What is the point ...

... of practicing scale

Piano practice stock image. Picture: Getty stock image

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They're the bane of every young (and not so young) musicians' life. But why have scales become so key to music practice?

By Victoria Longdon, ClassicFM London

Did you learn an instrument at school? If so it’s highly likely that your teacher gave you scales to practise. These humble little exercises consist of playing set patterns of notes up and down, and are a staple of most mainstream music exams.

It's also highly likely that your teacher never explained to you why you had to learn these (whisper it) boring exercises, or the multitude of benefits they can bring to your playing.

Because – believe it or not – scales weren’t invented purely to make exam candidates sweat.

So let’s demystify this musicians’ ritual.What is the point of scales, and why should you include them in your practice?

Building Blocks

Scales are like a musical laboratory, or testing ground. Stripping back the intricacies and details of music allows you to focus on perfecting the foundations:

Timing

Playing scales might seem relatively straightforward, but set a metronome going and you’ll soon realise that playing them exactly in time is very hard. A good sense of internal time is a must for every musician. You need to be able to keep time accurately yourself, but also play together in larger groups. Practising scales with a metronome helps you to learn to place each note in just the right place.

TIP: Once you’ve nailed your timing, scales can also be a great practice ground for trickier rhythms, such as quintuplets and sextuplets. Just set a slow metronome and try to fit four, then five, then six notes evenly into every beat.

Play your scales and you might be able to play like this one day

Ingolf Wunder - Mozart's Piano Sonata in F Major

One of Mozart's greatest piano sonatas, from a bird's eye view.

Intonation

Unless you’re playing an instrument like the piano, scales give you the opportunity to fine tune your intonation. As they develop their listening, sensitive musicians come to understand the individual tuning ‘fingerprint’ of different scales, and how to tune notes differently according to where they fall within this.

Coordination and Dexterity

When you are learning a musical instrument your muscles need to get used to moving in detailed patterns with speed and accuracy.

When it comes to training this muscle-memory, scales will be your best friend. Drilling these exercises allows you to focus on the foundations of your technique: posture, breath, finger movement etc. to make your playing effortless and serene.

Sight-Reading

via GIPHY

DON'T FREAK OUT. Scales can help here too. Put simply, scales are just sets of patterns. Knowing them will give your sight-reading a boost because a lot of music is based around fragments of the same patterns. But the benefits don’t stop there. Key signatures, chords, modulations and more difficult aspects of music theory are all much easier if you have a solid knowledge of your scales.

Improvisation

Practising scales doesn’t just help you refine your technical ability. If you’re a jazz musician, knowing your scales inside out is the foundation of improvisation, and we’re not just talking major and minor, there are a whole host of different ‘modes’ (different set patterns of tones and semitones) which give flavour to improvisation. Mastering all these different modes gives you a wide choice of palettes from which to improvise...

Scales may not sound like much, but when you hear a real master play a simple exercise like a scale it highlights the level of perfection that every musician could strive for in their playing.

Better get practicing...

Why do orchestras tune to an 'A'?

By Classic FM London

14 May 2018, 09:51

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

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At an orchestral concert, you’ll hear an A from the oboe before you hear anything else because it’s the note that the rest of the musicians tune to. But where did this tradition come from and why is it still around?

Why do orchestras tune to an ‘A’?

Orchestras always tune to concert pitch (usually A=440 Hertz, 440 vibrations per second).

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Conveniently, every string instrument has an A string. So it makes sense for string orchestras to tune to the open A string of the first violinist. And as other families of instruments have joined the orchestra over the years, they followed suit. 

Even if an orchestra tunes to the ‘A’ of a keyboard instrument, the oboe (or first violin) will still pick up the note and play it for the rest of the orchestra, to make sure everyone can hear it.

Contrastingly, most band instruments are pitched in B flat – so if you’ve ever played in a concert band, you will have noticed that you always tune to a B flat rather than an ‘A’.

When did orchestras start tuning to the oboe?

Listen to the sound of these lovely oboes:

Lady Gaga medley for 5 oboes and English horn

Arranged by Ryan Walsh. Performed by The Mannes Oboe Studio: Cat Cantrell, Cory Snoddy, Phil Rashkin, Scott Wollett, Devin Hinzo and Ron Cohen Mann. Songs include: "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "Telephone", "Judas" and "Applause".

Despite their distinctive sound, the oboe hasn’t always been in the orchestral spotlight.

When the first orchestras emerged in the late 17th century, they were mainly formed of string players. While the focus was on string instruments, oboists were sometimes used to strengthen the sound of the first and second violin section.

But then, composers started to realise that the oboe’s bright, singing tone could be put to better use. They began writing separate parts for the instrument, and even creating concertos for the instrument (for example, Albinoni’s Oboe Concerto in D minor).

So why do today’s orchestras tune to the oboe?

The penetrating sound of the oboe stands out from the orchestra, so it’s easy for all the musicians to hear. 

Its pitch is also steadier than strings, so it’s a more reliable tuning source. This was especially true when all violin strings were made from gut (now they’re more often made from steel).

Longevity also has a lot to do with it: over time flutes, bassoons, French horns and clarinets drifted in and out of the orchestra; but oboes were nearly always written into orchestral scores. So they became the standard instrument for tuning.

Yamaha has another theory: “The only way of altering the pitch of an oboe is to adjust the breadth or length of the reeds; it is nearly impossible to make any sudden changes on the day of a performance. It is difficult to adjust the pitch of an oboe,” they argue. “Therefore the other instruments in a performance must be made to match, and that is why the oboe is the standard for tuning.”

Don’t oboes go flat too?

Like any other instrument, oboes can be tuned sharp or flat. But most oboists use an electronic tuner to make sure their ‘A’ is on point. 

In theory, the whole orchestra could use the electronic tuner to tune. It probably produces a more consistently accurate note than an oboe, as well.

But we think it would be a shame to lose this tradition. It’s surprisingly hard to imagine a concert without that reassuring initial sound of an oboe rising above the chitter-chatter, just as you’re settling into your seat and setting your phone to silent, before the full magnificent orchestra chimes in at pitch…