4 ms·

Why not get a piano and practice scales?

FinalDestiny 4y ago
It supports MIDI pianos if you've got one And the program helps you memorize & practice scales, fifths and chords I'm also using it as a reference sheet
jimbob45 4y ago
Scales are useless. I’ve been playing 20+ years and just figured out the scales I needed for the parts they were required on when they came up. You might as well practice implementing data structures as a beginner. You’ll burn out long before you’ve built anything interesting or useful.
- zarzavat 4y ago
  The main benefit of scales is to learn common fingerings. Most music is made from scales, so practicing scales in isolation will bake in the correct fingerings for many common sequences of notes. It will also mean that you have exposure to "odd" keys, which makes you a more rounded player. Once you get to a certain level of proficiency, you can just "hear" scales and you don't need to practice them any more (aside from for warmups and physical training). However beginners don't have the advantage of this ability.
  - yesenadam 4y ago
    Jazz pianist here, I also strongly disagree that scales are useless. I had 90 minute classical piano lessons once a week from 6 years old to 16, 30 minutes of that learning scales, which in later years includes contrary motion, arpeggios etc. I'm so grateful my teacher put in the time! I practised them every day until my 30s. There's nothing better for feeling where in your hand you're rusty, always trying to make them sound as musical and even as possible. Also when you do them regularly, you can feel when certain hand movements are more difficult or rougher than usual - they're the best way of knowing exactly where you're at physically. Not sure what you mean "you can just 'hear' scales". "You don't need to practice them any more"...except for the main reason you play them, for "warmups and physical training"? i.e. you do need to practice them. Or at least, they're the best thing to practise, I've found. The first few years, they're so your fingers naturally play good fingerings on most things without having to think about it, and finger muscle training. After that, they're for, I guess, warming up and what I'd call more maintaining and recovering peak muscle condition than "training". 5 minutes of very fast, musical-as-possible scales and unless in peak form, your arms are falling off with muscle fatigue hehe. Also I went through Liszt's book once and wrote down the exercises I found the most difficult, and practiced them for years. Also learnt Ravel's LH Concerto to strengthen my left hand.. But scales always.
    - zarzavat 4y ago
      > Not sure what you mean "you can just 'hear' scales". "You don't need to practice them any more"...except for the main reason you play them, for "warmups and physical training"? i.e. you do need to practice them. Or at least, they're the best thing to practise, I've found. Beginners will learn the "D major" scale or a "E harmonic minor" as separate units. Whereas advanced players have the hand-ear coordination to think of "a major scale" as being a 'sound' (intervalic sequence) that can be transposed to any key. For me, it's much more important to be able to sing a particular scale pattern, once I can sing it then I can play it on any instrument that I have proficiency at. For physicality/warmups, the kinds of scales that I like to practice are symmetric scales (e.g. chromatic, diminished, wholetone, etc). When practicing scales for physicality it's especially beneficial to use the metronome.

It supports MIDI pianos if you've got one And the program helps you memorize & practice scales, fifths and chords I'm also using it as a reference sheet

jimbob45 4y ago

Scales are useless. I’ve been playing 20+ years and just figured out the scales I needed for the parts they were required on when they came up. You might as well practice implementing data structures as a beginner. You’ll burn out long before you’ve built anything interesting or useful.

zarzavat 4y ago
The main benefit of scales is to learn common fingerings. Most music is made from scales, so practicing scales in isolation will bake in the correct fingerings for many common sequences of notes. It will also mean that you have exposure to "odd" keys, which makes you a more rounded player. Once you get to a certain level of proficiency, you can just "hear" scales and you don't need to practice them any more (aside from for warmups and physical training). However beginners don't have the advantage of this ability.
- yesenadam 4y ago
  Jazz pianist here, I also strongly disagree that scales are useless. I had 90 minute classical piano lessons once a week from 6 years old to 16, 30 minutes of that learning scales, which in later years includes contrary motion, arpeggios etc. I'm so grateful my teacher put in the time! I practised them every day until my 30s. There's nothing better for feeling where in your hand you're rusty, always trying to make them sound as musical and even as possible. Also when you do them regularly, you can feel when certain hand movements are more difficult or rougher than usual - they're the best way of knowing exactly where you're at physically. Not sure what you mean "you can just 'hear' scales". "You don't need to practice them any more"...except for the main reason you play them, for "warmups and physical training"? i.e. you do need to practice them. Or at least, they're the best thing to practise, I've found. The first few years, they're so your fingers naturally play good fingerings on most things without having to think about it, and finger muscle training. After that, they're for, I guess, warming up and what I'd call more maintaining and recovering peak muscle condition than "training". 5 minutes of very fast, musical-as-possible scales and unless in peak form, your arms are falling off with muscle fatigue hehe. Also I went through Liszt's book once and wrote down the exercises I found the most difficult, and practiced them for years. Also learnt Ravel's LH Concerto to strengthen my left hand.. But scales always.
  - zarzavat 4y ago
    > Not sure what you mean "you can just 'hear' scales". "You don't need to practice them any more"...except for the main reason you play them, for "warmups and physical training"? i.e. you do need to practice them. Or at least, they're the best thing to practise, I've found. Beginners will learn the "D major" scale or a "E harmonic minor" as separate units. Whereas advanced players have the hand-ear coordination to think of "a major scale" as being a 'sound' (intervalic sequence) that can be transposed to any key. For me, it's much more important to be able to sing a particular scale pattern, once I can sing it then I can play it on any instrument that I have proficiency at. For physicality/warmups, the kinds of scales that I like to practice are symmetric scales (e.g. chromatic, diminished, wholetone, etc). When practicing scales for physicality it's especially beneficial to use the metronome.