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0 MY P I A N O PUPILS,WHO T H R O U G H
T W E N T Y Y E A R S G A V E ME THE E N -
TH US IA ST IC SUI 'PORrI' INDISPE NSA -BLE TO THE TEACHER'S W O R K , T H I S
B O O K I S C O R D I A L L Y D E D I CA T E D.
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MASTERING THE SCALES AND A R P E G G I O S
C O N T E N T S
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .nt roduc t i on 4T h e I m p o r ta i lc e o f S t u d y i n g t h e S c a l e s a n d t h e A r p e g g i o s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .h e H i s t o r y o f t h e S c a l e i
Part I
Preparatory Section
L E S S O X I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .o n s t r u c t i n g t h e S c a l e s 5
L E S S O N I1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .e a r n i n g t h e S c a l e N o te s a n d Key N a m e s 6
L E S S O N I11 . . . . . . . . . .ea rn i n g the M i nor Sc a l e Not e s and h li nor Key Nam es 7
L E S S O N IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i n g e r i n g o f t h e S c a l e s 10
Part I1Practical Technical Work
T h e S c a l e s in O n e O c t a v e F or m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .he Sc a l e s i n Two Oc t ave Form 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .h e Chromatic S c a l e 34
A c c e n t e d S c a l e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Sca l e s i n Doubl e Thi rds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Sca l e s i n Doubl e S i x t hs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .c a l e s in O c t a v e s 45
Deve l opi ng t he Gr ea t e s t Poss i b l e Ve loc it y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Part 111The Study of Arpeggios
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x p a n d i n g t h e H a n d W i th o u t I n j u ry 53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .he Chords Empl oyed in A r p e g g i o s 54
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .r o k e n C h o rd s a n d A r p e g g i o s 55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p e c i a l A r p e g g i o f o r m s i n t h e K ey of C 63. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Usefu l Arpeg gi o Va r i an t 65. . . . . . . . .r o k e n C h o r d s a n d A r p e g g i o s of th e D o m i n a n t S e v e n t h 67. . . . . . . . . .x e r c i s e s i n th e A r p e g g i o o f t h e D o m i n a n t S e v e n t h 73Arpegg i os of t h e Di mi n i shed S eve nt h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .a r i ed Forms of Arpeggi o Exe rc i se s 79
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Introduction
The Importance of Studying Scales and Arpeggios
If i t were possible ta assemble a congress of the gr ea t piano
teachers of today and yesterday nnd put the question:
''lLThat do you con sider the ba ckbone of t he tec hni c of pianoforteplaying?''
the answer would doubtless come with sur prisin g unanimity,
"The study of the s cal es an d arpeggios."
lIere and there one might hear a dissenting voice but upon re-
viewing the c are ers of these objectors one would doubtless find
th at they them selves had traveled much of their technical road a -
long the la nes of sc ales a nd arpeggios.
In this book an effort ha s been made to compile
n A book of s ca le s and a rpegg ios explaining all of the hundred
and one technical points in the simplest poss ible mannerand yet s o completely th at everything neccessary will be ful-
ly comprehended by the pupil in the right pedagogical ord er.b A book of scales and arpeggios with a preparatory section
covering the work which all be gin ner s should undertake be-
fore the actua l scale playing is commenced. The scale s as
usually ta ugh t ar e really very complicated studies involving
far too many different mental and physical pr oce sse s to be
successfully taken up without preparation.By grounding the
pupil in the theory of the keys, as well a s giving him prac-
tic al work at the keyboa rd mi nus th e additional study of the
usual sca le fingering, much more rapid and t horough pro-
gress may be made.
c A book of scales and arpeggios including all the standa rd
forms employed i n priva te teach ing and conservatory work,
and also additions leading to the highest possible velocity
and finish i n performance.
d A book of sca les and arpeggios. fa r more comprehensive
than any existi ng work, and yet one th at may be employed
at once, wi th any system or method,without requiring any
changes.
It seem s quite unnecessary for the writer t o make any comment
upon the grea t importance of the study of s ca le s and arpeg gios.
It is, nevertheless, convincing to read the foLlowing quotations whichhave been select-ed from hundre ds of si milar o nes pertaining to
ecale playing.
" You must sedul ously practice al l sca les "
ROBERT SCIIUMANN
"Scales should never be dry. If you are not int erest ed in th em ,
work with them un til you becom e intere sted in them"
A. RUBINSTEIN
" Give speci al study to p as si ng the thu mb under the hand and pass-
ing th e ha nd over the thumb. This.ma ke s the practice of scale s a nd
arpeggios indispensable"
J. PADEREWSKI
" Practice sca les every day of your life"
WN. HERWOOD
" Do you ask me how good a player you may become?Then tell me
how much you prac tice t he s cal es"
CARL CZERNY
"During the first five years the backbone of ail th e daily work in
Russian music schools is sca les and arpeggios. The pupil who at-
tempted complicated pieces without this pr elimi nary drill would be
laughed at in Russia"
J O S E F L H E V I N N E
" The sca le of C should reign supr eme until the practice habits are
formed so that they will rei gn sup rem e while playing the other scales.
Pearls lie at the bottom of the sea. Most pupi ls see m to expect them
flo ati ng upon th e top of t he water. They never float, and the one who
would have his s cales shine with the beautyof splendid ge ms must
first dive deep for the gems"
V. DE PACHMANN
" I have never known a piano stud ent to finge r well or rea d rapidly
who was deficient in scale pract,icellE. M. BOWMAN
" I consider th e pract ice of scale s important not only for the fi n-
ge rs ,b ut al so for the discipline of the ea r with regard to the feeling
of tona lity (key),under standi ng of interva ls, and the comprehensionof th e tota l compas s of the piano"
JOSEF HOFMANN
" To the young st udent and to the perf orming artist the daily prac-
tice of sc ale s is alike indispensable . Nor has it been found possible
to super sed e the practi ce of sca les with any other form of exercise.
W7thout their constan t use, it is not possible to imp art to playing
certain qualities of fluency, neatne ss and consistency in running
pas sag es, qualities universally recognized as charater istic of well
trained pianists"
WILLIAM MASON
" I believe thi s mat ter of in si sti ng upon a thorough technical knowl-
edge, par ticularly scale playing, is a very vit al one.The me re ability
to play a few pieces does not constitute musical proficiency"
S. RACHMANINOFF
"Few ar tis ts realize t he beauty of a perfectly played scale and too
few teach ers i nsist upon it,"
S . STOJOWSKI
" I play all the sca les in different forms in all ke;ys once a day"
PEPITO ARRIOLA
In most German conservatories the first word the pupil hears up
on ent eri ng the teacher's room is "Torrleitar" (scales) The pupi l
then sits a t the keyboard and plays through all the major and mi -
nor scal es, often in an altogether perfunctory ma nn er . Those who
pract ice scale s in a similar way cannot hope to derive the greatest
benef its from the m, for no form of tech nical work demands gre ater
concentration tha n scales and arpeggios. Fortunately no form of
techn ical study is more fasci nating when properly performed.
The sinckre tha nks of t he aut hor ar e given to Dr. E. E . Ayers,
Dr. H. A. Clar ke, Profes sor of Music at the University of Pennsyl-
vania, Dr. Ralph Dunst.an, of \Vestminster College, En gland, Mr .
U7aldo S. Pra tt, an d Mr. Jar osl aw d e Zielinski for reading portions
of the work i n manuscript and of fering helpful suggestions.
THE AUTHOR
O 1913 by Theodore Presser Co.410-40017
All Rights ReservedPrinted in U.S.A.
International Copyright Secured
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THE STORY OF THE SCALE
(This historical introduction may be omitted in th e ca se s of young pupils, and introduced at the end of th e pupi ls cour se in scale s and
arpeggios. When th is is omitted st art with page five, Lesson L)
Usually the first questions that come up in t4hemindof the student
who has had his curosity aroused regar ding the science ofthe tonalsyste m, are,"How did it al l come about? Why is there a major scale
and a minor scale? Why are there not. other scal es equally im -portant?"
Possibly the best way in which to answer these questions is to tell
the student that there have been many other scales employedbyother
peoples in other days and tha t our sca les came down th rou gh the
rages from sou rces about which we have no abso lutel y pos itive in-
formation. Like the Pyramids of ancient Egypt, we know t hat they
exist but the grop ings of histor ians have not revealed their r eal
origi n. For t his reas on we have had to content ourselves with theo-
ries little more definite than the measur ement of universal spac e.
Contr ary to opinion our modern sc ale s are by no means altogether
nat ura l to m an. That is, no savage people has developed a scale like
o u ~ ajor or our minor scale-Th ese sca les are in fact, a legacy&om
the age s of cultur e which have preceded us and ar e the resul t of a
slow develop ment which called for the best bra ins nf many different
nations and peoples.
One thi ng we do know, however, and t ha t is tha t the no tes of our
sca le ar e containe d in th e so called "chord of nature!' This term is
th e name given by some the orist s to a se ries of tones called overtones,all of which may be contained in the composite tone heard from a vi -bra tin g stri ng. It is difficult to conceive of th e tone we hear when we
str ike one of the lower s tr in gs of a p iano, as being composed of several
different tones less perceptable to th e ear. This however, i s e asi ly
dem ons tra ted in the phy sic al laboratory,vr41ere the student may lea rn
that the over-tones (often called har monic s) are the char acteristics
which give quali ty to a tone. It is ind eed, not unlike a rose, which we
se e as one object of a certain color, but which is usual ly composed
of a grea t number of peta ls.
By pr ess ing down the ke ys on the piano, represented by the upper
note€ in the following example silently and hcldin g the m down,-
then striki ng the lowest key a resounding blow, the stude nt will ob-
serve that the upper tones vibrate in sympathetic vibration. This
isbecau se they a re over-tones and are contained in the lower tone,
although scarcely audible to the human ear. Other tones a lso vi -
brate but these"harmonics" will be detected f irst. The student will
also observe that the notes with X und er them, form most of the
notes of the major scale of F IIajor.
In fact, a simila r series of notes resulting from the fif th degree all of the notes used in the given scale .
of th e sc al e of C (known a s the d omina nt) will produce practically
It is reasonable to assume from this, that out scale is one na tu r~ l
to the physical scien ce of music. but a s we deter mine the higher ov-
er - ton es or harmonics , it becomes obvious that so many other tones
are included, that the numerous divisions of t he s ca le mad e by
som e Oriental peoples and even advocated by some of our modern
compo sers, ar e by no m ean s foreign to the sch eme of nature. In in-
ves tig ati ng the history of our own scale , however, we are surprised
at the very star t to learn tha t antiquarian evidence seems to point
to the fact that the modern major and minor scale s h eve bee n e -valved by desce ndant s of the white or Aryan r ace ra th er th an by
people of any of the colored races.
Well known writers upon the history of music have been able to
trace the interval of the eighth (octave) n the m usic of s evera l of
the civilized peoples who lived before th e time of Christ. The Ch i -
nese, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans,the Babylonians, the Persians,
the Ph oenic ians and the Arabs, discovered this division of music-
al sound.
Some of these wonderful peoples had scale s,but so far as weknow,
the se sc al es differed for the most pa rt from those of modern music,
in th at t he se rie s of intervals used were unlike those of our eceles.
For insta nce , the Chinese employed B scale of five tones in which the
int erv als resembled those which would occur if we made a scale
from t he five black keys of the pianoforte. This scal e is known a s
the penta t.onic sctlle. It is frequently found in Scotch music and folk
songs like Auld La ng Syne and Bonnie Doone are forthe most part
made up of th is sc ale.
C.S.- 87
It is not however, until we consider the amaz ing Greeks of ancient
times, that we encounter sca les which be ar resemblances to the scales
now in use. The moment we attempt to find out e xac tly what the old
Greek scales or modes were like,we meet with so many different o -pinions, of so m any different authorities,with s o many different rea-
sons for believing their opinions correct, that we can only concludethat th e Greek Scales are clouded with much obscurity and content
ourselves with an approxima te idea of their form and use.
Several years of study with some score of autho ritie s have faile d
to reveal to the author, a means of presenting an understandable de-
scri ption of th e mu sic al sy ste m of Ancient Greece.The difficulty does
not lie in the lack of ma nuscript outlines by g re at Greek wri ter s.
Aristotle, Ar ist oxe nus , Euclid and t he Alexandriein astronom er Clau-
dius Ptolemy, all did their sha re in attempting t o prese rve records
of what had been accomplished by their predec essors. However, the
reade r must take into consideration three thing s i n reflec tingupon
these records. First, Greek musical endeavor extended over several
centuries; second, he records of the above writers were frequently
made many years after th e musical sy stems they describe had been
invented; third ,ther e is believed to be no absolu tely sure means
of interpretating t hes e writings 00 that their meani ng in modern
musical terms may be accurately understood.
The f act t ha t t her e i s no s ure method of interpretating ancientGreek
music in our modern musical notation is perhaps, the most serio us
obstacle in the path of the conscientious investigator. P erhaps the
future may bring us some method of solving the myste ry, like the
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E to se t ta S to n e wh ic h e n a b le d E g y p to lo g i s t s to in t e rp re t t h e h i e r o -g ly p h ic s wh ic h u p to th a t t im e h a d lo c k ed u p a l arg e c h a p te r in th e
h i s to ry of th e w o r ld . E v e n th e l a t e s t a r t i c l e s p u b l i s h e d in th e n e w
E n c y c l o p e d i a B r i t t a n i c a f a i l t o gi v e a n a b s o l u t e l y d e f i n i t e k ey t o
t h e v e n e r a b l e m y s t e r y .
H ow p e r p l e x i n g a n d b e w il d e r in g t h e w h o le m a t t e r r e a l l y i s m a y
b e in fe r re d f ro m th e fo l lo win g q u o ta t io n f ro m th e l i t t l e h i s to ry o f
m u s i c b y W.S. R o c k s t r o ( r i g h t n a m e , R a c k s t r a w ) o n e o f t h e b e s t
k n own p o p u la r E n g l i s h h i s to r i a n s . \ t o c k s t ro h a d a n e xc e l le n t t ra in -
i n g a n d h n s b e e n t h e p u p i l of S t e r n d a l e B e n n e t t , b l e n d e l s s o h n,
H a u p t m a n n a n d P l a i d y. H e w r o t e t h e c h a p t e r u p o n t h e c h u r c h
mo d e s in t h e Gro v e D ic t io n a ry a .n d is k n own to h a v e g iv e n a n im -
me n s e a mo u n t of s e r io u s a t t e n t io n to th e mu sic of Gre ec e. H i s a t t i -
tude upon th e sub j ec t i s the re for e ve ry in te re s t ing . In h is l it t le work
p u b l i s h e d i n 1839 h e t r e a t s t h e e n ti r e m a t t e r b y th r ow i n g u p h i s
h a n d s i n d e s p a i r i n t h e f o ll o w in g m a n n e r :
" T h a t t h i s s y s t e m i s b u s e d , t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , u p o n p u r e m a t h -
e m a t i c a l t r u t h . is i n d i s p u t a b l e ; b u t m o d e r n c r i t i c s d i ff e r s o w id e -l y i n t h e i r i r ~ t e r p r e t a t i o n s f t h e e x p r e s s i o n s u s e d b y t h e a n c i e n t
w r i t e r s , t h a t i t i s d i f f i c u l t i n t h e f a c e of c o n f l i c t i n g o p i n i o n s , t o
a r r i v e a t s c l e a r u n d e r s t a n d i n g e v en a t t h e f i r s t p r i n ci p l es . T o a t -
t e m p t i n t h e p r e s e n t s t a t e o f o u r k n o w l e dg e t o r e c o nc i l e t h e t h e o -
r i e s o f r iv a l c o mm e n ta to r s wo u ld b e a wa s te o f t ime !,
But th e ma ke rs o f m us i ca l h is to r ies con t inu e to desc ribe the Greeks c a le s o r mo d e s a n d th e s tu d e n t wh o p u r s u e s h i s wo rk s u f f i c i e n t ly
f a r w i ll i n e v i t a bl y r e a c h t h i s t a n g l e w h i c h s e e m s t o b a f fl e a l l a t -t e m p t s a t u n r a v e l i n g . B e c a u s e of t h i s n o s t o r y o f t h e s c a l e w o ul d
b e c o m p le te w i th o ut s o m e c o mm e n t u p o n th e s u b je c t , e v e n i f o n ly
a n o u tl i ne of t h e m u d d le w h ic h s o m e w e l l m e a n i n g w r i t e r s h a v e
ma d e o f i t .
A m o n g t h e e a r l y s e t t l e r s o f G r e e c e w e re t h e P e l a s g i a n s , a r a c e of
A r y a n o r i g i n . T h e i r d e s c e n d a n t s i n G r e e c e , c t ~ m eo be divided into
t r i b e s k no w n a s L y d i a n s a n d P h r y g i a n s . R e s i d e n t s of o t h e r p a r t s
of G r e e c e w e r e k n o w n a s D o r i s n s , A e o l ia n s , I o n i a n s a n d s o f o r t h .
