12 Major Scales Free Download for Piano: Chords, Arpeggios and Scales

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12 Major Scales and Piano Chords Chart

12 major scales and chord groups for piano players: free, printable download. One-octave and two-octave scales, I, IV and V chords, tonic chord inversions and arpeggios, all on one sheet for each key!

As a child, I had no idea how much time the exercise must have taken her -- for all of those keys, too! -- but even then, I appreciated and enjoyed playing these patterns. There seemed something a bit magical and comforting in this routine: playing a pattern in one key, and then repeating it in another key, necessarily adjusting hand position and utilizing different fingering choices, getting the same overall sound, but with a sudden freshness.

I always begin assigning the 12 major scales and chords with the "Key of C" sheet. This won't be until my piano students are able to read the chord notes in the first measure (number 1). We don't move in a hurry -- on their assignment sheet, I will write "Key of C sheet, #1" until they can do it quickly with no prompting.

Soon, their assignment sheet will say, "Key of C sheet, #2, #3, #4." Eventually, they will drop the easiest numbers off their assignment and pick up the harder techniques. My students are always eager to start regular full-octave scales (probably because I don't introduce them early, but spend lots of time on pentatonic scales).

You may wonder why I have written the 2-octave scales in mirror fashion, with the hands moving in contrary motion instead of parallel. It is because using matching fingering "1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, (tuck under) 1-2-3 etc." is a very easy way to learn a 2-handed C scale initially. Even with the 1-octave scale, this is how I first approach hands together, so they can have the fun of achieving speed and coordination over the "big stretch" even in the initial stages of learning where to tuck under and cross over.

Of course, this becomes much harder in the later scales, when black notes enter the picture! In fact, once piano students have mastered parallel scales in one key, it becomes much easier to accomplish them in all 12 major scales, and we may just go straight to parallel scales.

The idea of the I, IV and V chords seems obvious to piano teachers who've been thinking that way for years, but the connections aren't at all apparent to some young students. I try to keep reinforcing the concept by coming at it from different angles...

My favorite way to talk about "The Three Main Chords" is to play the regular scale slowly with a left-hand finger while making matching chords in the right hand. Both hands move up the octave as I say, "The one chord, the two chord, three chord, four chord..." etc. Then I ask them to do it. (And usually I say nothing about the chord on the seventh step of the scale and how it is different from all the rest; that would be too much information!)

My favorite way to actually drum the 3 main chords into their fingers (and brains) is to take an energetic song -- Boilem' Cabbage Down is my current favorite -- and make them (with my assistance, during lesson time) figure out what the chords will be for the key of the day (we work our way slowly around a Circle of 5ths, hand-drawn by me on their lesson sheet each week, with their assistance). Then we execute a quick duet, by rote, with me on the melody, and them banging away on chords. First they play open chords, Left Hand, Right Hand, L,R,L,R, etc. Then I ask for a LH single bass note with a RH full triad (3 notes). Then (and this is their favorite!) they must figure out the 3-chord cadence for that key, and use those inversions in the accompaniment.

Students will move on to the other keys before they have finished the full page of C. Two-octave scales, chord inversions and arpeggios will wait until they seem appropriate.

You may not agree with every one of my arpeggio or scale fingerings. I put down the ones I personally use most. Certainly there are times when it is advisable to choose "5, 4, 2, 1" for left-hand arpeggio fingering, but I consider it the exception to the rule. Here we have THE RULE! Just cross my fingering out if you want something different.

I hope you find these 12 major scales and chords sheets useful in your music studio!

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What Other Visitors Have Said

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Pray Sing Hymn Not rated yet
Thank you soooooooo much!! This is a wonderful website! I was looking for the perfect kind of scales for my students! It was exactly what I was looking ...

THANKS!!!! Not rated yet
I'm a teacher but I was not taught these scales and I had to watch another person play, and when I saw your pdfs, they're really useful to me, everything ...

Minor Scales & Cadences Not rated yet
Hello,

Do you have the minor scales & cadences written in the same format as the major scales and available for download? Thank you!!

Alice Donovan
...

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