Introducing Scales: A Helpful Worksheet

My paternal grandfather was an outstanding singer in his youth.  He was an Irish Tenor whose voice was compared to the great Irish Tenors of the day.  Though nobody would confuse him with Bing Crosby, on the local scene he was good...REALLY Good!  During the late 1920's and early 1930's, my grandfather was often featured as a soloist on the radio in his hometown of Aurora, IL.  In fact, he was so good that he occasionally sang on the Chicago radio stations including WGN.  It was during these times that he was given the opportunity to take lessons from one of the top voice teachers in the Midwest.  The teacher was the go-to voice teacher for celebrity singers including Gene Autrey.  At one of his first lessons, this teacher told my grandfather to only practice scales until his next lesson.  Well, to make a long story short, my grandfather sang a few songs during the week amongst all of the scales.  At his next lesson, the voice teacher could immediately tell that my grandfather had not followed instructions.  Needless to say, that was his last lesson with that esteemed teacher.  The lesson my grandfather learned from that experience was that scales were very important and needed to be more of focus of his practice sessions.

My band students are fully introduced to one-octave (and in some cases two-octave) scales in sixth grade.  Some students start the year with a few scales under their belt from private teachers.  For most of the students, learning to play a scale is a brand new concept.

As part of my SLO (Student Learning Objective), students are required to master six major scales.  This is the start of a three-year process that will see the students learn all 12 major scales (in most cases full-range) by the time they finish 8th grade.  Our percussion students learn G.H. Green Exercises for 9 major scales in 7th grade and all 12 Arpeggio-Inversion exercises in 8th grade.

My students consistently score very well on the formative check-in scale quizzes and summative post-test.  That's good news, Right?  Yes...But!  Of course, there is always a "but."  But...I don't feel all of the students (especially those in the middle and lower skill levels) have a thorough understanding of the construction of the scale.  Honestly, I think that many students simply memorize the order of fingerings.  Unfortunately, that does not transfer to other music written in the same key. 

This has had me thinking for a while about how to get the students to completely understand each scale they perform.  I not only want them to be able to perform the scale accurately but also I want them to be able to explain it to me.  By fully understanding the concepts, future scales, lesson materials, and concert music will be easier to learn.

I set off on a quest to find a worksheet that I could use to introduce and reinforce the different scales.  I was going through the Band Director's Facebook Group File Repository looking for answers.  I saw some great things from several of the members.   These worksheet ideas really helped me figure out exactly what I wanted to do.

In the end, I decided to create a worksheet that could be used for any scale.  I wanted the students to get practice writing the key signature, writing the scale's alphabet (the notes in order), and drawing in the fingerings.  By completing these steps, and then using the scale worksheet as a study guide, I could expand on my students' understanding of each key (scale).  I could also use the worksheet for formative check-in assessments to see how the students were progressing.

Because my students are being introduced to scales, I did not want to get too technical.  I think teaching the concepts of whole steps and half steps, the circle of 4ths/5ths, and expanding octaves are all very important.  In the case of this worksheet, I did not want to overload them with concepts that can be scaffolded later when the basics are mastered.

The good news is that this worksheet can be modified to fit your needs.  It would be very easy to add a second page to allow for teaching the circle of 4ths, the relationships of whole steps and half steps, major & relative minor, and even adding a second or third octave.   

I have included a screenshot of the flute worksheet below.  Below that, I provided the links for all of the worksheets for all wind instruments.  All of the links below have editing rights.  I ask that you simply make yourself a copy first before editing.

 I did not include a worksheet for percussion.  As a percussionist, I think percussionists with the minimal piano background will easily pick up scales.  Once mastered,  I encourage teachers to push their percussionists beyond the scales to learn thirds exercises, G.H. Green exercises, arpeggios, etc.  Our percussionists love playing these more advanced exercises.

Links to worksheets for all of the Instruments

(Please make a copy of each form before you edit it)

Flute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_m8ioF_s9_ZsuEX-xqYNy-OHDrWC4b5TEy-BFZUJheY/edit?usp=sharing

Oboe:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rQEnnkKd-crsMLVMbXoOnNm3-26DdsAWEXuzHPePDwI/edit?usp=sharing

Bassoon:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hriZoObL5VdCRO_-tXEDIix4INtCRQkNKjDvsifZNhg/edit?usp=sharing

Clarinet:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/136Toaj35_-hD3NM3grgMcrHpTRC9f_MpnTsr2tOZE9Q/edit?usp=sharing

Saxophone:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PEZqAx2WJCFC3hi-YOkela9nPSo7x3hLqEV7qOPZXSk/edit?usp=sharing

Trumpet:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DkbALxTnCI1w8LhKy_6U9Yqze_kgq9mj9xbsUcZvtKc/edit?usp=sharing

Horn:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DOjOaJW1KOJ0QMqDuz23staLIEZRstSXjMZke_Bz24o/edit?usp=sharing

Trombone:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H15e3qH3C59g_AMz0Q9yus8vx8gYgaMNw6K5GSVCA18/edit?usp=sharing

Baritone:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1om4ltFaJALWte2T20sCr8MTml6HlXD1QWWOLg01GqYw/edit?usp=sharing

Tuba:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-U6YYCbfDdvNzEbSrIwDWcxSEeBQCdSeWfBFYO8CkCw/edit?usp=sharing

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