Why you should work on your scales

Learning to play your scales and arpeggios really well will help you develop as a pianist and as a musician.

When you play scales, you’re strengthening your fingers, the coordination between your hands and preparing yourself for scale passages which occur in a lot of music.  You can also use your scale practice to work on developing an evenness of tone colour and good sense of rhythm

Memorising your scales will also help you understand which notes work together in tonal music and help develop your knowledge of major and minor keys and provide you with a framework to improvise from.

 I recommend setting aside a portion of your daily practice routine to work on your scales. When you start learning a new scale, play it slowly and ensure that you are using the correct fingering. Check that your arms are relaxed and your hand is well shaped at the piano. Gradually speed up your scales. If you find that you’re having difficulty synchronising your hands, try leading the scale with your left hand.