T h e s e p e o p le s we re b e l i e v e d to h a v e b e e n v e ry mu s ic a 1, b ut th e hi s-
t o r y of t h e t r i b e s is s o mix e d u p w i th my th o lo g y th a t i t i s d i f f ic u l t
t o d r a w t h e l i n e b e t w e e n f a c t a n d f a nc y . I t may b e a s s u m e d , how -
e ve r, t h a t t h e p r i n c i p a l m u s i c a l i n s t r u m e n t o f t h e t r i b e s w a s t h eZyr6 o r f ou r - s t r i n g e d h a r p , s a i d t o h a v e b e e n c a l l e d in ear ly t imes ,
th e tetrachordon.
I t i s b e l i e v e d th a t t h e s t r in g s of th e ly re fo rme d th e b a s i s of a s e
r i e s o f fo u r n o te s k n o wn a s a t e t r a c h o rd . T h e a c c o u n t in th e Gro ve
Dic t io n a ry (Ne w E d i t io n ) wr i t te n by H. S. Bfacran ,g ives t he fo l low-
in g fo rm o f t e t r a c h o rd s . T h e s ig n X i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e n o t e u n d e r
wh ic h it i s p l a c e d i s t o b e r a i s e d o n e q u a r t e r t o n e .
1IS i n c e t h e c h ro m ct ti c a n d e n h a r m o n i c f o r m s l e a d t o s y s t e m s q ui t e
fo re ig n to m o d e rn mu s ic , we s h a l l l e a v e th e m to th e s tu d e n t o f e th -n o l o g y a n d d e vo t e o u r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e d i a t o n i c te t r ac h o r d from which
o u r m o d e rn s c a l e is s u p p o s e d to h a v e b e e n e v o lv ed .
Dr. Hug h A. C la rk e , of th e Un iv e r s i ty o f P e n n s y lv a n ia , h a s g iv e n e
v e ry c l e a r id e a of h o w th i s t e t r a c h o rd w a s jo in ed to o th e r t e t ra c h o rds
u l t ima te ly r e s u l t in g in wh a t wa s the n t e rm e d th e GreekPerfect b'gststn.
T h is s y st e m wa s n o t r e a c he d u n t i l Gree k mu s ic h ad p a s s e d th ro u g h
s e v er a l i n t e r m e d i a t e s t a g e s .
Ter pand er," t he Fa ther of Greek lfusic:'a
f a m o u s p h i l o s o p h e r w h ol iv ed a b o u t s e v e n c e n tu r i e s b e fo re C h r i s t , a d d e d th re e s t r in g s to th e
ly re , ma k in g s e v e n i n a l l . T h i s ma d e i t p o s s ib le to in clu d e two t e t r a -
c h o r d s on t h e i n s t r u m e n t a n d w a s c o n s i d e r e d a g r e a t a d v a n ce i n th e
a r t . Wi th o u t a t t e mp t in g a c c u ra te n o tat io n , t h i s ma y b e ro u g h ly in d i -ca ted in the fo l lowing exam ple .
Y -
Fi rst 'Petrachord Sec ohd 'Iktrachord
On e h u n d re d y e a r s a f t e r T e rp a n d e r c a me th a t a s to n i s h in g g p niu s+t h a g o ra s , wh o d id mu c h to a d v a n c e mu s ic a l t h e o ry ma 8 th e ma t i c a l ly ,
b u t wh o l a id d o wn la ws re g a r d in g th e tu n in g of th e in t e rv a l s of th e
m a j or a n d t h e m i n o r t h i r d w h i ch s e r v e d a sa
monumenta l obs truc t ionto mu s ic a l a r t . E d w a rd Ma c Dowe l1 in h i s p o s t h u m o u s c o l l e c t i on
of c r i t i c a l a n d h i s t o r i c a l e s s a y s ( P u b l i s h e d i n 2912) c l a i m s t h a t
P y t h a g o r a s " d id m o r e t o s t i f l e m u s i c f o r a f u l l t h o u s a n d y e a r s ,t h a n
ca n eas i ly be imagined' .' Never the less , the ac t iv i t ie s of Py the go ras
w e r e t oo i m p o r t a n t t o b e i g n o re d .
W i t h a n i n s t r u m e n t k no w n a s a c a n o n ( l a t e r c al l e d m o n o c h o r d 1c o mp o s e d o f il s t r i n g s t r e t c h e d o v e r a lon g soundin g board ,he found
t h a t b y d i v i d i n g t h e s t r i n g i n t o t w o e q u a l p a r t s ,o n e p a r t w h e n v ib r e-
t e d w o u ld g iv e th e p it c h o f th e o c ta v e a b o v e th e n a tu ra l p i t c h of th e
w h ol e s t r i n g . D i v id i ng t h e s t r i n g i n t o t h r e e e q u a l p a r t s , h e f o u n d
t h a t by s o u n d i n g t w o t h i r d s o f t h e s t r i n g , t h e i n t e r v a l of a f i f t h a -
b o ve th e to n e of th e s t r in g c o u ld be c re a te d . In s imi l e r ma n n e r th re e
q u a r t e r s of th e l e n g th of th e s t r in g wo u ld p ro d u c e th e in t e rv a l of a
f o u r th . He i s r e p u te d t o h av e s e c u r e d h i s w i s d o m f r o m t h e D r u i d sof G a u l , t h e B r a h m i n s of I n d i s , t h e M a g i of t b e t em p l e s of Babylon
a n d t h e p r i e s t s o f E g y p t . E v id e t ly i t w a s t h e c u s t o m e v e n in t h o e e
d a y s to g o a b ro a d fo r mu s i c a l s tu d y . P y th a g o ra s ' d i s c o v e r i e e we re
c a re fu l ly d e s c r ib e d b y th e g re a t m a th e ma t i c i a n E u c l id , wh o l iv ed a-
b o ut tw o h u n d r e d a n d f i ft y y e a r s l a t e r . A s o m e w h a t c o m p r e h en s i ve
account of h is ac t iv i t ie s may be found in the "PAilosop,lr~ Htdnic"
by Wl lliam Pole, Mus. Doc. , Oxon.
N o t w it h st a nd i ng t h e f a c t t h a t P y t h a g o r a s l m a t h e m a t i c a l co m p u -t a t i o n s l e d t o c o n c lu s i o ns w h i ch m a d e t h e i n t e r v a l s o f t h e o c t a v e ,
t h e f o u r t h a n d t h e f i ft h p r ac t i c a l l y t h e o n ly i n t e r v a l s a v a i l a b l e f o r
u s e i n t h e m u s j c a l c o m p o s it i o n s of s e v e ~ a l u n d r e d y e a r s e n s u i n g ,
h e n e v e r t h e l e s s m a d e e x p e r i m e n t s w h i ch a r e b e l i e v e d t o h a v e r e -s u l t e d i n t h e s c a l e r e p r e s e n t e d b el ow . As in a l l o ur o t h e r e x a mp le s
of Greek mus ic , the p i tchis
only rela . tive. The ba r lin es in the follow-
i n g e x a m p le a r e in s e r t e d b y th e p re s e n t wr i t e r. T h e y d o n o t re fe r to
t ime b u t a re in t ro d u c e d to in d ic a te ho w th e o r ig in a l s e r i e s o f fo u r
n o t e s ( T e t r a c h o r d s )b e c a m e t h e c e n t r e o f a s e r i e s of o t h e r t e t r a -c h o rd s in c ly d e d w i th in th e o th e r b a r 1 in e s . E o c h n o te of t h i s s c a le
h a d i t s o wn n a m e , t h e l o w e st t o t t e r i n g u ~ t d e rh e a we in s p i r in g t i t l e
o f P ro s l a m b a n o m e n o s ( a d d i t io n a l n o te ) . T h e mid d le n o te , n, wh ic h
jo in s th e two c e n t ra l t e t r a c h o rd s , wa s c a l l e d .Ifese and was supposed
to h av e be e n v e ry imp o r ta n t . T h e s e r i e s wa s k n own a s th e (?leekDin-int t ic: ScnEe o r t h e Greek R~enfer y.ste?/~
P r o s l a m b a n o m e n o s
Low est Note
$ ~ e s eE
Middle Note
~ e i er
Highe s t Note
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1The cha r ac t e r i s t i c n am e s g i ven t o t he s eve ra l no te s r em a i n ed f o r
s o m e c e n t u r ie s a n d w h e n t h e R o m a n s t oo k i t u p o n t h e m s e l v e s t o
m ak e a cha nge , t he y de s i gna t ed t he no t e s by t he l e t t e r s o f t he a.1-
p h a b e t f r o m A to P. Pole a,nd othe r auth ori t ies give Pope Greg ory I,
" t he G r ea t U c r e d i t o r hav i ng de s i gna t ed t he no t e s o f e ach oc t ave
by seven di f fer ent l e t t e rs , Staf f nota t ion, i t should be remembered,
d i d n ot. a p p e a r u n t i l a b o u t t h e y e a r n i n e h u n d r e d , w h e n a s i n g l e
r ed l i ne w a s u s ed . The s pe c i a l n am es g i ven to no t e s by the G reeks
have a f a s c i na t i n g i n t e r e s t and i nd i ca t e t he i m ag i n a t i ve na tu r e o f
t ha t w onde r f u l na t i on .
D r. H ugo R i em ann, the no t ed G e r m an m us i ca l s av an t g i ve s t he
nam es o f t he d eg r e e s a s fo ll ows , w i t h the i r de r i va t i on f r om th e
nam es of t e t r a ch or ds e t c .
Dr . Ralph Dunstan of (
nam e in the fol lowing ma
Hypa e
( longes t
s t r i n g
g i v i ng t heh i ghes t
no t e ,
l ikened to
S a t u r n )
Ia r t he h i ghes t of t he ex t r em e N e te
g* t he s econd h i ghes t of t he ex t r em e Pa r a ne t e
f ' t he t h i r d of t he ex t r em e Tr i t e
e* t he h i ghes t of t he d i s j unc t N e t e
d' t he s econd h i gh es t of t he d i s j unc t Pa r a ne t e
c ' the th i rd of the di s junct Tr i t e
b t he one nex t t o m i dd l e Pa r a m es e
ct the middle note Meee
g the foref inger note of the middle Lichano s
f the l a s t bu t one of the middle Parh-ypate
e the lowes t of the middle Hypa ed the foref inger note of the low Lichano s
c t he l a s t bu t one o f t he l ow Pa r hypa t e
B th e lowest of the low H ypa t e
A t h e a d d e d n o te P r o s l a m b a n o m e n o s
I t s hou l d a l w ays be r em em ber ed t ha t t h e G r eeks l ooked upon t he i r
s ca l e s u s pa s b i n g R om above dow nw ar d and no t f r om be low upw ar d
a s we look upon i t .
I n d ee d , t h e a n c i e n t s t ho u g h t t h a t th e s e n o t e s w e r e p r o d uc e d b y
th e harm onio us mot ion s of the Heavenly bodies . I t is t h i s w h i c h
Sha kes p ea r e doub t l e s s had i n m i nd , w hen he w r o t e , -
" The re ' s no t t he s m a l l e s t o rb w h i ch thou heho l de s t
But in h i s mot ion l ike an A n g e l s i n g s ,
St i l l qu i r in g to the young-eyed cherubins! '
I t i s f r om t h i s s am e t hough t t ha t w e have t he t e r m s " Musi c of t he
Sphe r e s " a nd " H a r m ony of t he Spher es :'
Thu s far we have bee n t radi ng upon compara t ive ly secure ground
f o r t if i ed by num er ous au t ho r i t i e s. The m om en t w e com m ence t he
inves t iga t io ns of the so-ca l led Greek m ode s or scales ,we meet many
pe r p l ex i ng and pa r adox i ca l s t a t em en t s .
The G r eek m odes w e r e s uppos ed t o have bee n f ounded upon t he
f o ll ow ing t e t r a chor de , r ep r e s en t ed i n t he nex t co l um n .
am br i dge , g i ve s a n in teres t ing account of how the notes of t he s even s t r i nged l y r e w e re each g i ven 8 cha r ac t e r i s t i c
aner.
Doritzn h a l f - t o n e t o n e t o n e
E x a m p l e E F G A
P/lr#grgr@kt t one ha l f - one t one
E x a m p l e D E F G
Lydia d t o n e t o n e h a l f - tone
E x a m p l e C D E F
Ro m thi s the following principal Greek m o d es a r e a l l e g e d t o h a v e
been evolved. The word or prefix Hypo comes from a Greek preposition
"und erl 'an d c orres pon ds t o the L atin "sub".One Greek writer , however,
claimed tha t i t merely denotedulikene ss"or similari ty in i ts connection
with s cales . In the examp les given below, th e s ign- ignifies a whole
tone and the aign vs i gn i f i e s a ha lf t one . The s ca l e s o r m od es a s he re
given, are found in many authori ta t ive works , suc h a s E m il N ~ u m a n ' s
"History qfAM~[sic:' r. Hugo Riemann's "Dicliortu~~yj f t r s ic nttd Mtr -
sicians:' Th e pi tche s given a re only relat ive and do not convey any posi-
t ive informat ion in tha t d i rec t ion.
Hypo - Dorian -
The G r eeks a t t r i bu t ed s pec i a l e t h i ca l va l ue s t o e ach one o f t he
sc al es or mod es, a pa rt from whatever pi tch they assumed.Fbr instance,
t he D or ian w as though t t o be e spec ia l ly u s e f u l i n t h e educa t i on o f
youth , I t wa s supp osed to insp i re a love for the law, s t r i c t obedience ,
cour age , se l fes teem and independence . Pla to thought tha t the Lydian
s ca l e w as vo lup t uous s ens ua l and s u i t ab l e fo r o r g i e s . A r i s t o t l e a t -t r ibu t ed t o t he Ph r yg i an s ca l e , t he m ag i c of be i ng ab l e t o i n s p i r e , t o
the Dor ian, d igni ty an d repose a nd to the Ly dian which Plato declared
so vicious, the power of awakening. a love for puri ty a nd mod esty. This
does not seem so odd,when we r eco ll e ct t ha t w e a s s oc i a t e b r i gh t ne s s
C.9.- 87
4%a
( l i k e n e d
t o t h e
Moon)
a
w i th t h e m a j o r m o d e a n d s a d n e s s w i th t h e r n in o r m o d e.
Dr. H. A. C l a r ke , w ho ha s adm i t t ed t ha t " the G r eek s ys t e m i s s t i l l
a subjec t of cont roversy about which very l i t t l e i s known" has c leared
away much un cer ta in ty by poin t ing out t ha t th e Greeks used the words
Dor ian Octave, Phrygian Octave , etc ., in such a manner tha t som e mod-
e r n c o m m e n t a t o rs a s s u m e d t h a t t h e w or d m e a n t s c a l e . T h i s i s v e ry
u n l ik e l y a n d a s W. S.R ocks t r o de c l a r e s i n t h e G r ove D i c ti ona ry , " it
s e e m s p ro b a b le t h a t Differences of Pi tch were fel t to be of lese im -
por tance a nd di s t inc t ions of species (d i f ferences in the ar ran gem ent
of in terval s in th e oc tave) were more highly apprec ia ted: '
1
fir?)? s ~
( l i kened
to
Mercury)
b o
Jfescr
( Middle
s t r ing,
w as t hepr inc i -p a l o r
ke y - note.
L i kened
t o t h e
S u n )
.-.U
I- - -
Pnt4,ypail:
( next to
H ypa t e ,
l ikened toJ up i t e r )
CI
I 1
Pnmrrete
( l ikened
t o t h e
Moon,Venus)
8I
I I
L chnrtos
( l i kened
t o
Blars)
rnm
II
I I
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Applying t,he sam e principle to oth er mod es a djus ted to the octaveA to A, the following would result.-
1IV
Possible Original form of Greek Modes The Same Series of Interv als
Applied to the octave A toA
In th e "Oxford Hyst ory of Music',' H. E.M'ooldridge,?tl.A. has given
the following means of determining the keys of th e Greek mod es.
Start ing with the ser ies of notes in the s cale supposed to have been
evolved by Pyth ago ras, which includea the octaveAtoA and measur-
Doubtless, for this reaso n, the key sign atur e of the Greek Scales or
Modes is frequently given in t he following manner, a s in th e valuable
dictionar y of Dr. Dun sta n, which was carefully re ad and re re ad bymany of the most noted m usical savants of Eng land .It will be noticed
that the notes of th e s cales are so arranged th at whil e th e accident-
als employed affect the s am e notes as in the previous example, from
A to A,yet the notes are arranged in such a way th at the authentic
scales, Dorian, Phrygia n, Lydian, Mixo-Lydian, are merely tr ans -positions of each other a nd similar ly with Plagal S cal es, Hypo-Do-
riun, Hypo-Phrygian, etc.
ing by the sam e series ot tones and half-tones, i t is obvious tha t
the mode known as the Phrygian mode ( E t o E ) if applied to the
octave A to A would re sult in the following ser ie s of int erva ls.-
Dorian - e Q- am V. wI
--2 I t -
U
Lydian ' . , e Q = ?
