They are great, aren't they! I still can't believe how often I see students start with parallel scales when this could be taught at the very first lesson a student has!
I spent a lot of time learning to play scales in all keys in parallel and contrary motion, 1/16 ths at Metronome 200. Nancy Henderson, the go to accompanist at CU, who learned to be a great sight reader because she never practiced for her piano lessons told me she thought I was wasting my time with so much effort on scales. That was many years before Clyde Pound pointed me to the George Kovechesky The Art of Piano book. It turns out Nancy was right. I think it is important to know your scales because you have to know your scales to know your keys. Your idea that contrary motion is easier than parallel motion has merit. What I noticed is your approach to both scales and arpeggios is very interesting in your arrangement of Schindler's list. One of the most difficult places for me has been the arpegigated run up in parallel motion on the F maj7 chord in bar 41. The left hand starts on C and the right on A a 6th higher. The hands don't line up, and It creates a very interesting musical figure that resolves, so to speak, in contrary motion to an E maj chord with the hands wide apart. The point I'm going to make now and what I believe was Nancy's point years ago is that you encounter in literature figures that are very different from basic scales played traditionally. Therefore it's better to learn how to make your own exercises out of musical literature. This approach is outlined in the Kovechesky book and it is the reason that I regard it so highly.
I totally agree that Charles's approach to scales is an excellent 1st piano lesson that would give a beginner success at the outset. I also like that his lesson is short and includes a .pdf.
Thanks for watching this beginner lesson, which I know you are FAR beyond! If the traditional scales and arpeggios are only practiced for the sake of learning the notes, keys, and speed, they are valuable, but only to a point. BUT, they can be used to practice nearly any technique required to play any passage when applied appropriately. I already have plans to do a handful more scale videos that go into some of this... for example, I teach and also practice my own scales in much the same manner as violinists are taught theirs: in accelerations. At the 'top' of my scale game, when I'd work them every day, I played them at 160bpm, starting with 8th notes for 2 octaves, then triplets for 3 octaves, then 16ths for 4 octaves, without pausing between runs. Accelerations are great for acquiring more speed as they gradually lead the hands and mind into faster work, after recently re-establishing what the scales feel like at a (relatively) slow tempo. Beyond that, I also have routines for playing scales in 3rd, 6ths, and 10ths apart instead of the traditional octave... in doubled thirds and in doubled sixths before attempting the corresponding Chopin Etudes, in doubled octaves, in any articulation you can imagine, working crescendos and decrescendos (especially the decrescendo during ascent and crescendo during decent because it's the opposite of what is intuitive)... and definitely taking 'excerpts' from pieces and constructing scales or exercises around them to practice in isolation. Plus there are countless things to do with scales if you take the tempo way DOWN instead of up... most students get bored if they play scales at Q=60, playing the quarters... but you can really fine tune touch, color, connection, and more if work is that slow. There are SO many things you can practice with scales beyond what is usually done in lessons that continue to keep them relevant no matter your ability level.
Holy Spirit led me here this morning and I am very surprised and joyful about what I saw and heard, i would have never know this is the way to practice scales. Glory to Jesus. Great channel.
Charles. You are now my 'go to' guy for piano advice 😁. I'm new to your channel but I'm really enjoying your style, your approach and the content. Inlook forward to viewing all your vids. Thanks again 🙏
Is there an effective way to keep your fingers from sliding off the black notes? I would like to take some sandpaper to them but it's brand new piano Yamaha ez 300
Hey! Thanks for the comment! I'd love to know what types of music or exercises you are playing when your fingers slide off the black keys? Usually I see two problems that cause this: you're nervous about playing (either in a lesson or performance) and have sweaty hands, therefore all of the keys feel slippery. Horowitz actually had this problem and had his piano tech hairspray the key tops to make them sticky once before a concert. The other common problem is holding on to the key with too much force after you've played. Once the note sounds, it takes almost no weight at all to keep the key down, and we should always be striving to hold notes with as little effort as possible. If you keep pushing down after the key is already depressed, you can find yourself slipping off. Let me know where you are finding the problem happen and I'll see if I can narrow it down for you even further!
