Everyone Can Play Scales BETTER with these tips | Part 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.พ. 2023
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00:18 why C major is a bad scale to start with
02:00 Efficiency tips for C Major scale
03:14 Basics of Efficiency in scales
07:36 Supporting weaker fingers
08:33 Raising fingers
09:34 Playing scales with limited technique abilities
Part 2: • 3 Ways to Change HAND ...
Check out the newest video with technical and musical tips about arpeggio playing: • A Revolutionary Arpegg...
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![THE BEST WAY TO PRACTISE PIANO SCALES [5 Key Points]](/img/n.gif)
3:29 "After all, black keys also matter right?"
Lmao got a chuckle out of me.
Also if they’re white keys! 😀 (As opposed to normal white keys. Indeed, apart from some traditional keyboards, such as harpsichords, I’ve seen keyboards with all single-colour keys)
3:29 love your humor
Thank you for these tips!
Thanks, Denis. Always very generous of you to share these principles and “findings” ! Always to the point, and always useful.
Thanks again from me too , Denis - you seem "to be born“ for making tutorials 💯 ….. 👍
Denis, thanks for your videos. This one is really interesting. Waiting the second part. Greetings from Argentina.
This might be the most valuable free content, on learning scales on the piano, out there! Thank you very much!
Brilliant lesson, thanks for the advice.
Wow! Thanks a lot for these hints! So far I only practiced the C major and G major scales. After watching your video I tried the B major, and it's indeed so natural to press the black keys with longer fingers.
Your tips are useful.
Thank you so much! Excellent tutorial as usual. I also use Taubmann tecnique. I'd like some tips for intermediate pianist in order to play scales and arpeggios as fast as possible as required in certain musical embellishments or virtuosistic codas.
Great point u make about
C maj. Scale...im playing almost 9 yrs and noticed that c maj. Is 4 me a bit sloppy and other keys easy.
I taught it was just my short
Commings as a late starter ..i started playing piano about age 43....great stuff thank u
You're a wonderful teacher.🥰 Thank you so much.
Thank you! 😃
Гамма си мажор -- самая лучшая для начинающих! Об этом даже сам Шопен говорил!
Очень хорошо, что Вы про это рассказали. Дальше по "удобности" идут такие гаммы: соль-диез минор, фа-диез мажор и ми-бемоль минор, до-диез мажор и ля-диез минор, ну и можно ми мажор с до-диез минором взять (в общем, идут в порядке убывания ключевых знаков)
Great lesson. Thanks!
Glad you liked it!😊
Денис, большое спасибо, очень подезное видео, особенно совет по усилению 4 и 5 пальца при изменении угла. Первую неделю учусь играть и заметил часто не хватает силы полностью сиграть ноты этими пальцами особенно когда ускоряю темп.
Denis-hi! Some positive feedback: 1) I like that you’re talking slightly faster; 2) I like the references to the Taubman method because it helps students “anchor” what you’re teaching in something else that they’ve likely heard but may not recognize- it’s also very respectful and shows a lot of integrity; 3) I like how you smoothly integrate the mentions of your “go deeper” courses- it feels organic; and 5) I love the three panel screen layout with the keyboard view and score included.
Your Hanon course and your Pathétique course are phenomenal!😊
Thanks for a detailed feedback!😊
Well said! I totally agree with you! I bought the "Pathétique" course too and It's really excellent!
Denis, bol'shoe spasibo.
I play the piano since 25y and I still shall start slowly cleaning my scales after this video, always excellent tips, thank you for saving my hands!
☺️☺️☺️🤗
🌹🌹🌹LOVE FROM INDIA🌹🌹🌹
Thank You Sir. It is very very useful for me..🌹 - Shrirang Kshatriya, Sitar And Keyboard Student Mumbai Maharashtra India 🎼🎶🎵🎵🎤🎹🎹.
Scales, that is what I was waiting for!
Great stuff, thank you! It's great that you mentioned performing the rotation the right way. I tried to learn it by myself and ended up stiffer than ever before.
What I'd like to learn more about is the mechanics of playing repeated chords. Pop music is often more repetitive than classical stuff and quite often you have to play three or four voice chords with one hand over and over again. I find it hard to relax when doing that. My pinky is having especially hard times.