II
Hypo -Dorian
Hypo-Phrygian - 0II m 1 V. V-
Hypo- Lydiand
0 8n am V- . - IIHypo- hiixo- Lydian
A 0 8 a- . Va V fl
Despite all the authorities, a writer to whom g rea t c rede nce ha s
been given (Monroe, author of",lfodes o d r t c i e ~ f mekBf i t s ic") had no
hesitancy in declaring that there is absolutely no definite referencein ancient Greek aut hor ities to distinction s in modes.Why then, have
we gone to such trouble to discuss the matter?Lar gely beca use it is
interesting for the student to have eome guide in i~ ~v es ti ga ti nghis
intri cate subject and some means of helping him to form opinions
of his own.
bloreover, it i s a well established fact, that the churc h modes, su p
posed to have been evolved from Greek Sca les , have be en used by
some of the grea t composers and are continually bei ng more and
more discussed by modern composers as a m ean s of s ecu rin g va-
riety in harmonic treatment a nd style. Inde ed, in a rare copy of
A. B. Marx' df t~sicnd orfipo.r if ion now in the write r's possession,
the church modes and the Greek &lodes ar e dis cusse d in sever al
chapters. This work was published a s lat e as 1851.
The historical bridge between the Greek musical writers a nd the
write rs of the church, is a s lend er one. No Greek wri ter s of conse-
quence appeared after the fourth century and no Latin manu scrip ts
of gr ea t consequ ence to the history of music have been found earlier
tha n those of the ninth century. I n the meantime, he world was evi-
dently groping for a mea ns of musical expre ssion. Unquestionably,
those who would make music were continually hamper ed by the
theo rists who were always ready to tell them t hat they could only
make music in the weys permitted by their laws.
Gradually, the sys tem s became more and mo re involved until thir-
teen or fifteen modes on differen t pitche s were recognized. Obviously
music was leading in the wrong direction an d Pto lem y,t he pat Alex-
andrian math ematician and astronomer, was one of the fir st to re -duce th e num ber of modes to seven.
As music became a part of Christian worship the church fathers
evidently foresaw what an impo rtant role it was to play in the future.
Ambr ose, a fam ou s Bishop of Milan, is eaid to have reduced the num-
ber of modes to four, reta inin g those resembling t he Greek niodes
known a s Ph ryg ian, Dorian, Hypo -Lydi an and Hypo-Phrygian.This,
however,is emphtlticnllycontradicted by some authorities.
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The connec tion of Pope Gregory (who lived about the six th century )
with the history of the chu rch sca les h as also been strongly contested.
However, many histo rian s give Gregory th e credit of calli ng t4he our
Ambrosian modes A~ th e r r t i c fodes an d th en adding four others which
he called Pla gal Modes. The P lag al Modes were composed of the same
notes 8s the Authentic Modes but bega n four notes lower as shown
AUTHENTICODES
I F irst Tone (Dorian)
I _ I11 Third Tone (Phrygian)
I V Fifth Tone (Lydian)
r
in the following example. Later write rs came to call thes e modes the
Gregorian tones and ea ch tone was known by a number.The ritualistic
music of the Catholic Church of to- day is ba sed to a large extent upon
these tone s. It will never be possible to measure the in defa tiga ble la-
bors of the church fathers in their efforts to develop musicst a time
when so very little was known abou t th e a.rt.
PLAGAL ODES
I1 Se cond Tone (Hypo -Dorian)
IV Fourth Tone (Hypo- Phry gian ) 11VI Sixt h Tone (Hypo-Lydian) , 1VlII Eig hth Tone (Hypo -Mix0-Lydian) I1
'Phis division of th e modes was to the b est of o ur knowledge,em- I Former Greek Names Names supposed to have been
ployed fo r sever al centuries. Accor ding to Dr. Pole, much confusion
was c ause d by the abtempts of th e Swiss educ ator Glareanus (right Phrygian
given by Glareanus
Dorian D to D
name Loris,) to br ing some order out of the chao s which then ex- I D0ria.n Phrygian E to E
isted. Glareanus lived in the sixte enth century,wh en manwasmak- Hypo- Lydian Lydian F to F
ing the way for the g reat artistic progress t hat wa s to follow. He I Hypo - Phrygian Mixo- Lydian G to G
fashioned modes afte r the Greek modes an d the church modes,but Lydian Ionian C to C
is supposed to have changed the names in so me ine tance s. Some
of the n ame s which Glarea nus is sai d to have applied to the modes
ar e so much better known than the origin al Greek names, th at the
Hypo- Dorian Aeolian A to A
It will be noted t ha t the Ionian scale (Glareanus name ) corresponds
to the modern scale of C Major an d that the Aeolian scale corr es~o nds
modes are more frequently called by them than by th e Greek names. to the norm al minor scale. These two modes, stran ge to sa y, were not
Accordin g to accoun ts, Glareanus att emp ted to institute twelve modes, advocated for use by t he church in the eccl esias tical modes. The con-
but was not successful in establishing more than six, which are now
known by the following nemee.
(S ee Dr. Pole's Philosophy o Music.)
GREEKOCTAVE
Pitch given by
nection between the names applied to some of the old Greek mod es
and th e Church modes (Glareanus n ames) is shown in the following,
give n by Dr. Hugh A.Clarke of the C'n iversity of Pennsy1vania.The lateI Dr. John K. Prtine of Haward in his His tor# o Music to t h e Dentlr o
Scltttbert, says upon thi s subject:-"The medieval musi cian s n amed
I thei r modes a fte r the Greek modes but misapplied the names entirely."
Octave- 9 8 e Q 52 a e Q "
C1 - 0 nrr a m - rr .m u a -
I B - P I
Ptolemy o f t * Q e0 - a - * Q
4;: #c " " I rr I. - I
Y
Dorian Phrygian Phrygian
Octave
I n . . - rr c1 -
Hvpo - Phrygian
Octave
Hvpo - Lydian
Octave
-- - - -Mixo- Lydian Mixo- Lydian
a -
Gioseffo Zarlin o (1517-1590) or possibly his teacher Adrian Wik er t,
the famo us Belgian maste r who lived ne ar the middle of the sixteenth
century, are said to have introduc ed the division of the oct ave into
twelve equal semi- tones. making way for our modern syste m of
F I
Phrygian
sh ar ps and flats . This led to our modern scale and the harmoybased
upon it. This sca le is known as the diatonic sca le i n both t.he major
and the minor forms.
U
Dorian
P
The major, minor and chromatic scales have been amply discussed
in t he prec edin g cha pter s. Other sca les of intere st are the Gypsy Seale
which is often found in Hungaria n music.
Lydian Lydian
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VIThe ,Ifujor nrrd ~P f i r t o t cnle.9 as we know them differ fr om t he so I Normal ( C hiinor)
called acoustical scale, a s the scale derived from the vibrations of
the segme nts of a st r ing is cal led. I n the ttcoustical scale there is
for instance a slight difference in pitch between E flat and D sharp,
The exigencie s of the keyboard demand that these notes be played
by the sa me key an d the re sult i s a compromise altomther agreeable
t.o the ear s.
The Javan ese scale of whole tones is remarkably si mi la r to th e
whole tone scale employed by some modern c ompos ers seeki ng to
produce unusual effects.
Th e major scnle and the minor scnle have been fully described in
i n previous chapters. It is inte~*estingo obs erve tha t the lower tetra-
chord of the minor sc al e
C Minor
always remai ns the same, while the upper tet rechord ia changed to
different forms of the minor mode.
Harmonic (C Minor)
Melodic (C Minor )
Mixed (CAlinor)
A gre at numbe r of writer s have been quoted in the fore going, al l of
whom have obviously ~ i v e n uch study to tlie matter they dis cus s,
but many of whom ar e believed by some to have subs tit ute d con -jecture for authoritative information. The st ud en t who de si re s t.0
make fur ther investigations will find well sifted mater ial in t h e
works of Hugo Rieman n, Helmholtz, Parry an d Gev eert.
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MAS T E RING THE S C A L E S
PREPARATORY
LESSON I
CONSTRUCTING T H E SCALES
The scale s moat used in music are of thre e general kinds,called: I> ~ A J O H the Latin word for g r e n i e r )
MINOR the Latin word for lesser,CHROMATICfrom a Greek word relat ing to c o l o r )
The differ ence or distinction between the major and the minor scales
may be easily understood by comparing them.
The following is th e major scale of C:U)
n I 11 111 N V vI VII VIIII
n- . -rn -
The following ar e the notes of a minor s cal e of C:(1) I
Play th es e slowly upon the keyboard, a nd ob ser ve th at the notes
included between the steps, or inter vals,one to three and one to si x
include more piano keys in the major s cale tha n in the minor scale.
The scale with the greater intervals i s named therefrom wza~br.
The scale with the smaller intervals is na med therefrom minor .
There ar e four species of minor sc ale s used by composers. These
we shall study later.
Pieces written in notes taken from the major ecale,are stbid to be in
th e r ~ o j o r . o d e . Pieces written in not es take n fro m the minor sccble
are said to be in the m i ~ t o r ode .
KEYBOARD ORKN CONSTRUCTINGH E MAJORSCALES
The keyboard of the piano or the organ offers the stu dent a n u n -
surpa ssed opportunity for observing the construction and connection
of the scales.The writer ha s used the following pla n i n tea chi ng be-
dinners the scales.
(The teacher may now take up the construction of the sca les,step by step,inthe following order,but with whatever explanatory notes the age and ad-vancement of the pupil may demand.)
Sec ure a stri p of cardboard of the thickness of a visiting card. Cut
th e car dboar d into mar ker s of about the s ize shown below an d bend
each marker to an angle of about ninety deg ree s at the dotted line
shown. In thi s sha pe, hey will not fall down between the keys of the
piano keyboard.
Commencing with middle C , place in ord er a mark er over each key
until the octave above is resched.These mark ers will then cover the
scale of C mltjor.
Note t ha t between t he mark ers three and four (FandE1,and between
the markers seyen and eight (B nd C) there is no intervening black
piano key. Observe that between a11 other ma rkers ther e is an in ter -
vening piano key.
The di st an ce from any one piano key to the very nex t piano key is
a half step (semitone).Examples: E o F, B to C, F sharp to G, A to B
flat.
When a sin gle piano key inte rvene s between two other piano key s,
the distance is a whole step (whole tone).Examples:CtoD,E toFsharp.
A flat to B flat.
All major scales follow tqhedesign shown above in the scale of C,
which may be repr esen ted a s follows:
1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8
whole whole half wh.ole whole whole half
s tep s tep step step step step step
The student may no w construct all of t he major sc al es by means of
the scale markers in the following manner: Lay the markers in order
C.S. -87
over the eight n otes c ommencing with any G on the keyboard. The
resul t will be:
This reve als upon examination tha t the interval (X) etween thescale steps seven and eight is not a half-st ep,bu t a whole-step. We
know tha,t it should be a half-ste p The only way we can make it a
half- step is by using t he black piano key F s ha rp i n s t e~ d f F. This
is t he way in which F sha rp comes to be used in the scale of G major.
UTithout t., he scale would be simply the sam e not es used in C major,
arra nged in another order.
The student should now proceed to study the other scales in similar
man ner by commenc ing the new scale on the pia.no key five n ot es a-
bove the l ast scale studied.
First, lay the marker s on the keyboard in reg ula r orde r nltc~agson
th e rtrhitepintro keys .
Second, compare this arrangement with the knowle dge you have
of the struc ture of the major scale and m ake thechanges necessary
by placing the right markers on the right piano key s to form the
proper order of ste ps and half steps.
&om thi s you will discover t he following:
(In he last scale the studentwill observe that in order to get a half step between
the scale steps7and 8i t is necessary to place the marker number seven on awbitepiano key (Flwhich in this case becomes known as E sharp.)
FLATSF l f l a t Bb
Bb 2flats Bb Eb
~b 3flats ~b ~b ~b
Ab 4flats Bb Eb Ab ~b
Db 6flats Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
Gb 6flats Bb Eb Ab Db Gb ~b
( fi r the same reason that it is necessary to consider awhite key a sharp in thescale of Fsharp,w- consider the piano key known as B,asC flat in the scale ofGflat3
The above represe nts all of the major scal es most commonly used.
Two o ther major sca les (seven sha rps and seven f1ats)are sometimes
used, but we find the m s o rarely in the works of the masters that they
require little special study.
The stu dent h as doubtless alr eady observed that the scale of C flat
major (seven flats ) and the scale of B major (five sh ar ps ) employ the
same piano keys. He has also observed t hat the s ca le s of C sharp
major (seven sharps) and the scale of D fltlt major(five flats) employ
the sam e piano keys. If he were to pursue his investiga tions further,
he would come to the surpri sin g d iscovery that all the scales could have
been expressed in sh arp s and that all could have been ex pressed in flats.
Convenience in read ing, however, has settled the ma tter and scal es with
more than six accidentals in the signature are rarely used.
Place t he accidental demanded to make a correct scale in front of the
right note in the following exercise, and then pla ce the accidental in
it s proper p lace a t the commencement of the staff,as it. appears in the
signature.Then write the name of the scale over the key sig natur e.
SIGNA- hole whole half whole whole whole half
TURE 1 step 2 step 3 step4 step 5 step 6 step 7 tep8
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C la t ma.ior"ilats, C flat mqior7 flats,etc.
C flat maior7flat6, Cflut major 7fl ats ,et c.
Fshgrp mqjor 6 sharp s, Fsharp major 6 sharps, etc.
Fshsr p major 6sha.rps, F sharp major6 sharps, etc.
Gflat major 6 flats, Gflat major6 flats,etc.
C sharp major 7sharps, C sharp 7sharps,etc.
C shar p major ?sharps, C sharp major 7 sharps,etc.
D flat maior 5 f1ats.Dflat maior 5 flats etc
A flat major 4 fltlts,Aflat major 4 fla,ts,etc.
E flat major 3 flats,Eflat ma-jor3 flats, etc.
A Bfla t major 2fla ts, Bflat major 2flats,e tc. -Fma-jor lf lat , Fmajo rl flat ,etc.
Fmajor 1 lat , Fmajor l fltlt,etc.
LESSON 111LEARXISG THE R.IIKOH SCALE XOTES
*4ND MINOR SCALE NAMES
The minor scales , which se em to give such a va st amount of trouble
to some pupils, are really quite simple when properly understood.
In le sson one, we showed that the name minor (les ser ) wtcs applied
to the minor s cal e because some of the steps,or intervals,are smaller
than those i n the major (g reate r)sca le. For example , from C, the first
step of th e C minor sc ale to E flat, he third s tep of theC minor scale,
includes one piano key less th an from C, the fi rs t step of theC; major
C.S.-87
scale , to E n a t , u ~ . ~ l ,he third st ep of t h e C major ~ca le .7
Jire also showed in LESSOX I that certain sca les written in sllarps
could also be expressed in flats; i .e.D flat major employs the eame
notes as C sha rp major, and C flat majo r employs the same piano keys
a s B major -In fact ,if we desired to do so, a11 of the fl at sca les could
be written in sharp s and all of the shar p scales could be written in
fla ts. The followirlg i s an indication of what would occur:-
Sharp Sc ales frequently used Never used
C G D A E B Ftf C# G# D# A# E# B#
O# I# 2# 3# 4# S# 6# 7# 8% 9# 103 !I# 12#
D& AH ~ b b bb ~b
I2b l l b lob 9b
Flat Scales never use d
It i s obvious that no one would employ the sca le of eleven
sharps when the same so ul ~dould be represe nted in the scale of one
flat, and v i ce versn no one would employ the scale of ten fla ts when
the same sou nds could he represented in two sharps .
%Thy, then,do we consider this connection at all ? Because'we have
certain minor scales which take their names from s om e of these
unused major sca les a nd in order to see their connection, he abotre
table is necessnry.For insta nce, the scale of C sharp minor, G sharp
minor and D sharp minor are used, whereas the major sca le s of C
sha rp major, G sha rp major and D sharp major arepractically never
used. DIFFERENTORMS OF THE MINORSCALE
There are only four generally recognized var iet ies of t he minor
scale, al though i t would be p os ~i bl eo make even more by employ-
ing other intervals.
Expressing them without their customary signature t-hey may be
represented as follows:
Arises a.nd descend s in the sam e order.
It will be noticed th at this d iffers from the major scale of C in that
the third, sixth and seventh steps ar e played flat in ste ad of natural
both in g oing up and in coming down.
Arises and descends in the sttme manner.
It will be noticed tha t this differs from the major scale of C in that
the third and sixth steps are played flat instead of nat ura l both in
goin g up and in coming down.
Arises, and descends in a different ma nner.A
It will be noticed th at i n ascen ding , only tqhe hird is played fla t, but
in descending the third, sixth and seventh ar e played flat.