Thanks for watching! I just started the channel on April 1... only a month and a half ago, so things have been going quite well! I'm planning to continue posting videos at least weekly and at least for the next few years, so I hope to see you again!
How do you think is the best to introduce a beginner child student to contrary montion assuming you started with b major scale because of arm position? Do you think its better to start talking about keys instantly or? Because i think ordinary child studnet cant really understand how keys behave and complexity of it. I like this idea for starting scales but how to implement it after b major?
I'd use exactly how I start in this video! First use and limit the student to 5 finger patterns in contrary motion. Depending on the age of the child, I might start with with only B and C Maj (C Maj *will* end up being important to learn early because it will allow us to use notation fairly soon, and we will need keys with mirror fingerings soon). If it's a bit older child, let's say 6-8 years old, I might give them 3 "keys" to start with, probably B, C, and G. But I won't refer to them as keys, just as starting notes. Their job, and they should find this very easy at such a young age, is to simply memorize the notes and the hand positions for each of those "starting notes." A week or two into this, they will probably be ready to start contrary scales in octaves and then I'll shift away from B for the time and use C, G, D, etc because we need the fingerings to be mirror images of each other... B Maj is not mirrored between the hands. Given another one or two weeks, they should have comprehended the "sound" of contrary major scales and then I will throw B back in the mix, one hand at a time for a single octave because of the differences of fingerings... but having the student's ear guide them into what's correct tonally... when they've proven they recognize that, then we begin to coordinate hands together contrary in B. After probably just one more week, we can move on to parallel scales, hands together, for one octave. They will have learned different muscle coordination while working on B but while being in a somewhat familiar key, and then we continue to apply the changes of coordination needed to play parallel. The older the student, the more quickly this process usually goes until we get into adult students where the process needs to change a bit. Throughout all of this, no notation is used. We focus on coordination and tone recognition. Very often, my students already know 4 or 5 major and 4 or 5 minor scales, in 2 octaves, before even F Major is introduced in a method book. Each time a new key comes around in the book, there's this INSTANT lightbulb moment for them... 5 or 10 seconds of confusion as they read the new information with me, and then BAM, a huge smile accompanied by something like, "I already know this!" At which point we tie the tone and coordination already developed to what the notation is telling us.
@@PianistAcademy1 Nice idea i have to say. My biggest problem with young students is that transition from playing to reading notation from book. I like that you teach them a lot before they even know whats going on. I feel like many of the books just slow down the learning process because of being so methodic. Me and most teachers in my country teach students by Nikolaev school of music. Non legato start and later going on legato. I ll try to implement these ideas of yours before even touching the book. Lets see how it goes this year haha. Thank you
Maybe mirroring is the jazz term for what us classical players call contrary motion? I've listened to Chick Corea, but only for fun and never for analysis or study... Mirroring definitely sounds like a term that would explain this!
Well, actually, yes. I cover contrary motion scales in a beginner's very first piano lesson, ever. It's literally not possible to cover it any earlier, and by second lesson I expect at least 5 finger patterns, or better, 1 full octave, in a couple keys, in contrary motion.
🆓 ➡ Want to learn how to accomplish more during your practice AND get some free sheet music?? ➡➡ bit.ly/FreePianistDownloads
I agree contrary is so much better for postural awareness, not just for beginners, but post-injury etc. Also love the thumbnail! 😛
They are great, aren't they! I still can't believe how often I see students start with parallel scales when this could be taught at the very first lesson a student has!
