Hi,
I will be doing my grade 3 in november and i have difficulty remembering the scales. Please help me!!!

Is it remembering the key signatures (ie which notes are sharp or flat) that you have a problem with, or is it the fingering that you can't get right?

both........

Hi grubbygoo

I'm just a student but I'll try and help, although it's a big subject unless you can narrow it down to what exactly you find difficult.


1. Do you understand how the order of flats and sharps are built up through the Circle of Fifths? If you understand the Circle of Fifths, it should be easier to remember the key signatures. If you don't understand the Circle of Fifths, I'm sure lots of people on here would be able to help with that.

2. Do you have a scales book which shows you the finger patterns?


If you know which scales have sharps or flats, and you know which finger to start on, then it's matter of taking it very slowly at first, thinking all the time about where an accidental falls and which finger to use.

But if you could tell us a bit more about what you find particularly difficult, it would be easier to help. For instance, can you play hands separately but find it difficult putting hands together? Can you play one octave but find it difficult playing two octaves? And so on - there are so many things which people have problems with, and it's difficult giving the right help without knowing more.

Do you have a teacher by the way? And when is your exam?

Sorry not to be more helpful...

Oh dear, don't panic! It's tempting in this situation to try and cram them all in at once. I would work out how many scales you need to learn - then work out how many weeks until the exam and learn a few scales at a time to ensure that they are all learnt in time. If you try and play and learn them ALL in one practice session then the chance of you retaining them is quite small.

I would take the majors and learn them over one week
then the minors the next week and so on

Another tip is to find the patterns in the fingering that are similar between scales

Hope this helps

B flat major and E flat major are similar in that for the right hand, the Bflat key is always played by the 4th finger (apart from at the very start of Bflat scale) and in the left hand, the 3rd finger always takes the Bflat while the 4th finger always plays the 4th note of the scale. Practice these two scales together - it might help you to remember the pattern of the fingering. A major and E major are also the same as each other in terms of fingering - practice these two together. B major is only slightly different to A and E in that it begins on the 4th finger in the left hand - remember it as the odd one out.
Do you have any friends who are also doing Grade 3? You could play a game where you choose a scale and then go round in a circle and each person says the next note of that scale as quickly as possible, adding whether it is sharp or flat.
Good luck!

hi,
I have listed down what scales gave what flats. It kinda helped.

I have trouble remembering What the fingering is, the flats and sharps in the minor scales (b, g and c) and putting it hands together for the scales and the appergios.

my exam is on the 20 something of november, so i only have a month

So that's about 28 days - if you practise for even an hour a day, that's 28 hours, plenty long enough so don't panic!

Personally I would try and get reasonably secure on each of the minor scales at a time before moving on to the next.

As for playing hands together - I've been trying to do this and I don't find it easy, but by doing it slowly, it's gradually getting better.

Sorry I can't be more help but I'm only a beginner student myself and hopefully some teachers or advanced players will be along to give more informed advice.

Also don't forget to do them hand seperately as well as the examiner can ask you to do any hand or hands together. Also when you are practising, don't always practise them in the same order, otherwise your brain wont recognise what you have to do. So practise at random, a scale, then maybe an arpegio with the other hand, another hand scales together.

If you have the scale books they show you which fingerings to use, much better if you have a teacher though.

ET