A scale goes from one key to the key that is an octave above that key. It consists of eight tones. There are different types of scales. Some of them are major scales and some of them are minor scales. Major scales have been described as sounding happy, while minor scales are said to sound sad or gloomy.
Practicing keying scales is very important as the muscles in your hand must form a memory of where the keys are in relation to each other. As you spend some time practicing your scales you will find that your fingers seem to move on their own as they have developed a pattern and are following suit. As your eyes move across the sheet music or as you play back a favorite song or tune in your head, you will find that your fingers are moving right along, almost without any thought on your part at all.
To talk about scales, you must talk about keys. There are two kinds of keys when you are learning to play the piano. There are the physical blocks of ivory, or some look-alike material, and wood. There are also keys that scales or songs are played in.
You may hear a singer who is about to give their big performance lean over to the piano player and whisper “The key of C please”. The singer is telling the piano player where he or she wants the pianist to being on the keyboard. The keyboardist will know which keys to begin with as well as the chords that will need to be played to accompany the singer. Playing in the correct key is a vital part of any good musical piece.
When you are learning scales, you can do it without learning all the key signatures. (Key signatures are the written notation of the keys, such as the key of C or the key of G.) You can begin by playing a C scale. A major C scale is all done on the white keys. Begin with your right hand in the Home Keys position. Remember that your fingers are numbered 1-5, with the thumb being 1.
Press the keys and listen to the sounds of the one two three keys being played. You have now heard the sounds of you playing the C D E chord. Rather than going on to the next finger, place your thumb under your other fingers and continue with your thumb hitting the fourth key in the row, or the F key. Let your fingers flow from there to complete the scale with the final note being keyed by your pinkie finger. When you are finished you can pat yourself on the back as you have completed the complete scale by pressing the keys in order, 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 (otherwise known as C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. Continue to practice this so you can play it fluently.
If you would like to learn to play the C scale using your left hand, begin by placing your little finger directly on the C that is below the middle C. Place your other fingers in order from one to five traveling up the keyboard. Push the keys in order, 5-4-3-2-1. As you get to one, pull your middle finger over your pointer finger and put it on the next available key. Begin again by playing 3-2-1 from that position on the keyboard. When you are finished you have played C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C or 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1.
After you practice this for awhile, try to put the left hand and the right hand together. Play the C below middle C with your left pinkie at the same time as you play the middle C with your left thumb. Continue up the scale with both hands. It can be a little tricky at first because you are going over with your middle finger of your left hand and the under with the thumb of the right hand at different times. Practice awhile and it will come naturally.
Learning how to do this fluently can make it much easier for you to play the remaining major scales. If you think about the steps and half steps that make up a major scale then you will have no problem. A major scale is traveled up in the following order: first note – step – step – half step – step – step – step – step – half step. As your fingers hit the B to C key combination and the E to F key combination, this is considered one half step because there are no black keys that are found between them.
A scale can be started from any place on the piano keyboard. You can choose to start with a white key or a black key. If you follow the sequence that was discussed above and pay attention to the half and whole steps when you go up the scale of eight notes then you will be fine. Try beginning at very last key on the left and carrying the scale to the last key found on the right side of the piano. Major scales will seem very simple after you have spent some time practicing them.
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