5 ways to practice scales

You've probably heard that it's important to practice scales, but you may be unsure why that is and how to practice them to actually reap the benefits. In short, scales can help you improve every violin technique. Want to improve your intonation? Practice scales. Looking to get better at shifting? Practice shifting in scales. Focused on vibrato? Practice it in a scale. There are really endless ways to practice scales, but in this article I'm sharing five of my favorites and their benefits.

Why are scales important?

When you're a beginner, scales are vital for monitoring, adjusting, and improving your posture, developing a soft and flexible bow hold, learning to bow straight and maintain a good sound, and learning where to place your fingers. When you're an intermediate, scales help you work on shifting, vibrato, and help you build your mental map of the instrument, which is knowing and understanding the placement of all notes on the violin. As an advanced player, you will most likely practice the scale acceleration exercise, which will help you play faster and improve your sound and comfortability in the high registers.

Practice technique #1: with a drone

Practicing with a drone is one of my favorite ways to work on intonation. To practice with a drone, make your tuner play out the tonic of the key you're playing. For example, if you're playing an A Major scale, your tuner would be holding an A. Play the scale and listen closely to how each note sounds with the drone. All of the notes except for the second and seventh (B and G# in A Major) should sound harmonious with the drone. This does take a bit of ear training and time to get used to, so if you feel as though you can't hear if every note is in tune with the drone or not, don't worry! You will get better with time and practice. This is one of my personal favorite practice techniques for intonation!

Practice technique #2: with different bowing patterns and bow strokes

If you're having trouble with a bowing pattern in a piece, practice that same pattern in a scale! Similarly, if you're learning a new bow stroke, it's a great idea to practice it on open strings and with scales. The reason that this works so well is that there are a finite number of scales, and yes it may be tedious to learn them all at first, but once you know them, you don't have to learn them again! Eventually you won't have to think so hard about what your fingers are doing, and can focus all of your brain power on the new bowing pattern or bow stroke.

Practice technique #3: with vibrato

Practicing scales with vibrato is one of my favorite things to do with students not when they're first learning vibrato, but when they're looking to improve some aspect of it. Scales use all four fingers on all four strings, and I think we can all agree not all fingers and strings were created equal when it comes to vibrato! One of my favorite ways to loosen up a student's vibrato is to have them practice scales with slow, medium, and fast vibrato, concentrating on keeping it wide and loose. Scales are also a great way to practice continuous vibrato-ie making sure the vibrato doesn't stop at the end of the note or before a shift.

Practice technique #4: in rhythms

If you're having trouble with a particular rhythm in one of your pieces, practice that rhythm in a scale! Practicing in rhythms is also a great way to learn to play faster in general. The possibilities are endless, but you can start with: long short, short long, in pais, in groups of threes, and in groups of fours. When practicing these rhythms, move your fingers as fast as possible but take as long as you need to mentally prepare between groups.

Practice technique #5: scale acceleration exercise

This is primarily for advanced players playing three or four octave scales. In this sequence, you play the scale six times in a row, gradually increasing the speed and the amount of notes per bow. The sequence is as follows: two notes slurred (quarter notes), four notes slurred (eighth notes), six notes slurred (triplets), eight notes slurred (16th notes), twelve notes slurred (sextuplets), and twenty-four notes slurred (32nd notes). These should be played continuously.

The way you practice scales is highly dependent on your goals and ability level. Personally, I pick a scale that either one of my students is playing that day, or the key of the piece I'm currently working on. I practice it first slowly with a drone to check my intonation and then play through the scale acceleration sequence. There is no one "right" way to practice scales, but hopefully this gives you some ideas and helps you understand why scales are so important!

What's your favorite way to practice scales? Leave a comment and let me know!