Hidden Scales

Scales are an important part of a musician's diet. We need to do them every day, and we never quite perfect them. When we are familiar with scales and their finger patterns, we read music easier, we perform musical passages more adroitly, and we can memorize structure easier.

I have long puzzled over why students struggle with certain passages in the Bach's book 1 Minuets, or even other pieces in the repertoire, such as Bach's Bourree or Martini's Gavotte in Book 3 or Vivaldi's Concerto in A Minor in book 4. Then one day it hit me that students struggled with learning and memorization in these pieces because they tripped over the hidden scales.

Let me take a classic example in Bach's Bourrée from book 3, the last song in the book. In measures 5 and 6, students take a while to figure out the notes here until I dissect them. Here is the passage:

Bach's Bourrée (Violin Book 3)

 Here is what I teach them. First, I show them how to play these two notes:

Bourrée 2-note snippet

This is not difficult for the students at this point, because we encountered and worked over this spot in the grace notes of Gossec's Gavotte at the end of book 1. We play this little passage of two-note combinations a few times until the student is "easy" with it.

Then I ask the students to play these two notes (during the rests) while I play these other notes in between:

Bourrée's Hidden Scale

When we do the two parts together, we get the original passage. My next step is to teach the student to play the hidden scale passage that I played, and we then switch parts.

After the student is able to play this last step, then the student seems to have no problems putting both snippets together and playing the passage as written. This same hidden scale passage appears later on the A and D strings as well.

There are many instances of hidden scales throughout the Suzuki repertoire, and if the teacher and student were to spend a few moments studying it, these passages would be easier to remember and memorize. Here are a few more examples.

Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor, Movement I (Violin Book 4)

In Vivaldi's Concerto in A Minor, first movement, there is a great example of a hidden scale on the second page:

Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor (Violin Book 4)

When we dissect this passage to find the hidden scale, we find this:

Vivaldi Concerto's Hidden Scale

There are many more hidden scale examples in this concerto, and finding all of them may help a student lock in the notes in the student's memory.

Martini Gavotte (Violin Book 3)

In Martini's Gavotte in the beginning of violin book 3, we find this passage right before the last recapitulation of the theme:

Martini Gavotte (Violin Book 3)

When we dissect this passage to find the hidden scales, we find all of these scales:

1st scale

2nd scale

3rd scale

4th scale

Here is the entire hidden scale passage:

Martini's Hidden Scales

There are many such scale passages throughout the repertoire, and these hidden scales make a great quest for students to find throughout the music. This assignment could also be the subject of specific review requests ("find the hidden scales in this review song").

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

Steps, Skips, and Jumps

Before we begin a discussion about Long, Long Ago ("Long Ago") and the subsequent songs, I thought it would be a good idea to consider how to teach some basic and simple ear training skills and how a teacher can relate these skills to book 1 songs.

Up and Down

By the time my students reach the level of Long Ago, they are able to play an ascending and descending A scale with no difficulty. My students understand the concept of "walking up" and "walking down" the scale. Sometimes my students and their parents get confused about how pitches are changed to go "up" or "down." I may have to talk about blowing air over the opening of a bottle as an example of how to make the pitch change. Most everyone has tried this exercise at some point, and they understand about putting in more water in the bottle to make the pitch go up and removing water from the bottle to make the pitch go down.  From this point it is another step or two to explain that it is the adjustment to the column of air in the bottle (more air, longer column, lower pitch versus less air, shorter column, and higher pitch) that determines the actual pitch. Some students and parents also understand the difference in the pitch as it relates to the size of a woodwind instrument; for example, the bassoon plays lower notes than the tiny piccolo, which plays the highest notes in the orchestra. Then I relate the column of air in the bottle to the length of the string on the violin.

When a student masters the one-octave A scale, we can transpose it to the D string and play a D scale using the same fingers but playing one string lower. This prepares the student to play on the D string, which is what will be introduced in Long Ago. While I am at it, I also encourage the student to play the G scale starting on the G string, which prepares the student for Allegretto that will occur a few songs after Long Ago.

