How to Practise Piano Scales With Creativity: The Compression-Expansion Technique

To practise piano scales creatively, play the first five notes of the scale up and back (1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1), then stretch out to the chord tones 1 3 5 8, playing the scale notes at double speed and the chord notes at single speed. This trains your hand to compress and expand while you keep a steady pulse in the left hand.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Beginner · 12 min

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Playing scales straight up and down is a fine way to get to know a scale, but it leaves out some important technical and musical skills. In this lesson, Jason Zac of Nathaniel School of Music shows the first of three creative approaches to scale practice: the compression-expansion technique. It combines a scale run with the scale's main chord, so you work on finger motion, hand shape and timing while also creating something that sounds like a melody. It suits beginners who already know their basic scales and want more from their practice time.

The key: E major and E harmonic minor

The whole lesson uses the key of E, in both major and minor, because students and teachers alike tend to practise only major scales.

• E major: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
• E harmonic minor: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D#, E (minor third, minor sixth and a raised, or major, seventh)

The harmonic minor is chosen because it is commonly used in melodies. The third is what defines the sound: a major third gives the major scale its bright quality, while a minor third gives the minor scale its pensive or serious colour.

Why the chord matters

The root, third and fifth carry the flavour of a scale. In E major these are E, G# and B, the E major chord. As soon as a listener hears that chord, they know which seven notes the music will use. In E minor the chord tones are E, G and B. Building the chord into your scale practice links the melodic and harmonic sides of the scale.

The exercise, step by step

1. Scale up and back: play scale degrees 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 (in swaras, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ma Ga Re Sa). In E major that is E F# G# A B A G# F# E. Your hand stays in a closed, compressed shape.
2. Chord up: stretch out and play 1 3 5 8, where 8 is the octave: E G# B E. Your hand is now in an expanded shape.
3. Descend from the top: since your little finger is already on the top E, move your whole hand towards it, play a scale run down from the top and back, then play the chord tones down to the root.
4. Repeat the cycle: scale, chord up; scale, chord down. Return to the root and start again.

For E minor, only a couple of notes change: G# becomes G, and on the way down from the top you play C instead of C#.

Timing: fast scales, slower chords

Keep a steady pulse throughout. Play the scale notes at double speed (counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and) and the chord notes at single speed (1, 2, 3, 4). Switching between the two speeds tests your sense of time.

Options for the left hand

• Play a single E on each pulse, perhaps as an octave. This is more than enough.
• Hold the chord of the scale, such as E minor (E G B), because it contains the scale's most important notes.
• Move the left hand through other notes of the scale, such as C or A, and finish on B, which leads naturally back to the root E. This lets the music travel further while the right hand repeats the same pattern.

How to practise it

Begin with the right hand alone and a slow, even pulse. Add a steady left-hand E, then move on to the held chord, and only then try changing the left-hand notes. Practise in both major and minor, and then apply the same pattern to other scales. The aim is three things at once: compression and expansion of the hand, linear and harmonic playing, and steady timing. The lesson series goes on to cover a pendulum approach and practising in thirds.

Questions about this lesson

What is the compression-expansion technique for piano scales?

You play the first five notes of a scale up and back with a closed hand, then stretch out to play the chord tones 1, 3, 5 and the octave. Moving between the two shapes trains your hand to compress and expand, which is a common motion in piano playing.

Why practise scales with the chord included?

The root, third and fifth are the notes that define a scale's sound. Adding them lets you practise moving linearly and harmonically in the same exercise, and the result sounds more like a melody.

Which minor scale is used in this exercise?

The lesson uses E harmonic minor (E F# G A B C D# E), which has a minor third, a minor sixth and a raised seventh. It is chosen because it is commonly used in melodies, though the natural minor also works.

What should the left hand play?

Start with a steady single E, perhaps as an octave, on every pulse. Then try holding the scale's chord, and later move through other scale notes, ending on B so it leads back to E.

Practise it

• Solfa StudioPractise scales, solfège and swaras with visual and musical context.
• Groove MetronomeWork with tempo, accents and polyrhythms instead of a single unchanging click.
• Piano classes at Nathaniel School of MusicLive online or in Bangalore, with a teacher.
• All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.

Related lessons

• The Scale Practice Routine Pianists Skip: Parallel, Contrary and Similar MotionA complete piano scale workout plays each scale hands together in parallel motion, then contrary motion, then a parallel-contrary-contrary-parallel combination, and finally similar motion in thirds, using accents to strengthen the weaker fingers.
• How to Really Practice Piano Scales (Part 1)To practise a piano scale with purpose, play the continuous up-and-down cycle in groups of seven notes per 4/4 bar, with six quavers and one crotchet, and move the long crotchet one note later each time so every scale degree gets its turn on a different beat or off-beat.
• Inspire Yourself With the Major Scale: A Musical Way to Practise Piano ScalesInstead of repeating the top or bottom note, play the scale up and down in 16-note cycles, adding the seventh below the root the first time and the ninth above the octave the second time, then support it with tonic, predominant and dominant chords in the left hand.
• How to Creatively Practise Finger Crossovers for Piano Scales (The Pendulum)The Pendulum is a piano exercise where your thumb anchors on the root of a scale and your fingers swing one, two, three, then four notes above and below it, training thumb-under and finger-over crossovers while teaching you to hear the scale on both sides of the root.