Jazz piano, Music, Music Theory, Piano Technique, Tutorials
Piano Scales PDF Download
So, do you really need to learn scales?
YES!………………..Why?
Ok, they may be dull (actually, I rather enjoy them!) but they give you an essential foundation & make it easier to:
- build chords
- recognise intervals
- improve your ear
- improve technique
You can printout the PDF below which is all major scale for practise at the piano. Here I've organised them in groups of fingering rather than keys. There are 3 groups and it's easier to learn a particular finger pattern and apply it to the group rather than learn each scale separately.
Scale Groups
Group 1 is the trickiest to read but don't be put off - these 3 are very comfortable and the visual patterns of the keyboard is quite simple to remember.
Group 2
Group 2 contains all flat keys and can be a little fiddly, starting on the 2nd finger (right hand) for most of them
Group 3
Group 3 contain C major which is the trickiest for the fingers!
TIP 1
Learn the basic (major) scale, just 1 octave on the piano – don’t worry about fingering yet. Be able to see it in your mind. This is about “knowing” the scale, rather than learning to play it.
Tip 2
Learn 3 major scales each week – you’ll have learnt all 12 in a month. Make sure each hand can play the scale on it’s own before playing hands together.
Tip 3
Learn the scales in groups of fingering, rather than keys. At the piano Db major is actually far easier to play than C major.
Tip 4
For piano scales, start with E major – Chopin used to teach his students this, as the hand naturally forms the correct shape in order to play C major (and others) properly.
Tip 5
Slow is good! Everybody wants to rattle off rapid scales but it’s much better for your muscles and your mind to play them in a relaxed, even, slow manner.