Flashcards and Scale Card Toss

If a student still stumbles a little over the "walking up the scale" concept, I might also use the flashcard trick:

• I write the notes of the A scale on eight miniature index cards and lay them in order on the floor.

• The student and I walk on either side of the scale cards, saying the names of the notes and playing each one as we step alongside it.

• Once we reach the end of the ascending scale, we walk backwards "down" the scale and say the note names as we play them.

• Another fun game would be to have the student play the notes on the card as the teacher steps alongside the various cards but in no particular apparent order. The teacher could "direct" this game by making sure that the notes form a familiar song, like Mary Had a Little Lamb or Hot Cross Buns or even Jingle Bells. (Do not underestimate the powerful motivation that learning jingle Bells can be for most students.)

• The student and teacher could change places, and the student could make up a song by standing at various notes in a different order while the teacher plays the notes on the scale cards as indicated by the student.

• Once the student is familiar with the scale and the order of the notes, I check the student's understanding by taking the scale cards up off the floor in their correct order, placing them in a nice neat pile, and then THROWING THEM UP IN THE AIR! The look on a student's (and parent's) face when I do this is entertaining! Reminiscent of the old car game "52 card pickup," the "Scale Card Toss" is just as fun! It is the student's job to put the scale cards back in their proper order. Then I let the student take the cards home to use at home.

Steps, Skips, and Jumps

The purpose of the scale is to help me teach students what a scale step is. Over the years I have developed my own language to describe the basic, simplistic intervals between notes in a scale. I start using this vocabulary as early as I can and continue to use it with my more advanced students.

A "step" is the interval between two scale degrees or notes. At this stage I do not make a distinction between half and whole steps. If it is a different note (and the next alphabet letter), I refer to that interval as a step.

A "skip" is when we skip a finger when walking up the scale. For example, in May Song we have a skip between the first and second notes (A-C#). We also play a similar skip in Lightly Row between the first and second notes (E-C#). We might practice walking up and down the scale about five notes or so (A-B-C#-D-E-D-C#-B-A). then we play the same thing but skip every other note (A-C#-E-C#-A). These are examples of skips between the open string note and the second finger on the A string . There are skips between the first and third fingers as well, such as in measure two of Lightly Row and May Song, and Song of the Wind has a skip in the "jumping fingers" preview from the F# on the E string to the third finger D on the A string.

A "jump" is when the same finger jumps from one string to the other, as in a perfect fifth interval. There is a jump in the jumping finger preview of Song of the Wind. Remember, in the early part of the Suzuki repertoire we are playing actual jumping fingers. We do not introduce the fingering that covers both strings at once (found in book 3) until later. Using the jumping finger in the earlier Suzuki repertoire helps the student maintain excellent left hand posture and position. I also explain that it is a "jump" between the A string and the E string on the violin.

Later when beginning students start to read music, I relate this basic intervalic vocabulary to what the student sees on the page. The "step" is when the music goes from a space note to the very next line or from a line note to the very next space note. A "skip" is from a note on a space to a note on the very next space, or a line note to a note on the very next line. A "jump" will be a space note to another space note but jumping over a space note in between, or a line note to another line note that jumps over a line note in between.

Ear Training

While students learn these concepts of steps, skips, and jumps in individual lessons, I also talk about these intervals in group classes. In a group setting, we may experiment with ear training exercises that use all of these intervals. We practice singing the intervals, singing songs with the intervals, and sometimes we will divide the class in half and have each side sing different pitches as a "duet." The "I Know a Fox With Dirty Sox" book is full of little singing jingles that students find entertaining and that also provide some basic opportunities to practice easier ear training skills and intervals.

Now that my students have a clearer understanding about the basic musical intervals of steps (seconds), skips (thirds), and jumps (fifths), I help my students to recognize these intervals when my students seek to discover how to play new songs. Now we are ready to learn Lightly Row.

Happy Teaching!

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The Big Whyne

If there is one thing that students consistently whine about, it's the scale assignment. I have to vigilantly monitor whether my students are practicing their scale assignment and in what manner. Even when I have put the parent in charge of the scale assignment, I still have to check up to make sure that the assigned homework is being done.

Mostly the whine is about "why":

• Why do I have to play scales?

