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Scales are important to learn, but how you practice them is even more important.

Why?

Because the way you practice determines the skill that you develop.

If you’re drilling scales up and down the keyboard with both hands, this is great for finger strength and coordination.

But it’s not very useful if you want to improvise with confidence.

You see, when a jazz pianist learns a scale, they don’t just learn the basic notes.

They learn the scale as a means to create memorable solos.

This requires a very different approach to learning scales.

You need to “see the scale” from different angles, like shapes, targets, and intervals.

In this week’s video, I teach one of the most powerful exercises to help with this.

It will help you navigate a scale like a map, instead of a memorized sequence.

I remember having this paradigm shift when I was about 13 years old.

I had learned my basic major scales up and down the piano, but I really hated practicing them.

My jazz teacher one day explained it differently: scales are a tool to create with.

Suddenly, it clicked. I learned that a scale is just a set of colors that I can create with.

Creating an amazing piano solo is all about how you use those colors.

The order of notes. The shapes. The target notes.

Those key elements turn scales from a boring drill to an incredible palette of colors.

After you finish this lesson, I feel confident that you’ll see major scales very differently.

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