I spent a lot of time learning to play scales in all keys in parallel and contrary motion, 1/16 ths at Metronome 200. Nancy Henderson, the go to accompanist at CU, who learned to be a great sight reader because she never practiced for her piano lessons told me she thought I was wasting my time with so much effort on scales. That was many years before Clyde Pound pointed me to the George Kovechesky The Art of Piano book. It turns out Nancy was right. I think it is important to know your scales because you have to know your scales to know your keys. Your idea that contrary motion is easier than parallel motion has merit. What I noticed is your approach to both scales and arpeggios is very interesting in your arrangement of Schindler's list. One of the most difficult places for me has been the arpegigated run up in parallel motion on the F maj7 chord in bar 41. The left hand starts on C and the right on A a 6th higher. The hands don't line up, and It creates a very interesting musical figure that resolves, so to speak, in contrary motion to an E maj chord with the hands wide apart. The point I'm going to make now and what I believe was Nancy's point years ago is that you encounter in literature figures that are very different from basic scales played traditionally. Therefore it's better to learn how to make your own exercises out of musical literature. This approach is outlined in the Kovechesky book and it is the reason that I regard it so highly.
I totally agree that Charles's approach to scales is an excellent 1st piano lesson that would give a beginner success at the outset. I also like that his lesson is short and includes a .pdf.
Thanks for watching this beginner lesson, which I know you are FAR beyond! If the traditional scales and arpeggios are only practiced for the sake of learning the notes, keys, and speed, they are valuable, but only to a point. BUT, they can be used to practice nearly any technique required to play any passage when applied appropriately. I already have plans to do a handful more scale videos that go into some of this... for example, I teach and also practice my own scales in much the same manner as violinists are taught theirs: in accelerations. At the 'top' of my scale game, when I'd work them every day, I played them at 160bpm, starting with 8th notes for 2 octaves, then triplets for 3 octaves, then 16ths for 4 octaves, without pausing between runs. Accelerations are great for acquiring more speed as they gradually lead the hands and mind into faster work, after recently re-establishing what the scales feel like at a (relatively) slow tempo.
Beyond that, I also have routines for playing scales in 3rd, 6ths, and 10ths apart instead of the traditional octave... in doubled thirds and in doubled sixths before attempting the corresponding Chopin Etudes, in doubled octaves, in any articulation you can imagine, working crescendos and decrescendos (especially the decrescendo during ascent and crescendo during decent because it's the opposite of what is intuitive)... and definitely taking 'excerpts' from pieces and constructing scales or exercises around them to practice in isolation. Plus there are countless things to do with scales if you take the tempo way DOWN instead of up... most students get bored if they play scales at Q=60, playing the quarters... but you can really fine tune touch, color, connection, and more if work is that slow. There are SO many things you can practice with scales beyond what is usually done in lessons that continue to keep them relevant no matter your ability level.
Holy Spirit led me here this morning and I am very surprised and joyful about what I saw and heard, i would have never know this is the way to practice scales. Glory to Jesus.
Great channel.
I'm grateful you were led here and that you found the information helpful! Blessings!
The best teacher ever thanx from middle east
Thanks so much, Mohammed!
Charles. You are now my 'go to' guy for piano advice 😁. I'm new to your channel but I'm really enjoying your style, your approach and the content. Inlook forward to viewing all your vids. Thanks again 🙏
Practiced some scales this morning after watching your video. Thanks for helping mix up my warm up and practice!
Yay! Awesome!
I like this method much better. No thinking about which finger to cross. Thanks.
Great! Thanks for watching, Gillian!
Loving this new channel:) I am finding it inspiring and somehow comforting at the same time, lol! Thanks Charles:) off to play some scales now!
Thanks, Meaghan! Have fun with the scales! They actually can be hehe ;-)
Very nice .. never thought about it that way ..amazing content
Thanks, Manoj! Glad to be of help!
Thank you very tutorially
Thanks for watching, Eydi!
Ugh, scales! Right?! But don't fret... while you listen, check out the "Takeaways" in the video description and don't miss the free PDF download!
Love it!! yes.
Thanks!
Thank you
You're welcome!
goddamnit your teaching advice is pure gold!
Haha thank you!
Is there an effective way to keep your fingers from sliding off the black notes? I would like to take some sandpaper to them but it's brand new piano Yamaha ez 300
Hey! Thanks for the comment! I'd love to know what types of music or exercises you are playing when your fingers slide off the black keys?