• Why are scales important?

• Why can't we do something fun instead?

• Why can't I practice something else?

• Why can't I do something else? What value is there in practicing scales anyway?

• Why can't we skip practicing scales, since we get scales practice in our songs anyway?

• Why are you torturing me?

Well, OK, maybe I do not hear this last complaint so much (unless I am putting the student through my "homework lesson."* [see my footnote below for an explanation of the "homework lesson."])

Why do we practice scales? Why do teachers assign scales? Why has this assignment been passed along from teacher to student for so many generations? There must be a reason, or several. How does a teacher explain the value to a student or parent?

This year one of my talented violin students decided to add piano lessons to his schedule. Because he already played the violin so well, it did not take very long before he was really cooking on the piano. I actually skipped right past the usual popular piano methods and started him on the old John Thompson books, which are my initial piano studies. I enjoyed these books because they provided a great deal of intellectual stimulation, and because they included historical and other information with each song. I have not used these books with my students ever, but with this particular student, I knew I would need something really interesting to spur him to the next level of excitement.

As I revisited my old John Thompson memories with my pupil, I viewed the lessons from the teacher's perspective, which is not something I would have had as a student. One of the first discoveries I made is that John Thompson helps the student to discover and remember how it feels to play in various keys. One set of songs may teach the student how it feels to play in C Major. Another set will focus on G major, and so on. As my student and I discussed these song sets, we started exploring the feel of the various keys.

Since my student was well versed in music theory, I helped him understand a basic chord progression of I - IV - V - V7 - I. We learned this first in C major, which every pianist can tell you feels completely balanced and centered on the piano. When my student learned the G major chord progression, he learned that there was a little bit of a "tail upswing" to the left in that key (due to the F#). We noted and discussed how that felt. We discovered the similar feeling in D major. In F major we discovered no tail, but there was a spreading of the hands between the thumb and index finger (left hand) and thumb and third finger (right hand).

Do not underestimate the value of feeling. Music involves all aspects of our brain or at least more areas of our brains than required by other activities. Kinesthetic sensation plays a valuable part in a musician's craft. My young student discovered this phenomenon for himself in our "key feeling" lesson.

So I will argue that one main purpose in practicing scales is to develop the kinesthetic sensation of playing in various keys. What else?

When I am comfortable playing in a key, I can play quickly. I have practiced the particular physical sensations or developed the muscle memory that allows me to play fast. Repetition in practice teaches my muscles the memory of how the notes and finger patterns feel in relation to each other. Practicing scales helps me to develop more strongly my muscle memory.

Practicing scales also helps to develop my aural skills. Various scale patterns make different demands on my aural reception. For example, I note that my freshman university students generally have difficulty playing a diminished arpeggio. It may take an entire semester before I can help them to successfully hear and play the diminished interval in an arpeggio. Once a student learns the major scales, the student then moves on to learn how to hear and play minor scales (natural, harmonic, melodic, and even Dorian).

There is a mental and visual aspect to learning scales. Mentally, a musician needs to be able to think in a particular key, which includes reading in a particular key. The mental and visual aspects make a connection with the physical.

Have I convinced you yet of the value of practicing scales? The purpose of this post was to impress on you the importance of performing a scale practice on a regular basis, preferably daily. My purpose was not to discuss what a good scale practice routine would be. That is the subject of a future post.

Please leave a  comment with your argument about why practicing scales is important.

PS: Here is a good explanation written by an LA cellist ("Clemzilla") to the Internet Cello Society Foreum, Cello Chat!:

When asked why they should practice scales, I always make a point to tell my students that "scales are the alphabet of the musical language." I then draw the analogy to the English aphabet, and how the various letters can be combined to form hundreds of thousands of different words. Furthering the analogy, I point out that young students need to learn how the word "cat " is spelled before they can negotiate words like  "catapult," "catalogue" or "catastrophe."

Next, I explain to them that arpeggios, scales and scale fragments make up the lion's share of Western Art Music... and the more well-versed they are in playing these elements, the more fluid, natural and attractive their playing will be. But I don't stop there. I then ask them to open ANY piece or etude... and immediately begin pointing out all scale fragments beginning with the earliest example. After about half a page of these examples, and they begin to 'get it.' We move on to arpeggios- same results.

