Re: Why practice scales?
MelodiousThunk
haciendadevi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Explain to a beginner the purpose of practicing scales? Also, does
> practicing them make playing arpeggios any easier?
Practicing scales helps the student to learn scales.
Practicing arpeggios makes playing arpeggios easier.
> If a person has an hour or two to practice daily, what would you
> suggest as a good practice schedule? How long for scales/exercises and
> how long on songs or other things?
"An hour or two" is plenty of time.
Your post implies that boredom is a problem; unless your teacher tells
you
otherwise, why not switch among the things you practice every
few minutes: practice four or five scales, then a song, then an
exercise, etc.
> My teacher says, re songs, to practice several measures over and over
> again until you get them right. However, by doing that, and by the
> time you get the whole piece done, you have played it so much it
> becomes boring. Your input is appreciated.
It's really hard to imagine if you're a beginner, but advanced
pianists
generally are *not* bored by what they're playing, even when they've
played something thousands of times. As you grow musically, you'll
find that learning the *notes* and how to execute them with few errors
is just scratching the surface of making music.
Share your email with your teacher. There's easy remedies for boredom.
Good luck!
> Thanks,
> HdV
Marc Sabatella
There are many possible answers, depending on your background and your
goals. For a complete beginner, they help build finger dexterity by
giving you something to play that you can work on without being slowed
down by reading. They also teach you what notes are found in each key,
which makes reading music go more smoothly as you'll cease having to
read each note one at a time and start to see patterns wihtin the key.
If you're planning on playing jazz or any other style with
improvisation, it teaches you what notes are available for use in
improvisation, and teaches you hand good fingering habits that will
hopefully come into play while improvising.
> Also, does
> practicing them make playing arpeggios any easier?
Somewhat, as the dexterity you build plaing scales helps you play
*anything*. Also, the knowledge of the notes found in each key can make
you more onfident about playing the right notes when playing anything in
that key.
> If a person has an hour or two to practice daily, what would you
> suggest as a good practice schedule? How long for scales/exercises and
> how long on songs or other things?
I'd say, as little as possible on exercises, as much as possible on
music. Life's too short to do otherwise.
> My teacher says, re songs, to practice several measures over and over
> again until you get them right. However, by doing that, and by the
> time you get the whole piece done, you have played it so much it
> becomes boring.
I guess you have a choice, then - you can either learn the song faster
by doing what your teacher suggests, and yet be bored by the result, or
you can *not* follow this advice and thus take longer to learn the
piece, but not be as bored in the process (frustration usully sets in
before you have a chance to get bored).
------------
Marc Sabatella
ma...@outsideshore.com
Music, art, & educational materials
Featuring "A Jazz Improvisation Primer"
http://www.outsideshore.com/
purple...@yahoo.com
haciendadevi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Explain to a beginner the purpose of practicing scales? Also, does
> practicing them make playing arpeggios any easier?
You play scales so that your fingers get faster and your hands get
stronger.
> If a person has an hour or two to practice daily, what would you
> suggest as a good practice schedule? How long for scales/exercises and
> how long on songs or other things?
That was my practice schedule when I was a child (1.5 hours or so) -
and I usually spent 15 minutes on scales/arpeggios and the rest on
songs. And improvisation, when my parents weren't paying attention.
(my classical-snob teachers convinced my parents that I was Not
Allowed to improvise...)
> My teacher says, re songs, to practice several measures over and over
> again until you get them right. However, by doing that, and by the
> time you get the whole piece done, you have played it so much it
> becomes boring. Your input is appreciated.
That only happens with simple beginner songs. As you move on to more
interesting music, you'll find that you can play it any number of
times and it never gets boring. (and if you're practicing 1-2 hours a
day, you'll move on to real music pretty fast) But even with the
simple stuff - ask your teacher to give you something that will really
impress your friends if you play it. Some kind of videogame music, or
movie music, or whatever - something that will make your friends say
"wow!" You'll find that it won't get quite so boring if you think of
your friends being really impressed with you playing that song.
As for the practice method - unfortunately, this is the way you
learn. A few measures at a time, repeated over and over until you get
it right; then move on to the next few measures. I still practice
this way, and I've been playing for 25 years. It's not boring when
the music you're learning is fun.
LM
BestStudentViolins.com
goals. For a complete beginner, they help build finger dexterity by
giving you something to play that you can work on without being
slowed
down by reading. They also teach you what notes are found in each
key,
which makes reading music go more smoothly as you'll cease having to
read each note one at a time and start to see patterns wihtin the
key.
If you're planning on playing jazz or any other style with
improvisation, it teaches you what notes are available for use in
improvisation, and teaches you hand good fingering habits that will
hopefully come into play while improvising.
That is such an outstanding answer, and it applies to string pedagogy,
too. "Why Practice Scales" is a pretty good question really.
Marc, any chance I could use this in an article? Probably on the
Violin/Viola FAQ [but with the attribution that it's a response from a
jazz pianist -- and a link to your page ? (which is very creative and
interesting)].
Connie
FAQ: http://beststudentviolins.com/FAQ.html
Marc Sabatella
> Violin/Viola FAQ [but with the attribution that it's a response from a
> jazz pianist -- and a link to your page ? (which is very creative and
> interesting)].
Sure, go ahead - and thanks for the comments!
---------------
rodd
feeling for the notes that make up a particular key. Then when you play
a melody that has scale ideas, your hands will feel more normal as they
play in a particular key. Less likely to play an F-natural when the key
calls for an F-sharp.
"purple...@yahoo.com" <purple...@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:1179293178....@u30g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:
g...@best.cut.here.com
>Explain to a beginner the purpose of practicing scales? Also, does
>practicing them make playing arpeggios any easier?
Scales, arpeggios, block chords, etc. are the building blocks of
music; it makes sense to practice them to attain competence in piano.
>If a person has an hour or two to practice daily, what would you
>suggest as a good practice schedule? How long for scales/exercises and
>how long on songs or other things?
I spend about an hour on exercises, including scales and arpeggios. I
also spend about an hour on repertoire. WFM (works for me). YMMV.
>My teacher says, re songs, to practice several measures over and over
>again until you get them right. However, by doing that, and by the
>time you get the whole piece done, you have played it so much it
>becomes boring. Your input is appreciated.
In addition to the good advice that has already been posted, I would
suggest that if you are bored playing music over and over until you
get it right, you should pursue some other activity that you find more
interesting. Unless you're a kid whose parents are forcing you to
learn piano, there's no reason for you to do something you find
boring.
--gregbo
gds at best dot com
Irrational Number
>
> My teacher says, re songs, to practice several measures over and over
> again until you get them right. However, by doing that, and by the
> time you get the whole piece done, you have played it so much it
> becomes boring. Your input is appreciated.
How do you learn how to do anything without
repetition? How do you learn how to shoot
free throws? Jump a triple axel? Speak
another language? Race cars?
-- Anita --