You might want to check out the videos about octaves (because grasping and relaxation technique for chords is similar to octaves), and about the pinky:
th-cam.com/video/vLkm7r5AFp8/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/LUdPQF2_ue4/w-d-xo.html
Thank you! I will.
Main difficulty for me is to maintain dynamic evenness; second difficulty is that if I play scales or scale-shaped passages in, let's say, sixteenth notes, I tend to rush the tempo even if I stay with the metronome. Anyway I'll reflect on the gravity concept in the second-to-last part of your video, this can help!
Yes most likely the reason is that you are used to play them faster then you can control a proper weight transfer. Make sure you support the thumb as well as the other fingers by using a rather pulling motion for it, gently curving the nail joint of this finger, and lowering the wrist to the level of the keys.
@@DenZhdanovPianist thank you for precious advice! Oh and I look forward to the part 2 of the video! :)
Hi, Denis!
It might be interesting If you talk about the passage of the thumb.
I've been strugling with It, specially on the descending left hand scales.
Thank you, again!
It will be covered in detail in the part 2, stay tuned. Furthermore, I have had an older video about the thumb on this channel. I went far since that time and explain this topic differently, but maybe you’ll find some useful tips there as well.
@@DenZhdanovPianist thank you very much!
My best wishes from Brazil 😉
The 4th finger on black always felt not so comfortable for me but mainly with scales like F major and B-flat major where the next step is one chromatic step down from the 4th finger on a black key. With large hands it's not so easy to play white keys in between the black keys and for me that involves turning my hand at an angle.
Thank you 🙏 for this lesson sir
Sir you teach online?
Iam from India 🇮🇳
Thanks for your tips! Could you also inform us about the role of forearm and upperarm, how should they act? Should the upperarm hang?Excessive tension of triceps spoils good playing I notice.
That’s a great question! It’s best for most players to have the forearms parallel to the floor. Keep in mind, that when pressing a key, you can use different bodily parts as a starting point of the motion, for example just a finger motion for extra soft spots, or use an impulse originating in the wrist or elbow (usually better and more ergonomic than wrist actually) for a more ‘supported’ touch, or even a shoulder impulse that allows you to apply the weight of the whole arm when playing massive chords. At some extreme cases like some massive Rachmaninoff, a player must even master an ability to apply the weight of the whole upper body. But anyway, what is important is to avoid over-pressing on the key, seeking for a gentle sensation of support in the bottom of the key, and quickly relaxing fingers after the hit.
Check out these two videos for more info reg. efficient piano playing:
th-cam.com/video/Hhh8pPHLhF0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ITHhGwgg4uuK4QF7
th-cam.com/video/QD9QcmlygKo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=orJ6-VFGoqi_M63l
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thank you for your reply! Your warning to avoid overpressing and overwhelming the fingers with the great power of the arm and crippling them is a good warning and I avoid it. I have the impression when a passage goes well, that my fingers dictate what the arm must do, and not the other way round. Nevertheless what a subtle interaction between fingers and arm😳 Good pianists like you have found the perfect balance, just like good athletes👍🏻
Thank you for this and the Part 2 videos. I'd unconsciously adopted a couple of techniques over the years, but then tried to "correct" them to the commonly taught method that just didn't feel as natural and gave me to hand and forearm pain/cramps. As for my biggest (well, most annoying, problem), it's not placing my fingers accurately on the intended keys. Instead, I often find my fingers partially covering an adjacent key; not usually enough to sound the note, but sufficient to (cumulatively) hurt the fingers. Out of idle curiosity, and because I've just started to learn the instrument, do you know if there is a "school of Russian organ playing" equivalent to that of piano playing?
Honestly, not aware of it. Historically, organ is not as popular in slavic countries because in orthodox tradition it’s not used for church service.
@@DenZhdanovPianist That’s a shame. I know there have been a reasonable number of organ compositions by Russian & Ukrainian composers, and there are a few good organs in the larger cities. But, as you say, AFAICT they tend to be theater/performance or Catholic/Protestant church instruments, and somewhat uncommon.
