Smooth, Buttery Scales - Two New Discoveries for Fluid and Concise Piano Scales

[@LiliVG]

Excellent explanation with examples. I had a French teacher many years ago, who told me that the fabled French teacher, Marguerite Long, said “play me a perfect scale in C. That is what she meant, perfect, buttery, smooth, even.

[@watchme1368]

I respect you for your ideology. You have great tips. I started playing a year ago and progressed slowly due to life circumstances at age 34 with a partner that passed from cancer and leaving my son and I behind. I still practiced and came far. At the end of the day I realized, I had to spend the the time messing up to get better. Hope you can understand. I was amazed that I can play faster with time. I think the best lesson is spending time making mistakes to learn from them.

[@birhb6372]

Why am I watching this I play flute lol

[@coolcaden26]

Catstuffies Tran, idk

[@hisky.]

@@coolcaden26 r/wooooosh

[@jamien.5528]

*THE KITTY-LION* you didn’t even use r/whoosh right...

[@xJackkHD]

@@hisky. wrong context my friend

[@matterminator57]

*THE KITTY-LION* r/ihavereddit

[@flornygrob]

I was holding my phone in my left hand listening to your video while running cmaj with my right. When you talked about the happy balance of shift and under thumb, I played one of the smoothest, high-temp scales of my life and laughed my ass off. Thanks Josh.

[@juangiulianipiano]

😂😂😂 excelente

[@NadyaPena-01]

it's endearing when Josn mentions Sergey Babayan. He always gets a little giddy. You can tell he really admires his teacher.

[@PearlRoads]

I applied this practice......and within a matter of minutes I noticed a difference. Your points are very clear and easy to follow. Thank you.

[@binyoung7297]

This type of video would be more effective if we actually get to see a close-up of your hand (shifting with a little crossing), rather than from a distance.

[@esejsnake1503]

@@AG-ur1lj Great reply! Thanks. Tried it out and I get it. Very nice of you to write that out.

[@jckhammer]

A G by missing his well articulated reply pretty much sums up what kind of a piano player or musician you really are. Perfectly illustrated by your response . Unreal

[@SouloftheTroll]

@@AG-ur1lj Can't see a thing!

[@18lollypop18]

@@SouloftheTroll your not supposed to sight read instructions

[@SouloftheTroll]

@@18lollypop18 Man, you sure missed the point! Good luck with that.

[@ale.alvarez2666]

Great explanation! I totally get it now, its just about transporting your hand fast enough over the keyboard to avoid the "thumb under" motion as much as posible... Thank you you are a master teacher!

[@thegreenpianist7683]

I would like to share a practice method that helped so much with scales at a little faster tempo, I think Josh may have already covered it I'm not sure, basically, I start by playing the two notes of the cross in tempo comfortably and relaxed, then I start building around it adding one or two notes at a time before and after while still maintaining a relaxed hand and wrist, for example: If I'm practicing C major scale, I play E and F with the correct fingering (3,1) in tempo, then add the D before them and practice that, then add the G after them and practice that and so on, it's been really helpful for me, I hope it can benefit anyone reading this super long comment

[@honshushu]

u mean like the hanon exercises no.32~36 ?

[@thegreenpianist7683]

龍銘瀚 I have ZERO idea how Hanon exercises go, I have never practiced them.

[@thegreenpianist7683]

JAMES KRAMER oh you are too kind Mr. Kramer :) I do also believe Mr. Wright has the best teaching methods on KZbin, I wish you all the best in your endeavor :D

[@joshwrightpiano]

Great thoughts everyone! Thank you all for your kindness and support

[@yichen3370]

龍銘瀚 你好，你是钢琴专业的吗?

[@camillesindell2740]

I recently became aware of "position changes" and the beauty of leading with the elbow just before the position change is made, even notating the very place where the elbow moves, just as fingering is notated. The hand is well into "position" and the first note of the new position can be played with ease, not rushed at all. This works incredibly well and has improved my tempo and note accuracy, as well as cutting down on thumb under. I believe you are advising the same thing. By adding wrist navigation as well as this "elbow navigation" I have greatly reduced tension in my playing and increased smoothness. Thank you!

[@ChrisKogos]

Thanks for all your help man you're awesome!

[@xenolith2732]

i did not expect to see you here

[@ChrisKogos]

Neither did I

[@everettsantana6058]

You probably dont care at all but does anybody know of a way to log back into an Instagram account? I was dumb lost the password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me.

