kiel9
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2012
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 1
I am pleased to offer these campanella scales inspired by the memory of John King. I never had a chance to meet him. However, as a fellow classical guitarist turned uker, his work has been central to how I view the instrument.
My work on these scales began just a few days ago while my wife was busy cooking the Thanksgiving turkey. I was looking at some “campanella” scales from I book I bought from Amazon and I was deeply disappointed that they included so many notes on the same string, and especially how they jumped octaves at random points. As soon as I began reworking the C scale I felt compelled to finish all twelve keys.
I usually play tenor, but I have some students who have soprano ukuleles and I wanted these to be accessible to all. Yet, I found that when playing the keys of Ab, A, Bb, and B there were much better ways to play them if only the player had access to notes above the twelfth fret. Even the key of G felt like a compromise. By this I mean that the versions of the scale keeping everything below the twelfth fret rely heavily on artificial harmonics in order to play the notes out of reach and still be in keeping with the campanella technique. Even the curse of repeating notes on strings was necessary for the keys of Ab, and A.
These problems initially caused me create two sets of fingering for those scales (Ab, A, Bb, and B). One for the tenor neck crowd, and is one for the little guys. However, it seemed too much of a stretch to get all those high notes out of a soprano uke and in the end I've chosen just to arrange these for the big boys. I have played through all of them many times and I’ve checked the different fingerings for each instrument. I own some nice Hawaiian koa ukes, but I like to play this kind on stuff on my Pono MPTSH for that Baroque sound. My only concert is an Oscar Schmitt OU5 and I have a cheapy no-name soprano, but these scales can be done on both. I’m not saying they’re easy, but I bet Mr. King wouldn’t have any trouble with them on his concert stradelele.
I would love any feedback you have on the way I put these together. No matter is too small for I already tend to obsess about the little things. Feel free to distribute the scales to whomever, but please leave my copyright on there in case I decide to bet my retirement on the proceeds. I plan on recording these scales at different speeds and posting them in future so watch for those. Also, be on the lookout for the minor versions of these. I intend to work them out like Segovia’s melodic minor versions that revert to natural minor on the way down in the classical tradition.
Thanks for your interest,
Kiel Schweizer
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r5ip05obyn9x8zc/Campanella Major and Minor Scales.pdf
*EDIT* I've now updated the download link because the file host I was using shut down, but I've done away with the soprano versions because they just seemed too difficult. I can only attach five pictures per post so look to my later post if you want to look at the minor scales without downloading them.
My work on these scales began just a few days ago while my wife was busy cooking the Thanksgiving turkey. I was looking at some “campanella” scales from I book I bought from Amazon and I was deeply disappointed that they included so many notes on the same string, and especially how they jumped octaves at random points. As soon as I began reworking the C scale I felt compelled to finish all twelve keys.
I usually play tenor, but I have some students who have soprano ukuleles and I wanted these to be accessible to all. Yet, I found that when playing the keys of Ab, A, Bb, and B there were much better ways to play them if only the player had access to notes above the twelfth fret. Even the key of G felt like a compromise. By this I mean that the versions of the scale keeping everything below the twelfth fret rely heavily on artificial harmonics in order to play the notes out of reach and still be in keeping with the campanella technique. Even the curse of repeating notes on strings was necessary for the keys of Ab, and A.
These problems initially caused me create two sets of fingering for those scales (Ab, A, Bb, and B). One for the tenor neck crowd, and is one for the little guys. However, it seemed too much of a stretch to get all those high notes out of a soprano uke and in the end I've chosen just to arrange these for the big boys. I have played through all of them many times and I’ve checked the different fingerings for each instrument. I own some nice Hawaiian koa ukes, but I like to play this kind on stuff on my Pono MPTSH for that Baroque sound. My only concert is an Oscar Schmitt OU5 and I have a cheapy no-name soprano, but these scales can be done on both. I’m not saying they’re easy, but I bet Mr. King wouldn’t have any trouble with them on his concert stradelele.
I would love any feedback you have on the way I put these together. No matter is too small for I already tend to obsess about the little things. Feel free to distribute the scales to whomever, but please leave my copyright on there in case I decide to bet my retirement on the proceeds. I plan on recording these scales at different speeds and posting them in future so watch for those. Also, be on the lookout for the minor versions of these. I intend to work them out like Segovia’s melodic minor versions that revert to natural minor on the way down in the classical tradition.
Thanks for your interest,
Kiel Schweizer
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r5ip05obyn9x8zc/Campanella Major and Minor Scales.pdf
*EDIT* I've now updated the download link because the file host I was using shut down, but I've done away with the soprano versions because they just seemed too difficult. I can only attach five pictures per post so look to my later post if you want to look at the minor scales without downloading them.
Last edited: