I was an unusual child; I really enjoyed scale practice. I remember a local music shop owner telling me the story of Charles Louis-Hanon, who used to practise all 12 scales, major and minor, first thing in the morning, while reading the newspaper and drinking his morning coffee. I confess I have never achieved the level of proficiency where I can play scales and drink coffee simultaneously, but I do still run through all 12 every morning.
Scales are frequently a sticking point when teaching young pianists. As hard as I try to explain their usefulness, they just don't hold the same glamour as a piece you can impress your friends with. ScaleBlocks from Ben Andrews was a welcome addition to my music desk this month, although I will admit to a certain amount of scepticism. Is there really a super-highway to scales practice, and if there is, why don't I already know about it?
ScaleBlocks, as Andrews explains in the introduction, is not a new approach, but rather a ‘toolbox of creative practice approaches to help the reader master’ scales. As first glance, there is something distinctly scientific about the layout of this text. The monochrome cover and text, replete with keyboard diagrams for each new scale and/or arpeggio, might seem a little foreboding at first, but the monochrome scheme serves to highlight the rather ingenious colour scheme used throughout the text.
The colour system involves highlighting the apex and nadir of each scale yellow, each ‘thumb’ note in red, and the rest of the scale in blue. The first suggested approach is to play the blue notes as a chord, isolating the position changes. Each scale is written out in double stave, accompanied by a keyboard diagram showing the finger positions for each on the keyboard. This seems like a methodical, scientific approach – deserving of a scientific(-ish) experiment!
Meet ‘Tom’ (name changed), a 16-year-old guitarist who can map out a few chords on the piano but wouldn't describe himself as a pianist. Tom has a particularly scientific brain; he's one of those students who likes to see diagrams of everything, talks about the physics of sound, and is generally curious and eager to learn.
Now meet ‘Annabel’, who is sitting Grade 7 this term. She is a confident performer, secure in her mastery and interpretation of her pieces, but wobbles a bit on scales with non-standard fingering – A flat and E flat being her current nemeses.
Tom really wants to become a more fluent pianist, and accepts the premise that scales and arpeggios may be the quickest way of getting there. But the idea of running through scales just doesn't engage him. On meeting ScaleBlocks Tom's hand shot into his pocket for his phone. Each scale comes with a QR code that links to scaletracks.com, which features a frankly astonishing range of backing tracks for each scale or arpeggio. So far so good. We try a B major scale (never start a student off with C major – there's no geography for the hand!). Running through the tracks, we find some epic cinemascope-style backings, a few funky EDM tracks, along with all the expected classical and baroque styles.
Tom found the choreography of putting his thumb on the B, holding down the two black keys and passing his thumb under really helpful in getting to grips with piano technique. Once that motion was fluid, he was rocking the scale to some very fine beats, which kept him practising for far longer than I suspect he otherwise might have.
Annabel leafed through the book and shot straight to the scales she found difficult. Each exercise comes complete with a smiley-emoji traffic-light tick box. Sad face for ‘still need to work on this one’, happy face for ‘comfortable with this one’ and a nonplussed middle ground between the two. At this stage, she knew better than I did where her problems lay.
The middle section of the book provides a useful breakdown of creative practice techniques, including the familiar (rhythms, articulations), the ‘I wish I'd thought of that’ (singing along with a one octave scale) and the downright ingenious (‘ghosting’ an entire scale – playing the keys without sounding any of the notes; and playing the scale in the rhythm of a famous song – ‘Happy Birthday’ was really confusing!).
And the results? Tom found this really useful as a standalone tutor, with little input from me. Annabel was already familiar with the fingerings and some of the practice techniques, but benefited hugely from having everything in one volume. Personally, I found the traffic light system particularly useful for both students. Overall, a welcome addition to my teaching arsenal.
