Improve Your Scales! Piano, Grade 3: Piano Book

Harris understands that Grade 3 students need more than just scales printed on a page. This workbook wraps technique around finger fitness exercises, prepared pieces, and improvisation tasks that make scales feel like real music-making rather than drilling. The revised edition aligns with current ABRSM, Trinity, LCM, and MTB syllabuses, so you're not hunting through multiple books to cover what the exam requires.

Purposeful and grounded. Rather than asking students to trudge through scales by rote, Harris scaffolds the work with exercises that prepare the hand, pieces that reinforce tonality, and small creative tasks that make technique feel connected to actual music.

This book serves Grade 3 piano students preparing for any of the major UK music exam boards. It's equally valuable for teachers seeking a structured, exam-aligned resource that doesn't bore students with endless repetition.

• Work through the finger fitness exercises before tackling new keys; they build hand independence and endurance in ways that make the actual scales feel more secure.
• Use the prepared pieces and sight-reading examples to contextualize each scale group rather than practicing them in isolation.
• Return to the improvisation tasks once your student has learned a new scale; creativity deepens their understanding of tonality and key.
• Treat the arpeggios and broken chords with the same attention you give to scales; exam examiners listen for these just as carefully.

Assign this as a core resource for any student working toward a Grade 3 exam within the next year. The finger fitness section works especially well as a warm-up routine in lessons, while the sight-reading and improvisation tasks can become standing features of your weekly lesson structure.

• All major and minor scales across the Grade 3 range (two octaves where required)
• Arpeggios and broken chords in all required keys
• Finger independence and hand flexibility through targeted fitness exercises
• Sight-reading fluency across multiple keys and ranges
• Basic improvisation in each key studied
• Confidence and consistency in exam technique scenarios