The following irreg ular or Mixed form of the min or sca le fi rst em-
ployed by Jo hann Wenze l Tomaschek and strongly end orse d byDrey-
schock,von Bulow and oth ers, is important beca use many pienoforte
writer s have employed thi s form of the minor sc ale exclusively.
Arises, an d de scend s in a different manner.A
It will be noticed that thi s scale ari ses with only the third played flat
(same as ascending melodic scale) and descends with the sixth and
third steps flat same a s harmonic scale.
For practical purposes it is advieable to practice and master these
sca les one a t a ti me, both in the pr eparatory section and in the advanc-
ed section.After the natural and the harmonic forms are mastered in
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8any given minor key, th e pup il wil l have very 1itt.le trouble in master-
in g the melodic a nd mixed forms.
&om the foregoing we make the following gener al rules :
To form a m inor sc ale from any major sca le of the same name, pro-
ceed thus:- Ascendi?tg Descendirrg
To make Normal minor Play 3, 6, 7 flat: Play 3, 6, f lat
To make Harmonic m inor Play 3, 6 flat: Play 3, 6 flat
To make Melodic minor Play 3 fla t: Play 3, 6, 7 flat
To make Mixed minor Play 3 flat: Play 3, 6 flat
Every minor key is related to two major keys.These relationships
often cause much un nec ess ury confusion.They ar e really very simple.
The first step of any sc ale is called by the Latin name Tonic.
When a minor s cale commences on the sa me note as a mdor scale,
the minor scale is sa id to be the fotzic minor of that major scale and
vice versa, the major scale i s said to be the tortic major of that minor
scale. Thus,C minor is the tonic minor of C major; Gmajor i s the lot/-
ic major of G minor, etc., etc. Z!ile sig?tatttre qf t /t e lortic mirlor arid the
torric ma j o r is always dfliretrt.
For instance, C major ha s no sh arp s or flats in the signature, C mi-
nor has three flats; G major has one sharp in the signature; G minor
has two flats.
When a major scale ha s the same signature a s a minor scale, the
connection is s aid to be relative.For insta nce, C major has no sharpeor fla ts in the signature; A minor ha s no sharps or flats in the signa-
ture; A minor is said to be the relafive minor of C major. To illustrate
again, E flat major has three fla ts in the signat ure, E flat major is
said to be the relative major of C minor.
Incidental ly, it may be said that much of the difficulty in understanding the
minor scales comes from the fact tha t teachers attempt to teach the relativeminor in connection with the relative major ,whereas,a much clearer corn -prehension can be obtained if the tonic minor is studied in connection with
the tonic major.That is, the connection between C minor and Cmajor is muchmore clearly seen than the connection between A minor and A major.Thereis another very good reason for studying the scal es i n this order, whichwe shall learn later.
We have seen that the si gnatur e of the tortic minor differs from t ha t
of the tottic major (Dmajor is two shar ps, D minor is one flat).This be-
comes simple when we remember tha t TABsigltaftdreQftJIe mitior soale
or key i s alwa ys the same as that of the tnqjar scale on the third de -gree qflhe rninor scale. For instance, the signature of C minor is
three flats, the same as that of the scale commencing on its third
degree, E flat. The signature of D minor is one flat, the stme as that
of the major sc ale commencing on its third degr ee, F.
As we have seen, the scale change s in the different forms ( Normal,
Harm onic, Melodic, Mixed, etc.) This confu ses the beginner verygreat-
ly.He lear ns, for instan ce, hat the sc ale of C minor has thre e flats in
the si gnatu re, but when he actually comes to play the scales, he plays
for instance, in the harmonic form, only two lat s (E flat and A f lat ) ,
but a t the same time is obliged to remember that the signature of the
scale actually ha s tiires fl at s. For this rea son , we will commence our
our study of the minor sc al es with the Normal minor scale , in which
the signature used is precisely the sam e as the notes played.
When the notes in the sca le are different from those in the s ign a-
ture, accidentals are used to express this difference.Thus, it may be
seen t hat the H armo nic, Melodic and Mixed scal es mu9t be expressed
in part by accidentals.
Sta rt with the Normal minor form.
Employ the scale m ark ers used in LESSON I in t he following manner.
First, place the markers in regula r order over the piano keys of a
major scale. Let us say E major (four sharps) .
In order to make E minor (Normal form) move the m ark ers 3, 6 and
7 to the very ne xt pi ano keys to the left, white or black). This will give
you the follouing:
Note that the ma rker 3 ie now upon the key G. We remember that G
major h as one sha rp in the signature,consequently E minor has one
sh ar p in the signature.The scale would t hen be printed thu s:
Had we desired to make the Harmonic minor of E, we would have
lowered only the m ar ke rs thre e and six,with th e following results:-
Note here that two sharp s remain from four sh ar ps t,he original key
of E mojor. In act ual music this would be expre ssed thus,with the reg-
ular sharp in the s ignature and the extra sharp expressed a s an accident
al .
In simi lar manner , he Melodic minor would be expr essed thus:
And the Mixed minor would be expr esse d thus:
The student should now go through the entir e system of mnjor scales
and convert them into the normal minor s cale of the sam e name at the
Keyboard by means of the mark ers mentioned. As soon a s he h as
worked out a scal e at the keyboard, he should t ur n t o t he following
pages and write it out in the place assigned for that purpose.His work will proceed smoothly in forming th e s ca le s of C, G, Dl
A, E, B an d F sharp , minor, but when he rea che s the next scale in
the order previously given, he will surely encounter a difficulty. To
make this clear,we must remember something we learned in L E S -SON 11; i.e. We arlurays sr~tployhe keg sig)taturs toiflL the fe t o e ~ t
sharps a t~df la t s .
In the minor scales, i t is better to employ a s few ecc ide nta ls as
poeeible. The thir d of the s cal e of D flat major, for insta nce, is F.
If we flat the third, we have,according to the above, F f l a t wi th
eight flat s,- a n impossible signature. Now F flat is nothing other
than E. E major has four sharps.Pbr thi s reason, we never use the
scale of D flat minor, but always that of C sharp minor, which in this
cas e calls for a minor signatu re with only four sharps . For the same
reason we use the scale of G sharp minor with five shar ps, instead
of A fl at m inor with seven f1ats.D sh urp minor calls for six sharps in
the signeture.These,like all scales commencing on the s ame piano
key, but expressed by different printed notes are called s/rhnr//~orric
and may be used interchangeably.
The following exercis es, if properly written o ut,wi ll do much to fix
a correct idea of th e formation of the minor scal es in th e pupil's mind.
Four forms a re given: Normal, Harmonic, blelodic and Mixed.
The student is expected:
1st To insert the necessary sha rp s or flats immediately before
the notes i n or der to make t he sca le correspond with the inter-
vals at the top of each page.
2d In the Harmonic minor scale, one of th ese shar ps or fla ts
will be an acci denta l; tha t is, it will not be a part of the signa-
ture. In the Melodic and Mixed scale s, two acci denta ls will
be employed
3d When all the necessary sha rps and flats have been inserted
befire the notee to make the proper step formation or inte r -vals, the student should determine which sharps or fla ts go
in the signat ure a nd then write in the signature in its proper
place after the clef.
4th After the signature has been inserted, the student should
draw a circle around the remaining accidentals to fix in his
mind the fact that they do not come in the sig natur e.
In order tha t the pupil may unde rstan d the se suggestions,we give
the scal e of C Melodic minor worked out in t he man ner indicated
above:-
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loTONALITYTW O - R N G E R ) EXERCISESN THE
HARMONICINORSCALE
LESSON IV
F I N G E R I N G O F THE SCALES
f i n g e r i n g s a m e a s i n M a jo r Fing ering th e sca le becomes qui te a simple m atter when one has a clear, Cminor Sf la t s , Cminor 3f l a t s ,a t c . --, C 5 i n o r 3 f la t s. C minor 3 f lats , etc.
I Gm inor f;&ts, Gm inor 2 flat s, etc. ,1 . , - - A
-Gm i n o r 2 f l a t s . - Gm i n o r 2 f lats . etc.
D m i n o rl l a t . D minor l lat . etc.
-A r l linorno&rps,A minor no sharp s, etc.
wA , ,E mino r 1 h a r p , E m i n o r i & m , e tc .
V*Bm i n o r 2 e h a r p s - Bm i no r 2 x a r p s , et c.
~ e h a r n in or 4 s h s m s . ~ s h am m i n o r s h m s , e t c .
wGs h s r p m i n o r 5s ha rp s, ~ x h a r p inor 6 sharps ,e tc ,
,B l a t minor 6f l a t s ,e t c .
- -
unders tand ing of a few eas i ly unde rs too d ru les . These ru les a re based
upon very c lear pr inc ip les .
I. The f inger ing of the sca le s fol lows the repe t i t ion of the f ingem in
th i s order :1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1
The f i f th f inger is not used a t al1,except a s th e end f inger of a scalerun ,whe re i t may be used ins tead of th e thumb.
The above order of the f ingers is cha nge d only in spec ia l cases wh ere
spec ia l condi t ions seem to demand i t .The pupi l should in a l l cases
l e a r n t h e r e g u l a r f i n g e r in g f i r s t a n d t h e e x c e p t i o n s l a t e r .
D. R?th 8 few necessary exceptions, the Harmonic m inor sc a l es a re
fingeled l ikethe mrt jor sca les of the sa me n a,me(Cm inor ike C major,
G minor l ike G major) .This forms avery quick mea ns of ge t t in g an
excel lent general idea of the plan for f inge ring th e Harmonic minor
s c a l e s .
The f inger ing of the melodic minor sc a le s is m o r e i r r e g u l a r o f t e n
b e i n g d if f er e n t in a s c e n d i n g a n d d e s c e n d i n g . I t is a l w a y s b e t t e r
t o l e a r n t h e s i m p l e r o r Ha r m o n i c f i n g e r i n g f i r s t .
The s ca les in which the f inger ing in t he harmonic minor i s d i ffe rent
h m he mejor sca les of the sa me n ame are :-
Right H and in F sha rp minor d i f fe r s f rom F sha rp major .
R i g h t Ha n d i n C sha rp minor differs from C s h a r p ( o r D f l a t ) m a j o r .
Lef t Hand in E fla t minor differe from E f l a t major .
LeR Hand in B f l a t minor d i ffe rs f rom B f l a t major .
Since there are only four except ions i t is evident t ha t i t ie B g r e a t e -
conomy of t ime to l earn the genera l f inger ing ru les in bo th ma jor
and minor f i r s t and then mas ter the except ions l a t e r .
III.The fourth f inger may be cal led the monitor of the sca les . I t co me s
only once in rtn octave and if we know where the fourth f inge r goe s we
immedia te ly have the means whereby we may as cer ta in the pos i t ion
of al l the other f ingers.Consequently, al l we nee d to know abo ut t he
fingering of any given scale is where the fourth f in ge r goes.The fol-
lowing ru les a re based upon the above pr inc ip les andgive the position
of the fourth finge r in all scales.
1. All sharp sca lee wi th no more than four sharps , inc luding th e sca leof C atrdt/iirtor scales be fi rr it ~gm'tlr the same pinrro keg) .
RIGHTAND: Fourth f inger on the 7t h s tep or degree .
LEFT AND: ,, l* o 211d ,, 1
2.All scale s employing f ive black piano keys(ntrdw~i~mscnlesegitrtfitfg
ott the anme yinno kc y) .
RIGHT AND: Fourth Finger on top of g roup of three b lack keys .
LEFT AND: Fourth f ing er on bottom of group of three black keys.
IExeeytions i?~Iirnm~orricmitror:B~hlha?rdir~sicalp atld t2sAnfy. The
specialfrrigsrs for these scales are given directl y in ennttectio?r foil16
the scales themselves).
3, All major sca le s with no more than four f l a t s fandmit iorscnles be-
gitrnittg wit h the same yintro key ).
RIGHTAND: Fourth f inge r on B f l a t .
LEFT AND: ourth f inge r on the fourth step or degree of sc ale ex -cept in the scale of F where i t f al l e on the second, s e in C laes 1.(Xxcepliotra it/ Rurrrronic mirror:L@ haprd il l B lnt minor atld EJlnt
minor. m e spscirtlfl?~garittgflthese scnles isgiwtdirectlg t 8con?~eatio/d
withUle scalaatAemsslves).This may be made c learer by d iagram.
DIVISIONNTO CLASSES R GROUPS
GROUP I GROUP II GROUP IIScaleswith no S c d e s with 5black Scalee with no more than four flatsmore then four p iano k ep . (minor sca les of the sam e nam e)s h a r p (m in or B , H , ( or Gb) Db, Ab, Eb,Bb,F,sca le s of th e Place 4th finger on Place 4 th f inger ons a m e n a m e ) R.H.l'bp ofgroupof R.H.Bf1etC, G, D, A , E , three black piano keys L.H. th of sca lePlace 4thfinger on L.H. Bottom of (Z"cep2insc de of Prn&r atrdP
R.H. th of scale group of //ri~tor h t ? ~t isy2ncet-t otr the
L. H. 2d of sca le three blw k piano keys secotrd d e p as it2 6Vo.lcpI) .
OTHERFINGERINGSA ll ca ses of exceptional fingers am given in b r ac k et s m r h e re gu la r fingering.
L is zt a n d n u s i g were of the opinion tha t all th e sca les might be safely fin -gered the sam e a s the sas le of C mqjor.lhie is not desirable for b egin ners be-
After com pleting the H armonic minor scale in all keys with the two-finger cause: i - I t l eads t~ many earem ebaw lwe & pos it ions on the keyboard . 2-exercises, the enthusiastic student may play the Normal, Melodic and Mixedforms in all minor keys in similar manner. Pract ically nin ety -dn e peroent of al l pr inted m usic em ploys the stan da rd
C.0. -87 f ingering. Any other f ingering fends to confuse the beginner.
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PART 11P R A C T I C A L T E C H N I C A L W O R K
This book be in g a special ized Work upo n the tech nic of scale playing,
does no t en te r in to the ma t te r o f ' t ouch . The fo l lowi r i ji t e~ i ene ra l ru le s
o r s u g g e s t i o n s a r e t h o s e no st comm only employed by teachers and may
be read and re - re ad wi th p ro f i t.
.1 Th e wris t shou ld at a l l t ime s be free,that is ,absolutely unconstrained
f rom any k ind o f musc u la r t ens ion .
2 The f inge r s shou ld be he ld cu rved accord ing to the u l~provedmethod.
3 The knuck le jo in t s shou ld no t be pe rmi t t ed to "b rea k in" when t he
k e y s a r e s t r u c k .
4 The fo rea rm shou ld be he ld qu ie t ; ha t i s , i t shou ld not be pe rmi t t ed
t o m a k e e x a g g e r a t e d m o t i on s up and down.
5 The ac t ion o f the f inge rs shou ld be independen t .
6 The ou t s ide ( l i t tl e - f inge r s ide ) of the hand shou ld be h e ld a t r i f l e
h i gh e r t h an t h e t hu m b si de .T hi it i ~ , ~ h e nlay ing sca l e s , the back of
the h and i s no t he ld exac t ly pa ra l l e l to the keyboard , h il t a t a sl ight '
s l a n t . T h i s g r e a t l y f a c i l i t a t e s p u t t i n g u n d e r t h e t h um b a n d c r o s s in g
t h e f i n g e r s l e a d i n g t o s m o o t h s c a l e - p l a y in g .
3 I n p a s s i n g t h e t h u m b u n d e r t h e t h i rd , o r t h e f o u r t li f i n g e r , t h ethu mb shou ld be p repa re d in advarlce.For ins tance , in the a scend ing
s cc tl e of C , t h e t h u m b i s c a r r i e d g e n t l y b u t d e f ly u n d e r t h e s e c o n d
f i n g e r a t t h e m o m e n t t h e s e c o n d f i n g e r a s t r i k e s b o tt om : ' a l t h o u g h
t h e t h u m b i s n o t a c t u a l l y p la y e d u n t i l a f t e r t h e t h i r d f i n g e r is
s t r u c k .
8 I n c r o s s i n g t h e f i n g e r s o r p u t t i n g u n d e r t h e t h u m b t h e p o s i t i o n
of t h e h a n d s h o u l d n o t b e d i s t u r b e d b y a n y jerky mot ionor a ny twist-
i n g o f t h e w r i s t .
9 T h e m o m e n t a note is s t r u c k th e f in g e r i n t e n d e d t o p l a y t h e n e x t
n o te s h o u l d i m m e d i a t el y , a c c u r a te l y a n d e a s i l y s l i p i n t o p o s i t io n
a b o ve t h a t n o t e.
10 All motions should be rapid and free even in slow movements .
A n e x c e l le n t e l e m e n t a r y d r i l l i n p u t t i n g u n d e r t h e t h u m b a n d c r o s s -
i n g o v e r t h e f i n g e r s i s t o b e f ou n d i n t h e e x e r c i s e d e v i s e d by the f ib-
m o u s t e a c h e r K a l l i b r e n n e r.
