PRACTICE: MAJOR SCALE (KEY C)

PIANO/KEYBOARD SCALE PRACTICE
The first thing we are going to learn, which is the basic is to practice the major scale (this is the scale upon which most music/songs are written).
This is one of the best ways to train your fingers to move across the keyboard with ease.


It’s always best to use the proper fingering technique so that you don’t put too much stress on your hands. I use the SPIDER TECHNIQUE where your hand hovers over the keys and your finger press the notes. This way your hand is lined up over each note before you press down to play it.



Spider Technique


Practice playing each of these scales in two octaves using the proper fingering at the beginning of your practice time. The purpose of this lesson is to train your fingers to move over the keyboard. No speed or technique is necessary when practising, at least for a start. But as you go along and you think you are getting efficient with the scale running, you can speed up.
Don’t rush to get there in one practice session, the idea is to be as accurate as possible. This will help you when we begin to cover other piano runs later on during this course.


Remember, practice right hand first, then left hand. And later, do both hands at the same time.




SO, WHAT IS A SCALE?
A scale is a series of tones in organized sequence. It is an eight-letter sequence of the musical alphabet. The first note of the major scale is called the tonic note, or keynote while the last note is the same as the keynote but it is preferably called the octave (musically).


The musical relationships (distance) between the tones of a major scale can be expressed by means of whole-steps and half steps:
do. . . re. . . me fa. . . so. . . la. . . te. do
W W H W W W H
(W=whole step, H=half step)


Let me explain the "WH stuff" above:
Starting from Do,
Re is a Whole step from Do,
Me is a Whole step from Re,
Fa is a Half step from Me,
So is a Whole step from Fa,
La is a Whole step from So,
Te is a Whole step from La,
Do is a Half step from Te.



Starting with the key of C, using your right hand, play the C major scale without hesitation in ascending then, descending order. Now do the same with your left hand.
When you are certain of playing the scale without a break or mistake, try playing with both hands at the same time (this is very important).


The digits represents the appropriate fingers to be used.

KEYS	LEFT HAND do re me fa so la te do	RIGHT HAND do re me fa so la te do
C	5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1	1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5





Download the video showing how to play the C major scale from our page at www.facebook.com/easypianolearning.
Videos for the other keys will be uploaded also.


Furthermore, kindly share this lesson with your facebook contacts.


Thanks and God bless you.