Making scales less boring: ideas for piano and guitar

Scales are often the least loved part of practice. In a 2024 study of pupils who had left Slovenian music schools, one teacher said that students like scales and studies the least. Yet nearly every teacher sets them and exam boards include them. The good news is that scales do not have to be dull.

Why scales are worth it

Trinity College London says scales, arpeggios and exercises "combine to give a solid and practical technical foundation" for pianists, and that these skills link directly to playing pieces. A Trinity blog lists technique, strength and agility, coordination and tone among the benefits. In everyday terms, scales help with three things:

• Technique. Scales train even, controlled playing and smooth finger movement, the same skills your child needs in their pieces.
• Keys. Every scale belongs to a key. Once your child knows the notes and fingering of G major, for example, a new piece in G major feels more familiar. Piano teacher Graham Fitch describes scales as building familiarity with all keys.
• Reading. A study of pianists by Waters, Townsend and Underwood found that skilled sight readers rely heavily on recognising patterns. Scales and arpeggios are among the most common patterns in music, so knowing them well is likely to help with reading, though that study did not test scales directly.

Same scale, many ways

Playing a scale the same way every day is what makes it boring. Ideas from piano teacher Graham Fitch, classical guitarist Bradford Werner and other teachers include:

• Rhythm. Try long short, then short long, or groups of three or four notes with an accent on the first.
• Dynamics. Play loudly, then quietly, or get louder going up and softer coming down. Werner notes that most students do not practise scales with dynamics.
• Articulation. Play smoothly (legato), then short and detached (staccato). Older piano students can try one hand legato and the other staccato.
• Tempo. Very slow is harder than it sounds. Werner finds slow scales the hardest because every uneven note is exposed. Keep the tone even, then try a little faster.
• Hands separately. Many piano teachers have pupils play each hand alone first, to secure the fingering before putting hands together.
• Character. For younger children, play the scale like a tiptoeing mouse, a stomping elephant, a sleepy cat or a happy bird.

On guitar, ask the teacher which right hand finger patterns to use, then swap between them as one more way to vary the same scale.

Short daily rotations

There is no need to play every scale every day. Fitch suggests organising scales into groups so that the order changes from day to day. A simple rotation for a beginner with six scales might look like this:

• Split the scales into three groups of two.
• Each day, play one group, changing one thing each time: rhythm, dynamics or articulation.
• Add one wild card scale picked at random, perhaps by rolling a dice.
• Keep scales to the first three to five minutes of practice, as a warm up.

This keeps scales short and varied, and every scale still comes round every few days. Ask the teacher which scales matter most this term and build your groups around them.

Make it a challenge

Many children enjoy a target. Try a "three in a row" rule: play a scale cleanly three times in a row before ticking it off. Or set a steady beat and see whether your child can stay with it from bottom to top. Music-Ready's free metronome on the free tools page can keep the beat for you. When a scale feels secure at one speed, nudge it up slightly the next day, not by a lot.

Above all, keep scales short and connected to music. When your child notices a scale they know inside a new piece, point it out. That moment of recognition is often what makes scales finally feel worth it.