If you’ve made it this far through the scale challenge, that is great work. I hope you’re already enjoying the benefits of greater flexibility in playing and in thinking, and perhaps a deeper understanding of scales and how they function. You may also have noticed areas where you want to focus your practice, as they are not as strong as other areas, and hopefully you’ve developed a greater commitment to practice in general.
This week we are working on Gb (or F#) major; apply all of the same ideas as in the previous weeks, play through all of the previous scales at least once per day, and see if you can memorize all of them (if you haven’t already done so). Think about how each one sounds, where it sits on your instrument, how you relate to the notes in each scale. Enjoy the work, we are almost there!
See you next week for the next key, and remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
I’m sure by now many of you already have figured out the order in which we are going through the keys, and if so, maybe you’re even working ahead of schedule! We are so close to finishing, so please try to be extra diligent in your practice, work on focusing attention on all aspects of playing, and this 12 week practice will have an enormous beneficial effect on your musicianship.
This week, while playing the new key and all of the previous ones, let’s focus our attention on how each note begins; observe what is happening, and then ask yourself if there is a way to polish and refine the beginnings of your notes, to play them as mindfully as possible. See what change this brings about in the sound of your scales.
Have fun! You’re doing great work. See you next week for the next key, and remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
We are halfway there, this is the 6th of 12 keys. You may have noticed by now how we are working through the keys, and I hope it is interesting and increasing your ability to think outside of the standard cyclic progressions that are the default for things like scale practice. Mental flexibility is just as important as physical technique in music!
As before, let’s work through this scale slowly and mindfully, paying attention to any details that come to your attention. Intersperse all of the previous scales in between repetitions of this one, and try something new this week: pick one scale, and play it in thirds. If you number each degree of the scale, this will look like so: 1-3, 2-4, 3-5, 4-6, 5-7, 6-8. Then reverse this, to descend the scale in thirds. Listen closely, and observe the changes this brings about it how you hear and play the scale.
Have fun! You’re doing great work. See you next week for the next key, and remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
Welcome back to the MMD 2023 scale practice challenge, where we are practicing one major scale per week for 12 weeks leading up to Make Music Day 2023. Next week we will be halfway through, so stick with it, this work will pay off in so many ways.
This week, we are playing B major; as with the previous weeks, we will continue to work thoughtfully, play slowly and with good tone, noticing how we are playing, listening to how it sounds. Once again, we will play each of the previous scales at least once per day, perfectly; let’s change things up a little this week, and play all the scales we have worked on so far in reverse; starting from the top, descend through each scale, and then ascend to finish. Notice how this changes your thoughts, how it affects your technique, and pay attention to all of this. Play more slowly if you need to, remembering that accuracy and clarity are more important than speed.
Thanks for sticking with this practice, and I hope everyone is already feeling the benefits! See you next week for the next key, and remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
Welcome back to the MMD 2023 scale practice challenge, where we are practicing one major scale per week for 12 weeks leading up to Make Music Day 2023. We are getting there, this week we are one third of the way through all 12 major scales! I hope everyone who is following along is enjoying this work, and already feeling the benefit of this focused, disciplined work.
This week, we are playing Db major; all of the guidance from the previous weeks applies, so we will work thoughtfully, play slowly and with good tone, noticing in detail the places where we need to work on our tone, or where we need to go more slowly to keep pace with our thoughts. Once again, we will play each of the previous scales at least once per day, perfectly; if we make a misstep in a scale, we start again, until we have played it right—the tempo doesn’t matter here. To make it interesting, start to intersperse the other scales between this week’s Db scale. You might first play the scale of Db, then play G, Db again, then F, Db again, then Eb, and finish with Db. By doing this you are also working on technical and mental flexibility, which will certainly be very beneficial to your overall command of your instrument.
Thanks for doing this work with us! See you next week for the next key, and remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
Hello to everyone who is following along, and making this practice and part of the preparation for Make Music Day! Today’s post brings us one quarter of the way to our goal of playing scales in all 12 keys, which is already an achievement. Keep up the good work, and know that the benefits of this practice will permeate every aspect of your musicianship.
Today’s scale is Eb major; as with the previous ones we already did, take this one really slow, don’t try to play faster than you can think, and make sure that each and every note is played with intention, with good tone, and clean articulation. Play the previous scales we worked on, G and F, at least once per day, while adding this one in. If you make any mistakes while playing it, don’t just blow through the mistake and continue; rather, stop, analyze what went wrong, visualize yourself playing the scale perfectly, take a deep breath, and try again.
