Bored with scales? Join me for a whole month’s worth of 31 different ways to approach scales. New posts go up every day in January 2023. Start from Day 1 here.
Today I put a twist on the usual way of practicing with a drone (see yesterday’s post). Instead of setting the drone on tonic (the main note of the scale), I set it on dominant (the 5th note of the scale).
Why do this?
Dominant is the second most important note of any given key, and it’s common to be playing a melody over a chord built on the dominant. So it’s important to be able to play in tune to the dominant.
Also, with the drone on the dominant (instead of tonic), different perfect intervals arise. It’s a slightly different perspective on some notes, but most importantly it provides a specific spot to place the 2nd note of the scale (a perfect 4th below the drone).
The Details
If you're familiar with this kind of scale practice, then you know what to do. The only trick is what to do in the arpeggios, since the 5th note of the scale doesn’t exist in all of the arpeggios, and is outright dissonant with some of them. My solution was to move the drone so it’s always on the 3rd note of the arpeggio, which isn’t always “the dominant” of the arpeggio but functions the same for this kind of intonation focus.
If you're not familiar with this way of practicing intonation, here are some suggestions for how to get started:
First of all, remember to use relaxed technique and get a good sound at all times. And I recommend doing yesterday’s scales first (“The Tuning Machine, Part 1”), if you haven’t already.
Every time the 5th note of the scale comes up (for example, in the key of C Major, the 5th note is G), you'll definitely want to make sure it matches the drone on G.
The next level for this way of practicing scales is to listen for the 1st and 2nd notes, which form perfect intervals with the drone (for example, in C Major, C forms a Perfect 5th with the drone; D forms a Perfect 4th with the drone).
In a slow tempo, you might listen for every 1st, 2nd, and 5th note. But in a medium tempo, you might narrow your focus to just tonic and 5th. And at a fast tempo, maybe you'll mainly listen to make sure dominant matches the drone.
If you’ve tried today’s scales, I’d love to know what your experience was like! Just post a comment below.
Do this in any key and keep your usual fingerings, but keep it slow so you can be sure if each note is perfectly in tune.
tomorrow:
I’m a violinist and private teacher in the Chicago area, and in a previous musical life I was in a professional string quartet. Teaching violin and chamber music are dear to my heart. Send me a note or leave a comment on a post — I’d love to hear from you.
If you’ve tried today’s scales, I’d love to know what your experience was like! Just post a comment below.