confusions in Flesch's Scale System

July 3, 2007 at 06:21 PM · Melodic minor: raised sixth and seventh when ascending (but not when descending.) In Flesch, the 1-octave and 3-octave scales are melodic minor.

Harmonic minor: raised seventh whether ascending or descending. The Flesch double-stop scales are harmonic minor (except the tenths.)

Flesch Arpeggios:

Minor triad

Major triad

Minor triad, first inversion

Major triad, second inversion

Minor triad, second inversion

Diminished seventh

Dominant seventh

July 3, 2007 at 07:05 PM · Thank you!

July 3, 2007 at 10:57 PM · Greetings,

Stephanie, if you feel you are struglging a little with the Flesch juts now then try Barbara Barber (?) scales for advanced violinists. Its a fairly cheap book that includes the same patterns, galaminas practice methods and a lotof other good tips. Very clear and easy to use.

Incidentally, Flesch tried to save time in some places by mixing up minor scales within the same scales . Rostal discusses this in the opening blurb.

The actual pattenr of scales Flesch uses is based on sevcik opus 1 book four. You might find it helpful to take a look at that

Cheers,

Buri

July 4, 2007 at 07:40 AM · Thank you Buri,

Would you suggest pracicing the Barbara Barber scales over the Sevcik Op. 8 (shifting the position)? Or should I use them together? I will definitely check out the Sevcik Op. 1 Bk 4 that you mentioned. My plan at the moment is to work on scales, basics, and etudes (Mazas). I have limited time, though, and no teacher! How do I know when I'm ready to move onto Flesch's system? In a previous post I saw someone mentioned that his scale system is meant "for use after mastery of Sevcik Op. 1 and 8". That will be years from now!

regarding Rostal's notes: I tried to understand the scale system between Flesch's preface and Rostal's notes, but in the end I found it even more confusing! Your and Peter's comments are much more straightforward!

Thanks again,

Steph

July 4, 2007 at 10:46 PM · Greetings,

the Barber book is very good. DOn@t worry about the sevcik. In general I suggest one should complete the Hrimaly scale book before Flesch but if you doi Barber thta is probably not necessary.

You might find it helpful to get a copy of Basics By Simon Fischer.

Cheers,

Buri

July 5, 2007 at 01:14 AM · This is why moveable do is so useful in teaching minor scales. Basically:

the minor scale begins on the 6th note of the major scale, and there are 3 variations:

natural minor uses the same notes.

harmonic minor has the 7th note raised ascending and descending.

melodic raises the 6th and 7th on the way up, but not on the way down. Melodic is used most by composers. Why? Who knows. They just prefer to have a half step between the 7th and 1st note of the scale when ascending. It seems to lead to the 1st note in a more convincing manner. Harmonic minor isn''t that common because when just the 7th is raised, there is a large (more than whole step) interval between the 6th and 7th, which gives the scale an unusual sound. Hope this helps.