I am busy writing Part 3 of my eBook series, Practising the Piano, a volume on scales and arpeggios. After outlining the basic skills needed, I look at both scales and arpeggios from the point of view of elementary, intermediate and advanced level players. There are lots of demonstrations on the main technical points as well as exercises, suggestions for practice, and ideas to keep scale playing interesting and vibrant. This should be available for purchase very soon.
One of the interactive tools we are developing for the publication is a “scales generator” which randomly selects scales to play from a prescribed list. I am very excited to be able to introduce a demo version of it to you now in advance! At present it is still in the beta testing stage, so we would value your comments and suggestions. Any feedback you have is helpful so we can improve this. At present only ABRSM Grades 1 and 5 are available, but we will be including all the grades from 1 to 8.
To test out the generator, please click here.
Please leave your comments, suggestions and feedback at the bottom of this page. Thank you in advance!
Further links & resources
- Fundamentals of Scales & Arpeggios – The next module in in the Online Academy’s technique library which follows on from the introduction and basics. Click here to view.
- Elementary Technique (Introduction and Basics) – The first module in the Online Academy’s technique library exploring the basics of piano technique, covering seating position, posture, whole-arm and legato touches. Click here to view.
- Scales and Arpeggios – Part 3 of the Practising the Piano eBook series features numerous video demonstrations, exercises, practice suggestions, resources and interactive tools to make this essential part of a practice regime effective, interesting and fun. Click here for more information.
- Mastering Piano Technique – Part 2 of the Practising the Piano eBook series provides an overview of different schools and traditions through to an extensive listing of technical exercises. Click here for more information.
- Piano Technique Lecture Series – Video lecture series from the Piano Teachers’ Course UK on piano technique by Graham Fitch with a particular emphasis on teaching beginners and beginner exercises. Click here for more information.
- Online Academy technique resources – Click here to view an index of existing resources on piano technique on the Online Academy or on one of the following links:
This is great, Graham!
I’ll be trying it out with my students this week and will report back soon….
Thanks Helen – I’ve tried to add a bit of variety in the scale requests, to keep people on their toes (fingers?)!
Brilliant! You had me do this the old-school way: little bits of paper in a cup on the piano. That method didn’t have all the variable details, though, and was very tedious to set up!
There are other ways to test yourself, such as going round the circle of fifths (thus D major, A harmonic minor, E melodic minor, etc.). The slips of paper method is still rather good, despite being incredibly low-tech!
Graham, I tried it out last week, got average mark 3.5 (over about 8-9 shots). Maybe marking myself hard. Today 3.8 over 9 shots (& gave myself some 5’s). The result surely depends on how we rate ourselves? Another may play worse, but rate themselves better? However, I feel the variety of touch, speed & dynamics is good to do. Will try it out with very capable home student tomorrow whose grade 5 exam is in 2 weeks to give her more challenge than required for exam. I guess you will confirm self-reflection is good to encourage our students to do, but that it may also be useful for those without a teacher. Julie
I’ve just tried out some of the Grade 5 scales. It certainly keeps you on your toes (total concentration required) and it’s interesting how having to focus on rhythm and dynamics as well can throw you off balance and makes you realise what you don’t know! Very useful indeed. Clare
Thanks, Clare. I wanted the scale generator to do more than merely test the scale requirements, also to add challenges to keep the user engaged. I am very glad you find it useful!
This is exactly what I have been looking for for months. Is there any news when it might be available for grade 7? To include contrary motion and scales a third apart?
Hello Andrea. Glad you found the scale generator helpful. It was created a few years ago and ended up not being popular enough to warrant the cost of developing it for other grades. Instead, we focussed on providing various other references and guides via eBooks & Online Academy articles that have proven more popular.