Scales and arpeggios often receive abad press. They are the foundation ofgood piano playing yet few want toplay them let alone practise them.

However, scales are an excellent way toestablish a reliable piano technique.

The development and concept of majorand minor scales goes back as far as ancientGreek music; the origin of scales can betraced to the system of modes which evolvedin Greek music and church music particularly.Modern major and minor scales wereeventually developed alongside the ongoingevolution of keyboard and stringedinstruments, and the various temperamentsaffiliated with all the ancient and moderntunings which were finally adopted.

Every pianist is expected to learn scalesand arpeggios from the outset andthey are included in virtually allpiano exams irrespective ofthe grade or examiningboard. This is oneindication oftheir significancebut exams arecertainly not theonly reason whybudding pianists need tofocus on them. The benefits of

good scale practice and thorough knowledgeof scales and arpeggios are numerous; in fact,if you practise them properly, you couldprobably cultivate a sound technique fromscale practice alone (although it’s advisable touse many other practice methods and musicalmaterial for technical development too).

Scales and arpeggios will first and foremostallow a pianist to become very familiar withall twenty-four keys - crucial for musicaldevelopment. They will improve keyboardgeography, rhythmic grasp, strengthenfingers, encourage proper legato playing,teach equality of touch, help develop

endurance, train the ear, control knucklemovement, help control motor-activity, assistwith the passing of the thumb under thehand and the hand over the thumb fluently,teach traditional fingering, encourage varietyof tone production (dynamic variation) andflexibility of the wrists and arm movement.They can also promote independence ofnuance and touch, variety of accentuation,different staccato and legato articulations andfluency with cross-rhythms, as well ascomplete co-ordination.

So they are indeed a very useful tool forgenerating superlative piano playing. One

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Scaling heights with happinessMelanie Spanswick helps us to love scale and arpeggio practice – it’s all about quality over quantity

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other (often forgotten) benefit is the role theyplay in improving sight-reading; if a student isroutinely exposed to scales, arpeggios, chordshapes and their appropriate fingerings, thenthey become much easier to decipher whenreading music at speed. Indeed, thoroughknowledge of scale patterns and shapes formsthe bedrock of secure musical foundations.

So what is the best approach to scale practiceand how can we keep ourselves both motivatedand stimulated whilst working at them? Thereare many different ways to make practisingscales and arpeggios more interesting, and, witha little thought and imagination, they can evensound beautiful.

I believe students benefit from thinkingabout the musical considerations as well as thetechnical aspects associated with scales. So,with this in mind, perhaps it’s a good idea tofocus on them musically and once learnt, injectthem with character and personality. This waythey enhance a pianist’s musicianship ratherthan become just a test in agility. Every scalemust be imbued with delicacy, warmth, a goodsound, musical shape, grace and brilliance.Only then can they truly be regarded aseffective and accurate. As with many facets ofpiano playing, merely playing the notesbecomes a meaningless exercise, whether it’s ascale or a Mozart sonata. Students often ignorethis important element at their peril,precipitating the boredom so often associatedwith scale practice. Arpeggios also need amusical approach and I find them much easierto negotiate when the rhythm of movement(i.e. the thumb passing under the hand orthird/fourth finger passing over) is thought ofin terms of a musical phrase; this encouragessmoothness in tone and hand movement thusavoiding jerky, unrhythmical playing.

A large part of technique is, of course,physical movement, but there are many reasonsfor using our minds and ears in a more fruitful,perceptive way. Indeed, visualisation andimagination go a long way to creating excellentmusicianship and greater facility too. Techniquegrows with the development and cultivation ofthe mind, musical awareness and personality. All these aspects can easily be applied to scales too, and it is definitely the quality of your scalepractice that matters rather than the quantity.

Pupils and students have found the followingsuggestions and practice tips helpful:

At the start of each scale practice sessionmake sure your shoulders are down, allowing

every part of your upper torso to feel relaxed.The wrong kind of tension kills speed, sorelaxation of the muscles is imperative here;tension is definitely required, but is only used atthe exact moment of impact (that is, playing anote) after which relaxation must occur,otherwise your arms, hands or wrists willeventually ‘lock up’. Allow the fingers to workfreely, supported by arm weight. It is a fact thatyou need to move when playing the piano - howelse are you going to get from one end of the

keyboard to the other? This is especially true ofscales, so allow your body to move freely andbe aware of this when you are playing (it’s alltoo easy to block out physical sensations whenyou are focusing on playing the correct notesand keys).

