Piano Theory Blog #8: Dec. 20th, 2019

For the last theory blog of the semester, here are some tips that I've learned in order to play scales efficiently (through Simply Piano, I currently know how to play the C major, G major, and D major scales with both hands at the same time):

- Practice playing a one-octave scale with each hand separately (with the cross-over and slide-under techniques for moving from one hand position to the next).

- Once you are proficient in that, slowly practice with both hands together, pausing momentarily for the notes where each hand crosses over and/or slides under to improve in coordination.

- Always make sure that at least one finger is on a key at one time when shifting up or down. This helps you to make sure that you wouldn't accidentally shift to a wrong position by moving your hand too far or not far enough.

- Spend more time on scales that involve more black keys, (such as spending more time practicing the D major scale with two black keys, compared to practicing the C major scale where there are none).

- Try variations of scales, such as playing around with the dynamics, rhythms, articulations, etc. to gain musicality when applying those skills to pieces.

To wrap up, I feel that learning the basics of playing the piano this semester has helped me a lot in terms of applying those skills and their theory lessons that I've learned into my other instruments as well as in real life, and I am hoping to become more proficient in piano in the future.