Nathaniel School of Music

Practise Major Scales With Chords: Ascending and Descending Piano Exercise

To practise a major scale with chords on piano, play each scale note with your right-hand ring finger or pinky on top while the other fingers add harmony beneath it, first with the key's root and fifth, then with the I, IV and V major triads, and then with the ii, iii and vi minor triads, as the left hand plays chord roots, the scale or block chords.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 19 min

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Key points

This lesson from Jason Zac of Nathaniel School of Music turns a plain major scale into a harmony workout. You play the scale degrees 1 to 8 and back down from 8 to 1, but each scale note is supported by chord tones underneath it. It suits pianists who already know their major scales and basic triads and want to connect scales, chords and inversions. The whole lesson uses the F major scale: F G A Bb C D E F, with one flat, Bb.

Prepare: finger budgeting

The scale note must stay at the top, so you cannot use normal scale fingering. Only the ring finger and pinky play the scale, because the remaining fingers are busy with chords. Before starting, play F major up and down with just those two fingers, for example pinky on white keys and ring finger on the black key, with the occasional middle finger.

Exercise 1: Sa and Pa pivots (root and fifth anchor)

Under each scale note, add the root and fifth of the key, F and C (Sa and Pa). These two notes stay as an anchor while the scale moves on top. The order of F and C can change depending on where you are, to avoid big stretches. On F, you already have the root, so add F and C below it. On G, you might play C and F under the G.

The HLML arpeggio

Instead of playing the three notes together, arpeggiate them high, low, middle, low. On G, that gives G, C, F, C. If the arpeggio feels hard, first play the notes together as a block until the shapes are familiar.

Exercise 2: major triads only (I, IV, V)

The major chords in F major are F major (I), Bb major (IV) and C major (V). Every note of the scale belongs to at least one of them. For each scale note, pick a chord containing it and invert the chord so that note is on top, in the soprano.

  1. F: F major (Bb major also works)
  2. G: C major, C E G
  3. A: F major, C F A
  4. Bb: Bb major, D F Bb
  5. C: C major, E G C (or F major, F A C)
  6. D: Bb major, F Bb D
  7. E: C major, G C E
  8. F: F major, A C F

Each chord ends up in root position, first or second inversion. The point is to thicken the melody: a single piano note fades quickly, so harmony gives it weight, especially next to sustaining instruments like saxophone or flute.

Left-hand options

You can also apply the HLML arpeggio to the major triads, holding the top note down if possible.

Exercise 3: minor triads only (ii, iii, vi)

Now use only G minor (ii), A minor (iii) and D minor (vi). Again every scale note fits one of them.

  1. F: D minor, A D F
  2. G: G minor, Bb D G
  3. A: A minor, C E A
  4. Bb: G minor, D G Bb (the only minor with Bb)
  5. C: A minor, E A C
  6. D: D minor, F A D (or G minor)
  7. E: A minor, A C E
  8. F: D minor, ending on the relative minor

Use the same left-hand choices. Another option is to arpeggiate in the right hand, moving the arpeggio up top, while the left hand plays block chords.

How to practise

Go slowly, ascending and descending, and keep the top note clear. Work the ideas in both hands, since the right hand may later be free to improvise a melody and the left hand must be equally ready.

Questions about this lesson

Which fingers play the scale in this exercise?

Mainly the ring finger and pinky of the right hand, with the occasional middle finger. The other fingers are kept free to play the chord notes underneath.

How do I choose a chord for each scale note?

Pick a chord from the allowed group that contains that note, then invert it so the scale note is the highest. In F major, for example, G is harmonised by C major as C E G.

What are the major and minor triads in F major?

The major triads are F major, Bb major and C major (I, IV, V). The minor triads are G minor, A minor and D minor (ii, iii, vi).

What does HLML mean?

It is an arpeggio pattern: high, low, middle, low. Over a root-fifth anchor on G, it would be G, C, F, C.

Practise it

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