ABOUT
THIS SITE

INTRODUCTION

Over many years of teaching piano I have encountered a number of mediocre scale books. Some books have too much information, exercises and jargon that is not useful. Other books don’t have all of the scales! None of the books I’ve used actually attempt to explain how to practice and understand scales in a concise and meaningful way. That role has always fallen upon me as a teacher. As a result, this website is a synthesis of my thoughts on scale pedagogy for the piano. It is intended to be a step-by-step guide for the beginner pianist practicing scales. It contains essential exercises and information that has helped all of my students mature their understanding of the piano and advance their technical performance.

WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN SCALES

Scales are the key to understanding which notes work well together and why. They are valuable for practicing finger strength and dexterity as well as hand positioning. A pianist that has practiced scales will be able to easily intuit the ideal fingering for a passage of music and understand the compositional source of a chord progression or melody. This will allow for more freedom while improvising, as well as provide new explorations while composing and a deeper analytical understanding of music.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Martin is a learning experience designer and jazz pianist from Los Angeles, CA. After teaching piano professionally for 15 years, he turned his talents towards web and instructional design. In addition to design and music, Andy is passionate about electric pianos, Motown basslines, synthesizers, pedals, music history, vinyl, cassettes and roasting coffee. He holds degrees in music from CSU Northridge and UC Berkeley.

Andy is available for hire: andymartin.work