It may sound obvious, but to play scalesfluently and accurately, both hands need to beworking equally well. So finger strength isparamount. The left hand must not be draggingbehind the right. This is a very commonproblem and the best way to deal with it is topractise hands separately slowly, graduallyincreasing the speed.

It is a good idea to start by practising two-octave scales and only elongate to three andfour octaves at a time when you have reallygrasped the patterns; the left hand will probablyneed more attention than the right regardingfingerings and hand positions. Everyone hastheir favourite hand positions, but whenlearning scales two crucial points arise: thenumber of accidentals (depending on the key)and the shape or pattern of each scale orarpeggio. If these points are observedcompletely from the outset then memorising willnot be a problem, so it’s worth spending timegetting this right from the beginning as all scalesand arpeggios have to be played securely frommemory anyway.

Once you have learnt the key and its shape,you will need to find a way of using appropriatearm weight and wrist movement allowing eachfinger to work properly on its ‘tip’. I am a realadvocate of the fingers working on their tips, i.e.the very top or ‘pad’ of your finger thus avoiding‘flat’ fingers (many argue that flat fingers areeffective but I prefer using my fingertips thuseach finger acquiring a ‘hooked’ shape). Thepower should be coming from your arm weight,the knuckles supporting the fingers and thewrists working freely in a lateral and rotationalmotion. This technique not only allows flexible,free playing but also fosters excellent toneproduction and finger strength too. The fourthand fifth fingers are naturally weaker, but if theyare encouraged to work well, functioning asindependently as possible (from the otherfingers) and via the knuckles (rather than thewrists which should feel free and ‘light’), thenscale playing will be even and fluent. Spendtime playing each note with a full sound,working slowly and purposefully, preferablywith arm weight on each note to start with.Then lighten the arm weight as you build upspeed. This will help build up finger strengthand achieve smooth, legato playing.

Rotational movement will play a vital rolewhen dealing with the problem of passing thethumb under the hand, as well as fingers overthe hand. This does tie in with my earliercomment regarding flexibility. The more pliablethe hand, the easier this motion will be. Thetrick is to practise it so that the scale passage isnot only completely stable rhythmically, but alsothe amount of tone or sound used for each noteis matched exactly. Then your scales will beeven. When practising very slowly, allow yourhand position to move copiously, i.e. encouragea complete lateral and rotational motion eachtime the thumb passes under in the right hand.Although this will feel awkward, exaggeratedand uncomfortable to start with, it will allowyour right hand and arm to get used to movingfreely with no tension so when you practise upto speed, the whole arm will move flexibly andthe movement itself will be much smaller andquicker. The same flexibility and motion alsoapplies to the left hand when the third or fourthfinger passes over the hand. (This obviouslyapplies to the ascending part of the scale.)

This works surprisingly well and needs carefulconsideration when applying to arpeggioswhich, by their nature, require lots moremovement. Arpeggios rely on a perfect ‘swivel’

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There are many

different ways to make

practising scales and

arpeggios more

interesting, and, with

a little thought and

imagination, they can

even sound beautiful.

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in the hand; your hand will need to return to thesame position for each octave otherwise noteswill not be accurate. This is especially true withthe left hand. Rather like scales, they requireslow separate hand practice before beingplayed hands together. Get the perfect positionor ‘swivel’ in both scales and arpeggios, andproviding you have built up your fingerstrength, you will be able to play at very fasttempi with no difficulty. Try not to ‘block’motions with tension or tense movements; wedon’t consciously do this but it often happens,leading to inflexibility.

Articulation (or touch) is vital when playingscales, and staccato passagework needs acompletely different approach to legato. Start byusing your whole arm on each note, rather likethe legato technique suggested above, onlyplaying detached. Then introduce wriststaccato, playing every note with a separatewrist action, and finally you will need to use afinger staccato as you build up the speed. Thistakes a free wrist and total finger strength (afactor you will already be working on if youemploy some of the suggestions above). Thereare many variations with articulation and youmay want to think about implementing some ofthe following: legato, staccato, non-legato,marcato and leggiero. Once scales are reallyfluent, try playing legato in the right hand whilstplaying staccato in the left and vice versa. Youcan build many different permutations regardingtouch and they will all help in your quest to playscales perfectly.

