Keyboard Labels to Write a Full One Octave Scale

Two Octave Keyboard Labels

I really have enjoyed using the keyboard pentascale labels I made a a few weeks ago. However, some of my readers  asked if I had thought about making two octave labels so they  could write out full scales. Click here to get to my website and then click preview to print.

At first I was afraid they would be too small for the size label I have, but after trying it out,  I think they are big enough to at least put dots on the keys. You might not be able to write in finger numbers. If you don’t want to buy 1″ X 2 5/8″ address labels, you can cut them out and tape them on your student’s assignment books. That is what I did when I first tried them out.

There is a wonderful 3M Scotch™ brand tape that is removable. It’s rather hard to find, and more expensive than regular tape, but I always keep some on hand. You can tape one of these little keyboards on their assignment book and the next week remove it and place it on a new page. If you do this, you won’t have to buy labels, and the tape is a lot less expesive than buying adress labels. The tape works like those little yellow sticky notes that teachers love so much. It is sold in either a roll that you have to put in your own dispenser, or sometimes I find it in a plastic dispenser like regular Scotch™ tape. I think I usually buy it at craft stores, and when I do I stock up. It lasts me a long time, because after all, you can move things around and use them over and over!

I made the octave labels in brighter colors than the pentascale labels to help from getting mixed up.  The pentascale labels can be found here.  If you have any questions about how to print out these lables, contact me!

Two Octave Harmonic Minor Picture Scales

Two Octave Minor Picture Scales

I  always had trouble  reading scales. I could never line up the fingering with the notes. The finger numbers were too small and seemed to keep moving from note to note. Fortunately, it didn’t  matter because I played scales by ear and memorized the fingering easily.  

When a few a my students had the same problem reading the scales, I got the idea for my first picture scale.  This is the 2 octave harmonic minor version. While I’ve received some criticism for not insisting students read the scales, I don’t let it bother me because we all have different students with different needs. If you have a student who is helped by this, I would love to know.

Picture Scales

I’m trying to post everything that is on my website here, because it is easier to organize material into categories on this blog. I originally made these Five Finger Major Picture Scales for a very young student who was having some trouble reading notes. It was so long ago I can’t even remember who I made it for, but it is one of the most popular downloads on my web site. You can print out just one page or the whole set.  The Minor Five Finger Picture Scales  are also posted on my website,  www.susanparadis.com.

I am a very big fan of learning all the major and minor 5-finger positions because it helps piano students in so many ways: hand position, transposition, theory, ear training; the list goes on and on. I always teach them in the circle of 5ths because later it helps with the theory. After we learn the 5-finger scales we learn cross over arpeggios in all the major and minor keys. Young students love how “big” they sound when they can do that.