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C# minor and Bb Major are the ones that give my fingers fits.

Exalted Wombat, I find that the "2-3" fingering of B, Gb, and Db makes them the easiest for me -- once I got used to which of B/C and E/F each one has for white notes. By 2-3 fingering, I mean the regular pattern of which fingers go on the groups of 2 and 3 black notes.

Plowboy, Bb major was the last major scale I learned. Curiously, I find it much easier descending than ascending. Usually the opposite is true: I have a harder time descending. And minor scales, hmmmph, don't get me started! I've just started learning minor scales, and after getting to feel comfortable with the majors, I'm having to get used to the neophyte feeling of struggling with minor key fingering. I'm sure they'll come, but: bah.

Is it a fingering problem, or a notes problem? Can you play the scale correctly with ONE finger?

For the minor scales? A little bit of both, for the black key minors. I need to slow down and get the notes clearly in my mind, then the fingering will be easier because I'll know where I'm going.

I just played through all the white key harmonic minors, so there's hope.

Good! Analysing a problem is three parts of solving it! (Though it's amazing how many people SAY, quite clearly, what needs doing - then don't:-)

Scales - So I can remember the right notes for each scale so that's not the problem. And, the number of sharps/flats don't scare me either. As it was noted playing up on the black keys can often feel easier on the hands. It seems to be that starting on a finger other than 1 is what throws me off. Even more so when each hand starts on a different finger such as in the F# Minor Harmonic scale. (RH can start at 2 or 3; while LH starts at 4)

Also, I'm learning the related minor harmonic and melodic scales for each major scale and the fact that the fourth fingers cross at different notes just throws me for a major twist. For instance F# Minor Harmonic - Right hand fourth finger on G#, Left hand fourth finger on F#.

And, in the minor scales I have to remember that in the harmonic scale the 7th note gets raised ascending and descending, and the melodic scales have the 6th and 7th notes raised ascending and go natural descending.

So far my tough scales are B minor melodic/harmonic, F#minor harmonic/melodic, and Bb major gets me all twisted up sometimes too.

I do find though that the more I play them the fingers just seem to know where to go and I can remember all the rules of raising 6th,7th, and going back to naturals in the descending part of the scale.

It's interesting that I remember many of my major scales from 20 years ago. I just don't remember learning the minor scales in their various forms so these are all new to me and will just take more time to get into memory.

Also, I don't mind playing them either as once I think I got the fingering down I try to practice other things like playing gradually louder as I go up the scale and softer as I come back down and ending softly. Also, when I get really brave I play them with different rhythms and that's when I really know if I know the scale! Then playing a scale legato to staccato can throw me off for a loop too so I add that to the mix when everything else is solid.

[quote=FarmGirl]Andy - hey, you need to enjoy the success sometimes:) BTW, is "swollen head" expression similar to "so and so is getting too big for his britches"?

Let me tell you I learn a lot of words in this forum. In my notebook of colloquial English, I make entries like this. I note the words , who I heard from and definitions.

Benpiano - real hum-dinger (something extraordinary large or an excellent person or thing)
Mr. S/H - It's frigging xxx ( I think he is emphasizing something with a hint of frustration)

I'd pay good money to read some of those 'translations'!


Mr-BISHONEN.

Since we seem to be on scale work:

My scale assignment this week was to play C major in 10ths - left starts on C while right starts on E in the next octave up. It took a while to get the hang of it but I seem to have it smoothed out now. Speed and control isn't quite up to regular scales yet, but I think it will come in a few more days.

I am struggling with Debussy's Reverie. My teacher suggested I learn the end of the piece and then go back to tackling some more of the harder parts. He said something about making you feel good knowing that at least you can tackle a piece's beginning and end. So, this week I learned the last 20 measures and can already play the first 48 measures at almost the right tempo. Do I feel better? Nope... especially since I know that what I have to tackle next are the 6 measures before the last 20.

I am new here, well I read a lot but don't post. Wanted to share something. I played my first ever recital two weeks ago (played a simple arrangement from Brahms first symph. IV mvmt.) and it was a train wreck. This week, my son's piano teacher invited me to play in their winter recital. Played Brahms again and NAILED IT! Very redemptive and encouraging!!

High five Bro!

Welcome to the forum.


I told you Lucy!

Welcome and congratulations!

That's cool Congrats.

Cathy

ZoeCalgary, Congrats! I like your Fantasia in E Minor by Telemann very much. You really bring the baroque sound out of the piano.

Wisebuff, good laughter, good food, and good music with friends and family sounds cozy. Reminds me of the music parties the family of Bach had once in awhile.

Swissme, All your pieces you are working on are very difficult. I wish I could work on the WTC pieces. But if it takes a lot of time even for you, then maybe it's better for me to wait.