[@arthurcash2282]

@Everett Santana Instablaster ;)

[@everettsantana6058]

@Arthur Cash I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.

[@GabsARV]

10:45 When I'm bored on the piano. Thanks for advice again Josh, really appreciate it.

[@leonajones4702]

The fourth joint, YES! I often explain to students that there is an energy burst that is controlled by the finger joints, but ultimately originates more from the wrist, that even while applying what feels like a staccato attack, the finger stays in place to effectuate legato. I like this demo and your explanation, which gives me more language with which to teach articulation.Thanks.

[@susanamariles8309]

Chopin wrote exclusively for hands. Break down piece into phrases, blocks of a passage, or melody bar;@ 8-bars. The SPAN of each melody phrase should cover 10/ ten notes.[Look at your hand placing thumb on “C” and stretch pinky as far possible; then counts notes your hand reaches ) maybe 9? Or 10?). Make Blocks of melody made into chords . Practice Chords then arpeggio of chord; it HELPS! C major Scale=Two (2) Blocks move hand twice; think”trajectory up/down”!

[@gbg3663]

Great teachers will be great. You are untouchable!

[@michaelzamora8056]

Hey Josh Wright, that part about the importance of the wrist really struck a chord with me. I'm a drummer at heart, and wrist exercise is a much more common thing among our kind. There's something called the Moeller method, and its basically the root of proper wrist movement (and one of the most important things for a percussionist to know, in my opinion). Its an interesting connection between our instruments and it might help someone learning piano to learn about this as well. Its taught very, very early on, so there's lots of examples of people who use it but Drumeo is the most reliable source.

[@MusicLover-oe3ig]

The touch is unbelievable refine, bouncing and soothing, very helpful indeed... thank you so much!!

[@Tousanx]

An overhead camera showing your hand moves would help out immensely

[@michaelsmith697]

Very true Josh! That’s exactly what I teach. When playing slowly the thumb miss dry pass under the hand. This is crucial. But as speed increases as you suggest the shift of position is more important. I get students to practise in clusters so they can memorise and become super familiar with the patterns. Also ascending in the RH is always easier than descending in the LH , so these methods and understanding becomes super important. Great video!

[@ninjaraph]

Thank you! Your channel is a treasure trove of knowledge and training, really helping my piano playing. People, I highly recommend getting some videos up on his website when something looks interesting. These KZbin vids were great, but whole length ones I got from there were exceptional. Closest thing to actually being able to be his student in person.

[@jaytheexplorer9016]

I love how he has this ability to subcommunicate, "Look. I'm right. Here's proof." and rip a light-speed passage. Whew. Goals.

[@jakevvootton3642]

The most important thing I have ever learned for Practice and Playing is ROTATION. Just by implementing this seemingly *unnatural movement* I have sped up my learning and playing confidence, easily by a factor of 5x or more. Its fair to say that without rotation, I may have gave up practicing a lot. Thanks Josh

[@AndersChanTidemann]

You are a wonderful teacher!

[@juice5203]

4:30 ish throws down a lightning fast scale to silence the would be critics. Epic

[@ashtynrms]

i'm so bad at scales. i try my best to avoid them at all costs! this actually really helped me get over them! thanks!!

[@johnnewell552]

For me, I notice that I am also holding my breath whenever I anticipate something coming up that isn’t comfortable. That makes the body go “hey! We’re not breathing! Hurry up whatever you’re doing so we can breath again”. I am primarily a drummer and this is one of the reasons why fills get rushed frequently.

[@Carl-ri6nq]

You are such a great teacher

[@joshwrightpiano]

Carl thank you for your support!

[@itsallaboutperspective3183]

Piano -C Scale: I learned to move thumb(C) under index finger after striking (D), press(E) & the thumb is already in position to strike (F).

[@EricRinehartPiano]

Coming back to your channel after working with a Taubman teacher, it is amazing to me the consistency that my teacher and you talk about these physical motions of rotation in the multiple planes. It makes me realize you had been talking about this stuff for so long, but how IMMENSELY difficult these ideas are communicated orally and on video. There is nothing like having a teacher there to literally hold your hand and show what is right and wrong.

[@florenceterrito1579]

Eric Rinehart Piano f

[@VDHmain]

"Oh shoot, kill me now!" Made me laugh so hard! 8:05

[@kenmccarty6229]

The bouncing toward end is helping me like crazy! I knew the other stuff, so I’m glad I waded thru until the end. I slow down and I can play smooth. But as soon as a speed up I have trouble. So the bouncing exercise is something new I can try. Thanks

[@danielpicha630]

great tips, the Hannon thumb exercises also helped me improve my scales.

