The on-screen keyboard
Played with your finger: the tablet is enough, even on the go.
For some of the exercises: each one shows what it can be played with.
A domain of the path
Learn piano scales
What a scale is and how it's built, the thumb passing under, then C, G and F major, the natural minor, thirds, patterns, and a full tour of a key.
With the subscription. Free: keyboard discovery and the start of the treble clef.
What you'll learn
A scale is a path.
A major scale strings whole steps and half steps together in a fixed order: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Starting on C, it uses only white keys; starting on another note, it needs sharps or flats, which the key signature gathers.
Before playing fast, Okyla prepares the fingering: the thumb passes under the hand instead of jumping. Then come C, G and F major in each hand, the natural minor, and exercises that change the scale's rhythm, repeat its notes, brush past them or skip through them in thirds.
A tour of a key brings it all together, with the leading tone of the minor and the minor that sings, before both hands in parallel.
The exercises
Chapter by chapter.
In the order the app offers them.
Understanding scales
SubscriptionWhat a scale is, what it is for, and how it is built.
Interactive tutorials
Prepare the fingering
SubscriptionThe thumb passes, the hand doesn't jump.
This chapter's exercises
- Prepare the thumb crossing
- The thumb passes without an accent
- Join the two fragments
- The hidden crossing
C, G and F major
SubscriptionThree neighbouring keys: the scale in each hand, then read and played in its key.
This chapter's exercises
- C major, right hand
- C major, left hand
- G major, right hand
- F major, right hand
The natural minor
SubscriptionThe same notes as the relative major, another tonic: A, E and D minor.
This chapter's exercises
- A minor, right hand
Repeated and neighbouring notes
SubscriptionRepeat, brush past, come back, in C, G or F: read the key signature.
This chapter's exercises
- Each degree twice
- Around the degree
- Three notes, then move on
- Change direction
- The known motif
Scales in rhythm
SubscriptionThe scale changes rhythm, in C, G or F.
This chapter's exercises
- Steady eighths
- Long–short
- The shifting accent
Moving patterns
SubscriptionA pattern that climbs the scale, in C, G or F.
This chapter's exercises
- Groups of three
Thirds and sequences
SubscriptionSkip a note and link the thirds, in five keys.
This chapter's exercises
- Walk in thirds
- Rising sequence
A tour of a key
SubscriptionThis chapter's exercises
- The scale of the key
- Weak degrees in G major
- Changing keys
- The natural minor
- Minor and its leading tone
- The singing minor
The scale becomes music
SubscriptionMelodies in C, G or F.
This chapter's exercises
- The scale becomes a melody
- Find the note that does not belong
Both hands
SubscriptionThis chapter's exercises
- Two hands in parallel
Each exercise comes in several sequences: “Redo” the same one, or “New sequence” to play another.
What to play on
It depends on the exercise.
In Guided mode, the piano waits for you if you slip; in Performance, you play in tempo.
An acoustic piano
Put the tablet on the music stand: Okyla listens through the microphone, and the sound never leaves the device.
A digital keyboard
Plugged in over USB, every note is read the moment you play it.
Questions
How do you play a scale on the piano?
Slowly at first, with the right fingering. In C major, right hand going up, the thumb passes under the hand after E: 1, 2, 3, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The hand doesn't jump: the thumb's passage stays smooth.
What do I play on?
On a digital keyboard plugged in over USB or through the microphone, on an acoustic piano: every scale exercise can be played that way. Almost all of them can also be played on the on-screen keyboard.
Is it free?
Scales need the subscription. Keyboard discovery and the start of the treble clef are free.
The path