C Major Is Actually The Hardest Scale

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[DereBear]

It’s the hardest to physically play, the easiest to conceptualize. Edit: for piano

[CalvinLimuel]

I remember I was asked to play C major scale and arpeggio for a piano exam at Berklee and I had some inaccuracies. One of the teachers said to me, "You thought this would be the easiest scale you didn't have to practice, did you?" I was like screw you, that was genuinely the one I practiced the most. It was like 9 years ago, I can still remember what the color of his shirt was and which room it was in.

[jasoncisney]

That thing about every scale being the same fingering with a different starting point was mind blowing. I can't believe I've never heard of that.

[callum]

This applies to piano technique beyond scales; leaps and jumps are also far easier on the black keys because you are less likely to clip notes on either side and the hand doesn't need to be rotated as far around to play them. There's a reason why composers like Liszt wrote a lot of their virtuoso pieces in keys with a lot of black notes.

[unnamed_boi]

i have always thought the same... though i still use c major a lot because it's easier to see the accidentals that i can use.
p.s. i've heard from somewhere that chopin taught his students the b major scale first, because it fits the fingers like a glove, very interesting i'd say

[kikoabdo]

Charles, I took lessons from a classical pianist who taught me all the scales with the same fingering as the C major scale. After almost 25 years playing like this, I saw a video of you last year and I noticed that you were doing things differently. I talked to several pianist friends and noticed that I was the only one to play scales that way, all with the same format. I was in shock.

[matthewlilley]

I’m a bass player and I’ve been trying to teach myself piano with YouTube videos on and off for a couple of years now and this has easily been the most informative 10 minutes.

I’ve figured out the notes, chord shapes, but practicing scales I’ve always been getting tripped up on where to start my fingerings and where to cross over. Thank you!

[leekendrick]

The old college professor taught to start the Bb major scale on 3 in the right hand. I've always played it the way you've just demonstrated, with 4 then 1. I got through my piano proficiency and spread that particular technique to all my classmates. It puts a smile on my face when I see like-minded people sharing this kind of thing.

[tesla-spectre]

for a guitar player who just for fun messes around on a piano sometimes without ANY training this was an absolute revelation 🎉

[userac-xpg]

this was the best explanation of scale fingerings I have ever heard. 123-1234 just starts at different spots in the sequence. Thank you.

[jusophone]

I just finished my first year of piano at school, and I just figured this out last month. This video would have been a big help back in August 😂😂. Great Analysis!!!

[suzanwilson]

great job again, Charles! I learn something new every video and you always amaze me. The fact that you make learning this stuff fun is super awesome. Thank you for all of your hard work!

[filipcarlsson]

Very good point, thank you for bringing this up. C major is the most technically demanding scale for sure. In the Taubman Approach, we start with B major for the same reasons you point out - it fits the natural shape of the hand. When we finally get to C major, instead of curling the fingers excessively (which makes it difficult to play fast), we use the so called "in and out motion" (which you also mention) which means moving slightly towards and away from the black keys to adjust for the length of each finger. It takes practice, but the end result is that the C major scale feels as comfortable to play as the B major. If you want to know more Robert Durso has free videos about this on Youtube.

[ronhutcherson]

That side view of C maj vs Db maj is a perfect illustration. It’s like the difference between the standard QWERTY keyboard vs the Dvorak keyboard layout — you can see and hear how much less you have to move your fingers with Dvorak.

I bet if you played those two scales with the power off that the Db scale would sound quieter. 👂

[deanwhitlock]

THIS has been the most important piano lesson I’ve learned in my LIFE!

[marvingeorge]

I play piano for my Jazz ensemble at my college and I never knew that fingerings repeat themselves for every scale. It all seemed like different scale fingerings that I needed to memorize

[dubasciver]

Brilliant explanation. I just resumed jazz lesson a month ago after a 20 years hiatus and so I’m relearning my scales. I struggle with playing both hands particularly because get tripped up on the 3-4 fingering that you described in the C scale. I don’t struggle the same way in most other scales. I wondered why, and now I know. Makes me feel better. 😊

[smkh]

I agree. Why deprive yourself of all those lovely half-tones?
B flat major, E flat major, A flat major are my go-to keys.

[erichbaumeister]

THANK YOU FOR THIS INSIGHT! My first piano lesson was on November 30, 1955. Yeah, I'm old. But I have never heard nor considered the obvious: all scales are the same - 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4; you merely start some keys at a different point in this sequence. I'm going downstairs to my piano to practice something NEW to me! 😂

[Shade]

I honestly can't believe I've been playing piano (on and off) for 20 YEARS, and this is the first time I've heard that different scales start on different fingers. Time to practice, i guess.