Usually I see two problems that cause this: you're nervous about playing (either in a lesson or performance) and have sweaty hands, therefore all of the keys feel slippery. Horowitz actually had this problem and had his piano tech hairspray the key tops to make them sticky once before a concert.
The other common problem is holding on to the key with too much force after you've played. Once the note sounds, it takes almost no weight at all to keep the key down, and we should always be striving to hold notes with as little effort as possible. If you keep pushing down after the key is already depressed, you can find yourself slipping off.
Let me know where you are finding the problem happen and I'll see if I can narrow it down for you even further!
Your view counts are outrageously low! So helpful in such an immediate way
Thanks for watching! I just started the channel on April 1... only a month and a half ago, so things have been going quite well! I'm planning to continue posting videos at least weekly and at least for the next few years, so I hope to see you again!
How do you think is the best to introduce a beginner child student to contrary montion assuming you started with b major scale because of arm position? Do you think its better to start talking about keys instantly or? Because i think ordinary child studnet cant really understand how keys behave and complexity of it. I like this idea for starting scales but how to implement it after b major?
I'd use exactly how I start in this video! First use and limit the student to 5 finger patterns in contrary motion. Depending on the age of the child, I might start with with only B and C Maj (C Maj *will* end up being important to learn early because it will allow us to use notation fairly soon, and we will need keys with mirror fingerings soon). If it's a bit older child, let's say 6-8 years old, I might give them 3 "keys" to start with, probably B, C, and G. But I won't refer to them as keys, just as starting notes. Their job, and they should find this very easy at such a young age, is to simply memorize the notes and the hand positions for each of those "starting notes."
A week or two into this, they will probably be ready to start contrary scales in octaves and then I'll shift away from B for the time and use C, G, D, etc because we need the fingerings to be mirror images of each other... B Maj is not mirrored between the hands. Given another one or two weeks, they should have comprehended the "sound" of contrary major scales and then I will throw B back in the mix, one hand at a time for a single octave because of the differences of fingerings... but having the student's ear guide them into what's correct tonally... when they've proven they recognize that, then we begin to coordinate hands together contrary in B. After probably just one more week, we can move on to parallel scales, hands together, for one octave. They will have learned different muscle coordination while working on B but while being in a somewhat familiar key, and then we continue to apply the changes of coordination needed to play parallel.
The older the student, the more quickly this process usually goes until we get into adult students where the process needs to change a bit.
Throughout all of this, no notation is used. We focus on coordination and tone recognition. Very often, my students already know 4 or 5 major and 4 or 5 minor scales, in 2 octaves, before even F Major is introduced in a method book. Each time a new key comes around in the book, there's this INSTANT lightbulb moment for them... 5 or 10 seconds of confusion as they read the new information with me, and then BAM, a huge smile accompanied by something like, "I already know this!" At which point we tie the tone and coordination already developed to what the notation is telling us.
@@PianistAcademy1 Nice idea i have to say. My biggest problem with young students is that transition from playing to reading notation from book. I like that you teach them a lot before they even know whats going on. I feel like many of the books just slow down the learning process because of being so methodic. Me and most teachers in my country teach students by Nikolaev school of music. Non legato start and later going on legato. I ll try to implement these ideas of yours before even touching the book. Lets see how it goes this year haha. Thank you
🤯
hehe, who would've thought, right?
Isn't this almost like mirroring? Didn't Chick Corea use this?
Maybe mirroring is the jazz term for what us classical players call contrary motion? I've listened to Chick Corea, but only for fun and never for analysis or study... Mirroring definitely sounds like a term that would explain this!
Easy? No.
Well, actually, yes. I cover contrary motion scales in a beginner's very first piano lesson, ever. It's literally not possible to cover it any earlier, and by second lesson I expect at least 5 finger patterns, or better, 1 full octave, in a couple keys, in contrary motion.