This an interesting method. I like to practise in four and three note groups accenting every first note in the group (or second or third and so on, that also helps to keep scales even.
This is just great, I wish I had seen this earlier! Thanks Josh for this amazing tip. Have been using it less than a week and I notice improvements in evenness and speed. I believe one strength of this method is that one is forced to face thumb crossing in all possible offsets from the first note, supporting stronger associations finger-note, and disabling the tendency to count within the scale to know when to cross which tends to give accents on the crossing. Moreover, as you explained, the sliding first note makes the accent move through the scale, a bit like using rhythms, that way the mind is tricked to play it more even when later on it is played without Piers. I also tried a slight modification with twice as many Piers, to help reinforce muscle memory. Forgive the lengthiness of the following example where I explain what I mean. For a C major one can split the first 9 notes into 5+5, CDEFG GABCD. So, for the Left Hand: whereas the original Piers are on 5-4-3-2 (C2-D3-E4-F5), the 2x Piers are 5-1 - 4-3 - 3-2 - 2-1 (C2-G2 - D3-A3 - E4-B4 - F5-C6). This seemed to be even stronger in reaffirming muscle memory; in fact it helped me getting rid of a mistake where I occasionally missed to cross 3-1 coming down from A to G (going back from D3 (4) to G2(1) one notices this better than from D3 to C2, and drilled into memory faster). However this modification has the disadvantage that it breaks the scale into too many parts, possibly losing fluidity..
I've always struggled playing scales with a metronome, hopefully this will make it much easier! In saying that I'm finding it very hard to follow at 144bpm and I'm not sure how you are counting when you come back down
Like all your tips this is great advice. 196? that's 13 notes per second or 8 one hundredths of a sec per note. Wild man. Mere mortals who don't play in competitions can be happy with 140 or so, which is 9 notes per sec (still pretty peppy imo).
Great video. I also have that book actually. Had not read that though - amazing find. It is also the author from one of the best pianobooks I have read "Great pianist on piano playing"
I can't tell if you are using the thumb cross-under and cross-under technique. I was originally taught to do that, and I learned my scales that way. What should I do.
i think the important part of this exercise is in francis explanation that the accent should be a sharp impulse like swoop from the finger to the key id suggest that this will get your fingers more active and no arm weight will need to be used except a tiny amount to counter the finger action on these accents at least has been the biggest benefit to me especially placing accents every second note then 3 4 etc then using the same sharp impulse with rhythm practice ie double length note then normal then double etc and the alternates in both rhythm and accent or all combinations. I would very much like to see an exercise using scales contrary thirds sixth tenths arpegios and dominant 7ths arpegios linked etc I know this are some common all encompassing warmup practice for many people but there is virtually no tutorials on youtube showing it even in one key ,..nm a circle of fifth or forth or different speeds or rhythm and accents minor etc thanks for your insights and no tease in this video much appreciated
What can I do about feeling like I’m getting “hit “ by black keys or have to “jump over “ black keys when I’m doing some of the sharp scales with less than 5 sharp notes? I can go up about 180 in B major scale and E major but I have trouble feeling secure in the way I play. Maybe I am sitting too high? I have a standard bench that cane with my YDP 144 Yamaha. Tried a lower chair but I feel like I have to stick to one height... close to seeking out a teacher to fix a few things
Love it love it! I'm a little confused on your fingering. Are both hands moving on the ninth note or is 1st finger on right and 5th finger on left moving to 9th pier note (The last note in the section)? I hope that makes since. I wish I had a closer view of your hands, but looking forward to trying the technique.
Hey Josh, I have one question: What are you doing at 6:03? Are you going from the key of Db to Eb, to the key of Gb? Or are you doing something different? Very educational video, thank you so much.
Great concept, Josh! I have always had this question, does having big hands/long fingers help with scales (cross over/under)? I have very small hands and I have noticed that I make some exaggerated mvts when crossing at a high speed (so much that I decided to not cross and just "jump" to the next position which isn't that bad btw) and when I look at people with large hands it looks like they don't do those mvts at all, their hands fold nicely and steadily. Can you elaborate on that a little bit, Josh? Thanks :D
TheGreenPianist thanks for your kindness. It’s tough to say that, because I personally feel Sergei Babayan is the world’s best pianist, and he has relatively small hands. He is very flexible though - so unless the pianist cannot reach an octave, most problems can be overcome and aided through flexibility. Efficiency of motion and relaxation are key to achieving top speeds
Another wonderful video.....I am starting out your pro-practice videos and thoroughly enjoying them. I definitely have small hands, though can reach an octave fairly comfortably. But when it comes to certain arpeggios, such as the A flat, I "need" to splay out my elbows...Is this a flexibility issue...of the fingers or wrists?
