Big 12 Major Scales

I love scales - not so much the scales themselves but the world of melodies they opened up for me.  Having them under my fingers makes many things much easier - like sight reading, improvising and even composing!

But I recognize that not everyone likes scales - they can be viewed as tedious and boring.  But once we recognize that scales serve as the fundamental building blocks of melodies, chords and other great musical things, we begin to get to know them and see them for what they are:  cool!

So take some time in your daily routine to befriend these 12 major scales on your instrument - each one has a  unique character.  Some have a few more flats and sharps than others, but they will be there for you someday so get to know them well!  Good things start to happen once you have these under your fingers!

The Big 12 Scales - Alto Sax
The Big 12 Scales - Baritone Sax
The Big 12 Scales - Bass
The Big 12 Scales - Clarinet
The Big 12 Scales - Flute
The Big 12 Scales - Guitar
The Big 12 Scales - Horn in F
The Big 12 Scales - Piano
The Big 12 Scales - Tenor Sax
The Big 12 Scales - Trombone
The Big 12 Scales - Trumpet
The Big 12 Scales - Tuba
The Big 12 Scales - Vibes-Drums

My junior high music director, Bill Wicker, introduced me and all the students to the big 12.  He had posters on the wall that said things like:  "Practice makes perfect?  Phooey!  But perfect practice makes better!" and other helpful quotes.  He had a challenge that very few students took him up on called the "Super Big 12" - which was to play all 12 major scales in two octaves, including the arpeggios!

The beauty of learning your major scales is that the minor scales are included, for free!  A couple examples:

• Play a C scale but start on A - that will give you the relative minor scale (A minor)
• Play a C scale but start on D - that will give you a dorian mode minor scale
• Play a C scale but start on B - that will give you a very cool locrian mode minor scale

Most of all, have fun and enjoy playing your instrument!

Rob Birdwell

Bass Basics

The following are some (of many) online resources for beginning bass players.
 
Reading Music (Bass Clef) Primer:
http://www.cyberfretbass.com/reading/primer/standard/index.php

YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SKtjWBPGXk

Quiz yourself on the notes:
http://www.studybass.com/tools/bass-clef-notes/

"Walking" bass lines (a bit more advanced, but very useful!)
http://www.adamnitti.com/bass_player_10.shtml

And finally, here's my own mini-primer (the Finale to Noteflight rendition):
http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/6516e7c4e142f42beba448acb94dda36ee419b53

Whole Tone and Diminished Studies

Take a listen to these scales. You hear them all the time in a variety of music in one form or another - for example, a dreamy moment (whole tone) often played by a harp, or a suspenseful chord played as the villain in a drama attempts some dastardly deed (diminished arpeggio).  Just knowing a bit about these scales and how to play them on your instrument will really add to your "tool kit" of skills. 

(Hint:  click the "Noteflight" logo to view the whole page and text - it's a bit crunched in this view. You can also click the Play button and hear what these scales sound like!)


Note that both of these scale types (whole tone and diminished) are known as "symmetric" scales - in other words, each note is equidistant to the next.  The result is a unique sound.  Any note can be the starting point for a new scale, since there's no half-step interval to provide the sense of  "leading tone" weight.

When you listen to music, you'll recognize these elements (whole tone sounds and/or diminished scales) as the funcitonal devices they often are. In classical music, composers often used the diminished scale/chord to provide a sense of suspense and/or harmonic ambiguity. Hence, they are perfect for development sections and/or as a means of transitioning to a new key center. In Jazz (especially), the diminished scale is closely related to a "dominiant"chord . In fact any diminished scale is really a dominant 7 with a flat 9. For example, if you play a D7(b9) chord (piano/guitar), a C diminished scale will contain all those notes. Sounds a bit complex, but only at first. Your ear knows all this already, it's just a matter of putting a name on some of these things. Happy playing!

Blues Scale Starter Kit

The following blues scale "starter kit" has been a standard warm-up and scale study in my Early Bird Jazz band for some time.  Here are the links to the PDF parts:

Blues Scale Starter Kit - Alto Sax.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Baritone Sax.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Bass.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Clarinet.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Flute.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - French Horn.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Guitar.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Piano.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Tenor Sax.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Trombone.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Trumpet.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Tuba.pdf
Blues Scale Starter Kit - Vibes-Drums.pdf

These materials are intended for the Early Bird Jazz band participants, however, other musicians and ensembles are welcome to use these materials for educational use only and they must not be used for commercial purposes.  Please let me know if you find these materials useful.

Rob Birdwell