Review the scales

"... When you read you begin with: A-B-C ,When you sing you begin with do-re-mi ..." (from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music). You're probably far from the beginning at this point, but the scales keep popping up in the students lessons and they have to be dealt with during the practices. We want to get on with the juicy bits. Shouldn't we work on the pieces themselves to perfect them? Spending so much time on the scales seems a waste of practice time. So, why so much emphasis on scales?

Being a fundamental part of music, the scale is usually required as part of a learning program, and quickly becomes familiar to most students. This familiarity means that it can be referenced to demonstrate parts that need to be played. The key can be set in the student's mind, if the scale is played prior to executing the piece. The base position of the fingers can be identified by the student via the appropriate scale. It helps the student to know which black keys on the piano to play by default and which ones are accidentals. The scale becomes a setup tool, positioning the student's mind and body in the appropriate key.

The scale can aid the student in playing a run in a piece. There are many sequences of notes which are part of a basic scale. Identifying them helps the student to read the music in front of him. The sequence of notes can be seen by the student as a "word" of music instead of a bunch of notes.

The scale remains the same musically regardless of the key played. Knowing what a basic scale sounds like helps the student to execute it in any key. The student will hear the notes played and can identify if the correct ones are being played. This applies to major and minor scales, their associated arpegios, chromatic scales, blues scale, or any other type of scale.

Learn the scale by speaking and singing it: "Dohraymifassolatido". I wrote it like this to resemble how it's pronounced. The scale can be read as a single word instead of each individual notes. It's important to sing it relative to the key we happen to be in. If the key is G, then the "do" happens to be sung as a G.

A bit of warm-up before undertaking the scales would be a good idea. Starting the student with a short, familiar piece which is easy for the student to execute. This will release tension and prepare the muscles for the task at hand. Some of the scales and the quantity of scales required can be physically demanding on the student.

The key and the tone of the piece can be quickly set by playing the appropriate scale. The student will be able to correct himself with knowledge of the sound of the scale. It broadens the student knowledge of music beyond the instrument he is currently learning.