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My Scale Routine

 I've gotten back into playing scales every day, alternating between majors and harmonic minors. I play both in parallel motion for two octaves, I play them in contrary motion for two (actually four?) octaves, and then back to parallel motion for two octaves. Here is an example (F# harmonic minor):

I don't know why I insist on continuing them to play my scales the way Deborah taught me ... but I do. I think my brain likes it.

I can play these scales in all keys ... but there are a few keys where I stumble a bit. So I've started spending a little extra time on a different problem scale every three or four days until I have it. I started with B harmonic minor, and then I went to F# harmonic minor, and now I'm on C# harmonic minor. After that, it will be G#, E-flat, B-flat, and F (all harmonic minors). I can play the majors pretty well, though I do tend to trip up on B major, so I'll probably give that one a few days of extra attention, too.

Current speeds? Majors at 82, harmonic minors at 60 ... except for the problem keys. The goals? Both at 100. At minimum. Why? Because I like to play fast, smooth scales. It'll take some time, but it'll be worth the effort and the wait.

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