Primary Blue Scales - Upper String Scale Series #2

Once the red scales [link] have been established and are comfortable for the student we can move on to the blue scales. The blue pattern should be introduced around the same time as the A major scale, so that momentum can be continued between the scales. Making the transition this early in a student’s development helps to break a poor intonation pattern I have seen far too often, which results from many methods keeping the student in keys that use the red pattern for so long that they have issues with tuning any other notes. Beginning the blue pattern this early helps to counter that by getting them used to the F and C-naturals that are often a problem for many beginning and intermediate students and orchestras to tune.

Major scales that begin on the third finger use the blue pattern. It can seem like a bit of a jump from starting the scale with an open string to starting with the third finger, but if explained properly the student should have no real issue. C Major is only a step down from D after all. As mentioned in the Scale Introduction post [link] there are sometimes differences between the color of the scale and the colors used while playing in the corresponding key; the blue scales are the first time we really confront this issue. If we examine the key of C Major (Figure 1) we see that it uses the blue pattern on the D and A strings, but would use the red pattern on the G because of the B-natural. I still call C Major a blue scale because it only uses two notes on G (the third finger C and the fourth finger D), and uses the blue pattern on the rest of the strings. I do not point this out to the student. I save this scale color versus key colors discussion until all of the primary scales are covered. Occasionally a student will notice this on their own and ask about it. If that happens I base the amount of information I give on the individual student, and their comprehension ability

At first I will follow a similar sequence with C Major as I did with D Major at the very beginning of our scale work, only focusing on the ascending scale first. Even though the student will be used to playing scales up and down now because of the reds, I do this to emphasize where the turnaround is for these scales, the second finger two strings above the starting point. This places the tonic pitch on the low second finger, the only change from our red pattern. This is good because it allows the ear to guide the hand in the continued reinforcement of the blue pattern and its differences from the red. The student should be familiar with the sound of a major scale by now, so I use this opportunity to make them focus on the structure of the scale. Usually with this sort of guidance and focus they will hear if their hand reverts to the red pattern.

It is also important to emphasize that the hand should remain in the blue pattern shape even when the fingers are not down. I have frequently had students who keep their hands in a red shape and only adjust when the second finger goes down. This is dangerous for tuning. I have also had students who play the low second finger, and then move it up into red pattern the moment their third finger gets placed. On the way back down the scale they will set their fingers in the red pattern and then move the second finger back to blue just before they begin to play it. Some are so good at this that it rarely comes out in the sound and I only notice it by watching their hands. Regardless this sort of thing should be discouraged, as it is incredibly inefficient, and will likely lead to intonation issues in more advanced repertoire. This habit should be broken before the student moves on to the yellow pattern, but will ideally be worked out before the C Major scale is even started, in the introduction of the blue pattern itself using the initial finger pattern exercises from Fingerboard Geography.

Once C major is comfortable I will move up a fifth to the higher octave of G Major (Figure 2), starting with the third finger on the D string and ending with second on the E string. I will stick with these two for a few lessons while also reviewing the red scales to prepare for the next step; a two octave G Major scale (Figure 3).

Combining the two one octave G Major scales is a fairly straightforward task. I will make sure that the student has a good understanding of the concept of an octave, and then I will talk about one octave scales versus two octave scales. The beauty of this system is that every one octave scale uses a single color, which means every two octave scale uses two; we simply stack the two octaves on top of each other. I sometimes refer to the middle tonic as the pivot note because it is the point where the color change has to occur. This is fairly simple in the case of G Major because the pivot note is the last one on the D string. This allows the student to start on the open G and simply think red-red-blue-blue. Simplifying it this way should mean they can easily grasp the idea of two octave scales. I also use the turn at the top and bottom of the scale shown in Figure 3. This common practice is helpful when I begin to apply bowing work, such as different slur patterns, to the two octave scales.

The introduction of the yellow pattern comes next. I decide when to introduce it based on the repertoire of the student. In the case of older students who are further along and just being introduced to my system I will start yellow pattern work at the same time as the two octave G major. In the case of beginners it can take longer to get to the yellow pattern, usually around the time of the Minuets in the Suzuki books. In the meantime I will make sure that the red and blue scales are solid while we focus on literature and other techniques.