Why Should We Practice Scales?

Most of us would rather play just fun music and not work on scales, lip slurs, and other exercises that can become repetitive, and, well...boring.  I know, I've been playing music for 26 years now, so I've been there many times in my practice sessions.  However, the learning of scales has always been and will always be one of the most important skills to master on any musical instrument and I hope that this resource may help you in understanding why we should practice scales.

 Major (and Minor) Scales

Though major and minor scales are both very important, we usually focus on major scales in the middle school.  Here's why they are important to learn:

1. To learn keys and key signatures:  Every piece of music is composed in a certain key or group of keys, which are designated by the piece's key signature.  A scale is basically the series of notes used within a key.  If you know all 12 major scales, you will also know all 12 keys and their corresponding key signatures, giving you a better understanding of how the music is composed.  (The same thing applies for the minor keys.)

2. Learning new notes:  At the beginning and intermediate levels, students are still learning new notes (especially sharps and flats).  Learning scales with these notes help you learn these notes and their fingerings.

3.  Fingering Patterns:  Practicing scales helps you to learn different fingering patterns.  This is especially true for woodwinds that have various multiple fingerings and for mallets that may use different sticking patterns.

4.  Scales are a good warm-up for your fingers and brain.  If you memorize and play every scale every day, you will have always reviewed any keys used in any piece of music that you are going to play. 

 Chromatic Scales

The chromatic scale is a scale that moves by half-step, meaning that it uses every sharp and flat note as it ascends and descends.  This can be easily figured out using a fingering chart. 

1. Step 1 - learn a 1-octave chromatic scale in an easy range for your instrument - I suggest concert Bb for most instruments.

2. Step 2 -learn a 2-octave chromatic scale for your instrument.  I suggest concert F for most instruments, concert Eb for Alto and Bari Sax, concert Bb for Tenor Sax, and concert C for Horn.

3. Step 3 - practice a chromatic scale that spans as much of your instrument as you can play.

 Scale Practice Tips

1.  Play every scale that you have memorized every day and work on memorizing one new scale for a few minutes.  If you have memorized a scale, it only takes a few seconds to play it.  Thus, once you have memorized all 12 major scales and a chromatic scale, it should only take a minute or so to "run through" to keep it memorized.

2.  Once you have your scales learned and memorized, practice them using different dynamics, tempos, and articulations.