Hello everyone!!

Just thought I would ask if anyone else is finding grd 7 scales really really scary?? I just cant seem to get staccato (sorry about spelling ) right, keep getting cramp in my hand and my teacher said i am moving my arm too much. and all the other combinations just look so hard!! ( sorry to winge!!)

I did pass grade 7 13years ago and the scales have become alot, lot harder.


HELP!!!

Any tips anyone??

Hello!

I'm not finding the staccato too bad as I always used to do the 8ve apart scales legato and staccato anyway. The 3rd aparts are not bad. I haven't started on the c major in thirds and 6s yet though, they look tough. And the F# dom 7th (with E# in it) kills me - I can't get my head around it for some reason.

I think the hardest thing about the grade 7 scales is the sheer quanitity of different types and groups. I don't like leaving half the scales (group 2s) unlearned, and I started off by trying to learn everything. But there is simply too much to learn all at once, so now I'm just learning the group 1s.

I presume grade 8 will be both groups plus... what? Loads more horrible combinations, I expect. Too terrible to think about!

Mullers & Fred,

I took grade 7 piano this summer and I too had problems managing the staccato scales at first - my fingers just wouldn't do them! However, I perservered and after a while they just started to come together. So, the key is just patience. Stick with it.

C major in 3rds and 6ths are both really easy once you actually start them. I'm sure you won't have lasting problems with these.

There are alot of scales in grade 7 so you may want to spread them over a week therefore completing all the scales every 7 days. I am doing this at the moment with grade 8 and I am just about managing it.

Good luck. I'm sure you will find that once you have been practicing them for a few weeks, the scales won't seem so bad. One tip that I can pass on that you might like to try is rather than practice the scales from the actual ABRSM book which seems very daunting since there are so many to work through, instead summerise all the scales on one sheet of paper so when you come to practice them, all you have to look at is the one sheet of paper rather than the whole book. Of course, you will have to learn the scales first before you can put down the ABRSM book.

Shelton

At least at grade 8 you don't have to do all the scales in every key... that would be scary indeed!

I've always found staccato scales difficult so over the summer I made the effort to practise all scales & variations of them, staccato every time. It has really helped them & now I actually quite like staccato scales. I also practise playing staccato scales with different rhythms - (dotted rhythms)- & that has also been very useful. And when you go back to playing them legato they seem wonderfully straightforward

heyy

First thing, don't panic!

I wasn't asked for a single staccato scale for my grade 8, so its possible u dont even have to think about them
Is it possible you're trying for Staccatissimo or more staccato than whats asked for? It seems to get a lot more difficult and strenuous the more stacc you go, as this means you can take less agvantage of rebound off the keys...
How much are you moving your arm? Bouncy at the wrist doesnt sound too bad, esp if you're playing loudly, but alot more than that could be a problem i guess :S

Grade 8 Scales are VERY VERY evil i tried a number of them, only really got round a couple properly like D flat in legato 6ths and C in staccato 3rds

good luck with Grdae 7 (although why redo it if you already passed? )

Grade 8 is not too bad. There are 8 keys: 4 of one of the Grade 7 groups, and 4 of the other. C, C#, D, Eb, F, F#, Ab and B (I think).

You have to do scales in 6ths as well as 3rds: RH starts on tonic, LH the 6th below.

Arpeggios are root, 1st and 2nd inversions.

You might find this topic about finger staccato helpful .

I like playing scales in different ways to make practising them more interesting (and to learn more than one thing at once ). Playing one hand staccato and one legato is fun, gets confusing when one tries to swap which hand is doing which every octave though .

Fun???

I do scales for fun too I find scales easier on the piano than pieces, so my teacher is making me learn SOME of the grade 8 ones... I have a couple in thirds to learn this week!

Scales are fun - it's quite strange how I can start with a couple of scales & an hour later realise I've not got round to looking at any pieces....

I tend to get stuck into scales on the flute, especially as I am not usually working on the basis of time but on getting them better.... I'll look at the clock, and think "Hmmm, I thought I'd been playing longer than that", thinking that 10 minutes has passed, then realise that actually it was an hour and 10 minutes...