Teaching Scales

Without doubt, scales are one of the most IMPORTANT things we can help our students learn to master. They can also be one of the most frustrating things to teach. Below, I've detailed the resources we've used to great success in my band rooms. I hope it helps!

Print out THIS sheet for students. I typically hand it out at the beginning of the year, but I don't start working on it until the students are capable of playing the whole Concert Bb Octave (soonest we ever started was in February). I provide my clarinet students with Low Register exercises that become Over-the-Break exercises separate from the band and some students will already be able to play B and C, if they're not there yet, I allow them to drop the octave and play throat tone B and C.

All students begin on their Concert Bb line. I will take time to tell each instrument grouping which letter name to find. After a few days of this I begin asking "Clarinets and Trumpets, which line do you start on when I say Bb? Altos? Horns?" I begin adding "concert" after a about a week.

The first time through the first scale I say "Raise your hand if do not know the fingering for the first letter name of this scale." Once we've ensured we all know the name and fingering, we play the first note for a long tone. We do this through all 8 pitches, only in ascending. If there are finger problems I will move around the room or ask students to show each other the correct fingering. If there needs to be an octave break for any instrument, I will instruct them to do so when we get to the note.

Once every student has demonstrated that they can play the note name (remeber, there are no rhythms or scored pitches, just note names) we play the scale Whole Note - Whole Rest etc. all the way up, ensuring we're playing with beautiful tone, breathing and playing together. I make sure to use scale degree numbers as we do this, calling/singing the next number out on the rest.

We follow a Mastery-based approach to the scale once we've learned the note names. We play them in the following progression, I typically take a week or so on each of the following with any learned scale:

- - Whole Note - Whole Rest all ascending only
  - Two Half Notes - Rest (starting with a Whole and evolving to a Half) by degrees 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8
  - Three Quarter Notes and a Quarter Rest - Rest (this evolves into removing the additional rest and having only a beat) by degress 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5, 4-5-6, 6-7-8
  - Half Note "settling" pitch Quarter Note ascending to Half Note and Quarter Notes back down to Half Note
  - Previous step plus isolated Arpeggio degrees (this evolves to adding the degrees on)
  - "All State" scale patter, Quarter followed by Eighth with Arpeggio

I will teach however many scales I believe that Beginning Band can handle that year. Sometimes it's a miracle if we get three and one year I had a room full of sixth graders who wanted to know what Minor Scales were after we did all twelve. I always keep the group in front of me in mind!