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B I D I R E CT I ON AL I N T E R VAL L I C E XE R CI S E S

I n the pas t few ar ticles , we have been focus ing on inter vallic appr oaches applied to s cale patter ns . I hope you have been
pr acticing thes e diligently; but mor e than anything els e, I hope that you have been paying attention to the s ounds of each
ex er cis e. R em em ber : T he goal is to combine our r efined mus cle memor y gained fr om each ex er cis e with the ear tr aining
elements that allow us to fir s t h ear and then r ecall each unique inter vallic gr ouping. T his month we will take that to the nex t
level by incor por ating a change of dir ection in our ex er cis es .

B idir ectional ex er cis es ar e s till s imilar to the r egular inter vallic ex er cis es in that each s ucces s ive s cale degr ee is s till pair ed to a
note that is s epar ated by a s et inter vallic dis tance. However , the differ ence is that each s ucces s ive pair of s cale degr ees
s epar ated by that inter val ar e played in an oppos ite dir ection. For ex ample, the fir s t inter val would be played in an as cending
fas hion, followed by the nex t inter val played in a des cending fas hion. T his s wapping of dir ections would continue thr ough the
entir e ex er cis e. I f you ar e confus ed by this ex planation, tr y playing thr ough each of the following ex er cis es and you will begin to
s ee and hear the patter n mor e clear ly.

For the following ex amples , we will r efer again to our tr us ty maj or s cale patter n. Each individual ex er cis e will take a chos en
inter val and apply it to each note of the maj or s cale within a par ticular pos ition. As with pr evious ex er cis es , I s ugges t s tar ting
with the 3 note per s tr ing pos itions for the maj or s cale (S ee figs . 3a.- 3c.)

F i g. 3 a

F i g. 3 b

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F i g. 3 c

T o keep the ex er cis es concis e, I will us e the r ange of a 4 s tr ing bas s , utiliz ing a G maj or s cale s tar ting on the 3r d fr et E s tr ing.
Remember to keep your hand in pos ition as s hown, us ing only the finger ings s pecified for the dur ation of each ex er cis e.

B idir ect ion al in t er vall i c 2 n ds

Diatonic 2nds ar e played fr om each s cale degr ee, changing dir ections fr om as cending to des cending back and for th thr ough the
entir e r ange of the s cale. T he ex er cis e wr itten in s cale degr ees would look like this :

As cending: 1- 2, 3- 2, 3- 4, 5- 4, 5- 6, 7- 6, 7- 8, 9- 8, 9- 10, 11- 10, 11- 12

Des cending: 12- 11, 10- 11, 10- 9, 8- 9, 8- 7, 6- 7, 6- 5, 4- 5, 4- 3, 2- 3, 2- 1

T op

E x. 1

B idir ect ion al in t er vall i c 3 r ds

Diatonic 2nds ar e played fr om each s cale degr ee, changing dir ections fr om as cending to des cending back and for th thr ough the
entir e r ange of the s cale. T he ex er cis e wr itten in s cale degr ees would look like this :

As cending: 1- 3, 4- 2, 3- 5, 6- 4, 5- 7, 8- 6, 7- 9, 10- 8, 9- 11, 12- 10

Des cending: 12- 10, 9- 11, 10- 8, 7- 9, 8- 6, 5- 7, 6- 4, 3- 5, 4- 2, 1- 3

E x. 2

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B idir ect ion al in t er vall i c 4 t h s

As cending: 1- 4, 5- 2, 3- 6, 7- 4, 5- 8, 9- 6, 7- 10, 11- 8, 9- 12

Des cending: 12- 9, 8- 11, 10- 7, 6- 9, 8- 5, 4- 7, 6- 3, 2- 5, 4- 1

T op

E x. 3

B idir ect ion al in t er vall i c 5 t h s

As cending: 1- 5, 6- 2, 3- 7, 8- 4, 5- 9, 10- 6, 7- 11, 12- 8

Des cending: 12- 8, 7- 11, 10- 6, 5- 9, 8- 4, 3- 7, 6- 2, 1- 5

E x. 4

B idir ect ion al in t er vall i c 6 t h s

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As cending: 1- 6, 7- 2, 3- 8, 9- 4, 5- 10, 11- 6, 7- 12

Des cending: 12- 7, 6- 11, 10- 5, 4- 9, 8- 3, 2- 7, 6- 1

T op

E x. 5

B idir ect ion al in t er vall i c 7 t h s

As cending: 1- 7, 8- 2, 3- 9, 10- 4, 5- 11, 12- 6

Des cending: 12- 6, 5- 11, 10- 4, 3- 9, 8- 2, 1- 7

E x. 6

As us ual, pr actice thes e ex er cis es us ing other modes and s cale types over the full r ange of your neck. T r y to be as accur ate as
pos s ible with your finger ings . You s hould be able to play thes e without having to look at your hands . B ecaus e thes e inter vals
often incor por ate s tr ing s kipping, they ar e fantas tic devices for honing your r ight and left hand technique and coor dination. Donít
for get the r ight and left hand pr inciples we dis cus s ed pr evious ly as you wor k thr ough them! S tay focus ed, and youíll be amazed
at your r es ults .

Until nex t time!

T op

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