Useful information, especially the part about moving into the keys with the fourth and fifth fingers, so thank you. But I have a question... What should be done about hyperextended (bent backwards) fingers? I have 2 (R4 and L5). They're not injuries; I'm just built that way. L5 I can control, but R4 goes into hyperextension with the slightest pressure. I'm sure other people have this issue. I've even seen videos with pretty good players with the same problem, and I'm wondering what - if anything - can or should be done about it?
Unfortunately I don’t have too much experience with this yet. What I have noticed from working with students who have this, is that this hyperflexibility of joints is also often coupled with gentleness of muscles, so trying to fiercely strengthen muscles in order to coup the lack of skeletal resistance is also a dangerous idea for many.
I would suggest you to approach those great players who actually have reached a brilliant level despite this, but my intuitive guess would be to be cautious with a strength oriented approach, be very sensitive to your bodily reactions regarding fatigue and bulding up of a static tension in the hand, and develop a dexterous, elegant, but not a forceful way to play an instrument. V. Horowitz, who seemed to have this issue, or should I say milder - quality to a certain degree as well, has had even a special piano with an extremely light action.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thanks very much for the reply. I do have tension, and shall work on it; I've already begun consciously relaxing 5 (as mentioned in your videos) when practicing. And I'd best avoid Hanon.
I'm not sure that physical strength - after a certain level - is that necessary in any case. Control, dexterity, and speed are far more important. After all, some children can play very well. Good point about the action. I have a Kawai VPC-1, which has a heavy action and can become fatiguing. I'll think about changing it.
Really liked your rendition of Ligeti's Fanfares btw. Alas, I don't have the technical ability to even attempt it, but I shall certainly try Étude XV "White on White", which will require the non-forceful approach you mention.
We need part II 😉
У меня проблема, что левая рука играет в рассинхроне с правой, особенно когда играю расходящуюся гамму или гамму вниз
Поучите с акцентами на долях, каждые 4 ноты
I am 68 years, I learned to play the piano since I was a child but I have very bad habits with my hand position, my wrist tend to collapse, is it possible to unlearn all what is wrong, what excercises do you recomend to correct it?
You can use any exercises or studies for this, it’s more important how you focus your attention on the correct motions, then which pieces you would play.
Здравствуйте, Денис, а почему вы не делаете ролики с русскими субтитрами?
How do you do Op.27 no.1 Beethoven third movement scale. I'm having trouble getting it fast leggiero jeu perle enough and of course without pedal.
There might be a few reasons of inefficiency so can’t say like that just guessing your particular case, but on Sun the second part of the video will come with tips regarding position changes, hopefully you’ll find some solutions there
@@DenZhdanovPianist from Bb to C and Eb to F are thumb crossings from an elevated black key. I want to avoid clobbering the thumb with an accent but because I move in to feel balanced on the black key the subsequent thumb note has to be played with too large a downward movement. Help me!!!!🤣
Unnecessary accents are eliminated in a few steps:
1. play enough times in a comfortable tempo every note a good supported mezzoforte, watch out for the evennes of dynamics
2. Minimize/optimize all the motions you do, a broad motion means a faster hence louder hit.
3. Make sure you gently dive into the key played with the thumb lowering wrist to the level with the keys, and not using the thumb muscles as much.
4. Instead of fighting with the accent sometimes it helps just to play neighbor key louder, creating a wave instead of a spike.
❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
I’ve always said C is the hardest scale to dance over. Every disagrees. Glad to see someone say same.
Great tips too!!
Interesting about the fact that it takes more energy to raise a single finger than three..
Yep because you’re not raising fingers per se, you mostly rotate the forearm using other muscles
Truthfully it's not good to start learning with a C major scale
Have to disagree Dennis. A beginner can play on the white keys easier than having to alternate between black and white as with B major. Next starting on C put them at the right place from which to better understand the circle of 5ths and gradually pick up one black key at a time. Also starting on C helps them learn how the sharps and flats fit in . C major only becomes the most difficult key once someone becomes at advanced level because there is no black key reference as they are jumping around but for new players this is not an issue.
in terms of a natural shape of the hands and from an anatomical point of view, B major (and e major) are the easiest and most accessible scales
If someone objects to starting by other scale that's not C Major, just use this appeal of authority: "Are you disagreeing with Chopin? He used to teach this way!" 😀