Peter thanks for the support Peter. I think I advocate “no elbow motion” in most of those videos, but in all honesty, it should be MINIMAL rather than no elbow motion. You don’t want the elbows to flop around because it can cause speed loss and inaccuracy. The other trouble with A-flat is that there are so many black keys, so feel free to (very slightly) flatten the fingers a bit. This will help with accuracy without greatly inhibiting speed, so long as you don’t get too flat and start solely bending from the knuckle closest to your palm. I hope that helps! Good luck
I'm using the James Francis Cooke method. In addition to this, he says you don't need to do all the scales. He groups scales by their contour. You're playing sixteenths. In the book he is suggesting doing thirty-second notes, all the way up to quarter = 208. Is that humanly possible? I'm at 100 and it's extremely fast. That would be equivalent to your 200 (because I was doing eight notes per click).
Josh "lets take it up to 196" Wright
Footy Jones
Josh "Let's See" Wright
Footy Jones and
Many thanks for the tip! It brought my speed from 110 to 175 over a few months :)
Thanks Josh. I had to listen to this twice to get the pier idea but it sounds like fun. I'm going to try it.
And that´s how I through all of your tips learned scales on 100 in two months. Thank you
I've played the piano for over 20 years and I feel like I've learned nothing about scales before this!
great video
could you consider doing a video on hand posture and shape when playing scales this fast?
Gene Kim hi Gene - check out my video on hand position for tips on that. Hope you are having a good week!
Josh Wright hand position
This an interesting method. I like to practise in four and three note groups accenting every first note in the group (or second or third and so on, that also helps to keep scales even.
p1anosteve great method Steve!
Only 54 seconds into the video and already know it’s good. Your piano tutorials are great.
👍👍👍
This is just great, I wish I had seen this earlier! Thanks Josh for this amazing tip. Have been using it less than a week and I notice improvements in evenness and speed.
I believe one strength of this method is that one is forced to face thumb crossing in all possible offsets from the first note, supporting stronger associations finger-note, and disabling the tendency to count within the scale to know when to cross which tends to give accents on the crossing. Moreover, as you explained, the sliding first note makes the accent move through the scale, a bit like using rhythms, that way the mind is tricked to play it more even when later on it is played without Piers.
I also tried a slight modification with twice as many Piers, to help reinforce muscle memory. Forgive the lengthiness of the following example where I explain what I mean. For a C major one can split the first 9 notes into 5+5, CDEFG GABCD. So, for the Left Hand: whereas the original Piers are on 5-4-3-2 (C2-D3-E4-F5), the 2x Piers are 5-1 - 4-3 - 3-2 - 2-1 (C2-G2 - D3-A3 - E4-B4 - F5-C6). This seemed to be even stronger in reaffirming muscle memory; in fact it helped me getting rid of a mistake where I occasionally missed to cross 3-1 coming down from A to G (going back from D3 (4) to G2(1) one notices this better than from D3 to C2, and drilled into memory faster). However this modification has the disadvantage that it breaks the scale into too many parts, possibly losing fluidity..
Very clean, Sir.
I've always struggled playing scales with a metronome, hopefully this will make it much easier!
In saying that I'm finding it very hard to follow at 144bpm and I'm not sure how you are counting when you come back down
cool - I'll try this with Chopin's 'Bees' Etude (OP 25 2).
Like all your tips this is great advice. 196? that's 13 notes per second or 8 one hundredths of a sec per note. Wild man. Mere mortals who don't play in competitions can be happy with 140 or so, which is 9 notes per sec (still pretty peppy imo).
Great video. I also have that book actually. Had not read that though - amazing find. It is also the author from one of the best pianobooks I have read "Great pianist on piano playing"
Klaverskolen definitely - I need to check out his other books as well :)
This really works and quickly! Thank you!!
I can't tell if you are using the thumb cross-under and cross-under technique. I was originally taught to do that, and I learned my scales that way. What should I do.
i think the important part of this exercise is in francis explanation that the accent should be a sharp impulse like swoop from the finger to the key id suggest that this will get your fingers more active and no arm weight will need to be used except a tiny amount to counter the finger action on these accents at least has been the biggest benefit to me especially placing accents every second note then 3 4 etc then using the same sharp impulse with rhythm practice ie double length note then normal then double etc and the alternates in both rhythm and accent or all combinations. I would very much like to see an exercise using scales contrary thirds sixth tenths arpegios and dominant 7ths arpegios linked etc I know this are some common all encompassing warmup practice for many people but there is virtually no tutorials on youtube showing it even in one key ,..nm a circle of fifth or forth or different speeds or rhythm and accents minor etc thanks for your insights and no tease in this video much appreciated
Can this exercise be modified to do in 2 octaves? How would that look like?
