Scales?

[nashradus]

I know is going to sound rather silly, but I have a question. When you say that you practise scales, what exactly do you do? Do you just go up and down the D major scale, jumping octaves ? I tried doing that for a while, but found it quite unexciting, so I reverted to practising tunes that I know. Could someone post a regimen for practising scales, and what I should be focusing on when I'm doing it? Thanks!

~nash

[Redwolf]

I go up and down the D scale, then up and down the G scale, then up and down the E minor scale, etc. I'll do it straight a couple of times, then try trilling each note and/or cutting each note. Gets the fingers moving in different patterns.

Redwolf

[trisha]

Scales to music is like Times Tables to Maths...a sort of necessary evil for fluency. Same with arpeggios.

Trisha

[Wombat]

Try playing exercises around scales and arpeggios. So, for exmple, up two steps back one, on the way up, and down two steps, up one on the way down. This one starts off like this: d f# e g f# a g b ......
Another one goes d e f# g e f# g a f# g a b ......
This sort of exercise gets you used to the most commonly repeated finger movements you'll need to know and ensures that you practice all of them without skipping the hard ones.

[jim stone]

neat exercises, thanks. Have any more?
I've got the Bill Hart book Stronger, better faster,
which is helpful.

[FJohnSharp]

Good for warm ups and working on fludity, smoothness etc.

[Wombat]

neat exercises, thanks. Have any more?
I've got the Bill Hart book Stronger, better faster,
which is helpful.

This is just standard stuff I learnt to do in every key on sax, guitar and so on. There are literally dozens. Once you get the hang you can make up your own. Any good jazz book for any instrument would contain loads of them. There is a well known cornet tutor that players of all instruments tend to use because it is so good and thorough with this stuff ..I wish I could remember its name but someone else might know.

Here's another good one. Play bottom d, then second octave d, bottom e tehn second octave e and so on .... OK, now do this in the patterns I suggested in the last two exercises. See what I mean ..I just made these up ..

[nashradus]

*scribble scribble* Thanks a lot for the ever-prompt replies! Wombat, what you said was SO correct! I find some parts of tunes particularly confusing for my fingers (like a F# D or d cnat d .. or the last part of Banish Misfortune). I find that I can play the rest of the tune really fast, but when I come to these parts I slow down or sit through them . I think such scale exercises will help me focus on these problematic parts. Do you people have more such exercises for practice?

~nash

[Wombat]

Well as Trisha said, arpeggios are good too. So, for D play low d, f#, a, second octave d, f#, a, third octave d. Play Em (e, g, b) G (g, b, d) A (a, c#, e) Am (a, c, e) and bm (b, d, f#). Play arpeggio sequences like D, Em, G, D and D, A, G, D and G, Am, D, G in teh first octave and in teh second octave but, if you can't fit all the notes in, go down to play a chord rather than up.

These patterns contain stock phrases in dance tunes and again you get to practice systematically so you don't leave the hard bits out. You also learn the structure of the tunes you are playing so you'll recognise waht chord you are on from the notes you are stressing in the melody.

Quite a few of these exercises involve octave jumps and it is good to practice these both tonguing and not tonguing. If you think of a tune like Harvest Home, it's very easy if you can manage quick octave transitions but very hard if you can't. In fact, it's largely built out of elements contained in the exercises I've suggested.

[fiddling_tenor]

When I was learning violin, scales included, up and down the key octaves, bowing exercises, arpeggios, finger techniques, etc.

For whistles, I would imagine scales (fingerings for each key), arpeggios, triplets, ornamentation on each note, etc.

So I do all that? Naw..

[NicoMoreno]

Brass Tactics by Chase Sanborn

(is one)

[Wombat]

Another exercise to get you going is cran and roll scales. Play a d cran followed by an e roll, followed by an f# roll all the way up to a b roll and repeat in second octave.

[Zubivka]

Ah, pratique les scales...


I'm not good yet at les rolls, so here's a down-scaled bentley:


All kidding, of course. I'm getting bonkers practicing my scales on the Stratowhistle. Chromatic, fer shuuure... just try and get smooth through that Ab scale, or F#...

[Tyghress]

Scales:

DEF#G AGF#E DEF#G AGF#E DEF#G AGF#E D......
EF#GA GF#ED EF#GA GF#ED EF#GA GF#ED E......
F#GAG F#EDE F#GAG F#EDE F#GAG F#EDE F#....
GAGF# EDEF#.....
AGF#E DEF#G.....

I do these for D, Em, G, Aminor and major, Bm (I think, I'd have to look at the book) high D and Em.

also DEF#E DEF#E DEF#E D
.......EF#ED......
.......F#EDE.....
.......EDEF#.....

doing that pattern on every note from D to g, playing Cnats and not C#

There are a lot more

If you're interested, there is an inexpensive book available either through a fifer's website, or I can get you one. Drop me an email if you're interesed.

[TerryB]

I'm having trouble tracking down Bill Hart's book Stronger, Better, Faster. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Terry