Post
by Adrian Allan » Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:12 pm
I sent for Matt's book on his approach to fast scales.
Anybody who has seen him play will know that his ability to play fast scale runs is astonishing, so I am willing to learn.
The book is very detailed and gives lots of examples of his approaches to fast scales, and arrived quickly from the US.
In basic form, he plays 3 notes per string wherever possible and uses a m i
He will change common scale shapes so that the 3 notes per string and a m i will fit, and sometimes big stretches are needed
eg. C major
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C (edit - I cannot space these out, but 3 notes per string)
string 5 _________ 4_____________ 3________ 2___________ 1___________
finger a m i a m i a m i a m i a m i
Of course, rules need to be broken at times, but this is his basic approach to all scales
In terms of accents - the player needs to work on this technique so that it is not heard as triplets (unless needed) but groups of 4, so the accents need to change to keep the group of 4 feel.
See what you think - the book can be ordered from his website
I have always thought that fast clear scales are a real test of technique - eg, who can play VL Etude no7 opening very fast but also very cleanly?
Some can, some people really cannot.
Maybe Matt has the answer
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