Scales for Piano, D Major, A Major, A minor.

D major and A Major are played with identical fingering to C and G major, which I talked about earlier.

The Key of D major starts on the note "D", which is the white note in between any pairing of two plack keys on the piano. The notes in D major are: D- E- F #-G- A- B- C # -D. The right hand plays up the keys with the fingering 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5, and descends in reverse; 5-4-3-2-1,3-2-1. The Left hand ascends 5-4-3-2-1-, 3-2-1 and decends 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5.

( If you're just checking in now, a detailed explanation of how a major scale is built and what the fingering numbers mean is in the earlier posts. )

The key of A Major has three sharps, and they are F #, C # and G #. The A major scale starts on A and it's notes are A-B-C #-D-E-F #-G #-A. The fingering pattern for the left and the right hand are the same as above.

Try both of those, and then try A minor to hear how the sound of a major scale and a minor scale are different. If you can play a C scale, you can automatically play and A minor scale- you just might not have known it. Play only the white keys from A to the next A. ( A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A) The fingering for this scale is the same as the other scales we've gone through, so it should seem very natural. You'll notice that the A minor scale has a different kind of feeling than the other scales. The reason for that is that the pattern of half steps and whole steps in the scale is different than the pattern used for a major scale. I'll be getting into that more later.

If you're following along with a piano or keyboard and don't already know these scales, play around with them with your hands seperately, and then try playing them with both hands together.

Fingering for the keys of C, G, single octave.

Look at your left and right hand and imagine the fingers numbered like this:

Left hand: pinkey= 5, ring finger= 4, middle finger= 3, index finger= 2, thumb= 1.

Right Hand: Thumb= 1, index finger= 2, middle finger= 3, ring finger = 4, pinkey = 5.

To play a c scale properly with the right hand hit C with your thumb (1) D with your index finger (2), and E with your middle finger. Then cross your thumb (1) under and use it to play F, your index (2) for G, your middle finger (3) for a, your ring finger (4) for B, and your pinkey for the C an octave up from where you began.

Right Hand:

1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
C D E F G A B C

For your left hand begin with the pinkey (5) on the C, then play D (4) E (3) F (2) G (1). Cross over your thumb with your middle finger and play A (3) B (2) C (1).

Left Hand:

5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1
C D E F G A B C

The G Scale uses the same fingering and is

Right Hand:

1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
G A B C D E F G

The decending pattern for each hand is the same in reverse.

If you are new to this, it's easiest to learn by trying in first with each hand seperately, and then playing it with both hands together at once. The only tricky part is that when you play it with both hands, your fingers cross over at different times. After about five minutes of frustration it will probably feel quite natural, so just play with it until you get a knack for it.