Whats The Point Of Scales?

[slyfox2625]

I cant read music period, i practice exercises off memory and i have 1 speed exercise and 1 hanon exercise to give you some background I
have practiced these two exercises alot and well can play fast and clean

 i have a digital keyboard with 60 plus keys no more then 70. i can play arietta the first lyric piece by edvard with ease its probably easy anyway, i can the chopin funeral march prelude as well they are both easy, and a couple other small songs which i learned off youtube..

the first gymnopedie doesent fit on my keyboard all the octaves but i can play that aswell just off learning from youtube i have to write down every single note " e,b,c, all the chords and stuff

 but enough about this, my question is whats the point of scales? C major and all of those names and why should i practice them or why should i even bother? can someone please tell me?

[jimbo320]

Just what kind of 61 key keyboard do you have?
Scales are good for knowing what notes go with what chords. Also practicing them gives you speed and agility...

[slyfox2625]

i have a 61 key yamaha ypt 300 with no sustain pedal just the keyboard itself and they are important in speed and agility? ? i need more depth i mean ive heard but i also hear they are pointless im an amateur now but still i said what i can play up top.... so im now confused..

[larapool]

Knowing scales allows you to understand just about every other aspect of theory.  Whether you're writing music or just playing it, it allows you to quickly think of and play chords, patterns, etc.

Playing the scales allows your fingers to get familiar with... well, playing in general.  Mozart, for example, uses plenty of scale patterns in his music - which is one reason why he is so easy to sight read, because by practicing scales you are also working on your general ability to perform.

Practicing them also helps you work on the loudness/softness between your hands because you can practice them in so many ways.  It also lets you work on speed and accuracy, whether you do it with one hand or both.  You can even play them in different rhythms (triplets, swing, sixteenth notes etc.).  By practicing them in different ways - speed, rhythm, dynamics - you're building musical skill that you can apply to written music that you want to learn.

They're one of the first things I do to warm up when I sit down at a piano.  Every day, always, either major or some form of minor.  It keeps your fingers nice and limber.

[slyfox2625]

ok i like that post, il just have to go to youtube for christ sake and type in chords, but anyway what do you mean quickly play chords and patterns? how does it help you do that? and what chord major should i start on? except for c major lol the thumb under technique gets kind of old with that one? whats a couple i should try?

[pianoplayjl]

Probably to increase finger activity and dexterity.

[slyfox2625]

hmmm sounds decent, i know they get boring so ok, at every level you should at least attempt scales in your spare time lol?

[kellyc]

Scales occur in the music that we play. Whether  one practices them or not they still occur. By learning and practicing scales we are also facilitating our sight reading ability . A person may see 30 notes strung out in a row going up the piano. Instead of having to read each one and work out the fingering , if the pianist has practiced scales , all the pianist need is to identify the scale and simply be concerned with the ending note of the scale run. All the rest is automatic. Myself I don't like to practice scales in a vacuum. I prefer to identify pieces of music which lend themselves to scale practice. Mozart, Clementi, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, etc. , are excellent for this purpose.

There are many scales to learn, but the most common are
Major Scale.
Melodic Minor
Harmonic Minor
Whole tone scale
Chromatic scale
and a whole list of others that follow different patterns other than the pattern we identify with the preceding scales I mentioned.

Scales define limits and boundaries and give the music structure and a feel that both the pianist and the listener can identify.

Its a big subject , hope that helps some.

Kelly

[pianoplayjl]

We have to practice scales because most pieces are basically composed of just that but the composers make exxcellent use of them. One of the purposes of scales I think is to probably prepare us for some of those pieces.

[larapool]

I came across a perfect example of this tonight.  I was practicing a Chopin nocturne (whichever one it was escapes me unfortunately - I was flipping through the pages and just stopped on it) and near the end there are very fast scale passages ascending and descending in the right hand.  Didn't even have to think about the notes once I saw the pattern - just had to look at where it peaked and where it ended!

