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.
Today is all about different connections between the notes: changing groupings, particularly slurs. First slurring two, then three, then four, etc. If you’re not familiar with the Galamian acceleration pattern, then this one will be revolutionary for you. If that’s something very familiar to you, then today holds one or two new tricks for you.
I experimented with two different approaches to today’s theme. The first one is the Galamian acceleration pattern, where each group takes up the same amount of time. So each group of two lasts one beat (8th notes), each group of four lasts one beat (16th notes), and so on. If you haven’t practiced scales with the acceleration pattern before, this would definitely be the one to do! But this approach is my usual way of practicing scales, and my goal in this month of scales is to break free from my usual, so I mostly steered away from this one. I did play around with groups of 5, which is definitely NOT part of the usual acceleration pattern.
The other approach that I tried is where the speed of the notes stays the same (same rhythmic value), but the slur groups change. This was something new for me to try in my scales, so I spent a lot more time playing around with this approach.
Why do this?
There are lots of benefits of doing the acceleration pattern! To name just a few:
Slow and fast practice is built in
Keeping the same tempo as the rhythmic values change builds steadiness
You’re ready for all of the common groupings and speeds that scales might appear as in real music
The second approach mentioned above was a fun mental challenge for me. However, this is the first one this month that didn’t feel like something I want to spend more time trying to master. I think I got everything out of it from this one time. But maybe I missed something. If you tried this found a lot to it, please let me know in the comments below!
Details
It’s all spelled out in the notation below. Too many words here would just confuse things. Do try to maintain relaxed technique and a good sound at all times.
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, rhythms, turns, tempo, etc. Just add these bowings (slurs) 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.