I hope everyone enjoys this practice, and thanks for joining me. See you next week for the next key! And remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
I hope everyone really took the time to play the G major scale every day for the past week, and if so, you should by now have a whole different level of familiarity and comfort with this scale. Moving on, this week we will continue to play the G major scale at least once per day, correctly (if you make a mistake, stop and try again, playing slower if necessary). And, we are adding a new scale, which is F major.
Keep your focus on what you are playing while you are playing it; don’t rush through a scale while thinking about what you will do next, rather concentrate on really getting it right, on clean transitions from each note to the next, and on playing with a good tone all the way through, ascending and descending. Think each note before you play it, this way you will avoid missteps. This is really good, diligent work we are doing; know that if you stick with this challenge, you will have made a major step forward with your technique and with your practice chops by the time Make Music Day comes around!
See you next week for the next key! And remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
I hope everyone is getting excited for Make Music Day 2023, because it is just 12 weeks away! As we are making our plans and preparing musically, we thought this would be a great opportunity for a practice challenge, which will be to practice, or learn, one major scale per week, working our way through all 12 keys by the time we get to Make Music Day. Playing scales in all 12 keys is a pretty major achievement, and will really help with building confidence as well as technique, whether you are doing this for the first time or someone who is trying to re-establish an effective practice regimen after a break.
Today, let’s start with G major; I have decided to work through the keys in an order that does not follow the cycle of fourths, and without starting on C major, because I think we have all probably done enough of both those things. If you are already familiar with this scale or if it is brand new to you, I want you to try playing it very slowly, possibly much slower than your technique is capable of. This is because I want you to play each note after you think it; in other words, you are thinking the note before you play it. Do not be tempted to play faster, just because you can; this very slow, very conscious action is really valuable. The result should be a slow but perfect scale; no fumbled notes, or missed notes. There should be no missteps, because you are being so deliberate and careful about each action.
Play the scale like this, at least once, ascending and descending. If you have more time, try playing it 5 times perfectly. Do this every day this week, and listen closely to how you sound; observe your progress through the week, and take notes on it. This will be quite a journey, so it’s a great time to start your practice notebook—at the end, you will have your very own scale study chapter.
See you next week for the next key! And remember to tag us if you’re joining in this challenge, #makemusicpractice
When starting (or re-starting) a practice regimen, dedicating a little time to establishing a space for your work is really helpful. If you are fortunate enough to have a practice room, that is very lucky, and you can really have fun making a personal, creative and inspiring space for yourself to work in, but many of us have to try to fit our music work in and around our other living and working spaces, and it can be difficult to do this in a way that supports focus and minimizes distractions.
Finding a way to visually set aside space is very important, and can encourage more practice to happen, especially if the space is comfortable, inviting, and inspiring. You can create a visual practice space a very small area, using simple tools that are available to anyone, like sheets of paper and sticky notes, or a cork board.
Locate a spot where you will be able to work on your instrument; this might be in a corner of a room, for example. If you don’t have a place that is always available, but rather you have to pack up everything between sessions, then you can use a large piece of cardboard that can sit on your music stand, and add notes and prompts to that. This can be put away as necessary, but while you’re practicing it will fill your field of vision and help to keep your focus.
In this designated area, post notes to yourself with your current objectives for practice, and reminders to yourself of things you are working on. This might be learning a new technique, or a new scale, or reminding you to go back to something you haven’t worked on for some time; it can also be more about encouragement—remember to stay positive and be kind to yourself when you are working on your instrument. Music should be an enjoyable thing, but it is easy to become self critical when one is struggling with a challenging piece of music or technical skill. Most importantly, when someone says something nice and encouraging to you about your playing, write that down, and post it prominently!
As well as writing notes which are very practical things, it is fun and valuable to be as creative as you want to be with your space; think about adding artistic visual prompts to the space as well. Album cover art and concert posters are a very important part of musical identity, so why not find some that you love, that remind you of how you would like to sound, and put these up in your practice space as well. Have fun with it, and if you feel like sharing your space with us we would love to see a photo! You can post it on Instagram with the hashtag #MakeMusicPractice
Welcome to the Make Music Day Practice Room!
This is a space where we will discuss various ways to approach music practice, to help you to get the most out of the time you spend with your instrument—and of course to prepare for greatness in Make Music Day performances.
The topics here will be general practice pointers for any instrument, but we encourage you to write to us and submit any questions or concerns that you have about your own practice; this is a space to share information, and help each other to make progress and get even more enjoyment from our music making. Submit your questions or concerns in the comments section, and we will do our best to answer.
