Description
This book is made up of six sections, or steps.
Step 1: Major Scales, Hands Separate
This Step includes a page for each of the twelve major scales, and it focuses on learning each scale hands separate. There is a space to fill in which scale you are learning (which allows you to learn them in your order of choice – more about that later). Exercises in this step include some warm-up exercises, scales, arpeggios, broken inversions, blocked inversions, and I-IV-I-V7-I chord progressions.
Step 2: Major Scales, Increase Speed
Step 2 is the same as Step 1, but with an increased speed.It is a great time to review all of the major scales and make sure you hav e the fingerings learned well.
Step 3: Major Scales, Hands Together
Step 3 is where you start to play all of the major scales and arpeggios hands together. They are played at two different speeds. You will also continue to play broken and blocked inversions, and chord progressions.
Step 4: Minor Scales, Hands Separate
In Step 4 you are introduced to the three types of minor scales, as well as minor arpeggios. These will all be played hands separate during this step. You will also play minor chord inversions in both broken and blocked style, and minor chord progressions.
Step 5: Minor Scales, Hands Together
Step 5 puts hands together on all of the minor scales and arpeggios.
Step 6: All Scales, Different Ways
In Step 6 you put everything together, practicing major and three types of minor scales and arpeggios hands together in 1, 2, 3 and 4-note groupings. You will work to increase speed and evenness during this step. Also in this step are some other fun exercises, including Russian Scales, 1-2 Ratio Contrary Motion Scales, Staccato/Legato and Forte/Piano Scales, and chord progressions with Alberti bass accompaniment in the left hand. You can customize the metronome marking to your current speed and work to improve and get faster.
The book also includes several pages of instructional/introductory material, which goes through each exercise in depth. It includes suggested orders of teaching the scales, fingering charts, technique tips and reminders, and more. In the back of the book there is a progress checklist to check off scales you have completed, as well as a certificate for those who complete the entire program.
How it Works
The book is laid out in such a way that teachers can have their students learn the scales in the order of their choice (suggestions are included). There is a space on each place to fill in which scale you are playing, and a place to draw in the notes on a grand staff as well as on a picture of a keyboard. You and your student can also write in the scale and arpeggio fingerings. As students draw in the scale notes, key signatures and fingerings, it helps them to both connect the exercises to the music theory concepts and to understand the note and fingering patterns in a different way. Each page includes several exercises, including thumb prep and finger crossover exercises, scale cluster exercises, scales, arpeggios, inversion exercises and chord progression exercises. Metronome markings are included, with room to customize tempos in the later steps. Each exercise is listed on the page five times, with a box next to each to check off once the exercise has been practiced. This allows for an entire page to be passed off in a week of practice, or roughly one week per scale. (In the early steps, it only takes about 3 minutes to play through each exercise on a page once.) If students consistently practice their scales each day and pass off a page per week, steps 1 through 5 will take a little over a year to complete. Step 6 is where the student reviews all of the scales in many different ways and works to improve their scales and increase speed. A page in this section will be completed once all exercises are mastered at a certain metronome marking. 12 pages are included in this section, allowing for incremental increases in speed as students work to master their scales. The time spent working in this section will vary from student to student.
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