There are basically two schools of thought on technique:
- Technique is in the music. Draw from the repertoire to learn the necessary skills in order to play it well.
- Technique is what you bring to the music. Develop fluency in various skills so that when you want to learn a new piece of music you already have the tools you need to learn and play it well.
I confess that I have often waffled between these two philosophies and have yet to settle on one that undergirds my teaching approach. Here is my dilemma. The second philosophy makes more sense to me pedagogically and pragmatically, but there is no inherent motivation or convincing systematic approach to implementing it. In other words, that’s what may seem best for my students from my perspective, but they are much less inclined to work on fast, fluid arpeggios as an isolated exercise. If, however, a piece that they really wanted to play included several measures of arpeggios, they would work tirelessly to learn and play them well. Same goes for scales.
I used to be a stickler for working on scales, but only the rare student is motivated enough to work on them and learn them fluently from week to week. I always incorporate scales and other technical skills into my practice incentive theme for the year, but whether a student works on them or not is usually based on their personal goal selection for the week. And most students don’t voluntarily choose the scale option for their goal (shocking, huh? 
).
Anyway…I really want my students to be more skilled in technique. And by this, I don’t mean that they can come in and barely eek out a harmonic minor scale on the bazillionth try. I want them to be confident and fluent the first time. I’m working on some ideas, but would LOVE to get some advice from anyone who has experienced success in this area. What approach has worked the best for you? And I would love to hear from anyone – do you teach according to the first or second philosophy of technique? Anyone else struggling with this in your studio and want to work together to come up with a good solution?
I used to be #2 but now I’m mostly a #1. But one exercise I found that gets the fingers moving is simply 5-finger penta-scales. We start learning the white key patterns and end each one with the root position triad. Then we add the scales that start on the black keys until the students can fluently go up the whole scale chromatically. Then we add minor penta-scales and triads. Practice both staccato and legato. I use this with all of my beginners and then a faster version for the intermediate students. Most kids end up having fun with this and they’re not distracted by notes and fingering. They can simply look at their hands and play and then it helps them recognize the harmonies in their pieces.
CDEFGFEDC – CEG
CDEbFGFEbDC – CEbG
DbEbFGbAbGbFEbDb – DbFAb
DbEbFbGbAbGbFEbDb – DbFbAb
DEF#GAGF#ED – DF#A
etc….
I tend to go by the 2nd (through different teachers I had both experiences and I think there is some basis to the 2nd creating greater fluency in music reading and interpretation).
Scales: 5-note (major & minor simultaneously) creates a great deal of confidence in young students – especially playing that chord in both hands . . . 6 notes all at once! Plus a good technique and finger builder. One and 2 octave students are currently learning the Circle of Fifths (majority are still on major). From here I think I will focus more on patterns and spot drills. “What is the pattern for the natural harmonic minor? Key signature? Play the D harmonic minor scale.” Scales with difficult fingering will be assigned to review at home, otherwise the fingering “rules of thumb” will be reviewed each time. Scale time, of course, is ideal for placing extra focus on strong fingertips, hand position, playing with dynamics, etc. I would love to assign a key, say “A” and have them study all scales, arpeggios, chords and inversions. Not sure this would go over well, though. Thoughts?
I have a family of 3 students who just got a full, weighted-key piano. The 2 older students need some remedial work on technique after 2 years of having an inadequate practice instrument. We’ll be working through Pathways to Artistry to focus on small movements, develop listening, and work on the subtle touches they are lacking as well as pedaling. I’ve never used Pathways before, but it seemed to be a good solution for these students and the level they are at. I’m anxious to see how it works for them.
The teacher organization that I belong to, Keyboard Teachers Association, does an event every November that we started many years ago that I think you might like. It is called “Piano Gymnastics”. Students receive ribbons for performing 5 Finger Patterns, Major and Minor Scales, Arpeggios and Cadences. We have these arranged into 8 events with each event having 4 different levels. Example: Major Scales, Beginner plays C, F & G one octave, hands alone, Junior level plays C, D, E, F, G, A one octave hands together, Intermediate plays C,D, E, F, G, A, Db,Eb, & Ab two octaves and Senior level plays all 12 major scales for two octaves. Over the years, any student that achieves all 8 events at the senior level gets a plaque with their name engraved on it. This has been a VERY well received and successful event for our teachers and has given our students a reason to master the basics. I can send you our detailed forms on how all the events break down. We even added a theory component about 8 years ago and this is also working well.
I just posted about Studio Awards on my blog today. Several levels of awards are given for scales and I have several students looking forward to earning them. When I was taking lessons early on, technique was completely taught through the playing pieces. I always struggled with fingering on scale passages and often have thought that I would have minimized that problem had scales been a part of my required learning. I stress it with my students and use this example to encourage them not to share the same struggle. I really believe that teaching scales is extremely important. The goal for me as their teacher is to make it a fun and challenging activity for them.
In my heart, I think that both approaches can work together. (My head says, “Nope.”) I give students The Scale, usually printed somewhere else in the book but close to the piece they are starting, and then give them passages in the piece where the scale (or other pattern) appears.
I feel that context is very important and wish they “connected the dots” (as it were) faster. I beat my head against the wall saying, “Here it is. Do you see it?” To which they say, “Yeah.” And it is usually clear that they don’t see it, and are happy to go for months not recognizing that it’s the same notes.
Sigh.
I’m sure you’ve heard of books such as “Get ready for pentascale duets” and the corresponding major and minor scale duet books. I haven’t tried them yet, but I can’t wait to give them a try and see if it makes the process more fun for my students!
I like playing ‘games’ with scales…make them more interesting by playing around with patterns. I get a lot of this in jazz studies. For example, do 1,3,2,4,3,5… or 1,2,3,5 then 2,3,4,6 etc. That makes old scales more interesting. I also really like the Scale Playing cards that you can purchase that have the note names to the scales printed on them. That way you can work on certain ones or draw one a week to spice things up a bit.
I’m in Canada and frequently prepare students for RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) — but whether or not my students go for exams, they know they have to prepare the technique for that grade. Most of them do one key a week (scales, triads, arpeggios, chromatic scale, contrary motion or formula pattern, etc., depending on grade). Lower levels alternate majors with their relative minors; higher levels alternate majors with tonic minors.
“Eek out a harmonic minor scale on the bazillionth try.” How aptly written! Will read this post with interest!