This year the world celebrates the 200th year of the birth of Frédéric Chopin, the greatest pianist of all time (together with Franz Liszt). Perhaps a good way of celebrating Chopin’s genius could just be...
...following some of his advice.
Chopin, with his marvelous didactic gift and his thorough understanding of the piano mechanism, its anatomical relation with the player and all the imaginable secrets of technique, always insisted that the first major scale a beginner should be taught right from the start is the...
... B major scale!
What!?
In all music schools, conservatories, workshops or in private teaching we all start with the C major scale, because “it is the easiest scale”; we just play all the white keys and everybody jumps with joy.
However, Chopin insisted that the C major scale should be the last one to learn because, in his own words, it is the most difficult scale.
It IS the most difficult, anatomically speaking. The thumb must be “crossed” behind the other fingers, but in the C major scale the space behind those fingers is reduced to a minimum. First drawback.
Second drawback of the C major scale: all our fingers have different length, so it is always uncomfortable to place them evenly on the keys. The result may be an uneven sound and a defective rhythmic articulation.
Another drawback of this scale: it does not “teach” us the proper fingering pattern. We must “think” the fingering constantly, crossing the thumb alternatively after the third and fourth fingers (middle and ring fingers). Consequently, it is more difficult to learn the thumb-crossing pattern until it becomes automatic.
And there is yet another drawback, which we could call “psychological”, and so it may be the greatest difficulty.
A huge number of piano students, amateur players and even professionals have developed a kind of “horror” to tonalities with many black keys.
We feel at home with harmonies with few black keys (or none at all), but the very thought of playing in A flat, D flat or G flat can make us feel so inhibited to the point of giving up.
And all this simply because we have ignored one of Chopin’s wisest pieces of advice.
Let’s see the incredible advantages of starting our first lessons at the piano as Chopin insisted: starting with the B major scale.
It is the most anatomical of all scales (together with D flat major and G flat major), because the thumb is used only on the two white keys of this scale (B and E), and the other fingers, which are placed over the thumb, are free to play the black keys with the utmost ease and physical comfort. This leaves an enormous space for the thumb to move behind the other fingers and reach the white keys without the “small” space of the C major scale.
First drawback, out.
The four fingers from 2 to 5 (index to small finger) have all the space they need to play the black keys wherever it is comfortable according to the size of our hand. In other words, we do not have to force any bending of our fingers beyond normal. Right from the start, the scale comes out even and balanced.
Second drawback, out.
Another vital advantage of the B major scale: it is impossible to play it unless the correct fingering pattern is used (right hand: 123-1234-123...). Unlike the C major scale, which can be played using practically any fingering, the B major scale can only be played with one fingering, and thus the fingers “learn” the proper pattern in a very short time. And that is the fingering used in most scales.
Third drawback, out.
Finally, if we start by learning a scale which has the highest number of black keys, right from the beginning we will develop a natural familiarity with those “hard” tonalities and we will never grow with any irrational fear to the black keys.
“Psychological” drawback, out.
I sincerely think that a good way of celebrating Chopin’s bicentennial could be, along with concerts, festivals and cultural events held everywhere this year, that in music schools and in private teaching we would start by following his advice...
Don’t you think so...?
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