In th i s , the f i f th f ing e r i s gen t ly sus ta ined whi le the o the r f inge rs p lay .
SPECIAI,REPARATORYX E R C I S E SORT I ~ A I S I N GETHUMBO
PASS ~ A P I D L YUNDERTH ETHIRD
A N D TH E F O U R T HISGERS
T h e s e e x e r c i s e s a r e m o d e l e d a f t e r t h o s e e m p l o y e d i n L e sc h et iz k y' s
s o c a l l e d m e t h o d s a s e x p o u n d e d b y h i s p r e p a r a to r y t e a c h er s , a lt ho u gh
t h e y m a y b e f o u n d i n s i m i l a r f o r m s i n t e c h n i c a l w o r k s pub l i shed a t
v a r i o u s t i m e s d u r i n g t h e l a s t o n e h u n d r e d y e a r s .
T h e fo l lo w i n g p r e s e n t in s y s t e m a t i c f o r m , p r s c t i c a l l y a l l o f t h e e s -
s e n t i a l p o s i t i o n s i n w h i c h th e t h u m b p a s s e s u n d e r t h e t h i r d a n d t h e
f o u r t h f i n g e r s . No f u r t h e r h a n d t r a i n i n g o t h e r t h a n t h e s c a l e s t h e m -
s e l v e s i s re a l l y n e c e s s a r y i r t h i s d i r e c ti o n .
T h e s e e x e r c i s e s s h o u l d b e p l a ye d w i th as l i t t l e m u s c u l a r c o n s t r a i n t
a s p o s s i b le .
A B O W A L L T H I N G S A VO ID S T R A I N , E S P E C I A L L Y I N T H E
C A S E OF Y O UN G A N D U N D E V E L O P E D H A N D S .
E x e r c i s e s e m p l o y i n g w h i t e p i a n o k e y s e x c l u s iv e l y A a .
E x e r c i s e s e m p l o y i n g o n e b l a c k p i a n o k e y I
E x e r c i s e s e m p l o y i n g t w o b l a c k p i a n o k e y s4 1
E x e r c i s e s e m p l o y i n g t h r e e b la c k p i a n o k e y s
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The following shows al l th e scale s in one octave form arranged in
divisions according to the fingering ru les previously given.
The Harmonic form of minor scale is given as the form most fre -
quently employed in stud ying the principles of fingering underlying
the minor scale.
In this connection it will be interesting for the stu den t to learn
the n am es commonly applied in th e study of hartnony to the diff er-ent de gree s or steps of the scale, because the principal chords used
in music take their names from these steps. The first ste p of anyscale , major, minor, or chromatic, is called the To?zic. It makes no
difference what key is being studied,the first step is known a s the
tonic. The word Diabo?ric,so f req~en t~lymployed, simply means from
one tonic throug h to the nex t tonic.This term is applied to the majo r
and minor scale s,bu t not to the chromatic scale.
The namesgiwn to the different steps of any majo r or minor scale
areFirst step, TONIC
Second step, Super - tonic
Third step , Mediant
Fourth step , SUB -DOMINANT
Fifth ste p, DOMINANT
Sixthstep, Sub-mediant
Seventh step, Leadi ng- tone
(The name s most frequently heard ar e in capitals.)
The chords employed at the end of each scale form a succession
known a s a cadence.This us es the three principal ch ords of the key.
These chords are known as
e up of the Ist,3 d,5 th
f i e G m i n a n t Se ve nth ~ h o r d :omposed ofI
the 6thq3t h,2d nd 4th degrees Dominant Different Positions
These chords coming in such a succession determine the key with-out question or doubt.Therefore sim ilar succ ess ion s of cho rds ar e
often found at the clo se of a piece.
SCALE EXERCISES
In the following, no attempt should be made to att ain speed or gr eat
technical finish. The scales a re presented first in this form in order
tha t the student may inspect the fingering ina leisurely manner and
reflect upon it. Set the metronome at 60 and count one beat to each
quarter note.
This class includes all major scales with no more th an four sharps
and all minor scales of the same name.
(C ,G, D, A, E Major and c,g, , a, e minor.)
RULE
Hightilatu#: Fourth finger on seventh degree of scale.
Aefl hattd: Fourth fing er on second degree of scal e.
Important Notice, It may easily be see n that on the lowest note and
on the highest note of a given scale it becomes ad visa ble to use the
most convenient finger. For instance, in th e left hand of the sca le of C
t,he thumb n aturally fa lls upon the p iano key C and thus follows the
rule given bttf at th e st ar t of the scale it i s more convenient to in tro -
duce the fifth finger instead of the thumb. In the right hand of the
same s cale it would obviously be very difficult to play the thumb up-
on the highest C of the scale according to the rule,since the fifth fin -ger is right at hand. This same principle applies to a ll the scales and
when a special fi nger ing is found upon the lowest note or the highest
note of the scale the intelligent pupil will have little difficulty in in-
troducing it .(Note: tnere are no exceptions in this class.)
Scale of C nfaior (German name C dur) i
Scale of G Ma~o-r Germa n n3m e G dur) $ #
Scale of D Maior (Germao nam e D dur ) d' d-
Scal e of A Major (German nam e A dur)
*Scale of E Major (German nam e E d u r )
Scal e of C blinor (German-nameC moll)
Scale of G Afinor (German name G moll)
IScal e of D Minor (Gernlap name D moll)
Scale of E Minor (German n ame E moll)
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This cl ass include9 all scale s employing five black piano keys, and
the minor keys of th e sam e name .(B Major or its enharmonic equiva-
lent C flat; F sharp Major or its enharmonic equivalent Gflat; C sharp
Major or its enharmonic equivalent D flat: f s ha rp minor, c sharp minor,
and b minor.)
RULE
Right Hatzd: Fourth finger on the upper of three black piano keys.
Left &,id: Fourth finge r on the lowermost of three black piano keys.
(Exception: The finge ring of the right hand in the s cales of f sharp mi-
nor and c sh ar p minor does not follow this rule.)
Scale of B Mitior (Ger man nam e H dur)
(Note : In one of the ea rlier sca81es, he note we now know a s B flat,
was us ed invariably for the seventh degree of the sca le of C. Later
th e so und we now identify a.s B was found to be a necessity and when
introduced it was called H in Germany. Consequently we have H dur
and H moll.)
Scal e of C flat Major (Germ an name Ces dur )
(Note: This is the enharmonic scale to B major. It employs exactly
the sa me piano keys and the same fingering, although it is printed
in different notes.This scale is rarely seen printe d in the flat key
although it is frequently seen i n sharps. The scales of C flat minor
is hardly ever seen but the s cale of B minor is used instead.)
Scal e of B Minor (German name H molli
Scal e of F ha rp mry'or (German name Ffs du r)
(Note: this is the e nharmonic scale to G fla t major.)
Scal e of F sh ar p Minor (German name Fie moll) 13
(Note: The G fl at minor scal e is never seen.Fsha.rp minor is used instead)
Exception: Observe that the fingering in the rig ht ha nd in tjhis wale
does not follow bhe ge ner al rul e. The fourth finger comes upon Gsharp.
This is tlhe fin ger ing most widely employed.)
Scale of C sharp Majoi* German na me Cis dur)
(Note:This scale is enharmonic to D flat major. D flat major is used
much more frequently than C shar p major.)
Scale of D flat Major (German name Des dm )
(Note: This sca le is enha,rmonic to C sharp major, and is much more
frequently employed.)
Scale of C sha rp Minor (German name Gis moll)
(Note:D flat minor is never used. C sharp minor is used.)
Exception: Observe tha t the fingering in the right hand in this scale
does not follow the general rule.The fourth finger comes upon D sharp.This i s the finger ing most widely employed.
This class includes all major flat scales with no more tha n four
fla ts and the minor scales of the sa me name.
(A fla t major, E flat major,B flat major and F mqjor.1
(A flat minor, or its enharmonic g sharp minor; e flat minor, or its
i enharmonic d sha.rp ininor;b flat minor, or its enhar monic a sha rp
minor; an d f minor.)
RULE
Right Hnnd: Fourth finger on B flat.
Left f la~zd:Fourth finger on the fourt h degree of s cale .
(Exceptions:F Mdor, left hand, fourth finger on second deg ree.
B flat minor, left hand, fourth finger on G flat.Sca.le of G flat major (German name Ges moll) E flat minor, left hand,fourth finger on G flat.(Note: this is the enharmonic scale to Fsha rp major.)
Scale of A fla t rtlaior (German name As dur)
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14S c a l e o f A f l a t M i n o r ( G e r m a n n a m e As moll!
S c a l e of G s h a r p M i n or ( G e r m a n n a m e G i s m o l l )
S c a l e o f B f l a t M a j o r ( G e r m a n n a m e B d u r )
S c a l e o f B f l a t m i n o r ( G e r m a n n a m e B m o l l )
( E x c e p t i o n : O b s e r v e t h a t t h e f o u r t h f i n g e r o f t h e l e f t h a n d f u l l s o nG
f la t , - r io t on the four th degree . )
S c a l e of E f l a t M a j or ( G e rm a n n a m e E s d u r )
(Note: the enha rmo nic ma jo r o f th i s sca le D s h s r p M a j o r i s p r a c t i c a l ly Sca le o f A s h a r p Mi n o r ( G e r m bn n a m e Ais ~ n o l l )
neve r seen . ) ( N o te : T h i s s c a l e i s ve r y ra r e l y s e e n . I t' s e n t ~ a r m o n i c f l a t l l i n o r i s
S c a l e of E f l a t M i n or ( G e r m a n n a m e E s m o ll )
( E x c e p t i o n : O b s e r v e t h a t i n t h e l ef t h a n d t h e f o u r t h f i n g e r f a l l s o n G
f la t , - no t on the four th degree . )
used much mo re f requen tly . )
S c a l e o f F M a jo r ( G e rm a n n a m e F d u r l
( E x c e p t i o n : O b s e rv e t h a t i n t h e l ef t h a n d t h e r e g u l a r f i n g e r i n g r u l e
is v a r i e d a n d t h a t t h e f o u r t h f i n g e r c o m e s o n t h e s e c o n d d e g r e e of t h e
scale .)
Scale of D sharp n i i ~ o rGerman n a m e D i s m o l l )S c a l e of F Mi n or ( G e r m a n n a m e Fmol l )
(Note: Both D s h a r p m i n o r a n d E f l a t m i n o r a r e e m p l o y e d wi th e q u a l
frequency.Obserse the f inge r ing exception as in the of A( E x c e p t i o n : O b s e rv e t h a t in t h e l e f t h a n d t h e f o u r th f i n ge r f a l l s o n
t h e e e c o n d d e g r e e , - n o t t h e f o u r t ,h . )m i n o r .
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M A J O R A N D MINOR SCALESTWO OCTAVE F0R.M
SPECIAL DIRECTIOKS FO H PHA C T l C I N G T H E SCALES
The following prac tical scal e exercis es are arranged in this order
in each major key .
S E C . A . These have been given the name of "Radia ting Exercises,"
because radiating from a.given centre note they ultimate ly
touch the lim its of the two octave scale.By mean s of thi s ex-
ercise,wle go from the known to the unknown, st ep by st ep ,
until the finge ring becomes second nature,SEC. B. The scales themselves divided into sixteenths.
In octaves.
In contrary motion.
In t hirds and tenths, (also contrary motion.)
In sixths,(also contrary motion.)
These ar e the forms most used in conservatories and in e xam in -
ations for musical institutions.
METRONOMEUTLINE(for Section B )
Until re al velocity work is attempted along the lines indicated later
in th is work, it is be st to play the scale s at a moderate rate of speed.
The following are practical rate s at which to play the scales themselves.
Each Scale Exercise once at =60
or 60 notes per minute$1 1y 7> twice ,, = 96 96 ,,
q1 I? g9 four times ,, = 120 ,, 120 +t ,,
1 T I 9 eight = 160 160 v ,,
19 71 I, 3, I, 3 i= 20 8 71 208 >I ., V,
The speed must of course be ad jus ted to the advancement of the pu-
pil and the amount of time spent in practice.
Scale of C Major
This exercise is designed to fix the f inger ing in the mind by ad-
vancing the fin gerin g step by step.
Play each exercise separately eight time s, or until the fingering of
each exercise becomesas second nature or until it is not necessary
to have to think about th e detai ls of finger ing. I n other words, these
little exe rci ses become automatic. Proceed in the same nianner with
all the radi ating exerc ises on following pages.
Right han d fingering above
Left h and finge ring below (Play two octav es below)
Standard Scale FormsThe following forms of scale practice have been establ ished by long ries here and abroad. All the s cales 1n this book pass through t hese
usage an d form the basis of the examination work in many conservato - I forms and their regula r use is strongly advocated by lead ing teac hers.
In s imila r motion
SECTIONIn contra ry motion
4th Efnger on D,(2d degree of scale)
C .S . - 87
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In Sixths
In contr ary motion, comme ncing with the SixthQ-----------------------.----*------------
4th Finger on D , (2 th degree of scal e)
Scale of C Minor
Right hand: 4th finger on 7th d egre e. Left. hand : 4th f inger on second degree.
Harmon ic Minor, in sim ila r moti-on Harmonic Minor, in contrar y motion
Since the fingering of the sca le of C minor is the same as that of C ma- Employ the same metronome plan a s used in the major s cales.
1 4th F inge r on Bh1(7thdegree of the sc ale)
jor spe cial preparatory exe rcises and radiating exercis es a re not printedin full here. blinor radiating exercises can very readily be made from the
the major r adiating e xercise s and the student is strongly urged to employ
4th Finger on D, (2d degree of the scale)-
The student need not make a special keyboard study of the Norma l or
Natural minor, nor the Mixed minor.If he masterstheHarmonic minor and
the bfelodic minor he will have little difficulty uith heother forms when
Harmonic Minor in T hirds, or in Tepths Harmonic Minor, in contrar y moJion, co mme ncin g with the Third
the radiating exercises with all minor scales as well as the major scales. they appear in musical compositions.
1 4th Fi nger on Bt1,(7thdegree of the sc ale)
-4th Finger on Dl (2d degre e of the sca le)
I th Finger o n Bt(,(7th deg ree of the sca le)
4th Finger on D, (2 d degree of the scale)
Melodic Minor in sim ilar motion, gtar ting with the lowest, an d also with t .he highest note . K
1 (7th degree of the sca le)
4th Finger on D, (2d degree of the scale )
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Scale of G MajorRight hand: 4th finger on 7th degree; Left hand: 4th f inger on 2d degree
Right hand fingering above
XIetronome plan to regulate speed same as with C major
4th Finger on A , (2d degree of scale)-
In Thirds, or in Tenthstb
In contrary motion, commencing with the Third
R---------------------------------------
4th Finger on.A, (2d degree of sc ale )
In contrary motion, commencing with the Sixth
Scale of GMinorRight hand: 4th finge r on 7th degree; Left hand: 4th fing er on 2d degree
A ll special directions sa me a s in scale of CHarmonic Minor, in cont
Harmonic Minor in simil ar motion
C . S . - 8 7
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18
H a r m o n i c Mi n o r, i n T h i r d s , o r i n T e n t h s H a r m o n i c Mi n o r , i n c o n t r a .r y m ot i on , c om m e n c in g . w it h t h e T h i r dA*---------------------------------------
H a r m o n i c M i n or , in S i x t h s
ihlelodic Mi n or , in s i m i l a r m o t io n , s t a a t i n g with Bhe lowest and also with t h e h i g h e s t n o t e
4 t h F i n g e r o n A , ( 2 d d e g r e e o f the s c a l e )
Scale of D M a j o r
I j igh t h a n d : 4 t h f i n g e r on 7 th d e g r e e ; L e f t h a n d : 4 t h f i n g e r on 2d d e g r e e
RADIATINGX E R C I S E S
R i g h t h a n d f i n g e ri n g a b ov e
L e f t h a n d f i n g e r i n g b e l ow ( p l a y tw o oc taves be low)
h l e tr o n om e p l a n t to r e g u l a t e s p e e d s a m e a s with C m a j o r
In s i m i l a r m o t i o n In c o n t r a r y n l o t i on4 5 4 4 5 4
1 C # , ( 7 t h d e g r e e of s c a l e )
4 t h F i n g e r o n E , (2 d d e g r e e of sct l le l
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I n c o n t r a r y m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g w i t h t h e T h i r d19
I n T h i r d s , o r in T e n t h s
i4 th F inge r on E, 2d degree of sci l le
I n c o n t r a r y m o t i o n, c o m m e n c i n g w i t h t h e S i x t h
I n S i x t h sI4 t h F i n g e r o n E , !% degre e of scn le
Scale of D Minor
R i g h t h a n d : 4 t h f i n g e r o n 7 t h d e g r ee ; L e ft h a n d : 4 t h f i n g e r on 2 d d e g r e e
A l l sp e c i a l d i r e c t i o n s s a m e a s i n s c a l e o f C
Ijnrmonic Minor i n s imi la , r mot ion H a r m o n i c Mi n o r i n c o n t r a r y m o t io n
i 4 th F in g er o n ~ # , ( 7 t he g r e e o f s c a l e )
4 t h F i n g e r o n E , (2d degr ee of sca le ) -H a r m o n i c Mi n o r i n co
iH a r m o n i c M i n or i n S i x t h s , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -r om t h e S i x t hI
4 t h Finger on E, ( 2 d d e g r e e o f s c n l e )
C . S . - 87
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Scale of A Maj orR i g h t hand: 4 t h f i n g e r o n 7 t h d e g r e e ; L ef t h a n d : 4t h f in ge r or1 2d d ep -ee
R i g h t h a n d f i n g e r i n g a b o v e
M e t ro n o m e p la n t o r e g u l a t e s p e e d s a m e a s w i t h C m a j o r
h ln jo r i n s i m i l a r m o t i o nMajor i n con t rc l ry mot io n
Q---.------------------- ---.-.