Last step: I ask them, "do you realize that I don't actually read every note on the page?" Typically, they are shocked... until I explain. "I've been playing scales for so long, I see them measures ahead. I note the first pitch of the scale fragment and the last, and skip over everything in between. My fingers 'fill in the blanks.' Same goes for arpeggios. It's the same as when you read from a page of a novel... you aren't actually looking at every letter on the page, are you? No, you're actually reading the shapes of the words. The only time I actually slow down during the fragments is when there are accidentals present. but I have time to do it because I haven't wasted time reading every single note. Nowadays, I probably only study about 40-60% of the actual notes on the page... fewer, if it's a piece I've played many times. It's a shortcut that allows me to play with more fluidity and LOTS less effort... but it only became a feature of my playing after I'd committed these scales to memory. Better results with less work- pretty good deal, eh?" [At this point, I usually play them the second and third Rococo variations, complete with running descriptive narrative, just to drive home the point]

I finish this little speech thusly: "Look- it's going to take about 3 months of solid study before these scales start to become owned by you. You can do it in 3 months by spending an hour per day on them for the next 90 days, or you can stretch that 3-month period out over the span of YEARS, if you only spend a few minutes on them, every now and then. The choice is yours- invest a lot now, and start reaping the rewards early, or invest a little- and make slower, more painful progress. It'll cost you the same 3 months either way."

This approach works on about 40% of my kids. The other 60% continue to struggle, but get no sympathy from me when they whine... they get the same closing to my initial speech all over again, followed by: "How much of your 3 months have you invested?"

The difference between the quality of an 'average' player (whatever 'average' means) and a top-notch artist is eloquence: how effortlessly and attractively one articulates the language. The vast bulk in acheiving eloquence is in efficiently reading the story on the page. Relegating the fundamentals of the laguage to second-nature is the first big step toward approaching eloquence in one's delivery. Now, one might not ever aceive the same level of artistry as a Feuermann or Rostropovich, but without these base skills, they have no shot whatsoever.

For me, it matters less what method or book is used as the vehicle, as it matters that the student know why scale study is necessary. Grab their imagination, shine the light of truth upon their current status, and convince them that the difference between what they sound like and what the want to sound like begins with scales and arpeggios.... and you have a shot with them. Face it: a teacher can only motivate so much from the studio... the bulk of the motivation to progress must come from the student himself. Without a clear reason to do the boring work of cello practice, noone is going to invest the time and energy. My approach gives them not only a reason to play scales, it entices them with promises of cleaner, better playing and also gives them a timeline to shoot for- important, particularly where young persons are concerned.

Humbly submitted: perhaps it's not the book as much as the sales pitch.

just another .02,

'Zilla

Clemzilla

I Love Etude!

I feel like writing about Etude today. Etude is the twelfth song in Suzuki Violin book 1. It is in G major and it is a never-ending series of eighth notes from the beginning until the end with a variation in 16th notes.

When preparing to teach any piece, I remember that Dr. Suzuki's mantra was: "Finger, Bow, Go!" To me this translates into left hand skills, right hand skills, and then creating ways to pull it all together. Here is my breakdown of the skills introduced by this Suzuki song.

Left Hand Skills:

• Close 1-2 finger pattern on the A and E strings while continuing the close 2-3 finger pattern on the D and G strings.
• G major 2-octave scale.
• Reinforcement of the 1-3 spatial finger pattern learned in Song of the Wind (#2, book 1) (fig.1 below).
• Expansion of the 1-3 spatial finger pattern across the strings; for example, in measure 8 (at the end of the 2nd phrase) (fig. 2), similar to the "jumping finger pattern" from Song of the Wind (#3, book 1):

fig.1

fig.2

Right Hand Skills:

• Clean string crossings with no dirty sound between the notes.
• Playing a lower string with a good "catched" upbow; notice that most string crossings in Etude involve going to the D string on an up bow; except for the last D string of the song, every other D string is on an up bow.
• Playing on four (of the 7 basic) string levels: G-D-A-E strings.
• Good crisp beginnings to staccato notes.
• Solid forearm motion in the square of the arm for the détaché bowing on the variation; in the variation, the "catched" bows on the lower string level will be on down bows throughout the piece.

