Scale Olympics
Scale Olympics
Scale Olympics is an adjudicated event that allows students to select from nine events: Scales, Cadences, Arpeggios, Triads, Harmonization, Transposition, Sight Reading, Theory, and Ear Training. Each event is offered at eight levels of difficulty as well as a preparatory level for young beginners. Students are awarded ribbons, based on points, for every event entered. Students entering all nine events have the opportunity to receive one of the two top ribbon awards. The Blue Rosette is awarded to students receiving Blue Ribbons in all nine events; the Yellow Rosette is awarded to students with 117 or more points and no more than two red ribbons. Students entering fewer events or earning fewer than 117 points will receive individual ribbons for each event entered. The individual ribbons will only go to students who do not enter all nine events or who do not receive a Rosette. Scale Olympics 2020 will be in a safe online format. Teachers click here for the complete handbook and check out this link for 2020 updates.
Check out the handbook and 2020 updates.
This is an exciting event. The handbook will be very beneficial for the teachers to look through, but we’ve added videos for parents, students, and teachers to reference. Let me know if you have any videos to share! We would love to add them!
The requirements for the prep level of Scale Olympics is any two major or minor five finger scales ascending and descending hands separate or together.
The requirements for the prep level of Scale Olympics is C G D & A major scales. There will be played as one octave scales, hands separate or together, parallel or contrary motion.
The requirements for prep level arpeggios is any 2 major or minor keys in a five finger position, playing ascending broken chord root, third, fifth in the left hand followed by the right hand up the octave. Then descending right hand fifth, third, root, followed by the left hand descending. I tell students to play skips going up in the left hand and the right hand copies, then skips going down in the right hand and the left copies. Also it’s helpful to think of skipping up and down a mountain.
Level 1 arpeggios requirements are F, C, G, D, A, and E major. They will be played similar to the prep level but with an added left hand crossover to the next tonic above the right hand before descending. Simply put, left hand skips up, right hand skips up, left hand crossover to the home tone, right hand skips down, left hand skips down.
Level 4 arpeggios requirements include white key Major and minor 2 octave arpeggios. In this level one hand plays two octaves using the typical fingering 1231235 for right hand and 5421421 or 5321321 for the left hand.
Ear-training is an important skill to develop for musicians. It allows us to become fluent in music giving us the ability to create our own music, improvise, transcribe, and anticipate what’s coming up in the music. Here is a video demonstrating how ear-training tests will be given.
