Help on learning Clarinet grade 5 scales?

Question

Okay i find it really hard to remember them.

I play them over and over, make up rhymes still doesnt help.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks.

Answer 1

There are a lot of different methods that you can use for memorising.  You may find you already use a combination of most of them, but perhaps one is being left out, or maybe you have a particular aptitude for one way.

There is repetition - which is finger muscle memory.  You are already using this one.  You can practise this without making the sound, but just holding the instrument.  Also practise with your fingers holding a pencil.  Try putting your hands behind your back - can you still move the fingers in the patterns you need for the scale?  You're not going for speed here - just memory.



Then there's your ear - recognising the scale pattern.  You are almost definitely using this one too.  Try playing the scale really slowly and thinking before you move to the next note - how big is the next interval?  Take it as slow as you like and allow yourself no hasty guesses.

There's also your cognitive memory - the intelligent approach.  Sometimes I've remembered to use this in everything else in my life and ignored it for music.  I tell myself the sharps/flats and what order they will come before I start, then I keep thinking about them as I play.  I keep a mental (or written) record of where I usually make the mistake for each scale and remind myself of it before I start.  I also take note of things like: what sort of shape is the scale - does it use keys on the front of the instrument,  or an awkward leap on the little fingers or the throat notes.  Remembering the feel of the hand shape gives the scales a different character for me that helps me to remember them.

For me, the biggest thing to hold me back from learning something would be looking at the music.  Reading and memorising are different skills.  Try getting rid of the music altogether for a few days.

Hope that helps!  Good luck with it.

Answer 2

repetition is the best way to get memorization. maybe practice just one scale a day.. instead of working on all of the different ones in a single practice.. it gets to be overwhelming and stressful when you try to cram in all of the scales at once! it can start to feel hopeless! and it definately isnt.  pick a scale and play it through a few times with the music, and then flip the sheet over and try to play it from memory. its okay if you make a mistake, just flip the music back over, and drill through the part that you had trouble with.  after you successfully go through it from memory a few times without missing a note, put it down for the day, and congratulate yourself. you got a scale! then the next day play that scale at the beggining of your practicing, to make sure you still have it down, and then start on a new scale. each day play through the ones that you have mastered, to make sure you dont lose them, and then in no time you wont have anymore to add, and you will have them all perfect!! you can do it. dont give up! and, if you havent done it already, you should mark all of your sharps and flats. it saves time, because you wont make as many careless mistakes on wrong notes. and if you get frustrated, its okay to take a break and come back later.. good luck! :]

Answer 3

scales r sooooooo borin but reapatition is kinda the onli way to get them to stick in ure head, trust me they wil evntually

Answer 4

you can't remember the actual scale or the positions on the clarinet??

how is it possible? they go naturally and automatically.. there's nothing to 'remember'. theyre "in" you already.

1. haven't you got any previous musical training like solfege?

2. do you have a piano, you play it?

OK..... you DON'T LEARN scales!! you learn the positions AFTER you know all the scales from memory BECAUSE they're all the same, what differs  ARE THE POSITIONS on the actual instrument! that's why I asked if you have had any previous training because that's what solfege teaches and without it there's no music schools...!

:) But all scales are the same in ALL tonalities (keys)! what you have to learn is- the position. right? how to do that, another story.. basically repetition. but it's called " learning a new position" not "learning a scale".. ok?

[also, in my music college we had to play scales because of technique training, learning the actual scales is what solfege is for, all scales are the same (be it  diatonic, chromatic or whatever) so playing scales is used for technique training as well as for reaction, agility training etc.. so I quite didn't get what you mean, there's a difference...learning a new position shouldn't be hard, it takes max 5 minutes to get it down fluently, after that you can pay attention to the speed and actual technique etc which THEN takes time..]