It is worth mentioning the importance offingering in scales and arpeggios. Manypianists (pupils, amateurs and professionals)like to invent their own, but scale and arpeggiofingerings are there for a reason. This isespecially true of arpeggios, where I find fourthfingers in the left hand to be imperative (seethe example of a C major arpeggio in the lefthand). (figure 1)If you play this passage with a third finger onthe second, fifth, ninth and twelfth note, E

(instead of the suggested fourth), you areimmediately making your hand position andmovement more awkward whereas with thefourth finger, the position is entirely natural as itis in the shape the chord is usually played. Inthe second example, which is in the key of Dmajor, a third finger is preferable and morecomfortable because of the addition of the Fsharp.(figure 2)

So it does all depend on the shape or, rather,key of the scale or arpeggio. Fingering shouldsupport natural, fluent scale playing.

Once you have grasped the keys, patternsand movements that are necessary for goodscale playing, the next consideration should behow to co-ordinate your hands so that they playaccurately and rhythmically at all times.

It is a good idea to purchase a metronome.No one really enjoys learning to use one orindeed playing along to anything that feelsunnatural or forced, however it is challengingto learn to play in time effectively withoutone. It is possible to feel the pulse unaided,and, of course, pianists must learn to developan ‘inner-pulse,’ but slow metronome practiceto begin with really does help achieve securerhythmic scale playing. Start with slow tempiand increase as finger strength develops.

There are several ways to attain perfect co-ordination. The first is accentuation orlearning to play with accents; this will dependon how many octaves you are negotiating.Two- and four-octave scales can be accentedlike figure 3.

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Another tip is to practise withsomeone elsewho is alsoworking at scales(a scale buddy!).

figure 1 figure 2

figure 3

figure 4

figure 5

figure 6

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And three octave scales can be accented intriplets, figure 4.

This is a basic way to achieve co-ordination;however you may like to consider some of thefollowing too:

Try basic dotted passage-work like figure 5.Or this, practising two octaves apart, figure 6.

Or figure 7.This can be quite helpful as well, figure 8.

Then it is possible to build up on the accentideas, as this will help with finger independence,figure 9. Or cross-rhythms like figure 10.

Try different dynamics in each hand, figure 11.And you could even try something like figure 12.

The last two examples could potentially bepractised in so many different guises andcorresponds with my earlier recommendationsregarding playing scales and arpeggiosexpressively with plenty of sound, dynamicgradation and musicianship. This really willimprove your playing tremendously.

Some find it useful to practise with the handstwo octaves apart, which will encourage astutelistening. Listening skills, as with all pianoplaying, should be perpetually fine-tuned andhoned. This is perhaps a very important factorwhen practising: always play exercises includingscales when you are fresh and fully focused.

I encourage advanced students to establish ascale rota; if you are taking an exam like Grade8 (whatever the exam board), it will be time-consuming to practise every scale every day, soa good plan is to build in a way of playing allkeys and permutations effectively from weekto week. Practising two or three keys per day isa good way of doing this. Make sure eachversion or variation is worked on. If you aredoing the key of C for example, you wouldlook at all scales (thirds, sixths, contrarymotions) and arpeggios with their appropriateinversions (as well as dominant and diminishedsevenths) in C major and minor.

Practising scales in a different order from thatpresented in your scale book really makessense; they will always be tested in an entirelydifferent order in an exam and it’s surprising justhow distracting this can be. It can play havocwith your memory, so be prepared. Another tipis to practise with someone else who is alsoworking at scales (a scale buddy!). You can thenask each other scales or arpeggios, and learnfrom each other too. Scale groups or smallclasses can work well especially if two or morepianos (or keyboards) are available and then youcan play scales together (although you will

probably need a metronome!) as well as testingeach other separately.

If you implement a few of these suggestionsand ideas, you will be well on the way to

developing an exemplary scale and arpeggiotechnique, and you may even find they becomean enjoyable part of your practice regime. ■

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figure 7

figure 8

figure 9

figure 10

figure 11

figure 12

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