Challenges:

• Helping the student and parent to learn and memorize the piece.
• Helping the student and parent to understand the form of the piece (A-A1-B-A2).
• Coordinating the fingers and the bow on the string crossings.
• Coordinating the fingers and the bow so that the bow does not "slurp" the fingers as they change pitches.

My Silly Words:

These words are a combination of things that I have heard over the years. There is a set of words out there that tells the story of a little girl named Henrietta Poppeletta, and that is where I heard the name. However, the words below are not the same as that other song. I did not have those words at the time I began teaching my first student how to play Etude, so I made something else up. At another time, a parent mentioned drawing a huge lake on a plastic picnic tablecloth, and that gave me the idea of coming up with a set of flashcards that guided the student in a large circle around an imaginary lake. The game seemed to interest enough students that it became my teaching method for Etude for those students for whom I actually have to teach the song.

Henrietta Poppeletta goes around the lake

1 time she goes, 2 times she goes, 3 times she goes around the lake

3 step stones

Henrietta Poppeletta goes around the lake

1 time she goes, 2 times she goes, 3 times she goes around the lake

the "3" bridge

Little waterfall she walks beside

the D bridge

Bigger waterfall she walks beside

3 step stones

Henrietta Poppeletta goes around the lake

but then she's tired and she goes home!

How to Teach -- Previews:

• I start with the 1-octave G scale beginning on the G string and build from there to the 2nd octave (figures 3 and 4):

fig.3

fig.4

• I build facility on the G scale until the student is ultimately able to play four or five 2-octave G scales in a 30-second period of time. Boy do we have fun setting the timer for 30 seconds and then counting the number of times the student can play the entire G scale! I only count those G scales where the student plays the correct finger pattern on the A and E strings (close 1-2 finger pattern).
• I ask that the parent play the recording of the piece extra times for listening.

How I Teach Etude:

• I teach the song in little units or chunks of material and match each chunk to a set of words I made up years ago.
• I usually present the first four notes repeated one time as "Henrietta Poppeletta":

Henrietta Poppeletta

• "Goes around the lake": here I introduce the concept that I refer to as a "turnaround." This is a useful concept for the student to understand, especially when the student starts learning Handel's Bourree in book 2, which has a lot of "turnarounds" at the cadence points. This is an example of what I call a "reverse turnaround" because it immediately reverses direction. The turnarounds in Handel's Bourree in book 2 are what I refer to as basic turnarounds, where the notes go up a scale and then suddenly return to the starting note. Here is the Etude reverse turnaround:

turnaround

• "1 time she goes" and so on matches the sequence of notes in the next chunk. I matched my words to the number of times we go (3 times):

1 time she goes, 2 times she goes, etc.

• "Around the lake" is a pinkie scale down:

pinkie scale down

• "3 step stones" are the 3 notes that transition from part 1 to part 2 (and from part 3 to part 4) of the song:

• I resisted trying other words that related to repeating the words used in the first part of the song, because the students tended to get confused about the number of times they were to play that 4-note phrase in between parts 1 and 2 (and 3 and 4).
• The confusion problem I think stems from the fact that just counting the 4-note group three times does not fit the structure of the music, and intuitively the students understand that and become confused.
• Part 2 is the same as part 1 with a "3 bridge" at the end (note how the 3rd finger "bridges" the first finger):

3 bridge

• I teach the waterfalls:
• Little waterfall starts with 2nd finger on the E string and travels down the G scale until the 2nd finger on the D string.

little waterfall

• Big waterfall starts with 3rd finger on the E string and travels down the G scale until the 3rd finger on the D string:

big waterfall

• Part 4 starts similarly to parts 1 and 2 but finishes up with a descending scale in G major:

