S CALE P RACTICE
A PPENDIX S UPPLEMENT
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic. ~ Anas Nin
If music was genetic material, scales would be its DNA. Scales will give you a deeper understanding of melody and harmony, they will help your ear training, they will further your understanding of music theory, and theyll allow you to improvise and create melodies of your very own. There are a lot of scales to learn and you may find it tough to keep track of where you are and where you need to go. Lucky for you, there is a solution. Just before these scales you saw a scale checklist. Post it in your practice room or leave it in your case. As you master certain scales and patterns, mark them off on the sheet. Once youve marked them all off, start over and get them faster. Scale practice is forever. The more you practice scales and all their patterns, the more fluid your playing will become.
General Info About These Scales
On the next few pages youll find the major and natural minor scales, as well as major and minor pentatonics, and the blues scales. Sound like a lot of scales? There are many more, but these are the basics and will give you a good start. Start memorizing them now! Remember that there are 15 major scales, but three of them overlap, so youll really only be practicing the fingering for 12 scales. Confusing? You bet. If you remember enharmonic notes, youll understand why this is. The Major Scales that overlap are Db/C#, Gb/F#, and Cb/B. The minor scales that overlap are bb/a#, eb/d#, and ab/g#. The fingerings and the sound of these enharmonic scales is the same, but theyre written differently. Its like to, too, two, and 2. They all sound the same but have different uses.. The scales are shown ascending only, but be sure to practice them going up, going down, and for as many octaves as you can comfortably play. Vary the speed, start slowly, and memorize them as soon as possible. Dont neglect the modes. Start on the second degree and go an octave for the Dorian mode. The third degree (Phrygian), fifth (Mixolydian), etc., etc. Apply the upcoming scale patterns to all the modes as well. Youll need to adapt the patterns for gapped scales or scales with less than 7 notes.
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A Word on Memorization
Your goal with all of these scales is to memorize them. Memorize the scale, memorize the pattern, memorize the sound, memorize how it feels. When you memorize something it becomes part of you, it becomes internalized. All this memorization is like filling up a glass with clear water. As the glass becomes full, it will overflow. Stuff enough music into your brain and into your soul and soon it will overflow and youll be making your own music, writing your own songs. There is a Zen saying that goes, The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. Its the same with written music. Written music is only a guide. You are after the sound, not the note on the page. The sooner you memorize these scales and all the patterns, the more music youll be able to create. Once you have a scales finger pattern memorized, you can practice the scale anywhere! As you practice the fingering away from the instrument, try to hear the notes and the intervals as you finger the scale. Try to visualize the scale too, if you can. This type of focused awareness is often more valuable than actual practice with the horn. Dont just sit there, finger you scales!
Scale Pattern Suggestions
Here are some ways to get these scales under your fingers. The numbers you see represent the degrees of the scale with 1 representing the tonic, or bottom note of the scale. Often at the beginning or end of the scale pattern, youll go outside the octave. When you go below the tonic or root note, this is shown by a minus (-) sign. For example, one note below the tonic (the seventh degree of the scale) would be -7. In the key of C this would be the B just beneath the tonic. Going above the octave, just add another number. For example one note above the 8th note of the scale would be 9, then 10, etc. Heres what I mean.
These patterns may seem difficult to understand at first. To make these more clear, write out the number under each scale degree, then write out the scale pattern itself. Once you play these a few times, youll hear the pattern and they will make more sense. Soon youll be able to apply a pattern to a memorized scale without looking at the music. This is your goal. Of course, these numbers only work with scales that have 8 notes, so for pentatonic and blues scale, youll have to adapt your pattern for scales like these that have fewer notes. Its pretty easy once you have a pattern down with the major scale. Listen.
Pentatonics
Remember, to create a major pentatonic scale, you play the 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 degrees of the major scale. To play the minor pentatonic, use the 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 degrees of the natural minor scale. And the other reminder is that these will be the same notes for the relative minor/major scales. C Major pentatonic is C, D, E, G, A; the relative minor to C major (same notes, aka the Aeolian mode) is A natural minor, so the A minor pentatonic is A, C, D, E, G. 66
Index: Scales
Pattern Name
the scale thirds fourths fifths rolling thirds rolling triplets (use 8th note triplet rhythm) rolling fifths rolling fourths (use 8th note triplet rhythm) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
Pattern
1,3,2,4,3,5,4,6,5,7,6,8,7,9,8,6,7,5,6,4,5,3,4,2,3,1,2,-7,1 1,4,2,5,3,6,4,7,5,8,6,9,7,10,8,5,7,4,6,3,5,2,4,1,3,-7,2,-6, 1 1,5,2,6,3,7,4,8,5,9,6,10,7,11,8,4,7,3,6,2,5,1,4,-7,3,-6,2,-5,1 1,2,3,1,2,3,4,2,3,4,5,3,4,5,6,4,5,6,7,5,6,7,8,6,7,8,9,7,8 8,7,6,8,7,6,5,7,6,5,4,6,5,4,3,5,4,3,2,4,3,2,1,3,2,1,-7,2,1 1,2,3,2,3,4,3,4,5,4,5,6,5,6,7,6,7,8,7,8,9,8 8,7,6,7,6,5,6,5,4,5,4,3,4,3,2,3,2,1,2,1,-7,1 1,5,4,3,2,6,5,4,3,7,6,5,4,8,7,6,5,9,8,7,6,10,9,8,7,11,10,9,8 8,4,5,6,7,3,4,5,6,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,-7,1,2,3,-6,-7,1,2,-5,-6,-7,1 1,4,3,2,5,4,3,6,5,4,7,6,5,8,7,6,9,8,7,10,9,8 8,5,6,7,4,5,6,3,4,5,2,3,4,1,2,3,-7,1,2,-6,-7,1
Major Scales
Flat Keys
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Major Scales (flat keys continued)
Sharp Keys
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Index: Scales
Natural Minor Scales
Flat Keys
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Sharp Keys
Natural Minor Scales
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Index: Scales
Blues Scales
Flat Keys
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Blues Scales
Sharp Keys
A Note on Enharmonics
Check out the D# and Eb blues scales. Play them both. Same fingerings and same sound, right? These are enharmonic scales, meaning they use different notes but have the same sound. This is one of those pesky facts of music theory that you simply dont run into if you play by ear. The only time youll have to know the difference is if youre reading music and happen to be playing in D#, or some other weird enharmonic key. I can guarantee you that this is a RARE occurrence. In fact, in over 30 years of playing, Ive never played a D# blues. Eb blues, yes, pretty often, but never in D#. Why bother when Eb is so much easier?
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Index: Scales