Mojor in T h i r d s , o r i n T e n t h sh la jo r in con t ra ,ry mot ion , comm enc in g wi th th e Th i rd
9@----. -----------------------------I3 I
4 t h F i n g e r o n B , ( 2 dd e g r e e o f s c a l e )
Mi ti or i n c o n t r a r v m a t i o n , c o m m e n c i n a w i t h t h e S i x t h
4th Finger on B, (2d e g r e e o f s c a l e )
Scale of A MinorR ~ g h t a n d : 4 t h f i n g e r o n 7th d e g r e e ; L e ft hand: 4th f i n g e r o n 2d d e g r e e
A l l s p e c i a l d i r e c t i o n s s a m e a s s c a l e of CH a r m o n i c Mi n o r in c o n t r a r y m o t i o n
H a r m o n i c h l in o r i n s i m i l a r m o t i o n g---.--------..------.----------.-
i4 th F inge r on G# , ( 7 t h d e g r e e o f s c a l e )
4 t h F i n g e r o n B, ( 2 d d e g r e e of s c a l e )
C.S.- ';
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Scale of B Major (Enharmonic C Flat)Right h and : 4 th finger on top key of gro up of t,hree black piano keys
Left ha nd: 4 th fin ger on bottom key of group of thr ee black pia no keys
RADIATINGXERCISESRight hand fingering above
L -Left h and fing ering below (play two oct aves below)
lletronome plan to regulate speed sa me a s with C major
hlajor in simil ar motionblajor in contrary motion
p-------*-------------------
4th Finger on F# (bottom of three black piano keys )- w -
Major in Th irds , or Tenths . 8 .h1.laijor in co ntr ary motion, comme ncin g wit h th e T hi rd
P
Major in contrary motion, commencing with th e Sixt h
Mqjor in Sixths
4th Finger on F#(bottom of thre e black piano k ey)-
Scale of B MinorFinger follows same rule as B Ma,jor.
Right han d: 4th finge r on top keybf group of thr ee black pian o keys
(in the descending melodic forms thi s is Ah not A#).
Left hand: 4th fing er on bottom key of group of thre e black piano k eys
All special directions as in scal e of C Major
Harmonic Minor in contrary motion
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24Harmonic Minor Thirds, or in Tenths
Harmonic Minor in contrary motion, commenc ing with the Third
4th Rnger on F#
Melodic Minor in sim ilar motion
4 th Finger on F#
Scale of F Sharp Major (EnharmonicG Flat)
Right hand: 4th finger on top key of group of thr ee black piano key8
Left hand: 4th finge r on bottom key of group of three black piano keys
Right hand fingering aboveRADIATINGXERCISES
Left h and fingering below (play two octaves below)
Metronome plan to regulate speed same s s with C Major
&IuIejorin contrary motio
4th Finger on F# bottom of three black piano keys
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Major in co ntrary m otion, comm encing with the Third25
Major in con t ra ry m ot ion , commegc ing wi th the S ix th
Scale of F Sharp Minor
4th Finger on F#
Righ t hand ' Oth finger n Left hand' 4th f inger On
(Note tha t i n the l e f t hand the reg u la r f inge r ing is followed; that is ,
t h e four th f inge r of the l e ft hand goes upon th e bo t tom hey o f the
Harmonic Minor in oon t ra ry mot ion , commenc ing wi th the T h i rdr d s o r in T e n t h sI
hand in this scale is altogether irregular. In the hsrmonic minor,i t goes upon the second de gree of the scale, G s h a r p , w h i l e in the me]-odic minor fo rm i t goes upon th e s ix th degree , D s h&rp , s scend ing , nd
4th Finger on F#
group of three bla ck piano keys ,or F s h a r p . T h e f i n g e r i n g o f t h e upon the s econd degree , G#, e s c e n d i n g .
Harm onic Minor in contr commenc ing wi th the S ix th
4 th F inge r on F#
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Scale of D Flat Major (Enharmonic C Sharp)
Right han d fingering above RADIATINGXERCISES
Pupils will frequently meet with pieces written in the key of D flat proves awkward for the novice to read. However, the minor sca le al-
Left han d fingering below (play two octaves below)
major (five flats) but t he enharmonic key of C sha rp major i s more
rarely encountered, as i t has seven sharps i n the signa ture and
Metronome plan to regul ate speed same as with C major Major in contr ary motion
~b (top of group of three black keys)
most invariably appears as C sha rp minor with the signature of four
sharps, and not D flat minor,as this would requir e the complicated
4th Finger on ~b(b ott omf group of three blac k keys)
si gna tur e of eight flats.Righ t ha nd : 4th fing er on top key of group of three black piano keysLeft ha nd : 4t h fin ger on bottom key of group of thre e black piano keys
Major in Thirds, or in Tenths8---.---- .----- .- .-----------
Major in contr ary mot-ion, comme ncing w5t.h th e T hir dg-------------.-----..------:
Majoc in contra.ry motio
Scale of C Sharp Minor
Harmonic Minor in simi lar motiog Harmo nic Minor in con trar y mot.ion
Right hand: 4th finger on D sharp; Left hand: 4th finger on F sharp. keys it goes upon D sharp.This i s also tru e of the descending mel-
( No t e that in the right h and f inger ing of the C sha rp minor scale in
the harmonic form the fingering differ s from the rule. Instead of the
odic scale,but in the ascending melodic scal e t he finge ring in theright han d may follow the regu lar rule which permi ts the fourth fin -
fourth finger going on th e top of th e group of th re e black piano ger to go on the uppermost note of the thre e black piano keys,Asharp.)
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Harnionic Minor in SixthsHarmonic Minor in contrary motion,commencing with the Six th
&--------------------------.--.---------
4th Finger on F#
4t h Finger on F#
Scale of A Flat (Enha rmon ic G Sharp)Right hand: Fourth finger on B f lat
Left hand: Fourth finger on fourth degree of scale (D lat)
(The major scal e of A flat is frequently encountered in pieces.The major scale of G sharp is rare, a s the signature is eight sharps )
RADIATINGXERCISES
Right hand fingering above
Left han d fingerin g below
Metronome plan to re gd at e speed, same as with C rnajor
bIqior in s imi la r motionM11,jor in co nt ra ry motion
8- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - . .A
14t h Finger on ~b (Fourth degree of sca le)
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28Major in con trar y motion, commencing with the Third
Major in T hirds, or in Te nths
Major in contrary motion,comrnencing with the SixthMajor in Sixt.h s
Scale of A Flat Minor (Enharmonic G Sharp Minor)
Harmonic Minor (Enhnrm onic G# minor) in sim ilar motion Harmonic Minor in contrary motion
Right hand: 4th finger on B flat; Left hand:4th fi nger on 4th deg ree ~b seventh degree, nstead of on D flat,the fourth degree
Harmoni c Minor in Thirds, or in Tellfhs
Note the difference in t he fi ngering i n the descendi ng melodic minor
scale in the left han d, in which the fourth finger g oes on G flat, the
Harmonic Minor in contra ry motion,commencing with the Thi rdQ---,,.,,,,,,,,,,,-,-------.--.------
A l l special directiofls sam e as in s cale of C.
4th Finger on ~b
Harmonic Minor in Sixt hs Q
Harmrinic Minor in contrary motion,commencing with the S ixt h8-----.-------.-------------..-
1 4
4th Finger on Db-
Melodic hlinor in similn 'r motion
4th Finger on ~b ascending and Gb descending
C . S . - 57
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Scale of E Flat MajorRight hand: 4 th finger on I3 flat; Left hand: 4th finger on 4th degr ee
RADIATINGXE RCI S E SR i g h t hand firlgerirlg above
Left hand fingering below(p1ay two octaves below)"
4th Finger on ~b (4th degree of s cal e)
Major in Third s,or in TenthsMajor in contr ary motion, comme ncing with the Third
R-----------...----.----------
4th Finger on Ab
Ivlajor in contrary motion, commencing with th e Si xt h
4th Finge r on Ab
Scale of E Flat Minor (EnharmonicD Sharp Minor)Right hand: 4th finger on B flat; Left hand: 4th finger on G flat. stea d of upon the fourth degree A flat as in the major scale of E flat.To fin -
( Note tha t in the left hand fingering in this s cale, in both the ha r - ger t,he left hand like the left hand of the major scale would be so mewhat ,
manic and the melodic form s,the fourth finger go es upon G f lat in - awkward.) A l l special directions sam e a s the s cale of C.)
Harmonic Minor in simi la,r motiog H armo ~~i cinor i n contrary mo ti ~n
-4 t h Finger on Gb
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Ma jo r i n c o n t r a r y m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g w i t h t h e T h i r dMajor in Thi rds ,o r in T e n t
J l a j o r i n c o n t r a ' r y m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g w i t h t h e S i x t hMajor i n S i x t h s
Scale of B F l a t M i no r ( E n h a r m o n i c A S h a r p M i n or )R ig ht h a d : 4 t h f i n g e r o n B f l a t : L e f t h a n d : 4 t h f i r ig e r o n G f l a t . h urou ld be ex t rem ely awkward to a t t empt to apply t h e r e p -(Note: In t h i s s c a l e t h e l e f t h a n d f o u r t h f i n g e r f a l l s o n G f l a t l a r f i n g e r of s c a l e s i n t h i s c l a s s t o t h e l e f t h a n d o f t h i s s c a l e . )
( h a r m o n i c f o r m ) o r o n G n t t tu r a l i n t h e a s c e n d i n g m e l o d i c . All s p e c i a l d i r e c t i o n s s a m e a s t h e s c a l e o f C.
H a r m o n i c Mi n or i n T h i r d s . o r i n T e n t h s H a r m o n i c b li n o r in c o n t r a r y m o t i o n , c o ~ u m e n c i r l g i t h t h e T h i r d
H a r m o n i c Mi n o r in c o n t r a ry m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g w i th t h e S i x t hH a r m o n i c Mi n o r i n S i x t h s
4 t h F i n g e r o n Gb a s c e n d i n g a n d Gb d e s c e n d i n g
C.8.-87
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Scale of F Majo rRight ha nd: 4th fin ger on 4th degree; Left hand:4th finger ona de gr ee or less. In the scale of Ft he fing ering for the left h and i e the same
(The pupil should note in this case that the left h and fin ger ing does as in t he ca se of the sca les with no more than four sharps,and the 4thIot follow t h e regular f ingering of the cla ss of scal es with four flats finge r goe s on the second de gree of the scale.)
RADIATINGXERCISES
llight hand finge ring above
Left h and fin ger ing below(p1ay two oc taves below)
hletronome plan to regulate speed s ame a s with C major
Major i n simil ar motionMajor in contr ary
i4th Finger on G
-4th Finge r on G
Major in Sixths
Scale in F Mino rRight hand: 4th finger on B flat; Left hand: 4 t h finger on 2d degree
All spec ial directions same as sca le of CHarmonic Minor in contra rv motion
4t.h Finge r on G
C. S:S7
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33
H a r m o n i c Mi n o r i n c o n t r a r y m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g w i t h t h e T h i r dHarmonic BIinor in T h i r d s , or i n T e n t h s
4 t h F i n g e r o n G
H a r m o n i c M i no r i n S i x t h sH a r m o n i c B I in or i n c o n t r a r y m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g u ib h t h e S i x t h
4
Me l o d ic Mi n o r i n s i m i l a r m o t i o n 4 4
4 t h F i n g e r s n G
Additional F o r m s fo r Practicing the Scales
T h e Ma j o r s c a l e i n s i m i l a r m o t i o n The l 'v ia jo r sca le in con t r a ry mot ion
Wh i l e m a n y s y s t e m s r e q u i r e t h e p u p il t o p r a ct i ce a l l of t h e s c a l e s i n It i s f a r b e t t e r t o p r a c t ic e t h e s e a n d o t' he r m o r e a r b i t r a r y f o r m s of
T h e N a i o r s c a l e a t i n t e r v a l s of T h i r d s ( o r ' h n t h s ) T h e Ma j or s c a l e i n c o n t r a r y m o t i o n , c o m m e n c i n g w i th the Thi rd
t h e f o l l o w i n g f o r m s a s w el l a s th e p r e c e d i n g f o r m s , t h e a u t h o r d o e s
T h e Ma j or s c a l e a,t i n t e r v a l s of S i x t h s The Majo r sca le in con t ra ry rno t ion ,com menc ing with t h e Sixths
of t h e s c a l e s i n a c t u a l pi e ce s w h e n s u c h s c a l e p a s s a g e s n r e e n -
4 t h F i n g e r o n D
C.S:87
n o t g e n e r a l l y a d v i s e i t i n t h e c a s e s of many p u p i l s . c o u n t e r e d .
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34
The Harmonic bIinor Sca le in simil ar motion The Harmonic Minor Scale in contrary motion.
The Harmonic Minor Scale at i ntervals of Thi rds ( or Tenths) The Ha rmonic Minor Sca le in contrary motion,commencing with the
The Harmonic Minor Scale at in terva ls of Sixths
4th Finger on D-
F i n g e r in g t h e C h r o m a ti c S c a l e
The fingering of the chromatic scale is very much simpler than that
of either the major or the minor scale. Because of the elev ated po-
sition of the hand forced by the nature of the scnle itself and the
short d ist anc e covered in putting under the thumb, the scale may
be plaved with great smoothness with slight difficulty.
Three fingeri ngs of this sca le are in use and they are here given
in the order most fre quently seen.
The French fingering: Thumb on all white keysin right hand except
C a n d E Third finger on nll black keys. Thumb on all white keys in
English 2 2,French 2 3 i 3 1
left hand except B and E. Third fi nger on all black keys.This finger-
in g is firm and vigorous.
The English fingering-same as the French fin gerin g except that in
the right hend, the fingers 1, 2, 3, 4 all in succession on the keys G,
Gsharp, A and Asharp; in the left hand the fingers
1,2,3,4 fall in
succession upon the keys A, A flat G and G flat. This fingering has
the advan tage of being more rapid than t he French.
The German or Mixed fingering.This fin ger ing i s not so fr equently
seen in modern editions, as it is not quite s o effective as the English
or t he F'rench fingerings,which are no w widely used in Germany.
111 simila r motion
1The Chromatic Scale(So-ca l led F rench F inge r ing )
;Id Finger on all black keys
In Thirds, or in Tenths
:3d Finger on all black keys
C. S. - 87
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35
In co ntrary motion, starting from the SixthIn Sixths
3d Finger on all black keys
I1The Chromatic Scale(So called English Fingering)
In s imila r motion In contrary motion
4th Finger on F#
In Thirds, or in Tenths In contrar y motion, starting from the Third
4th Finger on F#I! I I
In Sixths In contr ary motion, etarting from the Sixth
4th Finger on F#1
The Chromatic Scale at Intervals of Major Thirds
4
Me thod of Fingering Occasionally Employed
iC.S . - 87
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:3 (i
Accented Scales
T h e p r in c i pl e o f a c c e n t i s v e ry i m p o r t a n t i n s c a l e p l a y i n g . T h u s
f a r t h e s t u d e n t ' s s c a l e s h a v e b e e n p l a y e d p r a c ti c a l ly wi th ou t n o t i c e
a b le a c c e n ts . In t h e f ol lo w in g a p ro n o u n c e d u c e n t i s g i v e n t o th e
f i r s t n o t e i n e a c h m e a s u r e , a n d l e s s e r a c c en t s t o t h e n o t es i n d i ca t ed
i n o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e m e a s u r e . I n n o c a s e s h o u l d t h e a c c e n t b e a c -
c o ~ n p a n i e d y a n y j e r k y m o t io n o f t h e h a n d ( e x c e p t i n s pe c ia l c a s e s
w h e r e t h e t e a c h e r e m p l o y s a s p e c i a l to u c h. )
P lay al l t h e s c a l e s i n t h e fo l lo w i n g d e s i g n s i n a l l k e y s . T h e w o r k
m u s t b e n d j u s te d t o t h e p up il 's t i m e a n d n e e d s . T h e s c a l e s s h o u ld
b e p r a c t i c e d a l t e r n a t e l y w i t h a n d w i t h o u t t h e m e tr o n om e . T he e n t i r e
s e r i e s s h o u l d be p l a ye d t h r o u g h f r om b e g i n n i n g t o e nd a t t h e s a m e
s p e e d . T h a t i s , s e t t h e m e t ro n o m e a t a, s u f f i c i e n t l y s lo w r a t e i n p l ay -
i n g t h e h a l f n o t e s s o t h a t t h e s e c t io n i n t h i r t y - s e c o n d n o b e s m a y
b e p la y e d w i th o u t s t u m b l i n g . G r a d u a l ly a d v a n c e t h e m e t r o n o m i c
s p e e d , a l w ay s r e t u r n i n g t o a s l ow e r s p e e d a t t h e f i r s t s i g n a f
s t u m b l i n g . D o n o t d e p e n d u p o n t h i s s e c t i o n f o r g r e a t s p e e d as t h i s
b r a n c h o f t h e w o r k w i l l b e t a k e n up in t h e c h a p t e r d e v ot e d t o t h a t
p u r p o s e .
