because you are only using the strength from your fingers and not your arm. You are pushing the notes to get sound. That is incorrect. Utilize the whole of arm as though you are shaking off water. As though you are dribbling a basketball. Make sure that the arm doesn't tense up and that the fingers aren't forcing the notes. This is very hard to do at higher tempos, as it is harder to stay completely relaxed and one becomes too dependent on forcing the notes.

Will studying scales help you? In my opinion yes because they free up the hand and introduce you to scales and arpeggios found in pieces.

I practice scales in octaves, 3rds, 6ths, and 10ths(basically 3rds only an octave apart). Scales in unison I also practice both in paralell and opposite motions. I practice scales everywhich way, including alternating the notes at faster tempos: such as in a Cmajor scales it would be C to D, then D to E, etc), devide the whole 4 octaves into an octave and work on that one. Then the next one, then all of them after having worked with individual octave ranges. After practicing them at slower tempos I pick up the tempo and take it to the fastest tempo I can manage that still allows the fingers to be in synchronization. Increasing the tempo and increasing clearness and exactness is the key.

[pianohenry]

very helpful response! thank you!

what did you mean you alternate the notes (C to D, D to E)?

[nicco]

I just ordered this today.

https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=33769810686095844&item=3502970

Figured it could come in handy.

[debussy symbolism]

very helpful response! thank you!

what did you mean you alternate the notes (C to D, D to E)?

I alternate the notes lets say 3 or 4 times and then move on to the next pair. Say in a C major scales, I would do C to D four times as in C, D, C,D,C,D,C,D then move on from from the D to E, etc. Hope this makes sense.

[pianohenry]

ahh yeh i know what you mean! sometimes when i go to my piano lesson i hear my piano teacher doing that before i come in!

so it must be a good way to do it

[rc]

I'm in a bit of a scale/chord/arpeggio drill phase right now.  This stuff is everywhere in music, but also useful in cultivating good practice habits like having clear goals, careful listening and kinesthetic ease.  Just imagine being able to play them beautifully at any time, I always think of some of my favorite pieces where there might be a quick scale run that sounds so incredible and imagine the day when I can come across that section in music and be able to play it right off the bat.

Anyways, a few thoughts:

Don't worry about playing for 20 minutes or any set amount of time, just get yourself motivated and practice until you reach your goal (or if your initial goal is too much, just adapt midway to whatever you can accomplish), or until you get mentally exhausted because to push too far past mental exhaution is asking to develop bad habits and build resentment.  Like Debussy, I often get into it and by the time I'm done an hour has passed.  I know I'm making progress if I've lsot track of time!

Let your weakness decide your goals.  If you have troubles with a certain speed, let that be the goal.  If you can achieve speed but are inconsistant, aim for consistency (like not leaving until you can play it accurately 2X, 3X, 4X).  After a point your scale practice becomes less about the technique and more about mental focus and listening.  Concentration is perhaps the most useful skill to develop.

Build on what you can already do.  If you can already play a scale consistantly, it's time to do staccato, crescendos/decrescendos, pianissimo, fortissimo.  I find staccato is more about the liftoff than how I press the key.

Because it can be boring, I sometimes find myself nodding off.  Just yesterday I found the solution for this, I just let myself lay back and have a little snooze right at the piano!  Hell I must be tired anyways, and I can't long at the piano like that so it's just a few minutes dozing...  Then I wake up and all the tiredness is out of my system and I'm ready to rock!

A difficulty I've found is to be able to do something right off the bat.  What I mean is being able to sit down and play the scale cleanly right away.  After practicing arpeggios for 10 minutes I can do it no problem, but then if I suddenly try playing a scale I can't do it because my fingers want to automatically sprawl for an arpeggio...  So that's something specific I have to practice as well - changing gears.

[ichiru]

It's a very useful information about practicing scale. I always told to practice scale all the time but never really know what to practice and why it is important. Thank you!!!

[rc]

Glad you've found it useful ichiru

Something else I've found useful since my last post, pertaining to the OPer being sick of the sound of scales - the same thing began to happen to me, it became a case of "I KNOW HOW IT SOUNDS ALREADY!".  It's an old idea that I'm sure I read here, I just turned off the power to my digital piano and practiced the scales silently...  After we know how to move to get the right sound (whatever we're practicing: legato, staccato, ff, etc), the rest of the practice is just drilling the motion into the subconscious.  I found approaching it like an athlete useful, purely the physical movements.  From there it was simpler to focus on the feel, evenness and paying attention that the hands were in synch, without my mind getting so numb from hearing the same thing over and over.

[pianohenry]

that is a BRILLIANT IDEA

unfortunately i dont have a digital piano but im sure i can use the ones at school

but thank you!

[ichiru]

unfortunately i dont have a digital piano but im sure i can use the ones at school

Very nice idea indeed!!!    But just like pianohenry, I don't have digital piano. But I use a different method with creating new rhythm (using a lot of different syncopation) while playing the scale (mostly in arpeggio) and playing with the dynamic (such as starting with piano then forte, then piano again, then forte. or starting with forte... etc).

[pianowelsh]

I dont know if your ready for this BUT it will revolutionise how you view scales..try them!.

1. Scales in splits!!! these will blow your mind and sort your fingerings once and for all - they are also fantastic for developing a good sense of keyboard georgraphy.

they go 2 octaves paralell motion...2 octaves contrary motion (out - so your RH has now travelled 4 octaves)...then contrary motion 2 octaves (back inot middle) ...two more octaves paralell motion to the top of the piano...2 octaves paralell motion back to the middle....2 octaves contrary motion (LH has now gone 4 octaves down) ...2 octaves contrary motion back to the middle point...2 octaves back to the beginning in parallel motion...
INTENSE!!! - especially when you try with your eyes closed and in melodic minor scales

[pianowelsh]

2. With stops again this will blow your mind.. you will probably need to do this watching a written down version in semiquavers to begin with.   

stop on the first beat of every group of 4semiquavers and pause on it then run very fast and accurately to the first on of the next group..  once youve gone up and down..then stop on the second note of each group then the third and lastly the 4 th... Once youve mastered that do groups of 8 (more notes to run between)

A variant on this is shifting accents so
>      >           >       >            >
12341234....1234,1234    1234 etc

there are tons more ways but these are good start ones... a good one actually is to do one hand staccato and the other hand legato and then swap at the top!!

Also try doing some with your hands crossed ie LH plays middle C and up whilst your RH is octave lower at the same time....like reversing the wiring on your brain -- great fun.

THE best hing to do when your bored with them is to do some with your eyes closed..you notice everything more accutely when you close your eyes. ie uneveness, wrong or uncomfortable fingering..uncertainly of notes...dips in the sound quality.

[pianohenry]

thank you!

i will give all that stuff a try as soon as i can!