Bringing scales to life

[Upnorth]

Today is Christmas Eve, and I've got the day off work. I'll go shopping for last minute stuff later, but right now I've taken the opportunity to compose a tune based on a scale.

I took up the mandolin a few months ago, and began with scales, but I soon progressed to tunes. While this helps to hold interest - and to be fair I practise every day - it is I suppose akin to running before I can walk.

I had been thinking for some time now that I needed to spend more time on scales, and then it dawned on me a few days back to try composing a tune based on a scale. This morning I practised a pentatonic scale in G - straightforward enough on a mandolin - and after a few minutes I had this tune:

G0, G4, G2
G0, G4, D2
G0, G4, G2
G0, G4, D2
D2, D5, D2
D0, G4, D5
D0, G4, D2
D0, G4, G0

This can be played three beats to the bar, but sounds better as four beats to each bar, and let the third note ring for two beats.

I'm not asking anyone to say that this is a brilliant tune. I know I'm no Vivaldi, but I think it is fair to say that composing and then playing a simple tune like this helps bring scales to life, and is arguably more enjoyable than just playing scales.

[Phil Goodson]

Well, maybe I'm dumb as dirt, but I have no idea how to read what you wrote above. What tune???? What do your notations mean?

[Upnorth]

It is standard mandolin tablature. Does anyone else have trouble interpreting it?

It is a pentatonic scale in G, and begins logically with the G strings played open. The next note is the G strings at the fourth fret, and so on.

Each line of three notes represents a bar in the music, which can be of any number of beats the player chooses, although I prefer four beats to the bar.

[Manfred Hacker]

I'm not asking anyone to say that this is a brilliant tune. I know I'm no Vivaldi, but I think it is fair to say that composing and then playing a simple tune like this helps bring scales to life, and is arguably more enjoyable than just playing scales.

I would say that these are a couple of pentatonic licks.
Why don't you learn a dozen fiddle tunes in G, D, and A, for example? Plenty of scales or partial scales there.

[Upnorth]

That may be a good idea, but my tune contains every single note from the scale in question, and not one note from outside of the scale - which I think helps me to learn the scale. If you want to call my scale tune a pentatonic lick, then you are free to do so.

I had a go yesterday at making a tune out of a blues scale in A, but that remains a work in progress.

[Ky Slim]

I like this tune. I think I like it with 3 beats more than 4 but I'm not exactly certain I'm playing it right. Either way adding rhythm to scales and noodling out musical phrases is a great way to bring scales to life. Well done!