Etude ending

• We draw a series of flashcards that represent the various chunks of the song, and we lay the cards in a circle. The student walks around the circle and performs the various units of Etude at each station in the circle.
• The hardest part of learning this song is the transition between the first and second parts. I labeled these parts "3 step stones" and "the 3 bridge." My student and I play a game where I throw a dice for even or odd numbers, and the student plays "3 step stones" for odd numbers or "3 bridge" for even numbers.
• As the student improves, we add a new dimension to the circle walk. At each point where a new section begins, the student will switch to the variation for the next section and will continue alternating between the regular Etude and the variation until completing the song.
• I find the suggestions on www.thepracticeshoppe.com to be helpful regarding new words to learn this song. I might use this practice tool to teach the various units of the song similarly to the way I teach my present song units. I am eager to try this new set of words with my next Etude student!

Review for Advanced Students:

• We find opportunities to use third position.
• We find places to shift to higher positions throughout the piece.
• We practice spiccato.
• We practice up bow or down bow staccato for 4 notes, then later 8 notes or the entire phrase.
• We practice sautillé on the variation.

Useful Advice (I hope):

• I do not always have to teach a student how to play Etude. Sometimes the student figures the piece out without my help, and I do not have to use the "circle walk" exercise. Ask the student's parent to play the song many, many times extra during the week between lessons, because I think that this is key for students to have an easier time learning Etude.
• I find it helpful to set the student up for success before even beginning the learning process steps. I drop hints during earlier songs about "how excited I am that you will be getting to learn Etude soon, since it is one of my favorite pieces and one that is so fun to play! And I just KNOW it is going to be your favorite too. I even think it will be your very best piece that you can play. Ooooh, I can't wait, can you?" Sometimes the parent helps this along by agreeing with me that it is their favorite song to listen to on the CD.
• I xerox the song and cut it up into strips that match the actual parts of the song. Then I lay the strips in the appropriate order and xerox the finished product. Now the different parts of the song are very clear to see, and my parents understand what the song's format is.

Group Class Ideas:

• Set up a line of chairs or traffic cones or some other delineation on the floor across the center of the room (masking tape also works). As you walk around the room playing "Follow the Leader" and weave across and back over the line, change from the regular Etude into the variation depending on which side of the line you find yourself after crossing over the line.
• Break the song up into chunks and take turns playing it down the line of students. When the students get really good at this game, make the chunks even smaller until ultimately the students can play the entire song by each playing one note apiece.
• Stop playing suddenly and try to catch students who may not be watching.
• Slow down (or speed up) while playing to see if the students can follow you.
• Penguin game: this is a game I made up to help my students refrain from "rushing" or speeding up. We get down on our knees, and we "knee-walk" to each of the notes of the song. To an observer, the class looks very much like a rookery of penguins. This is actually hilarious to watch! FYI, adults do not enjoy participating in this game; it is too hard on our bony knees.
• Play the hide-n-seek dynamics game: while one student is out of the room, hide a toy in the room; then when the student returns, direct the student to the hidden toy by using louder or softer dynamics to tell the searching student whether he or she is "hot" or "cold" in the direction the student is looking.
• Advanced students may review the piece in group class by adding the advanced techniques suggested above.
• Intermediate students might attempt making up an appropriate duet part. There is a Suzuki duet part that corresponds to Etude, but I have several students who have come up with their own accompaniment that matches better the rhythm of the original music.
• A great review activity is to play the song with a down bow circle for every note. Adjust the tempo accordingly. This is a great activity for students as they progress in maturity because it allows you to note whether students are starting to put too much tension in their shoulders. [see my blog post about releasing tension in the shoulder].

I think Etude is a wonderful piece, and I review it regularly with my students and for my own personal practice. There are many more advanced skill possibilities to talk about than I have taken the time to discuss here. I enjoy reviewing Etude for my own personal reasons, and I hope that you will enjoy learning and reviewing this song as much as I do.

Intonation, part 4: a Hodgepodge

In addition to our previous discussions about intonation, I have included here a mixture of additional ideas for practicing intonation. Please leave me a comment about your own personal favorite intonation exercises.