[@Naesman1167]

Thank you Josh. I’m more of a jazz guy. But your technique explanation really helps. Very grateful...

[@katherineroche7041]

Never had related my "fight or flight" responses to THUMB UNDERS! Ha Ha, So true!

[@sanhitasaha7439]

Amazing tips sir...the best piano technique videos by far i have ever come across on youtube. Your webinars are equally fantastic! Thank you for being so generous Regards from India :)

[@iceghost27]

Josh, It's reassuring I'm not the only one that finds C Major to be one of the harder scales. It's actually been a personal struggle the last couple weeks in my practice. That being said, I actually got up after this video and practiced just C Major scales for 45 minutes straight using some of these techniques. Thank you for the inspiration.

[@TehWinnerz]

C major doesn't fit the natural shape of the hand. its the hardest for literally all pianists

[@DragisaBoca]

I am a guitarist and this applies 100%.

[@sofiae8123]

Excellent suggestions! Thank you!

[@edwarda.casimiro9808]

Maybe I'm not putting enough thought into my scales; my greatest concern is fingering. Yes, the F# minor scale still haunts me. I know which fingers to use, and when, but that flies out the window past 92 bpm. My tip for playing scales well is: relax! I got that from you, and it's a game-changer. Also, the faster you go, the quieter your hands need to be (that I got from Mozart). Master the fingering at a slow tempo, and as you increase the speed, relax and keep your hands quiet. Great video! I'm working on Bach's inventions, and this video gives me some ideas on how to improve my playing.

[@davidk7529]

It's whole body technique involving wrist rotation, fingering, and unrestricted arm movement. Graham Fitch covers _all_ of it really well over on the Pianist Magazine channel.

[@pleaseexcusemydeeplyawkwar4972]

Gaaahh!! I just heard you play Bach for the first time!!!!!! *dies* Amazing.

[@YouTubeChannel-nf2nw]

This is so helpful I just tested it out for an hour and now I can efficiently play my skills up to speed faster than I could have imagined :) Extra tip: keep your fingers very close to the keys

[@amysun6080]

After one hour spending on C major scale, this video can't be more timely. Can't wait to try these two tips tmr. I pleasantly found out the rotation and shifting balance, and finger stocato on my own. Good to get it verified here.

[@ts8538]

Thank you. This is really helpful to me.

[@gretareinarsson7461]

One of my teachers advice three things about scales in a piece: fingering the scale, think of the beginning and the end and direction of the scale.

[@christopherpaul1810]

I'm not a professional player, just an amateur currently learning Mozart's 16th piano sonata (1st mov) and was having difficulty with the fast run near the beginning maintaining evenness and felt some muscle pain, weak pinky finger. How you described shifting hand position rather than thumb under has been a tremendous help my technique improved in minutes after trying it.

[@criss719]

I wish I would have had someone like you as my piano teacher back years ago.

[@danieltkach2330]

He is your piano teacher now :)

[@andreabrown9430]

THANK YOU JOSH. Love these videos, so helpful.

[@RD-jr8nv]

I’m sure you’ve been lauded the world over but just want to say you are a phenomenal player and these analogies you’re using are great!

[@Daniel-qr6sx]

imagine having that kind of sightreading lol..

[@kitstr]

Josh you are a total gem and a great guy. Thanks for this and all the valuable info you give us.

[@lifedoom2922]

4:37 great tutorial, I broke my fingers.

[@tizmon]

don’t let thumb do the sifting, let your hand do it and if it doesn’t give enough power, use your wrist a little. i always thought that’s way and glad i got a confirmation from a good teacher.

[@passage2enBleu]

This has been so helpful, as I'm building up speed I'm thinking there's something wrong with my crossover technique. You has clarified it now. Thanks a million.

[@Dan-pq1tp]

1. Mentally modelling scales as 2 hand positions, & uniting. 2. Shifting arms horizontally is often underutilized [& slack is picked up by wrist].

[@EtoGmajor]

Very helpful. I'll definitely use it. I actually like 2 weeks ago discovered something like that wrist movement idea to help me when my scale passages were not clean, except I would do two note slur wrist movement instead, but it accomplishes the same thing. I ran into it just messing around. Glad I got some verification that it's a good thing.