Eglantine, congrats on getting a harpsichord! That's a big achievement and much bigger excitement, because you work on a lot of Bach pieces.

LisaE, msirukandjisting and Lateralus Ag, welcome on this forum and this topic!

Pianostudent88, Andy Platt, sorry to hear your heads got swollen, haha. You must be doing something good though.

Ukbuk, interesting how relaxation works. It's a major issue I'm adressing now. I'm gonna look at my pinky too.

Plowboy, playing delicately and a nicely tuned piano together should be delicious. Thumbs up for your major achievement this year.

My AOTW is that I learned my first scale. Interesting to read how you are doing on scales. I tried a lot of times before, but after a few runs I got bored. That's not a good way to learn scales.

This week I played A minor natural, they key of Für Elise, every day though. And I achieve it, but I'm still not excited about it.

all this talk of scales: should I be using a book for practicing these, or just figure them out and play them?

Well, survived my first recital (barely). I played "Still, Still, Still" - a very simple, short arrangement. Started off okay, but by the end my hands were shaking so badly I could barely hit the keys, but did finish it. Then I was to play one of my Grade 1 RCM pieces for my exam in January. Did the first half then went completely brain-dead. It was like I looked down at the keys and couldn't remember for the life of me what they were for, let alone which ones to hit in which order! Add to that, I was the only adult there out of the 6 my teacher has. At least one other had promised to show up, but apparently her grandmother died (like I believe that!!)But I remembered people here telling how they messed up their recital and lived to tell the tale, so was able to NOT run from the room crying! Then at the end, the teacher encouraged people to play "casually" while everyone chatted and had a snack, so she and my daughter TOLD me I had to play that piece again. And guess what - played it perfectly! So I was proud of myself for getting back up on the horse that threw me! Not sure if I want to go through that again, but probably will. Determined to conquer my fears!

I had lesson number two yesterday. It ended up going over two hours, and I loved every minute of it (even though it's costing me a fortune). We worked on technique in scales in particular (especially the thumb tucking, which is where I tend to break the even rhythm) and some other technical issues. I find his teaching to be just super, and he always seems to be able to get very quick results out of me even with technical issues that are somewhat abstract and hard to explain.

He wrote out all the scales and I'm supposed to learn octaves in all of them. EEK! At least with octaves there are no fingering issues (as I only know the fingering for C major, and the other scales that use the same fingering).

He assigned me C major arpeggios with fingering for both hands as well.

We discussed the Chopin Ballade no 1 that I'm working on, and how to approach it. He said we could either go the easy way or the hard way (and I knew exactly what was coming here). The easy way: finish up the piece and get some general tips and such. It would sound ok, but sloppy to the discerning ear. Or, start from the beginning and go through it with a fine-toothed comb. I said I'm willing to do the latter.

So my assignment for next lesson is to go through the first page or two (and more if I can) and play with NO rubato or embellishments, and with COUNTING. I've never counted before, so this will be annoying at first, but hopefully not too much. I learned the first couple pages at a point when I didn't really know the difference between an eight note, quarter note, or half note, and didn't know what a tie was (and there are more; basically, I only did the notes, imitating what I heard on recordings). As I got further in the piece, I understood more of the notation so it's less sloppy. He said it's unbelievable that I managed to get it as good as I did (I know the first 6 and a half pages and the last 3. I need to learn the middle 3.), and I'm excited to make it better!
Also, there were many sloppy areas as far as fingering, or letting go of notes that I should be holding, or pedaling too much, etc. At least the notes are right

All in all, I'm really enjoying having a teacher, and I think I picked one up at pretty much the right time for me (and a GOOD one too!).

Good for you, Sam!
Counting is HUGE! Once you've mastered it, you should have very little difficulty with rhythm in future pieces- and they will get tricky!
BTW, I often use the numbers/count to "sing" my way through some classical pieces that HAVE no words- I just have to be sure not to sing OUT LOUD

Pieces that have trickier rhythm (like Fantaisie Impromptu, which I've done) I have no idea how I would count. I guess that's what the teacher is there for. I'm going to play that piece for him next lesson so he can help me iron it out. It's a deceptively simple piece, so I think there will be less to fix compared to the Ballade.


As far as singing, that's the trouble I have with counting. I'm tempted to count in a sing-song kind of voice, but that's just embarrassing for me. But counting in a monotone is hard too, because it's separate from the music. I guess for the "out loud" portion I'll do it in a monotone, but when I count in my head I can sing it as loud as I want

Lisa, that's a wonderful story,and good for you for going back to play it. I will have to say that I prefer playing background music, and though I play solo gigs 3/month at seniors venues, I wouldn't do a recital. Maybe you've got "dinner music" piano in your future - it's really fun

Sam - I love following your progress. Learning new stuff is the best, no?

Cathy