Piano scales are essential to an understanding of how the piano is played and how music works.
There are a number of different kinds of scales, e.
g.
major and minor scales, chromatic and pentatonic scales to name just four! Although they can be confusing, they all follow predictable rules and there are various methods you can adopt in your piano playing to make the learning process easier.
Some scales are easy to play and some more difficult.
Those new to the piano normally learn the major scales first, because these are amongst the easiest to grasp and because they play the most significant part in the early stages of a new student's musical development.
And the easiest of all the major scales is C.
To illustrate this, find middle C on your keyboard.
This is the white note roughly in the middle sitting immediately to the left of two black notes.
A characteristic of major scales is that they are an octave in length.
This means there are eight notes and, in the key of C major, these are C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C.
The second C is an octave higher than the first and you can play this scale just by hitting every white key between the two C's, (when you get to E, simply tuck your thumb under your hand so you can play the remaining notes smoothly).
Whilst C major is the easiest scale to understand, let's also illustrate one that is a bit more complicated.
The scale of A major contains some black notes as well as white ones.
To find A, just count two white notes below middle C.
Now, put your thumb on the A and play the note next to it, but, when you get to middle C, this note is sharp, so play the black note above it.
Then tuck your thumb under your hand and play the next white note, which is D, put your second finger on the next white note, E, and then your fourth finger on the black note above F and the same with G, before hitting the second A note with your little finger.
The A major scale has three sharps, or black notes, and these are C, F and G.
So the scale of A major is A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A.
And there you have it.
You have just discovered your first two scales, C and A major.
Look for other articles in this series to learn more.