[@joshwrightpiano]

China Fun awesome! Thanks for the feedback

[@潘晓-s1k]

7:03 ‘what?’ That was exactly I reacted, haha. Thanks for your sharing

[@yoyoe7798]

Great presentation skills with interesting & precise demonstration. Support!

[@JoanKSX]

Awww thank you so much! That's what I heard from most Baroque pieces performed by most professional pianists =O

[@Daniel_Zalman]

Speaking of rushing in anticipation of technical challenges, I've found that using a metronome helps you get settled in those moments and assists in you overcoming mental blocks.

[@lmperfection]

I loathe metronomes, but concede they make my playing SO much better, lol.

[@cynthiagunkle7225]

What a nice sounding piano!

[@HKLee-dn1fh]

Super helpful!!! Thanks

[@beverleymellor]

Yes thanks josh you are awesome your lessons are so interesting you know all the bad habits we pick up along the way - greatest teacher on the net for me 🙌🏻👍🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@noraz8291]

You are a ton of fun. AND extremely helpful, thanks so much.

[@shanehartley484]

Great tip. Way smoother right away. The fight or flight thing will help too. I could not figure out why my playing got bad when there was someone listening. Need to remain calm and not got adrenaline flowing and hammer on the keys. .

[@beckywallenborn8307]

Jumping up and down on the inside to watch, listen and learn these helpful tips! Please continue with this format and perhaps illustrate with left hand so we can better see the movements you describe so well.

[@michaelsotomayor5001]

10:43 epic

[@sunnyshengpianopieces.4840]

Thank you for teaching I got a better now.

[@douglascutler1037]

Thanks, Josh, for sharing your piano knowledge so generously. Fascinating hypothesis at 2:40, that micro fight or flight reactions might enter our hand motions at tricky points in a passage. Entirely plausible. Best solution may be lots and lots of detail practise to the point where the difficult spots become more familiar, more controlled and therefore less panic inducing. Otherwise, the volume settings are a bit low. I had to put on headphones to hear all this.

[@shunuoye3678]

Could anyone please let me know what is the name of the Schubert piece Josh played 9:58?

[@fidelmflores1786]

When you thumb under, you must keep your radiocarpal joint open. If you thumb under and *compress* your radiocarpal joint (ulnar deviation), you will eventually get injured. For the purpose of fast scales, it's far safer & easier to just shift without any thumb under. Fingers have no muscles; all the muscles are in the palms and arms. Keep your radiocarpal joint open with your palm, forearm, upper-arm & shoulder muscles relaxed. You'll speed up effortlessly.

[@MrCinemuso]

Great teaching, going to check out more of your vids!

[@joelgiroux3610]

This is such a superlative lesson; I'm always trying to smooth, or even out my scales so that hands are perfectly together, but never mechanical -- always musical. And this emphasis on wrist action, economical crossing, and gentle shifting is exactly what I needed to hear -- thank you! Brilliant lessons, and extraordinary playing.

[@beckywallenborn8307]

Another expert and helpful video- thanks so much, Josh!

[@kristinamusik7414]

Don´t know if this is related . But I give it a try. I had to ditch my scales mostly because of artrithis in my thumbs. Luckily I only play for enjoyment. But I need some scales of course.I found that if I do to much when shifting it hurts, if I let the thumb stay close to the hand and focus on shift its easier. So when you say focus on the handposition it sounds like what I am doing.

[@NoferTrunions]

_Number of Motions_ is another intuitive way to look at it: a shift is one motion. If you rotate to cross, you have to un-rotate which is two motions - AND you still have to shift, a 3rd motion. You are basically reducing 3 motions down to a single motion.

[@pookz3067]

Part of the “less thumb under” from faster tempos also just comes from having prepared the other fingers earlier out of necessity at high speeds

[@fadrian98]

7:46 That's real buttery 😳🤯 🧈

[@artirjaj-l3481]

You always inspire me to play thank you my master maybe one day Ill show you what Im working on 😎

[@_wade_morgan]

That accent was spot on 😂

[@Dominique632]

This made me laugh so hard😂😂😂😂😂 the way you copied little kids and beginners movements and manners when they play scales cracked me up, it was phenomenal 😂

[@SarthakTandon]

Thank you so much for this lesson, I guess it'll help me with chopin nocturne in c sharp minor during that fast scale

[@hectorromero3386]

Interesante su explicación, ojalá pudiésemos tenerla en español. Gracias.Exitos

[@benedictdsilva3954]

Nice ..I teach students to tilt a little the hand to the right ascending and to the left descending...

