Doing scales

Why do we practice the scales and articulations? Is it simply for physical dexterity? No. Dexterity, strength, etc. are nothing when it comes to expression – they matter only as a strong base from which to start.

Tony Montanaro’s idea and description of ‘Premise Work’ gives a clue. The shape and movement a body assumes is as much a matter of how well you imagine it as how you do it. How is imagination made visible and real?

Doing scales and articulations isn’t about making parts of the body flexible. It is training for the imagination. It’s linking body and mind together so that what the mind can imagine the body can do or become.

When we do scales we imagine invisible lines that the body must follow, invisible planes and lines of force that affect how and what we move. It’s an act of imagination that creates a simple building block leading to more complex things. Just making the body follow lines starts the body connecting to the mind – something we’re not used to.

So the scales should be done always with the bigger picture in mind – of lines of force, diagonals, and planes extending away from the body. It’s not a mystical process.

The same is true in any other art form. Artists master their materials and techniques in order to give form to their imagination. Hands, eyes and mind must work together. The beginning exercises and steps are tedious and difficult but they form the simple linkages between hand, eye and mind that allow more complex imagining to take form – without forethought – later.

DOING SCALES IS FLEXING YOUR IMAGINATION MUSCLES!