3 octave scales

[heythereitsjilly]

Hi guys[: So I have been playing for 4 years and I need to get into the specialty program for music at my school (since we just moved and I will have to go to another school if I don't get in *this is my 9th grade year*) so I will be entering as a 10th grader.
For the audition, we need to know the following scales (IN 3 OCTAVES! I only know 2 octaves!) D Major, E major, C Major, F Major, Eb Major, and C Minor, D minor, E minor and Eb (or F i cant remember, Ill find out in a second and fix this) Minor.
I do not know the minor scales at all or the last octave of the other ones! Could someone please tell me the fingerings to help me out! Thanks a million![:

[cellotech]

I use the universal fingerings for all scales. Its a little complicated at first, in that its probably not what you're used to, but it makes things way easier once you get the pattern down

Notes: *___ means an extension with the following finger, ie: 1*24 on the d string in first position would be e,f#,g#. I'll use a comma to show every time you shift or cross strings.


The basic patter for major scales (up and down) starting on Ab, A, Bb or B is: 1*24, 1*24, 124, 124, 123, 12, 12, 123
...C: 013, 1*24, 124, 124, 134, 13, 13, 123, 12, 12, 123
...everything else: 1*24, 1*24, 124, 124, 134, 12 (or 3, whatever is comfortable), 12, 123

The trick to this scale system is that you never ever play an open string (except for open C in c major) and you use all available fingers before you shift or switch strings. I'll take you through an example. F major: 1*24 (F, G, A on the c-string, 3rd position), 1*24 (Bb, C, D on G-string, 2nd-ish position), 124 (E, F, G on d-string, 1st pos.), 124 (A, Bb, C, d-string, 4th pos.), 134 (D, E, F, a-string, 3rd pos.), 12 (or 3, whatever is comfortable), 12, 123.

To put this another way, only go up a string once you have used all available fingers and going up a string will not cause you to play an open string. If going up a string would result in you playing an open string, go up in positions instead.

Minor scales depend a bit on whether you're doing harmonic or melodic, let me know which you're doing and I'll give you the proper fingerings for them. Again, there's a fairly simple patter, you may be able to figure it out based on the major patterns I listed above.

As a quick note, I'm pretty sure they are asking for F minor, not Eb minor. Its 4 flats instead of 6.

Are you working on scales with your teacher? Thats the best thing to do, just a few minutes at the beginning of each lesson. When I practice scales on my own I usually use a drone of some sort. My tuner can produce any pitch, so if I'm doing A-flat major, I set the drone to an A-flat and then go slowly and make sure that everything I play is in tune against the drone. Note that there will be some dissonances, not everything will sound nice. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th (same as the 1st) notes should all sound really good with the drone, while the 2nd and 7th notes will sound quite dissonant, though with time you'll learn to hear how the dissonances are in tune.

[tiandao]

As a general rule, the second octave will always end 134. The first two positions will extended is you start on the first finger, and not extended if you start on the open string. In the lower part of the cello, you will use three fingers per position, unless an open string is used. Is you know the first two octaves, you already know where these open strings are located. Third octave is just going up the A string. The fingering is 1212123 (or 1312123 if you are lower down). Remember to bring the thumb up when the first finger past the harmonic. The thumb can usually stay back if you jsut have the first finger on the harmonic.

This is just a summary of everything cellotech has posted. Minor scales are easy once you have the major, since the shifts are pretty much in the same place. There are a couple that are different (ie. in the melodic minor when the fingering uses the open strings, but you can finger around those and stick to the pattern if you like). Those can be delt with when you get to them.

Remember to keep the leading tone high, the subdominant low and the extended major thirds clean. People have a tendency to muddy these things on the way up and then get lost in the upper octave, modulating to a different tonal centre, and end up confused on the way back down as thier fingerings no longer sound right.

Also remember, as you go further up the cello, the bow will need to get closer to the bridge and vice versa. This will keep the sound focused, loud, and clean.

Best,
Lucian