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    Technical Regimen, Part 7: Scales

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    peter
    The document discusses techniques for practicing scales on the piano. It recommends starting with one hand alone to develop smoothness of motion. Scales should be played legato, imitating the singing voice. The instructor Jeffrey Biegel provides various exercises and tips, such as sitting on the front of the bench for mobility, practicing scales in different directions and speeds, and systematically practicing all major and minor scales over four days. The goal is to make scales interesting and fun through experimentation.

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    Technical Regimen, Part 7: Scales

    Uploaded by

    peter
    98 views5 pages
    The document discusses techniques for practicing scales on the piano. It recommends starting with one hand alone to develop smoothness of motion. Scales should be played legato, imitating the singing voice. The instructor Jeffrey Biegel provides various exercises and tips, such as sitting on the front of the bench for mobility, practicing scales in different directions and speeds, and systematically practicing all major and minor scales over four days. The goal is to make scales interesting and fun through experimentation.

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    The document discusses techniques for practicing scales on the piano. It recommends starting with one hand alone to develop smoothness of motion. Scales should be played legato, imitating the singing voice. The instructor Jeffrey Biegel provides various exercises and tips, such as sitting on the front of the bench for mobility, practicing scales in different directions and speeds, and systematically practicing all major and minor scales over four days. The goal is to make scales interesting and fun through experimentation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    98 views5 pages

    Technical Regimen, Part 7: Scales

    Uploaded by

    peter
    The document discusses techniques for practicing scales on the piano. It recommends starting with one hand alone to develop smoothness of motion. Scales should be played legato, imitating the singing voice. The instructor Jeffrey Biegel provides various exercises and tips, such as sitting on the front of the bench for mobility, practicing scales in different directions and speeds, and systematically practicing all major and minor scales over four days. The goal is to make scales interesting and fun through experimentation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    Biegel recommends practicing scales to develop technical skills on the piano. He advocates singing or thinking of legato when playing scales to connect the notes smoothly. Biegel also discusses different techniques like playing scales with one hand, thinking of a typewriter for staccato, and reversing scale directions.

    Biegel recommends starting with one hand alone, moving the hand between positions, and copying his hand movement on video. He also discusses imagining a continuous line up and down the scale. Biegel likes using Lhévinne's method of practicing scales at four increasing speeds.

    Biegel views playing the piano like playing tennis, where the entire body should follow the movement of the hands across the keyboard. He recommends sitting on the edge of the bench and shifting body weight from side to side for fluid scale playing.

    SUPPLEMENT

    TECHNICAL REGIMEN, PART 7


    WATCH THE LESSON
    AT TONEBASE.CO

    SCALES
    JEFFREY BIEGEL – INSTRUCTOR

    “Treat scales vocally, and you won’t find them so treacherous."

    Simply put, scales are a big part of what pianists do. The use of scales to
    develop smoothness, so that our arms feel like the arm of a cellist using a bow,
    is paramount to technical success. To repeat a phrase commonly taught to
    music students, “Play it as you would sing it.” With a singing voice in mind, the
    fingers will imitate its lyrical contours.

    What does Biegel say to a new student of piano, whether they are seven years
    old or seventy years old? To start, he recommends a book by David Hirschberg
    called “Scales and Chords are Fun.” It contains a number of simple exercises
    helpful for beginners.

    Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Biegel 1


    Start playing scales with one hand alone. Raise your fingers so they get used to
    moving. As you play, move your hand over into the next position. Watch the video
    and copy Biegel’s hand as it crawls like a spider over the C Major Scale.

    If your scale sounds bumpy, or with breaks, sing the scale. The fingers will mimic
    the legato of the voice does, even if your voice is bad. If you are comfortable with
    solfege, try that as well!

    To play staccato, imagine you’re playing a typewriter. In order to use an old-


    fashioned typewriter, you have to press very firmly on the keys. Thinking this way
    ensures that you’re getting to the bottom of the key. It’s even helpful to play a
    legato passage staccato, or a staccato passage legato. This helps you
    differentiate between the two easily.

    Two-octave scales are challenging, but valuable to practice. Students rarely


    practice them, but by separating the arms, each hand has more independence.

    Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Biegel 2


    For Biegel, playing the piano is like playing tennis. You must be able to move your
    body from side to side as your hands move around the keyboard, just as a tennis
    player follows the ball with their entire body. This is why Biegel advocates for
    sitting on the front edge of the bench, so your torso has mobility.

    Biegel recommends placing your left leg near the front left leg of the bench as
    you lean rightward, and vice-versa. All of these components help strengthen the
    fluidity of the scale. Your only objective should be to achieve one continuous line
    up, and one line down.

    Imagine you’re painting on a smooth canvas, and each brush stroke must be
    perfectly smooth. One stroke up, one stroke down. This is the same basic
    movement as a scale. Another way of playing scales that Biegel likes to use is
    reversing the direction.

    As you play higher on the piano, the strings are shorter, and this means the
    sound comes out slightly faster than on low notes. This also means that you have
    to play more precisely in time. Try this out with a C Major Scale in the extreme
    upper register. Start at the very top and work your way down, by two, three, or
    four octaves.

    Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Biegel 3


    At the bottom of the piano, the strings are the longest, so the action is the
    heaviest. Place your right foot just on the outside of the right leg of the piano for
    more mobility at the bottom of the keyboard. Try this A Major scale at the
    extreme low end of the piano.

    Then, with a metronome, practice scales using Lhévinne’s method of four


    speeds. Take a C Major scale and play at any four speeds that are comfortable,
    such as 60, 72, 84, and 96. Gradually increase these four as you get more
    technically proficient.

    Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Biegel 4


    There’s no need to ask a student to play every major or minor scale every day.
    Biegel recommends a method to get through scales quickly and comprehensively.
    Instead, each day play three new major scales and their corresponding relative
    harmonic/melodic minor scales. After four days, you will have play every major
    and minor scale. Below is a table showing the schedule that Biegel recommends:

    This is a systematic and efficient way to practice scales on a daily basis. Be sure
    to make them interesting, using the various techniques Biegel discussed in this
    lesson! Experimentation can only lead to beneficial discoveries. Variety is the
    element that makes practicing more fun.

    An heir to the
    legacy of Josef
    Lhévinne and Adele
    Marcus, Jeffrey
    Biegel has garnered
    a reputation as a
    prolific pianist and
    sought-after
    teacher.

    Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Biegel 4

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