Great! Thanks for the vid
What can I do about feeling like I’m getting “hit “ by black keys or have to “jump over “ black keys when I’m doing some of the sharp scales with less than 5 sharp notes? I can go up about 180 in B major scale and E major but I have trouble feeling secure in the way I play. Maybe I am sitting too high? I have a standard bench that cane with my YDP 144 Yamaha. Tried a lower chair but I feel like I have to stick to one height... close to seeking out a teacher to fix a few things
Hi, Josh, could you please explain the scale Turn Around from a sending to descending?
Project Gutenberg has this for free download. I printed it. My son is using it to make his scales smoother. It makes the scale more " manageable"
Love it love it! I'm a little confused on your fingering. Are both hands moving on the ninth note or is 1st finger on right and 5th finger on left moving to 9th pier note (The last note in the section)? I hope that makes since. I wish I had a closer view of your hands, but looking forward to trying the technique.
Deanna Lariz thanks Deanna. I am just using regular scale fingering. I hope that helps!
This was exactly what I've done when teaching myself. A decade ago.
I'm doing major, harmonic and melodic minor scales for all 12 keys. How many scales should I be working through a day?
I subscribed because your in a suit
Hey Josh,
I have one question: What are you doing at 6:03? Are you going from the key of Db to Eb, to the key of Gb? Or are you doing something different?
Very educational video, thank you so much.
Liszt-Chopin Enthusiast. Most of the demonstrations were in B major
Josh Wright Okay, thank you, I just realised that I missed that.
You play those scales as if they were a part of you. What kind of exercises would you recommend for enhancing my scale skills?
That's literally what this video is all about
笹原嵐 Obliviously you didn’t listen to the video.
@@velcroman11 Oh my. It's been two years since I've watched this video. Looks like I have to watch it again. >
Make a video about how to practice and schedule it
R13 I have posted a video on this already. Hope you enjoy it
Pls upload more
The "pier(s)" of southern California ARE the BEST piers of all.
I really like your videos man ;)
Great concept, Josh!
I have always had this question, does having big hands/long fingers help with scales (cross over/under)?
I have very small hands and I have noticed that I make some exaggerated mvts when crossing at a high speed (so much that I decided to not cross and just "jump" to the next position which isn't that bad btw) and when I look at people with large hands it looks like they don't do those mvts at all, their hands fold nicely and steadily.
Can you elaborate on that a little bit, Josh?
Thanks :D
TheGreenPianist thanks for your kindness. It’s tough to say that, because I personally feel Sergei Babayan is the world’s best pianist, and he has relatively small hands. He is very flexible though - so unless the pianist cannot reach an octave, most problems can be overcome and aided through flexibility. Efficiency of motion and relaxation are key to achieving top speeds
Josh Wright I see... I guess I just need to adapt and figure out better ways to move
Thanks a lot :)
Another wonderful video.....I am starting out your pro-practice videos and thoroughly enjoying them. I definitely have small hands, though can reach an octave fairly comfortably. But when it comes to certain arpeggios, such as the A flat, I "need" to splay out my elbows...Is this a flexibility issue...of the fingers or wrists?
Peter thanks for the support Peter. I think I advocate “no elbow motion” in most of those videos, but in all honesty, it should be MINIMAL rather than no elbow motion. You don’t want the elbows to flop around because it can cause speed loss and inaccuracy. The other trouble with A-flat is that there are so many black keys, so feel free to (very slightly) flatten the fingers a bit. This will help with accuracy without greatly inhibiting speed, so long as you don’t get too flat and start solely bending from the knuckle closest to your palm. I hope that helps! Good luck
My short boi josh lol love u
I Appreciate that man
Great
The book is apparently not "public domain"...... in EU.
super video....
Jonny Affenzahn thanks so much Jonny!
Haha that was easy :) I wish!
cool
Jin Yang Li thanks Jin Yang :)
is that 4 notes per beat ???
I'm having trouble with the fingering😅
I'm doing 80 bpm 8-th notes, but I play piano for 2 months
I'm using the James Francis Cooke method. In addition to this, he says you don't need to do all the scales. He groups scales by their contour.
You're playing sixteenths. In the book he is suggesting doing thirty-second notes, all the way up to quarter = 208. Is that humanly possible? I'm at 100 and it's extremely fast. That would be equivalent to your 200 (because I was doing eight notes per click).
I’m in the last year of music school. Tomorrow I have an important exam, where I have to play scales...
Well, It’s never too late... Right?
How did it go?
Same! My exam is next monday!!! I'm terrified
Too much emphasis on fast in modern culture. What we need to do is slow down and enjoy the moments between the slow.