[@VenomCold]

playing bach italian concerto right now 3rd mvt this helped me alot thanks!

[@VenomCold]

ja ich war sehr jung damals und fand das lustig :D und bach rockt

[@joshwrightpiano]

TheDerDumme glad to hear it helped!

[@kumzuklongs4629]

Your videos are very helpful, just a little suggestion if you could increase your vocals that would be awesome. Thanks a lot.

[@lettersquash]

Good stuff. I would say the difference between the more obvious cross when playing a scale slowly versus shifting position at speed isn't so much to do with 'momentum', it's mostly the fact that a speedy phrase has to become closer to staccato automatically. If you play a C major scale very slowly you're likely to want to hold each note - including the E - until you play the next, so there's no way to do that WITHOUT 'thumb-under' or some other (worse) movement. Even if you tried to suddenly jump your whole hand into the next position, you'd not be able to make the gap between the notes as seamless as when your fingers are next to each other playing in one position. At a fast tempo, there's very little difference to the ear between letting go of each note early and doing so later, so your jumping positions doesn't show much. It seems it's this, nothing to do with momentum, because you're clearly jumping up and down the keyboard back and forth in some of those sections, so 'momentum' would make that harder, since you'd have to reverse it. The semi-staccato effect is increased by the bounce at the wrist, so that tends to even out the phrases too. Not a criticism, as this advice is gold to me right now, I just think the reason given wasn't quite right.

[@robbarronmusic]

Thanks Josh, this is great advice.. I've never thought of this before but this is a great insight into why this happening in my playing too! I've learnt alot from your videos.. best wishes from London.

[@schrysafis]

That works on arpeggios too right? Great explanation!

[@PhilipChristian]

Perfect advice. Great video Josh.

[@joshwrightpiano]

Philip Christian thanks so much Philip!

[@leenguyen2219]

Basically, keep calm and think, and maintain a relaxed demeanor when practicing as best as you can right.

[@adrianpaolomonterey4948]

Hi what do you usually do to keep the body especially the arm relaxed in the long run? My shoulders are very tense, no matter how i try to remind myself to relax they just won't relax. I keep in mind that my shoulders should be down and sit in a tall position but when I play I don't feel light" or "loose" and my shoulders hurt a bit. Are there any tips or exercises to keep loose?

[@pritchy007]

Great advice! Thank you so much! I always tend to play “ spagetti” scales and that is reflected in the pieces, so if I am playing Chopin’s 4th etude that is so visible. I will try practicing with the writs/ staccato-ish technique 😅

[@d3a1990]

* It’s all in my head* Very helpful! It would be great to see your hands a bit more closely.

[@davidlewis4013]

Thanks this was actually pretty helpful. It's still a meditation to some extent

[@NK-vj7ur]

Thanks, very helpful!

[@thegreenpianist7683]

Great video Josh, can't wait to try this! Btw, can you do a video on how teach piano systematically and effectively from lesson 1 for a brand new student to a little more advanced level? I believe you haven't covered this yet and it would be great if you could do so :D I hope you and your family are having a nice week :)

[@douglasochieng8906]

TheGreenPianist Nice one! I'll be checking for the response to this request ☺

[@thegreenpianist7683]

JAMES KRAMER haha I definitely do not consider myself a valuable gem, Mr. Wright is though :D A job is never terrible, nothing is as long you learn from it, knowledge is the most valuable thing a human being can possess. I hope you're having a great week :)

[@joshwrightpiano]

Check out my video “is it too late to learn piano?” I go over a bunch of books I often use to get beginners started. A very basic approach would be the adult Faber piano adventures (for learning the basics), Hanon (dexterity, strength, speed), Schmitt (starting at exercise 34 for finger independence), and Easy Classics (for building a basic repertoire). I hope that helps!

[@AthenaKarampela]

how do you fix non synchronized hands?

[@MrArtisticsound]

Amazingly helpful. You are very good. May I ask you a question. I have never been able to get this straight in my mind. It's the double flat/sharp aspect. I know what they are but I was wondering if they are played disregarding the Key signature or if the double sharp is already sharp from the key signature is it a double sharp from there. Or..is it only sharpened from a natural note. Sounds complicated, sorry. Hope you can figure out what I mean. Thanks, Mervyn

[@marcfink5712]

MrArtisticsound an F double sharp is always played on the G key. No matter what tonality, double sharp means 2 semi tones higher than the natural note.

[@jorgerivas1424]

Got it! Thanks!

[@Louise-qk2po]

Thanks Josh👍