roisin
Mon 02-Jan-12 17:32:09
Has anyone used the Paul Harris improving scales books?
Ds2 can play all his scales (gr4) accurately, but I think he could play them "more musically". However, he doesn't seem interested in improving them and just rattles through them. Any ideas?
lljkk
Mon 02-Jan-12 17:39:49
Is this sight reading or scales books? Pianoworldforums mostly talks about the PH sight reading books,& says there are lots of scales in them.
Talked about very positively, anyway.
roisin
Mon 02-Jan-12 17:41:38
Not sight reading; he's used the PH books for sight reading, which had worked. They don't have scales in though.
lljkk
Mon 02-Jan-12 18:27:46
sorry I'm no help, I can't find a single mention of them on piano world which makes me think you'll be hard-pressed to find trustworthy reviews anywhere... Amazon?
As long as they are accurate I think rattling through is perfectly acceptable.
noteventhebestdrummer
Mon 02-Jan-12 19:13:18
I think you might have to accept accuracy is good enough for now unless he is a very mature DS!!
DS3 passed all his piano Grades 1-4 but by the time he got to 5 <he> cared about the whole thing loads more and got distinction for that and for all the exams afterwards. I think it is a boy thing...
pianomama
Fri 27-Jan-12 11:39:32
DC found practicing scales with different rhythms and accents very useful.
Usually start with 3-4 rhythms (this helps to get solid fingering), then different accents (every second note, every third note etc - this helps "weaker" fingers (like 4th) to make more even sound.
Staccato is not required until G7 but is really useful for practice.
Makes scales less boring as well .
He could try improvising with some keyboard harmony in one hand and the scale in the other - good practice for any musician.
roisin
Sun 29-Jan-12 18:44:20
This week his teacher suggested playing scales backwards - eg down then up - which is remarkably challenging!
Thanks for the input.
