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[b][/b]Hello everybody, I am new here. I would appreciate very much if someone tell me where can I find those piano scales in "Russian Pattern". I studied piano in the Conservatory of my country with a russian teacher who taught me to play those scales in Russian Pattern, buy I learned them by imitating my teacher; never saw those scales written down on paper or in a piano technique book. Can anybody tell me in what books can I find them?

Can you describe the scales in any more detail?

"Russian" or "formula" pattern scale (four octaves):



In simplest terms, it's a combination of parallel and contrary motion scales, with the parallel and contrary alternating every two octaves until the starting point is reached.

It's really quite elegant!

Regards,

If you know a standard one-octave fingering for the scale, you don't need to know any other fingerings for the formula pattern. Just keep the same fingering and go up, apart, together, up; down, apart, together, down.

My teacher called this the "Michigan State scale" (he had been a graduate student there, but didn't have to do them like the undergrads for technique jury--he had done undergrad somewhere else.).

But, he had me do them, for a while. 😀

There is a scale book that writes these out, I believe (possibly "The Brown Scale Book"). And you can do arpeggios the same way.

Thank you very much for your kind replies, but I am writting an essay on history of piano technique and I need to know who was the first author or one of the first authors or piano teachers to use this "russian" pattern scale. I know it is not russian because Hanon used this pattern in his double note scales, also Philip used a similar pattern. I read that Leschetizky invented that pattern, but his pattern is not exactly that way; it is just similar. Recently I bought The Russian Technical Regimen For The Piano, by Alexander Peskanov, where this "russian" pattern is shown; but he only shows what it already exits and do not tell where that pattern came from or who was the author. Although it is wonderful to see those marvelous scales and play them

Pd...Sorry for my english, but I am a spanish speaker

The teacher that showed me called them "grand scales" which I've heard from other people as well.

Let us know what you find out.
Dínos todo lo que averigües!

Maybe what you looking for doesn't exist. This may have been done in several places simultaneously since it's kind of logical to play the scales that way? So there's not necessarily one teacher or source for it's origins. You might as well ask who invented the traditional scale fingerings. (Is there an answer?)

Hi, Shinobi,
I think what you are looking for is found in "The complete book of scales, chords, arpeggios & cadences" by Palmer and Manus. It's called the Grand Form and it is on page 84.

This is such a basic - almost intuitive - way of playing scales that I doubt very much that you will find an "original" author of this particular scale technique. It may well have been a suggestion devised simultaneously by various teachers. You might just as well ask who was the first person to "author" the technique of playing scales in parallel or contrary motion.

I would just refer to it as a "long-standing technique" of scale practice and leave it at that.

Regards,

This is how I still do scales, every lesson. This one definitely has a high enough prevalence among Russian teachers and players, and a pretty low one outside of that, in order to make a description of it being "Russian" rather accurate, even though obviously it's intuitive enough for anybody to figure out, as Bruce says.

Anyway, it's the backbone of the scale routine I'm expected to do: four octaves parallel, then four octaves in this "contrary" pattern, which is two up, split the hands up and down for two octaves, then back to center, then parallel up for two octaves, parallel back to center, then split up and back, then two octaves back down to the start. Then I do the same thing in arpeggios, then four note chords. After that, I do the same four note chords but broken arpeggio style, up and down (not contrary), then I(i)-IV(iv)-I(i)-V7-I(i) cadences, and then chromatic scales, four octaves, same parallel/contrary pattern as the rest.

If the key I'm asked to do is minor, then I'm also expected to do the parallel/contrary scale pattern in natural, then harmonic, and then melodic minor as well.

I remembered this post from a thread from a few years back where this kind of scale practice came up. Kreisler had yet another name for it, which I liked...

Love it. That's going to be what I call it now, too. The Upoutinupdownoutindown.

Thank you all, my friends. I have just discovered that the first ones to use or develope those patterns were Charles-Louis Hanon, Carlyle Petersilea, Theodore Leschetizky and Beniamino Ceci. None of those guys were russian; but Hanon, as far as I found, was the first one. I was searching older material such as works by Clementi, but I did not find anything about it. However, I guess I have enough material to show. Thank you very much, guys

If that is the case, I would suggest looking at John Field, Anton Rubenstein (and the teachers of the St Petersburg conservatory), Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Johann Hummel, and maybe Liszt and Thalberg as well.

Its been a part of the technical requirements for the Royal Conservatory of Music for as long as I can remember.

And I can remember that even longer than you because I am (ahem!) a whole lot older than you! (Where's the smiley with a beard and a cane?)

Cheers!

https://www.amazon.com/RUSSIAN-TECH...&sr=8-1&keywords=peskanov+scales

That only works on a Baldwin piano. 😀