Piano Scales: Arabic Scale: Theory & Ear Training, All Keys

Lesson Goal: To quickly internalize the Arabic Scale in all keys… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle…

Table of Contents

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Prerequisites

Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.

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Study & Practice Reminders

1. Never play these mindlessly and mechanically. Always aspire to play musically.
2. Your goal is not to merely memorize these, but to study and practice them until you internalize them using all four musical intelligences: ears, intellect, eyes, and muscles.
3. Every time you practice something, you are programming your brain. So always play accurately.
4. Practice with a click track or rhythm track. Doing so will give you immediate feedback on any rhythmic misconceptions or places where your timing gets sloppy.
5. Record yourself. Always. Listen to the playback immediately. And ask yourself: Is that what you intended to play?”
6. If anything feels tense or awkward, stop immediately and experiment with alternative fingerings or choreography.
7. Play this in other keys you expect to play in. By the way, once you see the patterns (which is guaranteed if you know your scales and chords) finding the notes in other keys will be a piece of cake!
8. If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, realize that anything can and will be mastered if you slow things down or break things down to small enough pieces.

back to… Table of Contents

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Arabic Scale Theory in the Key of C

The exotic sound-feeling of this particular Arabic Scale conjures up casbahs, caravans, and belly dancers.

1. Play the notes and say this aloud: “The notes in the C Arabic Scale are C-Db-E-F-Ab-B-C.”
2. Play the notes and say this aloud: “The scale degrees for the Arabic Scale are 1-b2-3-4-5-b6-7-1.”
3. Play the notes and say this aloud: “The Solfege syllables for the Arabic Scale are Do-Ra-Mi-Fa-So-Le-Ti-Do.”

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Comparative Scale Study

Play and sing the Arabic Scale and Major Scale side-by-side–and notice the dramatic effect created by changing two notes: Ra instead of Re and Le instead of La. Notice how these unique tensions allow you to create a whole new kind of music, a very exotic sound that is instantly recognizable!

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Arabic Scale Theory, All Keys

Any interest in seeing the Arabic scale written out and sounded out in all keys? (Frank will be happy to produce if just one person asks!)

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Solfege Ear Training

Reading, playing, and singing the Solfege syllables out loud is an extremely effective way to tune up your ears and to internalize the unique sound-feeling of each note in the scale with respect to the key center Do. Make sure to do this slowly enough for the unique sound-feeling of each Solfege syllable to make a meaningful impression on your mind’s ear.

Linear, Ascending

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Linear, Descending

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Do-X-Do, Ascending

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Do-X-Do, Descending

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Note: We could sing lots more musical patterns, but a more effective and efficient approach (80:20 Rule) is to get your ear training material directly from the music that YOU want to play!

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learn more… Scales