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JazzScales|Howtopracticejazzscalesforspeed|jazzadvice.com

Severalreadershavewrittenuslatelyaskinghowtopracticescales.Simplypracticingthemisnot
difficult,butattainingahighlevelofspeedandaccuracy,whilekeepingyoursoundconsistent
throughoutallregistersisquiteatask.Thisarticleassumesyouarefamiliarwiththe12keysandthe
scalequalitiesofmajor,minor(natural,harmonic,andmelodic),wholetone,anddiminished.

Typicalscalepractice
Mostcollegejazzprograms,aswellasmostbooks,haveastandardwaytheyhavetheirstudents
practice.Whileeffective,theirprescribedmethodcanbegreatlyimproveduponformorerapidly
acquiringthespeedwealldesire.Hereswhattheysay:
Practiceyourmajor,minor(all3natural,harmonic,&melodic),wholetone,anddiminished
scales
Inallkeys
Fullrangeofyourinstrument
Fromroottoashighasyoucango,backdowntoaslowasyoucango,andthenbackupthe
root
Onemodeup,thenextdownandsoon(upanddown)
Thescaleindiatonic3rds(upanddown)
Indiatonic4ths(upanddown)
Indiatonictriads(upanddown)
Indiatonicseventhchords(upanddown)
HerearesimpleexamplesinthekeyofC:
Basicscalepracticeprescribedbybooksandcolleges

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JazzScales|Howtopracticejazzscalesforspeed|jazzadvice.com

Seemssimpleenough,right?Sure,itsoundseasy,butthatsawholelotofwork.Icantellyoufrom
experience,tryingtotackleyourscalesthiswayisoverwhelming,tiresome,andinefficient.
Yes,eventuallyyoullwanttobeabletoaccomplisheverythinginthislistwithease,however,there
areeasierwaystoreachthislevelofcompetencethanpracticinginthepreviouslyprescribedmanner.

Twokeystomasteryisbetterthanallkeyshalfassed
Weareusuallytaughttopracticeourscalesinallkeys.Insteadoffocusingonlearningonescale
reallywell,wetrytohitallthekeysasquicklyaspossible,leavinguswithnotmuchbettertechnique
thanwhenwestarted.SowhydidIsayTwokeystomastery?Becauseifyoufocusyourstudies
ontwoparticularkeys,F#andDb,theotherswillcomenaturally.
MostpeoplestartwiththekeyofC.Thatsjustplaindumb.FromC,itsanalluphillbattle.From
F#,itsalldownhilltotheothersharpkeys.AndfromDbitssmoothsailingthroughtheotherflat
keys.
KeystoFocuson

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JazzScales|Howtopracticejazzscalesforspeed|jazzadvice.com

Practicescalar&triadicshapesthatallowspeed&repetition
Tryplayingdiatonicthirds(asinthe3rdlineofthetypicalscalepracticeabove)inthekeyofF#.
Noticethattheyaredifficulttoplayfastandsmooth?Thatsbecausethenaturalshapeofthemdoes
noteasilyallowforspeedorrepetition.
Now,tryplayinganF#triadupanddownasinthefirstlineoftheexamplebelow.Thentryit
quickly.Noticethatitseasytoplayfast?Itsidealforscalepracticebecauseitsashapethat
allowsforspeedandrepetition.Keepthisinmindbecauseinthenotsodistantfuture,youwillwant
tocreateexercisessimilartotheonesImabouttoshowyou.
WellcallthistheTriadicSpeedDrill(shownbelow).Youplayeachtriadinascale,repeatingit
overandoveruntilitsextremelyfastandsmoothwithametronome.Ifanypartthescalethatis
difficult,slowitdownandworkoutthefingeringsuntilitseffortless.
TriadicSpeedDrillinF#

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JazzScales|Howtopracticejazzscalesforspeed|jazzadvice.com

Thenplaywhatwellcallthewholetriadicsequenceupanddownyourinstrument(shownbelow).
AfterdrillingyourdiatonictriadsforincreasedspeedthroughtheTriadicSpeedDrill,thiswillbea
pieceofcake.
WholeTriadicSequenceinF#

Thesameapproachcanbeusedforscalarsegments.WellcallthistheScalarSpeedDrill(shown
below)
ScalarSpeedDrillinF#

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JazzScales|Howtopracticejazzscalesforspeed|jazzadvice.com

Afterpracticingthescalarspeeddrillwith3notes(eachlineusesthreenotesofthescale)tryusing5
notes.SothefirstgroupoffivenoteswouldbeF#throughC#,thesecondwouldbeG#throughD#
andsoon.
Tryplayingthewholescalenowtoo.Afterworkingonthesesmallscalarunits,theentirescalewill
flowmuchbetterthaniteverhas.

Articulationandscales
Alwaysstartbyslurringeverything.Thisforcesyoutofocusonkeepingyoursoundsupportedand
eventhroughouttheregisters.Dialineverynote.
Onceyouvepracticedslurringeverything,tryusinglight,offbeattonguing,commonlyreferredtoas
jazzarticulation.Readthroughthisarticleonarticulation,forabetterideaofhowtogoaboutdoing
this.

Isolatethehighandlowranges
BoththeTriadicSpeedDrillandtheScalarSpeedDrillisolatesectionsofyourinstrument,allowing
youtoperfectotherwiseneglectedpartsofascale.Themostdifficultrangesofaninstrumenttendto
betheextremelowandtheextremehigh.Hence,theseareasrequirethemostwork.Spenddouble
thetimeyouspendonthemiddleofyourinstrument,ontheextremeranges.

Useametronome
Icantemphasizetheuseofametronomeenough.Ibeginwiththemetronomearoundquarternote=
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JazzScales|Howtopracticejazzscalesforspeed|jazzadvice.com

72bpm(slowerforhighandlowranges).Iliketoplaytheseexercisesinnotegroupingsof4,soI
play4notestoeveryclickofthemetronome.
IthengraduallyincreasethemetronomeuntilImplayinganexercisesolidat104bpm.Istaythere
forawhileandthenincreasethetempo,aimingforover130bpm.SometimesIllhitawall,bringit
backdown,andthenincreasethetempoagain.Keepincreasingthetempo,butstayincomplete
control,decreasingwhenneeded.

Scalepracticewrapup
Anumberofthereadersthatwroteinaskedwhatbooktheyshouldplayscalesoutof.Saveyour
money.Theresnoneedforabook.
Startbyfocusingononlytwokeys:F#andDb.
Dothetriadicandscalarspeeddrillswithametronomeuntilyouhavethemmasteredin
thosekeys.Isolatethehighandlowranges.
Thenpracticethewholetriadicsequenceandthewholescale.Startslow!Setthemetronome
slowenoughtoexecuteeverythingperfectly.Thismaybeveryslow,butthatisok.Bettertobe
slowandperfectthanfastandoutofcontrol.
OnceyoustartwithF#major,IguaranteethatBmajorturnsouttobereallyeasy.AfterB,Ewill
beabreeze,andsoonthroughallthesharpstillyougettoC.Similarly,aftermasteryofDbmajor,
AbmajorwillbeacinchandthenyoullworkeasilythroughtherestoftheflatstoF.
Donotmoveontoanyotherscalequalitiesuntilyoufeelyouhaveasolidgrasponthemajors.I
spendseveralmonthsononethingbeforeImoveonandIencourageyoutodothesame.Mastering
themajorswillletyoueasilymovethroughalltheotherqualitiesmentionedinthebeginningofthe
article.
Practiceyourscaleslikethisforthefollowing3monthsandIpromiseyouyourtechniquewillriseto
newheights!

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