Choose keys that pertain to the orchestral repertoire.

Five minutes of scales at the start of an orchestra rehearsal make a good warm-up.

If students are not familiar with the melodic minor form, some instruction will be required.

It shouldn’t be long until the sequence of whole and half steps can be recognized as being the same in any key.

Teachers may want to begin with D major or some other convenient key and work to the key with one more sharp or one more flat.

Finally, the tempo can be raised to any practical level.

Gradually, reduce to twice, then once.

Teachers will want to begin by playing every note at least four times so that players can adjust pitch.

Good bass players have to learn to shift earlier than players in other sections. All too often editors will jump suddenly down an octave to avoid shifting. Nevertheless, no attempt was made to “dumb down” this part.

The bass parts are necessarily the hardest since the span of an octave in some keys goes beyond first position.

Cellos will have forward and backward extensions and an occasional shift. Violin and Viola parts are in first position.

All scales will sound in octaves in an orchestra setting.

Frequent mistakes like these are a sign of incomplete teaching. Remember this: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OPEN A-FLAT (or E-flat, or G-sharp).As a result the students fail to learn other finger patterns every C natural, F natural and G sharp is a discord waiting to happen. The music industry cranks out loads of arrangements in D major.

Teachers who neglect this crucial stage of learning are doomed to many years of bad intonation.A pattern is used on one string may need to change on a neighboring string. Students need to move easily from one pattern to another. Refer to the finger pattern charts as a guide for teaching the various finger patterns.If mastery of the basic finger patterns has not accomplished by using a method book, THEN THEY MUST BE LEARNED SOMEHOW! All the major method books address these concepts by the end of Volume II. Students need to know how to produce all the chromatic pitches. Ability to play in eight different key signatures requires the mastery of the four finger patterns in the first position.If all players could master this material by the end of the 7th grade, they would be truly equipped to handle most middle school performance material.They are scored and fingered for violin, viola, cello and bass alone or in any combination. ONE OCTAVES SCALES IN SERIES are a collection of major and minor scales from three sharps to four flats–all the keys needed for Grade 3 repertoire.

E flat major scale violin fingering