SCALING THE HEIGHTS

I typically begin at least my first practice session of the day by playing some scales and arpeggios. It gets all of my fingers moving and warming up, helps me with the eternal quest, which all pianists face, to play evenly with fingers that are all different lengths and strengths, and eases me into the session mentally with something familiar.

But I realized the other day that I have a number of significant gaps in my practice of scales.  I only recently began playing them in contrary motion after making my piano students play them in both parallel and contrary motion.  I don't play the minor keys. I play with the hands only an octave or two octaves apart and never in 3rds or 6ths apart.  And so on.

Well, it's time to get serious about scales, isn't it?  I ordered a complete book of scales, arpeggios, and cadences in all the keys, and it arrived yesterday.  I'm going to get right on it!

Tomorrow.