Help with playing scales hands together!

[kujiraya]

Hello everyone,

I am having some problems playing my scales hands together. I can play them hands separately, but when I play them hands together, the scales tend to become a bit messy! It seems like one hand tends to go faster or slower than the other hand and the two hands can end up playing different notes by the time I get to the 3rd or 4th octaves! What do I do?

[nocturnetr]

I have just came over this problem. The key is the most cliche piece learning technique. Play it slower slower slower- ss- s- then fast.

[kujiraya]

OK, thanks!

[nyiregyhazi]

https://pianoscience.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/scale-fingering-made-easy.html

This gives you every fingering, but above all it tells you how to make the mental organisations that give a sense of security- while condensing down to the absolute minimum amount of information that you can consciously be aware of at high speeds. It's all about thumbs as your reference points. Think in the right way (with just two styles of thought for 22 out of 24 keys) and it will feel plain odd to go wrong.

Also, for knowing the notes of the scale practise one octave with one finger, very slow. Make sure you are learning to visualise the first octave of the scale in a single thought- not playing a certain way through and then having no idea what comes next. The idea is to build up to the point where you never visualise any less than the whole basic octave of the scale in a single thought. Also, get used to visualising any key's look independently from the keynote. Practise the same exercise starting on the 2nd or 3rd note or whatever one for different keys. You need to get a comprehensive feel of the layout for every key- not just in reference to starting from the key note, but in general.  It should feel as easy to enter a scale from any degree of that scale. If not, your mental picture of the layout is not secure enough.

Be aware of which white key any sharps or flats have come from, so there is awareness of every letter coming once and only once. Many "silly" mistakes are caused by missing the fact that every letter must come only once. You then end up up with bizarre mistakes such as both a B flat and a b natural, for example, or a letter being skipped outright. Know both what the layout looks like in itself, AND which white notes any sharps and flats have been raised or lowered from. With this very simple concept, mistakes that are caused by inadequate mental awareness can be eliminated. It's impossible to safe guard 100% against "accidents" but most mistakes are caused by an unclear picture of either the notes to be executed or the fingering, not by actual slips of the hand.