Group 1
Improve your Scales!
Scales are integral to your technique - all of music is built on them! They are singularly one of the most important things to master for piano playing!
Fellow Participants in Group 1:
Vidhya Bashyam
Ko
Michael
Andrea Buckland
Denise
hanqi4
Barbara Blakeslee
Sindre Skarelven
Jarkko Janhunen
Gail Starr
Harry Neuwirth
Peter Hirsch
Susan Rogers
Fides Cutiongco
Alistair Bertram
Some tonebase productions to get you started
"Creative Scale Practice" with Jarred Dunn
C Major Pattern Scales with Juliana Han
"Choreographing Scales" with Seymour Bernstein
"Scale Technique" with Penelope Roskell
How to get the most out of this course
- Start by watching the introduction video and practice the exercises given in the video.
- Write a post with your experiences with scales.
- Start Practicing Czerny Op.599 no.61, and 69!
- Share two videos per week and help your course partners through feedback on their submissions!
Zoom Check-In: Wednesday, June 29th at 11am PT!
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Itās nice to see all the videos everyone posted! I worked mainly on the grouping notes regimen of all the scales on the last page of Ballade. Iām hoping if I keep it grouped long enough on the chromatic I can make the change with using finger 4 - when I try to play the scale straight the 3 on all the black keys automatically resurfaces! I revisited Progress which I played a long time ago. I also spent time practicing 4 different scales a day (2 major, 2 minor) bringing back how I used to practice them. I think Dominic said it was called the āgrandā scale where itās parallel and contrary. That was what I was assigned in my second year of music study at college about 15 years ago. All the majors in the first semester and the harmonic minors in the second semester. I was extremely thankful to my professor for making me learn all those scales since before that I see only one D major scale in my old Schaum book. I must have played that D scale when I was a kid and had lessons for a couple of months, but I donāt even remember. I didnāt think to make a video of my regular scales practice since it wasnāt listed in the instructions but now that I see others have posted regular scales Iāll do that next time too. I will get started on the Czerny. I had a little trouble figuring out how to get into this forum site at first but I think Iām dialed in nowā¦
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Andrea Buckland thank you Andrea!
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Parts 3 and 4 of this weekās assignment.
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Vidhya Bashyam Nice practice. Very smooth and even!
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Vidhya Bashyam nice!
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Vidhya Bashyam Super even!
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I started learning piano as an adult a few years ago. The scales have never been the main subject. It's never too late to learn I guess. Here are videos of my progress this week.
C major scale:
Czerny No 61:
Czerny No 69 (without repeat):
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hanqi4 Great job!
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hanqi4 you are right - itās never too late to learn. Great job!
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Vidhya Bashyam Thank you!
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Susan Rogers Thank you, Susan!
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Yesterday I started learning the Czerny 599 Exercise 61 I managed to get it to a bpm of 90 and hoping to increase it today. The hardest part I found was the Alberti bass.
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Alistair Bertram Nice playing!
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Alistair Bertram sounding good!
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Alistair Bertram Great job, Alistair. Your metronome idea is something I need to try, too!
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Alistair Bertram Nice! Very good idea to play with metronome!
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Practicing Czerny. Itās so addictive and a fun way to practice scales! I think itās very musical (compared to Hanon especially).
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Vidhya Bashyam yes, I find these two Czerny pieces to be fun also!
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Vidhya Bashyam Yes, I agree! Very fun!
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Happy Weekend, piano friends! I'm really enjoying all your posts!
Here's my attempt at the "Progress" Etude after 1 quick practice session last night.
Sorry it sounds too loud, though. I finally bought a carpet for my living room, but it didn't help moderate the sound enough.
The piano sits under my metal and glass staircase and I think the stairs make everything echo too much?
Maybe I should put a blanket on top?
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Gail Starr Beautiful as always! The sound is fine- the echo gives you a nice reverb like a concert hall :)
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Vidhya Bashyam LOL! You are the BEST! I love how you always make
lemonade out of lemons. 
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Gail Fantastic, Gail! brava!
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Gail Starr Wonderful playing, Gail!
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Sindre Skarelven Aw, thanks! I loved your F-E-D improvisation. Iāll try that when I get home this evening.
How is your arm feeling?
Glad Midsommar! Andrea Buckland Andrea Buckland Thank you so much!
. Tonight I want to play around with the Improvisation lesson, too. -
Gail Starr Thank you, Gail. Much better, will post an update here now! And a new impro ;)
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