Key signature draw lots

iternabe · 2025-02-01T19:48:48+00:00

Folks, is this all? And why have I the feeling that this is setting me up for spectacular failure LOL

BartK

pianoloverus I think a major scale and a relative minor are almost always practiced together.

Actually, I don't practice the relative minor and I have a specific reason for that which I'll explain. I practice the parallel minor instead of the relative minor. I have paper slips with the 12 possible starting notes and if I pick one, say G, I would practice G major and G minor that day.

My reasoning is that I practice all the dominant chords, arpeggios, and cadences in those keys and those are almost the same for the parallel major/minor but completely different for the relative. For example, if I'm practicing G major/minor I do the D dominant 7th blocked/broken/arpeggio and then I do a I-vi-IV-V64-V7-I progression on G major and the equivalent in G minor.

If you know all your keys then I would advise you specifically not to practice major/relative minor and follow the circle of fifths. That way of practicing means that all the white key arpeggios are bunched together and all the 1 black key arpeggios are bunched together and all the 2 black key arpeggios are bunched together. I think for didactic purposes it's much better to randomize and mix the various types. As soon as I knew all my keys I started practicing in chromatic order, which is almost as good as random.

pianoloverus

BartK My comments about practicing a major scale and its relative minor were for people like the OP who are relatively new or very new to playing scales. I'm pretty sure that this is a common pedagogical approach and the reason, of course, is that a major and its relative natural minor contain the same notes. This makes it easier for the student to learn the notes of the relative minor.

Sam

I used to do the "Mug of Scales" too! But as others have said, you only need 12. You don't need to repeat them for minor, just decide if you are doing major or minor or both. And things like E# = F. So just 12 is fine.

You can use them for scales (major and minor) and arpeggios (Major, minor, seventh).

I used to use them - when I was learning all the scales and arpeggios. Now I just start at F major and play through them all, going up chromatically. Do the scales on odd calendar days and the arpeggios on even calendar days.

ShiroKuro

iternabe Oh BTW I did not eat all those popsicles this morning in case you wondered

Winner, best post award!
😃

iternabe

Animisha pianoloverus I have been learning scalse going round the circle of fifth - starting clockwise from C/Am, recently just learned C#/A#m, and starting from F/Dm going counter clockwise. So, 16 down, 8 more to go.

My routine usually practice the major scale in the morning, and the relative minor in the evening. Once the relative minor starts on a black key, the fingering become different for the relative minor. And the harmonic minor adds further difference. So I am not so sure about the notion of practicing the major and relative minors together being easier. Keeping them learned in sync do help easy tracking of progress, though.

pianoloverus

iternabe The idea of learning major and its relative minor together is not because of the fingering but because the notes are the same for a major key and the natural relative minor. If one has more trouble learning the fingering, then practicing a major scale and the minor scale starting on the same note might be more helpful.

iternabe

Thanks to all of your great suggestions. Here is v2 (showing a few back sides, too). I decided not to write the relative minor next to the major - maybe just to make it a quiz when drawing one? I could also put all of the minor sticks into a separate jar.

iternabe

Next question, should the jar of majors be blueberry, and minors be chocolate? Or vice versa?

BartK

iternabe Next question, should the jar of majors be blueberry, and minors be chocolate? Or vice versa?

Chocolate being comfort food when you're sad I would say that should be minor. 😂

twocats

iternabe chocolate is definitely minor! And blueberry is definitely major!

Animisha

iternabe Let them soak in hot water and remove the labels. 😉

iternabe

This is working surprisingly well. I am using the draw lot with Mikrokosmos book 1 exercise. These are simple five finger position short pieces. I am asked to transpose each one to 3 different keys. So I draw the key randomly from the jar. But I don’t put the drawn ones back. This way, I will keep draw new unpracticed keys - after 5 pieces I am guaranteed to have used all 15 keys.

keystring

iternabe This is working surprisingly well. I am using the draw lot with Mikrokosmos book 1 exercise. These are simple five finger position short pieces. I am asked to transpose each one to 3 different keys. So I draw the key randomly from the jar. But I don’t put the drawn ones back. This way, I will keep draw new unpracticed keys - after 5 pieces I am guaranteed to have used all 15 keys.

Hey, I think I'll borrow that idea, with some kind of variant. I've been following this thread without posting. I still have an old bowl with the names of modes types of scales which I never put away. I thought I was the only one who "drew lots".

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