Does anybody have any tips as to how to play legato scales in thirds? For example playing CE, DF, EG etc. in the C Major scale...I'm really, really stuck!

In the AB scale book for grade 8 where these are needed there are 2 fingering options. You do need to decide on a consistent fingering as for everything on piano.
I used the first option I think. fingerings being (RH) 1/3 2/4 with 3/5 only on EG which helped me to know where I was.
It's tricky and to get the legato sound you need to hold on to the top note of each pair as long as you can when moving from note to note as you ascend..... reverse going down. My teacher used to describe the movement as 'cling and glide'.

Do you have access to a book of scales or some such providing advised fingering?

Learning them from scratch myself last year, they took longer than almost any other exercise. I got hung up on whether or not my two fingers were playing 'together'. As soon as I stopped being unduly concerned about this, they began to flow a little more.

Being a fairly short exercise (learned together with the Bb scale) I managed to fit in a practice far more often than some of my other scales/arpeggios. This included 'drumming' on a table-top when sitting at my desk, sometimes just 13/24/35/24/13 repeated in the RH for example, sometimes the whole scale, sometimes two hands in contrary motion.

I put a yellow post-it on the piano reminding me to practice this every time I sat down at the keyboard.

Little and often! I trust that the teachers on this Forum will be able to advise on the technique.

I have difficulty with this scale too for my Grade 6 (TG) exam. I just can's seem to get the scale legato. Oddly enough I can do the E Major for grade 7 in thirds more easily.

I just wish I could get staccato scales staying staccato all the way!

Story of my (piano) life, scotliz, particularly in the left hand...

Is this for Grade 6? I'm really struggling with this too. I somehow end up going down in the LH 5-1/ 2-4/ 5-1/ 2-4 etc It's legato and not too awkward, but looks a bit stupid!

It's all in the wrist with a sort of pecking action!

My teacher advised me to get the notes sorted first, before embarking on staccato. I think the reason was because with staccato the fingers come off the keys and are then more likely to hit wrong notes either side. By the time I came to incorporate staccato scales into my practice the four octaves necessary for grade 8 were by then second nature.



I would have thought that this choice of fingering might prove problematic, especially later on. Is your teacher trying to 'correct' you?

That's an interesting one.
I remember having a discussion with my teacher about wrist versus fingers for staccato scales.
I find I'm less accurate if I try wrist action. Is there one correct way for this I wonder?

Well, I'm not a teacher, so I'd also be interested in what they might have to say on the matter.

Personally, if I use finger-action rather than wrist-, my hand is prone to tense-up. As it happened, I found that staccato scales weren't a problem (to the surprise of my teacher too, since he assumed them to be more difficult than legato). Whether that meant he left alone what he considered didn't need changing for the better, I don't know, yet knowing how particular he is, I wouldn't have thought that he'd let any bad practice go unchecked.

I've recently changed teacher.
Will ask what my new teacher thinks if I remember.

I'm doing the C major 3rd for my grade 7, and I found it really hard too. Although in recent months it has come together a bit. I use the same technique of remembering key points like RH uses 1/3 for C/E, and as long as I hit those points the rest just works out OK. Although some days the keys simply refuse to sound at the same time (might be a problem with my piano )

My problem is with the left hand. The book has the LH scale starting on C below middle C (bass clef). This means that at the top of the scale I am at the top of the treble clef for C/E and it feels really awkward (like my arm feels attached in the wrong place!) The alternative is start an octave lower but the 3rds sound really muddy down that end of the keyboard.

What would people suggest? Contort myself for the clearer tone of bass C scale, or use the muddy bass heavy tone of the below the bass clef C scale?

N

It may help sitting a little further back.

Yay....I'm not alone!!!