maybe a dumb question?

[deejeff442]

hello everyone have not been here in a while.but i have been keeping up on my piano learning.i have been taking lessons for just over a year now.one hour lesson a week.now here is something i just dont get.my teacher every week for the first 15-20 minutes has me learn scales,chords and now something i dont get? something about every other key or 3rd key together is something.well i am lost.exactly what does learning all these things have to do with reading the music and putting it to the keys?i just might be missing the point right now.
i do play pieces with basic chords in them so i see that helps but the rest i cannot put it together?

[radmilaj]

There are so many things to learn about music and I believe everybody doesn't understand or 'get it' the same way so persist in telling your teacher you don't get the connection yet.
Try to see if you can learn one concept the teacher it trying to share with you. You said you know chords. Well all basic chords are built on 3rds....do you understand that?

[radmilaj]

sorry I didn't finish my thought....keep learning...it is so much fun and the end is never near.

[nystul]

Scales and chords (and probably arpeggios which are just chords that are played one note after the other):these things are the building blocks from which Western music is constructed.  So if you can play them well, they do come up very often throughout the music you will learn.  But also if you know and understand them, they can help you to start to understand what the composers were doing when they wrote the pieces, or help you to secure pieces in memory, or to improvise or compose your own music.

[ajspiano]

My teacher did this when I was younger..  I got to 8th Grade (AMEB) and knew scales/arps backwards, plus all the major, minor, dim and aug triads etc. etc. - but my teacher still had not sat with me and applied any scale theory in relation to a piece of music I was learning, and never did in the end. Big fail. I had to figure it out on my own through reading, and talking to jazz musicians.

All I'll say is that they are invaluable, and once you understand the theory and how to apply it music will 'make more sense' and you'll be able to compose/arrange/improvise with ease, rather than just being able to read and play someone elses music.

The way we typically practice scales in a classical method of learning (atleast the way I was taught as a kid, which was for the most part Ionian mode, 4 octave ascending and decending) is all about technique and doesn't even begin to touch on the value of scales as applied to actual music. In saying that, its no doubt easier to grasp and apply the theory when you have an idea about the construction of scales in their basic form in all keys and can play them fluently.

[deejeff442]

i explained to my teacher from the first day.i do not learn like average people.meaning i need to have something explained to me in a certain way and i will never forget.same wavelength  you can call it.but some day it will all click.by the way i could not stand playing my digital piano anymore .i just didnt want to practice.so a few weeks ago i bought a 6 foot grand.its a 60 year old lester out of phillidelphia pa.i love the color (white) not a perfect piano but for my first i love it.i had a tuner come out.the sustain pedal had some problems so he fixed it and tuned it up and i put in alot more time on this.the digital always seemed like just a toy to me.but i will keep it if i ever want to go somewhere and play.
thanks for the replys everyone

[trhmusic]

I understand your frustration, but I agree with your teacher. I have been a piano teacher for 12 years, and I introduce scales and chords to students as soon as possible. All music, whether it is classical or modern (such as pop or jazz, etc..) is built on chords. Knowing what key (similar to what the primary scale is) the song is in, tells you what chords are most likely going to be used and in what order. I know I may have confused you even more, but as you learn these scales and chords they will make learning some of the more complicated concepts much easier! Talk to your teacher and tell him/her that you are confused about some of it. It may take a while for you to completely understand why these things help, but keep it up!

www.trhmusic.org

[faa2010]

Maybe learning scales and arpeggios is pointless. However, music exams like the ABSRM ask them, both in paper and in practice.  And believe me, learning them by playing piano is the easiest way to learn them as well as understanding the basics in music theory.

Please let me share a "short" experience:

I was playing a piece written for C# minor, the passages where you need to play faster were the most difficult ones for me.  Days after, just by chance, I wanted to re-learn the scales, which I dominated moreless in the end. Just during that time, when I played again the piece, the faster passage improved.