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Scales in Double Thirds
C Major and M ino r
G Major and M i n o r
5th Finger on D 6th Finger on G and C
D M a j o r a nd M ino r
.5th Finger o n 6th Finger on G an d D
A Major and Minor
5th Finger on A - 5th Finger on E
E M a j o r a nd M ino r
5th Finger on Ac.s. - si'
5th Finger on A
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B Maior and Minor
5th Finger on A# en d D# 5t h Finger on A#
F#Major and Minor (Enharmonic Gh)
5th Finger on A# 6th Finger on A and D
Ab Maior and Minor (Enharmonic G # )
5t h Finger on Fend ~b 5th Finger on l?b a nd ~b
5t h Finger on C an d F 5th nng& n ~b
Bb Major and Minor
iC.s.- 87
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F M a j o r a n d M i n o r
15 t h Finger on G
5t h Finger on F 5 t h Finger on F and B flat
D o u b l e T h i r d s , C h l a jo r a n d C M i n o r , s i m i l a r m o t i o n
I5th Fi n g e r o n C 6th Fi n g e r on C
D o u b l e T h i r d s , C Maj or, con t r a ry m ot i on
I 5 t h Fi n g e r o n C 5th Finger on C
D o u b l e T h i r d s , C Mi nor , con t r a ry mot i on
The Chromatic Scale in Double Minor Thirds
6th F i n g e r on D and A
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The Chromatic Scale in Double Major Thirds
5 t h Fi n g e r o n D a n d A3 5
5 t h Fi n g e r o n D a n d A
The Chromatic Scale in Double Minor Sixths
2d Fi n g e r on F#
4 th 13iiger on A #
The Chromatic Scale in Double Major Sixths
Chromatic Scale Chords of the Sixth with an inner voice added
3d Finger on a11 b l a c k k e y s
Chromatic Scale Chords of Diminished Sevenths
3d Finger on B an d F#
C . S . - 87
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M a j or a n d M i no r S c a l e s in Double SixthsIn Scal es in this form employ the third finger only once in each Octlave
C MA J OR C MINOR
GMAJOR G h,lI&OR
D M A J O R D hIINOR
3d Ringeron G#
E MAJOR
3d FIng& o n A
E M I N O R
3d F'inger on G# ;Jd Finger on ki
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B MAJOR B M I N O R
F#M a i o r a nd M i no r ( E nha r m on i c Gb)
C# M a j or a nd M i no r ( E nha r m on i c Db)
Ab Major a nd M i nor
3d Fi nge r on E b 3d ~ i n g e rn ~b
Eb M a i o r a nd M i no r
3d Finger on ~b
C.5.- 87
3d Finger on ~b
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Bb major a n d minor
Double Sixths, M a j o r a n d M i n o r in s i m i l a r m o t i o n
3d Finger on G 3d Finger on Bk
D o u b l e Sixths, M a j o r in c o n t r a r y m o t io n
D o u b l e Sixths, M i n o r i n c o n t r a r y m o ti o n
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The Scales in Octave Form
In a11 octave sca les employing one or more black pia no key8 f/ te
fotrrtli f ttger is used otr rhcr Mack keys ntrd f ? i e S f f l I ~ f i ) ~ g e rn t /18 tohi&
key s . This is particularly the case in playing lega to as it insures
better connection between the tones. In staccato octaves it is cus-
tomary to employ the fifth finger on all octa ves white o r black to
eecure velocity.
In t h e following exercises where no fing erin g is given use th e fift,h
finger. In playing legato it is cuv tomnry to elevate the wrist slightl y
when the black keys are used and depress i t slightly when the white
keys are employed. This lead s to a more fluent performance tirid a -
voids the tendency to stiffen at the wrist.
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F M a i o r a n d M i no r
Special Exercises in Octave Scale PlayingOctaves . C M a i o r a n d C Minor , in s i m i l a r mo t i on
Octaves , Majo r , in co n t r a r y m o t i on
Octaves . Minor, in contTary mot ion
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Chromatic Scales in Octaves
When the Chromatic Scale i s played staccato , the f i f t h Fingermay be usea III ever?
Octave in both th e right and the l e f t h a n d s
Octaves in contrary motion
3d Finger on ~b an d Bb
3d Finger on Db and F#
Octaves in Thirds
Oct aves in contrary motion sta rting from the Third
3d FFnger on Db an d F#
Octaves in Minor Sixths , in simi lar and contrary motion
Octaves in Major Sixth s
3d Finger on Dban d F#C. Sr87
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Octaves in con t rary motion starting from the S i x t h
When played Staccato, 6th Finger o n every Octave
36 Finger on ~b an d F#
The Ch r o m at i c Sca l e in Oc t av es , at I n t e r v a l s of a M a j or T h ir d a p a r t
The Chromatic Scale in Octav es Legato
3d Finger on band Ff
C . S . - 8 7
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Developing the Greatest possible V elocity
The highest speed suggested in any of the previous exercises has
been two hundred and eight notes a minute. This i s a very comfortr
able r ate , even for the p layer of mo dera te ttbi1it.y. In fact, the demand
fcr a very grea t velocity in the ac tual perfo rman ce of even advanced
pianofort pieces is very limited. However, it is im possib le to overesti-
mate tho"tonic"effect of the ability to play scal es at a very high rate
of speed to say nothing of the acquisition of the ability to meet any
speed emergency which may aris e in t he performance of any piece.
The scales employing five black piano keys conform to the natural
shap e of the hand. The shortn ess of the thumb i n comp aris on with
the fingers seem s to fit these scales with black keys far better than
tho se in which fewer black keys are used.Possibly the most difficult
of all s cale s to play is the sca le of C major a s it is the one least a-
dapted to the nat ural shape of the hand. For th is re ason , the scale
of D flat major has been generally employed by expe rts in technic.
The experienced teacher knows that velocity developed in connec-
tion with one scale will also affect all other scal es. T hat is, velocity
developed in the scal e of D flat will enable the player to execute any
of the other scales at a much more rapid rate.
It is pos sib le to develop s cale playi ng until a r ate considerablyhigh-
er than one thousand notes per minute is reached. Of cou rse, thi s
pre -s up po ses perfect touch conditions and careful systematic playing.
There c omes a time , however, when th e gradual development by mea ns
of advancing the metrono me step by step seem s to fai l in producing
results. Then it will be found th at pro gres s will depend upon many rep
etitions of what might be cal1ed"spurts"of speed. The meth od gi ve n
hereafter is thoroughly scienti fic and inn umerable experiments made
by the autho r with his own pupil s have invariably bee n atte nded with
satisfactory results.
The principle of the following series of exercises is tha t of develop-
ing separate sections until a very high rate of spee d is atta ined and
then un itin g the sections.The system requ ires patience and persever-
ance, but will surely repay the studen t who persi sts until the d esi red
speed is accomplished.
Accent only the fir st an d las t notes of each section-The intervening
notes are played so lightl y that t he player hardly knows tha t th e hand
ha s passed over them. In fact the performer should think only of the
first and las t notes of each section. He seem s to leap from the f i r s t
"Pier Note1? o the 1aet"Pier Notenas the mountain dee r lea ps from
crag to crag.The notes in the interim are played i n pass ing almoet
without conscious thought. Poise the h and and arm in relaxed condition
over the first no te and ui th a kind of muec ula r impulse like a"swoop,"
pas s easily to the last note. Play a t all time s without th e lea st sugges-
tion of strain . Invariably r es t the hand for a few seconds before repeat-
ing the exercise.--For our purp oses we shall employ the four oct.ave sca le and divide This name ha s been adopted because we sha ll now atte mpt to build
Each hand
~ e p a ~ r a t e l y
this s cale into sections of eight notes each.
The first. step in t,he development is th at of accusboming th e hand
to the ge ner al contour of the scale by playing the Pier Notes in s u e
cession unt,il the highest speed of the metronome is reached. Starting
Right. Hand Fingerin g above
J.100 to J = 208
pla,ys
up the scale between these pier notes as though th e sca le note s
Play first the left hand and then t he ri ght hand,always playing each
hand separately at firs t. The right finger must invariab ly be placed
upon the rig ht not,e. It i s better t'o employ the fi nger touch in these
3
Left Hand Fingering below
The first note of each section we shall term a Pier Note. formed a seri es of bridges between th e Pier Notes.
at about 100,Gradually rais e the speed until 208 s at tained. exercises.
JVlien the pupil is able to play the Pier Notes a4t he hig hes t rate of I SECTION I1 .spe ed, each section or bridge should be developed.
Play the first sect.ion,startingat about the rate of .(= 60.Gradually
raise this rate step by step until a rat e of about J = 132 is reached.I
Do not try to reach a =20 8 at first. After the pupil can play the first s e o
tion at t his r ate with ease and fluency, play the se cond section and de-
velop it i n a simil ar manner. Then proceed with the other sections until
each on of the seven sections haasbeen developed to the speed of .(=208.
I are completely rel axed
(:-- *
SECTION SECTION I11
Each hand
plays '
separately I
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SECTION IV&-------------..-..----.--.---------..
The next step is to unite three sections and advance each section
a s indicat ed in the previous examples. The rate of advancement may
be a little slower t han urith two sect ions.
SEC TIO NS I, I1 and 111 unitedAccent on the first and l ast no tes only
&-.--.--------------.- n
SECTION V8------------------------------.---. \ I separately - - I
SECTIO NS 11,111and TVunited _-_....-,,,..,--.,,,
SECTION VIA
SECTION VII In similar ma nner unite:Sections 111, IF' and V
I, IV, v 1% VI,I V, VI I1 VII
1, VI ,VI I1 , I
1 9 VII, I 9, I1
The next s tep is to unite four sections a s previously indicated.Start
each section of four group s beginning with each c ons ecut ive Pier
Note in succession. Always give the hand abundant rest and relax-
ation between each section.
%%en all of the sect ion s have been developed singl y, the st,udentls
next step is to play two sectio ns at a time in the following order.
The pupil will find adv ancement a trifle more difficult than encounb
ered in playing single se ctions.
A very important point i s that of giving the arm and hand sufficient
rest between the repetitione.Under no conditions should the muscles
be exerted beyond the point of the sli ghte st fatigue.
SECTIONS I,II, I1 1 and IVunited -.----------------;
SECTIONS I and I1 united
Accent on the first and last notes only
In similar manne r unite:
Sections 11,111, IV, V
1 111, IV, v, VI
SECTIONS I1 and 111 uni ted-_---,...,,,_. 91 IV,V,VI,VIl
7 v, VI, VII, I
3, VI, \YIP I, I1
a VII, I, 11, 111
With this drill, the pupil can undoubtedly play t he entire four o c-
tave scale (each hand separately) at the rate of J = 132. This wil l
then be 1056 notes a minute.
In order to ad vance the speed beyorirl th e above rate,the entire pro-
cess should be repeated, developing each section but st ar tin g at the
metronomic rate of about 100.Working in the foregoing manner the
lim its of speed c an only be measure d by th e pupilsambitionsandwill
ingnes s to work.lLrhen the lnetronomic spe ed of 160 is reached. the pu-
pil will be p laying at th e rate of 1280 not es a minute. Beyond this, the
greates t possible clearnes s must be preserved . Unless this precaution
is taken, it will be difficult for the ear to he ar each note of th e scaledis-
t inct ly. The u~ i t e round in the cases of many pupils th at a speed of
1400 and more no tes a minute was not only possible,but could invarL
ably be accomplished when this system was pursued with minute at-tention to detai l. Good res ult s c anno t be e xpec ted unless the pupil has
had a thorough preparation in touch and in elementar y scal e work.
The amb itious pupil will not be content to develop velocity in one
sca le alone. He should apply the s am e princi ples to one or two other
major and minor scal es. However, the w rit er doe s not' advise even the
most ind ustriou s to attempt to develop a gre at velocity in all scale s.
The pupil will notice th at the dexte rity he ac quir es uill influence his
playing in all the other scales.
SECTIONS Na nd V--I--_
In si milar man ner unite:Sections V and VI9, VI 17 VII
,, VII 1 I
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PART I11
THE S TU D Y O F A R P E G G I O S
A l l a r p e g g i o s a r e b a s e d u p o n c h o rd s . 1V h e n t h e c h o r d i s strrtck,
t h a t i s a l l n o t e s p l a y e d to g e th e r , i t i s s a id to be pl a y ed f lm ~ t. (F re n c h
y I n q ~ t e ) . U ' h e n h e n o t e s o f t h e c h o r d s a r e s t r u c k o n e a f te r t h e of he r
t h e c h o rd i s s a i d t o b e arpeggio.T h e w o r d i s I t a l i a n a n d s i g n i f i e s
" l ik e a h arp1 .' T h e I t a l i a n p lu ra l i s nryeggi a l t h o u g h t h e E n g l i s h
p l u r a l A r p e g g i o s i s m o r e g e n e r a l ly u s e d .
A s e r i e s of n o t e s n o t d e r iv e d f r o m a c h o rd in th i s w a y c ou ld n ot
p r o p e r l y b e c a l l e d a n a r p e g g i o a l t h o u g h t h e n a m e i s o f te n l o o se l y
a p p l i e d to su c h g ro u p s of n o te s . T h e a rp e g g io m a y c o n s i s t of o ne
c h o r d b r o k e n i n t h i s m a n n e r o r i t m a y c o n s i s t o f a n e x t e n s i o n o f
th e c h o rd t h ro u g h re p e t i t i o n s o f t h e s a m e n o te s in d i ff e re n t o ct av es .
T h e d i f f i c ul t i e s i n f i n g e r i n g a r p e g g i o s s u c c e s s f u ll y am slightu3len
c o m p a r e d t o t h o s e e n c o u n t e r e d in s c a l e p l a y in g . T h e y a r e c h i e f l y
c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e p r o p e r p o s i ti o n o f t h e t h i r d f in g e r i n t h e c h o r d .
T h e g e n e r a l r u l e a p p l i e d to co v er t hi s i n b o t h h a n d s i s
i . U ' h e n t h e d i s t a n c e b e tw e e n th e tw o o u te r n o t e s o f t h e a rp eg -
g i o i s a f o u r t h ,u s e t h e t h i r d f i n g e r .
632
2. K h e n t h e d i s t a n c e b e tw e en t h e tw o o u t e r n o t e s o f t h e a r p e g g i o
i s a t h i rd , u se th e fo u r th f in g e r .5
Young pup i ls have d iff icu l ty i n f i x i n g t h e d e g r e e s o f a fo u r th a n d
a t h i r d i n t h e i r m i n d s . I n s u c h c a s e s i t i s b e t t e r f or t h e te a c he r to ta lk
i n p i a n o k e y s a n d s a y
i , l t % e n t h e n u m b e r of p i a n o k ey s b e t w e e n t h e t w o o u t e r k e y s i s
s i x ( in c lu d in g th e p i a n o k e y s th e m se lv e s ) u se th e th i r d f in g e r .
2 .1 Vh en th e d i s t a n c e in p i a n o k e y s be tw e en th e tw o o u te r k e y s i s
four( inc1uding the p iano keys them se lves) use the fourth f inger .
E x c e p t i o n s a r e m a d e i n s o m e c a s e s b y e d i to r s , n o t a b l y i n t h e c a s e
w h e re th e o u te r f i n g e r s o f t h e h a n d p l a y a t r i ad in which t i le in te r va l
t h a t f a l l s b e t w ee n t h e n o t e s t h u s o r d i n a r i ly w o u l d b e p l a y e d b y t h e
f o u r t h a n d f i f th f i n g e r s f o r m a t / r n j o r t h i r d r e q u i r i n g e i t h e r o n e o r
t w o b l a c k p i a n o k e y s - T h i s h a s t h e ef f ec t of m a k i n g t h e i n t e r v a l of
su c h a n a tu re th a t i t m ay b e b e t t e r p l a y e d w i th th e th i rd a n d f i f th f in -
g e r s . T h i s p r i n c i p l e i s b et t e r l e a r n e d b y e x a m p l e .
