Stuck in a scale rut? 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.
For the scale variations today and tomorrow, I’m playing around with rhythms. It’s a classic practice technique: taking a passage with a steady rhythm (for example, a string of 16th notes) and playing it with different rhythm patterns. It’s helped me with countless passages of music. But I have to admit I’ve done very little with it in my scales. So today was the day to change that!
For today, I focused on rhythms that work with 2-note and 4-note groups (such as 8th notes and 16th notes). Tomorrow, I’ll turn to rhythms that work with 3-note groups (such as triplets).
Why do this one?
Rhythm practice highlights connections between notes that you might not otherwise notice.
Rhythm practice combines fast practice (the quicker note values) with slow practice (the longer note values), getting the benefits of both at the same time.
Weak spots that just barely good enough to squeak by are almost always revealed with this approach, giving you the opportunity to strengthen them.
Different rhythms change the timing of some shifts, forcing you to learn more about them and thereby make them more resilient.
Playing a familiar passage with a different rhythms forces you to think about it differently, making both your understanding of it and your technique more resilient.
The details
The notation below illustrates how to apply some of the most common rhythms to your scale. Practice them in a tempo that provides a slight challenge, but where you can still get a good sound and play in tune. Do whatever key you’d otherwise do, and with your usual fingering and number of octaves.
For more rhythm patterns to use:
You’ll find a few more in the post “Rhythm Master (Practicing, Part 4)”
There is a wealth of rhythms in Ivan Galamian’s Contemporary Violin Technique
(available at Shar Music or your local music shop)
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, turns, tempo, etc. Just add these rhythms and be ready for a challenge!
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.