How To Navigate Galamian Scales

July 27, 2016 at 07:30 PM · The layout of that section of the book is "Major scale in the key of x, melodic minor scale in the key of x, harmonic minor scale in the key of x" Raise x by a half-step and repeat. Sometimes an enharmonic key is substituted for one that would otherwise be both uncommon and confusing to play, eg, A-flat major becomes g-sharp minor.

Hope that helps!

July 27, 2016 at 08:31 PM · As I mentioned before, Galamian's scales are not edited properly and in their current form, at least for me, do not present a system.

Therefore, learning them by heart is impossible, unless you love to flip pages more than to play your violin....

What you can do for your own usage is to scan (or photo-copy) them all and then re-assemble (copy&paste or cut &glue) using the circle of fourths C, F, B-flat, E-flat... and their respective minor keys.

Use the pattern of Flesh, or the following:

Scales, arpeggios, broken thirds, chromatic scales, octaves, sixths, thirds, fingered octaves and tenths.

If you have a friend in Russia, get a copy of Elizabeth Gilels' scales in 3 and 4 octaves. They are a real system and work like a charm.

Good luck!

July 28, 2016 at 02:53 PM · Not an answer to PSs query, but Simon Fischer's Scales provides a real system. His series of interval exercises is a real assist in improving accuracy, too.

July 28, 2016 at 03:26 PM · I don't see how the Galamian scales have a "better layout" than Flesch. No one has bettered Flesch's book.

I wouldn't be surprised if many students are intimidated by the 1-string/1-octave scales at the start of each key (which are 10x more valuable than 3- octaves).

July 28, 2016 at 05:42 PM · Scott, I agree with the latter point. When I was younger my teachers had me skip the first page of each key and go straight to the three octave. In the last six months I decided to go through the whole book to tune up my scales, and started by doing all of the first pages in all of the keys. Fantastic! I got more technical benefit from those first page exercises than I ever got from the three octaves.

July 28, 2016 at 05:46 PM · Flesch is great, but to most of us difficult to digest at first. It ought to be consumed in small bites, with a pint of good dark beer, such as Guinness.

July 28, 2016 at 06:55 PM · I never have students just go through all the sections of Flesch. That would be a waste of time. When they first start in the book, I limit them to just the 1-octave scales. Then add the 1-octave arpeggios. Then add 3 octave. The important thing is not so much WHAT to practice but HOW to practice.

I get lots of students who can do a 3 octave scale. But then they try a one-octave on one string and totally fall apart, finding them very awkward, especially on the D and G strings. But this is the very heart of shifting technique and fingerboard knowledge and comfort. Just look at the 3-octave scales: Where is the shifting? Almost all on the E, some on the A. It's no wonder the one-string scales feel so awkward--even impossible--at first. But real world repertoire uses more of the 1-string than 3-octave scales. So people need to get comfortable with it.

July 28, 2016 at 07:11 PM · I agree with Scott. As much as I like Fischer's book for the pedagogical content, I find myself practicing my scales with Flesch on my music stand. It's just what I'm used to. I even wrote Flesch fingerings into my Fischer book in case I find myself playing from that!

And I agree that it is about how you practice it. What are you listening for? What elements of your playing are you improving? That's one area where Fischer's book really outshines the others.

One thing that's good about starting with the 3-octave scale is that it trains your ear to hear the same notes and intervals in the higher octaves. The reason students who can play those still have trouble with one-string-one-octave scales is because the latter are *harder*.

Personally I wonder if it is better to always practice a scale with a different fingering every time. Sometimes shift up on the G string, sometimes only on the E string. Because you're going to encounter every possibility in the solo and orchestral repertoire.

The other aspect of scale practice is to begin to develop one's own "system" in one's own mind. That's about understanding the logic of violin fingerings. If you start a C major scale with your second finger on the G string and learn to play that, then you should be able to play a D major scale starting with your second finger on the G string too, because the fingering is exactly the same. The "ring tones" just come in different places in the scale, and I like to think about them as calibration points.

It's only the G, Ab, and A scales that are unique. So it's easy to think that there's no "system" if you start with those.

Another issue with Flesch is that the scales in thirds and sixths are very long. It's okay not to play the whole thing. The scale in broken thirds is very valuable too, especially with some different bowings like spiccato or different slur patterns.

And finally, don't do what I did, which was to leave chromatic scales off entirely until you're 50 years old.

July 29, 2016 at 03:35 AM · Flesch's 1-4 are invaluable.

I think it's great to learn Galamian's, Flesch's, and Fischer's fingerings.

Galamian's book importance is not just the notes or fingerings, but the insert with the bow and rhythm patterns. It can be seen as a bit too intellectual, but the idea behind it really works.

My favorite double-stop scale book still is Flesch. His thirds patterns are great, even if you only do the first section, going up and down.

I love Fischer's fingerings and ideas, as well as the one position scales. Mixing a biok like that with Galamian's rhythms and bow patterns is awesome.

I absolutely love Gilels scale book, but I hate how much of a rarity it is, even in a City like NYC. Has to be special-ordered. Only have a binded photocopy, and am lacking the last page (broke off, lost it). Still prefer Flesch's thirds, though the ones in the Gilels book are far from bad. 4 octave scales are awesome-at least Fischer's books touches on them with good detail.

I agree that Galamian's book appears quite "unwieldy" and intimidating, specially at the beginning (very technical and too "clean") yet I can't relate with the hate-practiced with care, the book can only be useful.