Just the other day I had a lesson with a student who’s fairly new to me. He’s only been with me for maybe half a year? He’s a good kid, he’s also studying music with some other teachers, not a part of our organization. The other day we were working on scales, specifically the C major scale which is the first scale that most students will learn, and he’s starting to get it but not yet playing beautiful music with it, but we’ll get there. 

He’s been studying piano and violin and cello for years, so I was a little surprised when he told me he has never learned these scales on those instruments (but sadly that is a trend among many music teachers—not with us). And he asked me how many scales there were on those instruments. And of course I turned to him and said, the same scales! You’ve got 48 foundational scales that you’ve got to learn first and then of course there’s all super cool kinds of things after that. 

And He said really?! And I said, 100%! And he was super surprised and he couldn’t believe that I would learn all those scales on so many instruments (he knows that I teach piano, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone.). And I said to him, well, you really can’t be a stable and serious musician without that proper foundation. It is like building a house, it all starts with the foundation. I certainly hope all of your teachers know all of their scales! No one teaches for us if they don’t. 

I suggested that he tell his piano teacher that he wants to learn his major scales and if they don’t know them, he should let me know. I hope with all sincerity that his teachers do know them and begin to help him learning his scales for a proper foundation!