Drones: Have a note playing like a drone while playing scales or some passage. Most tuners are capable of sounding a note like a drone. At first play the tonic note as the drone. Later play other important notes in the key, such as the dominant or subdominant notes. When the exercise seems fairly easy, try playing to a drone note in an unrelated key, e.g., drone E natural while playing in the Bb key, or drone F# while playing in C major. It is also possible to play and use one's own open strings as a drone during practice.

Fun with Scales: Have someone whose intonation you trust play a scale a major third below you. For example, if you are playing D major, have the other person play Bb at the same time. I got this idea from a scale book entitled "Scales Plus!" by William Starr published by Alfred Music Publishing.

Have someone play a scale a major second below you. For example, if you are playing a D major scale, have the other person play in C major. This is another idea from William Starr.

Doublestops: Have the student do extensive practice with doublestops. There are several possible books that one can use:

A popular book for intermediate and advanced students is "Scales for Advanced Violinists" by Barbara Barber published by Alfred Publishing. For each key, Ms. Barber has provided the basic scales for doublestops in thirds, sixths, octaves, tenths, fingered octaves, and harmonics along with the basic major and melodic minor scales, broken thirds, and the general arpeggio routine through all the arpeggios related to the major scale (tonic minor, tonic major, submediant, subdominant, subdominant minor, diminished, and dominant seventh).

"Melodious Double-Stops" by Josephine Trott, volumes 1 & 2, published by G. Schirmer, Inc. Initially Ms. Trott presents doublestop etudes that incorporate the open strings, but the volumes progress in difficulty. My students generally like the tunefulness of the melodies versus just practicing scales alone.

"Quint Etudes for Violin" by Shinichi Suzuki, Revised Edition, published by Suzuki Method International. This book is my personal favorite. Dr. Suzuki discusses the difficulty of keeping the fingers in the correct placement across the various four strings. As the fingers move from one string to another, they may not land in the correct placement because the student's perception is inaccurate due to the finger angle changing. And, if the student has another problem, such as not moving the elbow under the instrument to accommodate the various string levels, then the fingers will not land in correct placement. The Quint Etudes address and correct these problems, and the etudes use perfect intervals such as fourths, fifths, and unisons to strengthen the student's ear. I have had great success with this etude book in identifying left hand placement issues and in strengthening the student's ear.

Hand in hand with the Quint Etudes, I have used the "Position Etudes" by Shinichi Suzuki, Revised Edition, published by Suzuki Method International. As a student plays progressively higher in pitch up the violin fingerboard, the tonal quality of the notes sounds thicker to the ear, and students can become confused about the correct pitch. This etude book can help to address that problem by progressively exposing the student to each position using a song that is very familiar to Suzuki students, i.e., "Perpetual Motion." Suzuki students learn this basic tune in book 1, but later in book 2, students are introduced to a transposition of this song into Bb. From that transposition, the students learn the basic fingering of the song beginning with the first finger. This fingering is then used to introduce the students to each successive position, still using the melody of "Perpetual Motion."

Playing Along: My husband is a professional trombonist, and I was curious as to how he worked with his students to build proper intonation, as the trombone seemed similar to the violin in terms of how easy it would be to "land" on the incorrect pitch. He told me that he plays along with his students constantly at their lessons and is relentless about having them match pitch.

We Aren't Finished Yet: Finally, the subject of intonation is more complex than I have presented here. So many areas of a player's technique and general life condition can have adverse effects on pitch, including improper posture, lazy ears, sloppy practice and listening habits, health considerations (waxy ear build up, or a cold or sinus infection), and less than stellar equipment (false or old strings and lesser quality instruments). And I haven't even touched upon the advanced tuning strategies that professionals employ to fine tune intonation in performance. The ideas included above are just a few of the many possible ideas I know about how to address intonation problems. I like to think of these ideas as arrows in my quiver: I have many different arrows stored up for use depending on the particular student and his or her intonation problem.

I look forward to hearing from you what ideas you favor and find useful that I may not have included here.

We are winding down 2010. Just a few days left to vote in the polls printed here in the right sidebar. Let your vote count! New polls are coming in 2011.

Stay tuned for the new year on January 1, 2011, because I will be issuing a practice challenge. You won't want to miss January 1st and my practice challenge! Everyone can do this!