It’s been quite a few years since I first read and reviewed Gerald Klickstein’s insightful book, The Musician’s Way, but it still stands out as one of the most inspirational and practical books in the music industry on the subject of practicing and performing. His bi-monthly newsletter still consistently delivers numerous interesting and useful links.
In the most recent issue, the linked article about scales was of particular interest to me. As a piano teacher I have a love-hate relationship with scales. I love using them as a vehicle to help students gain a working knowledge of music theory, but I often struggle to utilize them to facilitate technical fluency and artistry as much as I want to.
Mr. Klickstein’s conclusion summarizes my vision for incorporating scales in my students’ weekly practice assignments, but also reminds me of the gap between that vision and what we are actually accomplishing each week:
“When we teach scales, let’s make sure that they occupy a concise portion of student practice time and that we present them in artistic contexts, using them to cultivate control of tone, timing, dynamics, and articulation as well as habits of easefulness, mental focus, and harmonic awareness.”
I’m inspired to do a better job of communicating this vision to my students and would love any suggestions from other pianists and teachers as to what you have found effective for utilizing and practicing scales with this vision in mind!
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