 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ruth
Date: 2001-05-11 15:05
I need to learn by heart scales for my clarinet exam - mainly E; B; F#; and Db major as well as Bb; Eb; G#; and E melodic minor.
Have you any ideas and tricks how I could get my fingers and head around this task?
Thanks a lot for your help.
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Author: Lynne
Date: 2001-05-11 15:20
Hi Ruth! Make sure you play them very slowly to begin with, and a scale book would be very useful - the Associated Board publish their own book. I get all my pupils to use a book first, and when they're playing the scales confidently with the music in front of them I then suggest they close the book and play them from memory. Good luck!
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Author: jan
Date: 2001-05-11 16:10
i am also learning scales because i never did when i was younger. i am not using a book tho. i made myself a cheat sheet of sorts.
i took regular index cards. on one side i wrote the name of the scale to be played with however many sharps or flats. then i put 3 different types of rhythms : 2 slur 2 tongue, 2 slur 2 slur, 1 tongue 2 slur 1 tongue. on the other side of the card i have the scales written with the matching articulation markings. first i try to play the scale without looking and if i get stuck i just turn the card over. i go thru all the rhythms at a very slow speed to start. on the index card i write the date and the mm speed. the next day i move it up 1 or 2 notches. this has really helped me and also having to write the scales out myself.
good luck
jan
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-05-11 17:54
Ruth -
The Klose method has excellent scale exercises. The best one, which Klose says is "particularly important," is scales in thirds -- that is, up a third, down a step, up a third, down a step and so on. It's 2 pages long and goes around the circle of fifths in all major and minor keys. Work your way through it with a metronome, starting as slow as you need to -- 1 note per beat at 60, or for the extreme keys even 40 beats per minute. The Klose, Lazarus and Langenus methods all have etudes in all the keys, so you can get used to playing in them.
Part 3 of the Baerman method -- known as the "clarinetist's bible" -- is completely made up of scale exercises. If you want to be an excellent player, you need to work your way through the entire thing.
Learning scales is hard work, and not something you can do overnight. Still, if you work on the basics, starting really slowly, you should be able to get at least the scales "in your fingers" in a few weeks.
For my "scale philosophy" see http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=16717&t=16708 .
For a methodical exercise to get scales smooth, see http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=24907&t=24731 .
You can do it. Everyone goes through exactly what you describe, and most of us come out alive.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-05-11 18:01
This is how I learned to do scales eons ago - and my daughter's oboe teacher is teaching her the same way! First say the scale out loud both up and down several times. Next, say and finger the scale on your scale on your instrument several times. Next actually play the scale, start slowly and work up speed. The idea is to "hard wire" the information into your memory and you don't want to "hard wire" mistakes. Books mentioned in above post are great for exercises. HTH beth
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Author: Kim
Date: 2001-05-11 18:36
I need to learn some minor scales for my upcoming jury. What I am doing is visualizing the notes of the scale in my head. It is actually helping. If you have a mental picture of the scale, then you can play it.
Also, play the scale slowly. If you can't play the scale quickly for your playing test, then don't play it quickly at all--you'll get yourself in trouble. One of my professors says "Slow is fast." He's right. The slower you go the better! You don't want to go too fast, otherwise you'll make mistakes.
Good luck,
Kim
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-05-11 18:39
I see you are in the UK, so it should be easy for you to find or order Guy Dangain's little book of scales (Cahier de Gammes), which includes all the major and minor scales in order, followed by seconds, thirds and various arpeggios. I find it immensely useful.
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-05-11 20:51
i have to do the same thing for my final for my college class. I have no problem reading and playing, how ever he wants me to play 6 or 7 or them without looking. i have a week. So I look and play and then i play and hopefully I don't look. Just think about the one you are going to play prior to playing it. i.e. F major. The B is flat so tell yourself this and go for it. C major not flats or sharps. piece of cake. G Majoy one sharp all F are sharp.
Also remenber that you start and end on the note of the scale. for C start on C and end on C.