I i e g u l a r F i n g e r i n g f i n g e r i n g w i t h bl a c k p i g n o k e y s
R i g h t H a n d
Expanding the Hand without Injury
I n a r p e g g i o p l a y i n g i t i s v er y n e c e s s a r y t o e x p a n d t h e h a n d with-
out injury.
O n e of t h e m o s t a n n o y in g c o n d i t io n s th a t c a n c o n f ro n t th e t e a c h e r
i s t h a t o f h a v in g a n e x c e p t ion a l ly b r ig h t l i t t l e p u p i l w i th a h a n d f a r
to o sm a l l t o s t r e t c h th e c h o rd s in p i e c e s tha t. w ou ld o th e rw ise b e w i th
il l t h e p u pi l1 s g r a s p . T h e r e a r e h u n d r e d s o f s u c h c h i l d r e n w h o a r e
u n fo r tu n a te ly l im i t e d to p i e c e s w ith n o s t r e t c h e s o v e r th e sev e n th orth e oct tave . They a r e unab le to p lay man y of the most in te ~est ing h ings
in th e th i rd , fo u r th a n d f i f th g ra d e s . T h e c o m p o s i t io n s of R u b in s t e in
a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y t r y i n g t o t h e t e a c h e r p l a ce d i n the above ment ioned
p o s i t i o n . S o m e of t h e m o s t a t t r a ~ t ~ i v eh i ng s tha t Hubinste in wrote a re
m a r k e d b y e n o r m o u s s t r e t c h e s . A l t h ou g h h i s o wn h a n d w a s s m a l l ,
h e s e e m i n g l y d e l i g h t e d i n u s i n g e x t en d e d a r p e g g i o s a n d o v e rc o m -i n g t h e m b y a sk i l fu l u se o f t h e p e d a l a n d b y d ig i t a l q u ic k n e ss .
T h e re i s , o f c o u r se , a d a n g e r in s t r e t c h i n g t h e h a n d , a n d m a n y i n -j u r i e s a n d s t r a in s h a v e r e su l t e d f ro m th e in d i sc r im in a te u se of e x e r -
c i se s . A l l d e v e lo p m e n t in th i s d i r e c t io n m u s t b e v e ry slow . T h i s i s a
f o u n d a t i o n p r i n c i p l e w h i c h t h e t e a c h e r i s c om p e l l e d t o o b s e r v e , o r
p a y th e p e n a l t y of f a i lu re . It t a k e s so m e m o n th s to e x p a n d th e h a n d ,
a r id the g re a t es t ca re mus t be u sed to avo id over-do ing any pa r t icu la r
e x e rc i se . In so m e c a s e s th e b o ny s t ru c tu re a n d d e v e lo p m e n t of t h eh a n d m a k e r a p id a d v a n c em e n t im p o ss ib l e . In m a n y c a s e s , h o w e v er ,
th e d i f f i c u l ty l i e s i n th e e l a s t i c i ty o f t h e f l e sh y a n d m u sc u la r p a r t o f
th e h a n d i t se l f .
O n e th in g w h ic h th e t e a c h e r m u s t o b se rv e i s t o a vo id s t r a in b y a l t e r ~ r
u t iu g e x p a n s io n w i th c o n t ra ct io n a n d w i th p e r io d s o f c o m p le t e res t .
T h e fo l lo w ing e x e rc i s e s h a v e b e e n fo u n d e x c e p t io n a l ly v a lu a b le, an d
h a v e b e e n su c c e ss fu l ly e m p lo ye d fo r m a n y y e a r s .
C.S.- 87
By m ea ns of tra nsp os itio n th ey becom e a "Syst.em of Expansion:'which
sh o u ld f i l l e ve ry n e e d o f t h i a k in d . T h e y a re b a se d u p o n th e p r in c ip l e
t h a t i n p i a n o p l a y i n g t , he r e a r e t wo d i s t i n c t l i n e s of m o v e m e n t , i. c. ,
( I ) u p a n d d o w n , (1 1) r ig h t a n d l ef t.. B y c o ~ ~ t i n u a l l yxerc is ing the hand
in b ot 'h d i r e c t io n s a n d a l lo w in g su f f i c i en t ' t im e to d e v e lo p n a tu ra l ly ,
t h e a u t h or h a s f o u n d ve r y f ew c a s e s t h a t w ou l d n o t r e s p o n d t o t h i s
t r e a t m e n t . T h e f i r s t e x e r c i s e i s f o u nd e d o n t h e s i m p l e t r i a d , a n d i sl i t t le m o r e t h a n a c o n t r a c t i o n e x e r ci s e .
Ex.R.ight Handfi , 9 8 4 5 4 3 2 1 3
The second exerc ise is founded on the dominan t seven th chorrl,and In
i t t h e e x p a n s io n c o m b in e d w i th c o n t ra c t io n c o m m e n c e s -T h i s sh ou ld be
g iv en to p u p i l s w i th v e ry sm a l l h a n d s fo r sev e ra l m o n th s b e fo re E x . 3
i s a t t e m p t e d .Ex. 2
A 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4
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54
T h e t h i r d e x e r ci s e r e p r e s e n t s a s t i l l gre11te.r e x p a ~ ~ s i o n
E s . 3
The fourth exe rc is e g iven be low can on ly be used by pup i ls who a re
a b le to s t r ik e a n o c t a v e , b u t w h o d e s i r e t o m a k e th e i r g r a sp l a rg e r , i norde r to p lay ten ths , such as found in t he p ic~ no omposit ions of Brahrns,
o r a s in th e Chopin"Funera1 h la rc l~ ' :-
T h e s e e x e r c i s es s h ou l d b e t r a n s p o s e d i n t o a l l t h e k e y s , a n d
s t r e t c h e s i n t h e a r p e g g i o s s h o u l d i n v a r i a b l y b e p l a y e d l e g a t o .
T h e c o n t ra c t io n p a r t o f t h e e x e rc i se m a y occasion all^ b e p l ay e d w i t h
e i t h e r t h e f i n ge r o r h a n d s t a c r a t o f o r t h e s a k e o f va vi et y.T he a u th o r h ~ s
persona l ly found th is exe rc i se of g re a t va lue in s t i m u l a t i n g t h e t e c h n i c
a f t e r a l o ng l a p s e f r om p r a c t i c e , o r in e x e r c i s i n g t h e h a n d s f o r a f e w
m o m e r l t s p r io r t o a c o n c e r t p e r fo rm a n c e . H e a t t r i b u te s th i s to th e u n i -
v e r sa l f i n g e r m o t ion th i s e x e rc i se n e c e ss i t a t e s . T h e f in g e r s are n o t o n ly
t r a i n e d t o m o v e u p a n d d o w n , a s i n s c a l e s ,bu t they a re t , ra ined to move
in a l a t e ra l d i r ec t io n a s w el l. T h e c o n t in u e d p ra c t i c e of a rp e g g io s w i th -
o u t t h e a l t e rn a tio u of p e r io d s of r e s t o r p e r io d s o f c o n t r a c t io n a lm o s t
i n v a r i a b ly r e s u l t s i n s t r a i n . T h e g r e a t technicalist,?gussig,w'iis a s t rong
b e li e ve r i n c o nt ra ct io n e x e rc i ses , a n d th e f i r s t e x e rc i se s in h i s f a m o u s
te c h n ic a l s tu d ie s a re d e v ote d to th i s su b je c t .
T h e a u th o rh a s c il so u sed a v a r i a n t of t h e se e x e rc i se s b y p l a c in g th e
t h e
period of cor l t rac tio r~ t bo th e nd s of the a rp egg ios .Th is may be
to a l l of the exe rc ises .Thus t t r ranged Exe rc i se 3 w o u ld a p p e a r :
Ex.5
appl ied
The Chords Employed in ArpeggiosIt is n o t t h e p r o v in c e o f t h i s b oo k to g iv e in s tx u c t io n in h a rm o n y,
b u t s i n c e a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t he c h a r ac t e r o f t h e c h o r d s m o s t ly
e m p l o y e d i n a r p e g g i o f o r m i s n e e d e d , t h e f o ll o w i n g i s p r e s e n t e d .
An a r p e g g i o m a y b e m a d e f r o m a n y ch o r d . I t m a y a pp e a r in si m p l e
b r o k e n c h o r d f o r m o r i n e x t e n d e d f o r m c o v e r i n g t w o o r m o r e o c -t a v e s . H o w ev e r o n ly fo u r sp e c ie s of c h o rd s a r e c u s to m a r i ly s tu d ie d
i n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n , s i n c e t h e s e c h o r d s a r e t h e o n e s m o s t g e n er a ll y
u s e d i n a r p e g g i o s t u d y a n d s i n c e t h e m a s t e r y o f t h e a r p e g g i o s of
t h e s e c h o r d s m a k e s t h e s t u d y of o t h e r c h o r d s in s p e c ia l p i e c e s a n d
E t u d e s c o m p a r a t i v e l y s i m p l e , t h e f i n g e r i n g p r i n c i p le s b e i n g i n t h e
m a i n e x a c t l y t h e s a m e . T h e c h o r d s u s e d i n t h e g e n e r a l s t u d y o f a r -
p e g g i o s a r e
The f~siird s o m e t i m ~ ? ~a l l ed t he Cornrno t i Chord o f o Key).
T r i a d s m a y b e m a j o r o r m i no r . A c h a n g e in th e P o s i t i o n o f t h e t r i a dm ay c o m p e l a n e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e nt f i n g e r i n g . T h e f o l l o w i n g s h o w 9
th e t r i a d s of C m a j o r a n d C m in o r in t h re e d i f f e re n t p o s i t i o n s .
1st Position 2d Pos. 3d Pos. Is t Pos. 2d Pos. 3d Pos.
T h e D o m in a n t se v e n th c h o rd.
T h i s i s ii c h o rd of fo u r n o te s a n d t a k e s i t s n a m e f ro m th e f a c t t h a t i t
i s th e s e v e n t h c h o r d f o u n de d u po n t h e d o m i n a n t ( f i f t h d e g r e e ) o f a
sc a l e . I t i s c o m m o n to b o th th e m a jo r a n d th e m in or k e y s o f a g i v e n
sc a le . It i s fo rm e d fro m th e f i f t h , se v e n th , se c o n d a n d fo u r th d e g re e s
of th e sc a l e . T l~ e o l lo w in g i l l u s t r a t io n S IIOWS h e fo u r p o s i t i o n s of
t h i s c h o rd .
1 st2d
3 d 4th 1st2d 3 d 4 th
Posi t ion Pos. Pos. Pos. , Pos. Pos. Pos. Pos.
The Dimin ished Seven th Chord .
T h i s c h o rd i s f r e q u e n t ly fo u n d . I t c o n s i s t s o f a, s e r i e s o f s u p e r - im -p o se d m in o r th i rd s . I t s n a tu r a l l o c a t io n i s o n th e s e v e n th s t e p of t h em i n o r s c a l e .
I n C m i n o r I n A m in o ri t w o ul d a p p e a r i t w ou ld a p p e a r
I n F s h a r p m i n or I n E f l a t , m in o ri t wo u ld a p p e a r i t w o u ld a p p e a r
E x a m in e th e se c h o rd s c lo se ly a n d yo u w i l l o bse rv e th a t t h e n o te s c o n -
t a in e d in e a c h ch o rd a re a s f a r a s t h e k ey b o ard i s c o n c e rn e d id e n t i c a l
w i th th e n o te s fo u n d in th e o th e r c h ord s. T ha t i s , i t i s t h e sa m e c h o r d ,
i n d i f fe r e nt l ~ o s i t i o n ,x p re s se d in d i f f e re n t n o ta t io n . T he re fo re , t h e re
c a n b e b u t t h r e e of t h e s e c h o r d s a l t h o u g h t w el v e d i f f e r e n t m e a n s of
w r i t i n g t h e c h o r d s s l io u ld b e e m p lo y ed a s t h e h a r m o n y d e m a n d s . T h eth re e c h o rd s m a y b e r e p re se n te d a s fo l lo \ .j .
D i m i n i s h e d s e v e n t h of C m in o r
(Also employed with dif ' ferent notation in A , F s h a r p a n d E f l a t m i n o r )
C m i n o r A m i n o r .F #m il lo r E b m i n o r
D im in i sh e d se v e n th o f B m in o r
(Also employed with different notation in G s h a r p m i ' n o r , F m i n o r a n d
D m in o rG#m i n o r F m i n o r D m i n o r
D im in i sh e d se v e n th o f B f l a t m i n o r
(A lso em p lo y e d w i th d i f f e re n t n o ta t io n in C s h a r p m i n o r, E m i n o r a n d
m i nor ~ b m i n o r C#m i n o r G m in o r E m i n o r
The d imin ished seven th is used in connec t ion with major keys , a s we l l
a s m in o r k ey s and is frequently used by compo sers in effecting modulations.
P r e p a r i ~ t o r y x e r c i s e s a f t e r t h e F o r m s S u g g e s t e d b y L e s c h e ti z k y
n - = - - - - - - -J a m I I m I I m I I I - I
R i n h t H a n d 1%
2
L e f t H a n d1
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Broken Chords and Arpeggios
c MAJOR
G MAJOR
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D MAJOR
5
D MINOR
5
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A MAJOR
A MINOR
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B MAJOR
B MINOR
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F SHARP MAJOR
h 5
F S HAR P MINORti 5
D FLAT MAJOR
5
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C SHARP MINOR
A FLAT MAJOR
T T T
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E FLAT MAJOR
E FLAT MINOR
B FLAT MAJOR
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B FLAT MINOR
F MAJOR
5
F MINOR
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Arpeggios in the Key of C
CHORDO F C M A J O R , N S I M I L A R A N D C O N T R A R Y M OT IO N
The following indicates t he various forms in which an arpeggio al l k e y s out in similar manner would extend this book beyond prac-
2 d POSITION MAJOR, IN SIMILAR MOTION AND IN CONTRARY MOTION
upon a common chord may be treated by the amb iti ous pupil.The
3d POSITION MAJOR, N SI M IL AR MOTION A ND IN CONTRARY MOTION
ticable limi ts. The pirpil who has studied carefully wil l have no dif-
CHORDOF C MINOR, N S IMIL A R MO T IO N A N D IN C O N T R A R Y MO T IO N
principle of fin ger ing remains the same. To wri te all the chords in ficulty in making the application himself.
5
4 th Finger on E b
2d POSITION MINOR, I N S I M I L A R M O T I ON A N D I N C O N T RA R Y M OT IO N
3d POSITION MINOR, N S I MI L A R MO TION A N D IN C O NT R A R Y MOT IO N
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ARPEGGIOSF C MAJOR N SIMILAR DIOTION, STARTING WITH DIFFERENT INTERVALS
ARPEGGIOSF C ~ ~ A J O RN CONTRARY I lOTION, STARTING WI TH D IFFE REN T INTERVALS
A R PEG G I O S OF C MINOR N SIMILAR MOTION, STARTING WITH D I F F E R E N T INTERVALS
ARPEGGIOSF C ~ I I N O R N CONTRAR Y B1OTION. STA RTI NG N'ITH D I FFER E N T I N TER V A LS
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A Useful Arpeg giovariant
The fol lowing exercise employs th e arpeggio f ingerin g throughout teache rs in this connection. A few minutes pn~ ct ice pon this ex -
and af fords such a useful variant that i t has been widely used by I erc ise dai ly invariably produces good results.
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a4 LATMAJOR A FLAT MINOR
i
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Broken Chords and Arpeggios of the Dominant Seventh
C MAJOR AND MINOR
G MAJOR AND MINOR
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D ~ ~ A J O RND MINOR
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E MAJOR AND MINOR
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G F LAT MAJORAND MINOR
D FLAT MAJOR AND MINOR
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A FLATMAJORAND MINOR
E FLAT MAJORAND
MINOR
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B FLAT MAJOR AND MINOR
F MAJOR AND MINOR
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Extended Exerc i ses in the Arp eggio s of the Dominant Seventh( T h e s e e x e r c i s e s may be t r a n s p o s e d t o other keys by advanced ~ u p i 1 s . j
A R P E G G I O SF THE D O M I N A N T EVENTHH O R D ND ITS DIFFERENT POSITIONS IN SIMILAR MOTION
ARPEGGIOSF THE D O M I N A N TEV EN TH C;HORD AND ITS DIFFER ENT POSITIONS IN CONTRARY MOTION
A R P E G G I O S F THE DOMINANT EVENTHHORDN SIMILAR MO?ION, STARTING WITH DIFFER ENT NOTE S
ARPEGGIOS F T H E D O M I N A N TSEVENTHHORDN CONTRARY MOTION, STARTING WITH DIFFER ENT NOTES
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Arpeggios of trhe Diminished Seventh( Four Positions)
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C SHARP MINOR
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