Why are they particularly important if your student has a special need?
Scales are an indispensable part of a piano lesson, more so if the student has a learning difficulty or a special educational need, there is always a lot of benefits gained from starting them early on and practicing them regularly.
Build a habit to start every lesson and every practice session by playing a few scales. It’s a great warm-up and with time your student will start enjoying all the following benefits:
Improvement in finger strength, technical ability, and dexterity. This is more often than not one of the main challenges students with special needs suffer from.
A quick and effective way to imprint the piano geography of the keyboard in the mind.
Helping develop a musical ear and understanding and awareness of musical patterns, structures, and harmonies.
Improvement in sense of timing and rhythm.
Building muscle memory which later helps in learning new pieces and speed playing.
Building the foundation for composing and improvising.
Where and How to Start?
1. Start with teaching the major and minor 5-finger scales (starting on the white keys) and the open chords.
2. Teach the octave scales and triads.
