Let's comment.

 

I've talked quite a bit lately, although no one seems that interested, about playing scales on the violin. On my last post I said, "The next paragraph would contain things that I find very interesting, but I won't expose them here. "

Then I slipped an idea into a comment.

Robert replied and I replied to him.

A human hand has four fingers and a thumb.

We use the left hand for fingering scales on the violin. Fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4. There are quite a few scales in Western Music, but there is a set of seven scales that belong together because they all are made up of the same notes. These are what we call modes. Each mode contains a different chord. For instance, in the key of C major, The Locrian mode (BCDEFGA) produces a minor7b5 chord (BDFA). This would be the VII chord in C major. 

There are four fingerings that you can use to play a major scale on a violin:

• 1 2 3-4 1 2 3-4  (- is a semitone, the rest are tones)
• 4 1 2-3 4 1 2-3
• 3 4 1-2 3 4 1-2
• 2 3 4-1 2 3 4(-1) (the last note is the first fingering starting again)

In Classical music two scales that appear a lot are the harmonic minor scale and the melodic minor scale. Both of these scales come from mode VI, with adjusted notes. So, ABCDEFGA becomes ABCDEF#GA or A BCDEF#G#AG(no#)F(no#)EDCBA. They both are altered forms of mode VI. 

So, here are the seven fingerings with a different scale starting on each first finger:

• I: CDEFGABC   Cmaj7         (1 2 3-4)
• V: GABCDEFG   G7             (1 2 3-4)
• II: DEFGABCD   Dm6          (1 2-3 4)
• VI: ABCDEFGA   Am           (1 2-3 4)
• III: EFGABCDE   Emb2       (1-2 3 4)
• VII: BCDEFGAB   Bm7b5   (1-2 3 4)
• IV: FGABCGEF   Fmaj7#4   (1 2 3 4)

Obviously, each scale can also start on a 2, a 3 or a 4. So, there are four fingerings for each mode.

Isn't music theory fun!

Let's hope that Robert thinks more before his next comment.

Ciao.