[slyfox2625]

 ;Dok, thanks alot all this was helpful i guess il just practice scales in hope one day i learn how to read notes lol ? :-p

[danhuyle]

It's used in pieces
Increases your command of the piano
Dexterity

That ascending G melodic minor scale in 10th from Chopin Ballade no1 is just cruel.

Besides, playing scales is an art.

[pianoplayjl]

I came across a perfect example of this tonight.  I was practicing a Chopin nocturne (whichever one it was escapes me unfortunately - I was flipping through the pages and just stopped on it) and near the end there are very fast scale passages ascending and descending in the right hand.  Didn't even have to think about the notes once I saw the pattern - just had to look at where it peaked and where it ended!

Ha! it's definitely Chopin nocturne in C sharp minor.

[larapool]

Ha! it's definitely Chopin nocturne in C sharp minor.

D'oh, you're right!  I should have realized that because it was a C# minor scale, after all! 

[49410enrique]

becuase it's doubtful you'll be able to play musically with control any piece or passage faster than your fastest scale in that key (there are exceptions but generally for example if your fastest controlled tempo is 102 bpm at 16ths, then you will probably struggle with music calling for faster tempos with 16th note subs).

i mean we're lucky we only have to play scales. i heard in Russia, "scales play you!"

[slyfox2625]

ok learn scales...............

[m1469]

They are really fun  .

[ajspiano]

BUMP.

EDIT: i have no idea what you're ability is so this could potentially give you a headache, this kind of thinking is usually reserved for more intermediate/advanced pianists (or musicians in general). Feel free to ask for a more indepth explanation as this is pretty rushed..


Heres 2 octaves of C major.

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C

now, say we assign them numbers.. C is 1, D is 2 and so on..  we might call these scale degree numbers..
now play these groupings together 1 3 5 | 2 4 6 | 3 5 7 | 4 6 8 | 5 7 9 | 6 8 10 | 7 9 11

you've played all 7 basic triads that are used to harmonise a melody in C major. 

now play them by moving in 4ths, so its goes 1 3 5 (C E G) | 4 6 8 (F A C) | 7 9 11 (B D F) and so on until you get back to the first one. move your hands either up or down the keyboard so that you play all the chords within 1 or 2 octaves.

see how they flow together and sound good in that order.. ?

for extra points, do it in different keys..
for even more extra points... try the following (lots more thinking)

play the chords moving in forths with your left hand, with your right hand play the scale beginning on the 3rd..  so in C it will go - E F G A B C D E F G.. etc. change the chords in your left hand in time with the forths in the right hands scale, as in LH plays chord when the hand plays E, then A, then D, then G, then C.. etc.  so it looks like below

RH - E F G as scale
LG - CEG as chord
 then
RH A B C as scale
LH F A C as chord..

[ted]

I have more of an individual outlook on scales. I don't find them particularly useful as pure exercises because they don't work the fingers equally. For that purpose I prefer to devise my own grips which work all ten fingers in various sequences and combinations. I do use them in unconventional ways though, on the silent practice clavier mostly, to force difficult spontaneous problems of coordination, as well as dexterity, on myself. For instance I might play a broken scale in one key in the left hand 5,3,4,2,3,1,.... against  similar in the right in another key - never the same each day though, and it doesn't matter what it sounds like on the piano. Of course the same approach can be used with any grip or figuration, not just scales.

Musically ? Yes and no. Offhand, with Chopin, perhaps significantly, I can only think of the scale in the G minor Ballade, the ones in the Ab Polonaise and the one at the end of 25/11. He usually stuck extra notes in, left a few out, or varied the pattern somehow. Maybe he was sick of the sound of ordinary scales having been done to death in previous music. They can sound nice, of course, but especially when improvising I feel life is too short not to keep trying different things. They are a very small subset of the available combinations and sequences, after all.

[countrymath]

i practice scales for improvisation. Donīt know how to keep on with that phrase? Do a fast scale run! It always work