Mastering a Scale for the Full Range of a Woodwind Instrument

Woodwind musicians have a peculiar problem with fingering their instruments. The layout of the woodwind fingering is logical at first glance. Starting with no fingers down, adding a finger from the top of the instrument plays the next note down. Most notes are changed up or down by raising or lowering a single finger. But the fingering gets complicated very rapidly. For instance, on the clarinet, flute, saxophone, and oboe, to change from F^# on the top line of the treble clef to the G^# just one step above, a finger from the right hand is raised at the same time a finger on the left hand presses the G^# key. Because of the contrary motion of the fingers from different hands, it is difficult to slur between these notes without an intermediate note such as G sounding.

When a musician is playing in the key of A with three sharps, some parts of the scale such as going from D to E are very easy, while the F# to G# mentioned above is more difficult. Although the fingerings on the family of woodwinds vary, they all have many problems such as this. Even in the C scale with no flats or sharps to worry about, going from third space C up a step to D is difficult on Sax, Flute or Oboe. A similar problem occurs on the clarinet going up from third space A to B. This is called the 'bridge'. Fairly early, musicians learn to go up and down through the bridge smoothly, but it always remains a problem.

When the player must go back and forth over the bridge, sometimes alternate fingerings help (such as the D key on the sax, oboe, and flute, or the side B key on the clarinet). But in playing some series of notes, nothing will help but exercise.

The solution is to master different runs on the C scale, and then master these same runs for every scale. The article Practice Scales around the Circle of Fifths (Ronald Miller, AssociatedContent.com) provides an exercise for playing the twelve major scales. This article suggests a method of mastering the major scales for the full range of the instrument. Click on the image at the top of this article to enlarge it and print it out. The first line shows the first two notes of the C scale. Practice that pattern until it is smooth and fast, it should not be too difficult. Do not go to the next measure, but take the first measure up one step in the key of C. That would be the notes D and E. Practice this pattern going up one step until you reach the top of your instrument. I have shown the top for the saxophone, other instruments may go a few notes higher. Then reverse the pattern as in measure 3, and work your way down to the bottom of the instrument. If the instrument goes below the starting note of the scale, reverse again until you return to the beginning of the scale.

In the same way practice each line of this exercise. Use alternate fingerings where they will help, and listen carefully to make sure the notes sound clearly with no intervening notes or sounds. It will take quite a while to work through this exercise. The next day, try a different key. If you are really ready for a challenge, try it in C#, and the next day a half step higher. But if you have not mastered your scales yet, do them from simple to difficult keys, such as C, F, G, B^b, D, E^b, A, A^b, E, D^b, B, and F^#.

Lines 8 and 9 give the idea of the entire scale. However, the flute and should go a step or two higher and the sax should go down a step lower to a B at the bottom, then back to the C. The exercise for the clarinet is shown on the bottom line, although clarinetists that are able should go up to the G or A. The clarinetist should then start on the top, play to the bottom, then back up. Eventually every musician should be able to play all twelve major scales for the full range of the instrument, starting and stopping on the starting note of the scale.

This is an advanced exercise, and is usually taught and mastered in the first year of Music College.