Have fun
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Author: Jessica
Date: 2001-05-12 04:02
Ok, I don't know if my method will work for you, but since it only took me 1 week to learn all my scales in 2 octaves (plus the E, F, F#, & G in a third) I figured I might be able to help you, though honestly I really don't know how I do it... my instructor just said "learn these"... so I did.
First make sure you know all the fingerings on the clarinet, including all alternates b/c scale work can get tricky (I have no idea how long you've been playing, so humor me if you already know this). I do all my scales in chromatic order, but you don't have to. What I majorly do not reccomend is reading them off paper. It's an awful habit to develop and you get way too fond of having them infront of you (trust me, I made this mistake when I learned thirds), but if it works for you I have *high* reccomendations for the Klose book... it is the clarinet book to own and worship if you have no other
Anyway, I learn them as patterns rather than thinking "E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E." If you can remember WWHWWWH ("W" for whole step and "H" for half step) it will go quite slow at first, but there are patterns (and the plus is if you learn your low E & F you already know your 2nd octave of B & C) and it is well worthwile, because then when you see a scale (ei. a run) in a piece of music you won't be thinking "Gb, Ab, Bb..." and you'll just know it like second nature b/c you memorized the pattern instead of the notes. I would reccomend doing the same thing with thirds; it has worked quite well for me, please let me know if it works for you.
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2001-05-13 07:07
I disagree with those who talk of memorizing and concentrating on note names, or calculating intervals. One of the functions of a scale is to unburden the concious mind from this very thing. Scales should be learned by rote, and there is a collection of scales with fingerings on this website that will get you off to a good start.
Play each scale repeatedly at a slow speed, until your fingers remember it on their own. My students play it 10 times up and down, slow enough that they don't make mistakes. Do that a couple of nights in a row and the scale will be memorized.
If the initial learning of the scale is difficult, try a melodic pattern like 1-2-1, followed by 1-2-3-2-1, 1-2-3-4-3-2-1, etc. (Where "1" equals the tonic, "2" the supertonic, etc.)
Two warnings:
1 - Don't confuse yourself with trying to reason out the scale by note names, intervals, etc. Play it OVER AND OVER until it's no longer a stranger.
2 - Keep it slow. You are programming your fingers. If you rush and continually make mistakes, you are programming those mistakes into your scale. Keep it flawless until it's memorized and then you can put the pedal to the metal.
Additional suggestions -
1 - Group together the scales that have similar technique, at least in terms of your left & right pinkies. (A & D), (Bb & Eb), (B, E & F#/Gb), (Ab & Db).
2 - Take some simple scalewise songs like "My Country Tis of Thee" and "The First Noel" and play them along each scale. If you're really good at this, try something harder like "Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring." Meandering around your scale like this reinforces your feel and develops your ear at the same time.
3 - I strongly agree with working scales in thirds. In keys with 4 or more sharps/flats, their technique is drastically different from that of the straight scale. I/IV/V arpeggios are also a good wakeup call.
Good luck!
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Author: Ken
Date: 2001-05-14 18:11
Allen, you mentioned that there is a collection of scales with fingerings at this website...can you
tell me how to find it? thanks, Ken
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Author: elise
Date: 2001-05-16 02:26
ruth--
just about all of the comments i agree with (especially klose methods.) get them all under your fingers first. if you can't play looking at the music because the fingers are tripping you up, and they might be on those scales that you mentioned unless you think ahead, you won't get anywhere. it would help, if you don't already, to know what the notes are of the scales off the top of your head. for instance, E has the F#, C#, G#, and D#. if you don't identify "E" with those notes, you're doomed.
just a little trick (sort of), to get you through when you're utterly clueless about the scales you have to play from memory, (which we hope won't happen,) remember this pattern:
whole whole half whole whole whole half
this is the distance between the notes of all major scales. for example, it's a whole step between a C and D in the C scale, a whole step between D and E, a half between E and F, etc. if you don't know about steps or intervals, learn them--it's easy and it's extremely basic. take your scales slow and if you're *really* in a jam you can think that way to get from note to note.
elise
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