Campanella Scales in all Twelve Keys!

kiel9

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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

Campanella Major and Minor Scales.jpgCampanella Major and Minor Scales2.jpgCampanella Major and Minor Scales3.jpg
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.
 
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Download

Hi,

Thanks for this. I am having trouble downloading this. COuld you post the pdf directly?

thanks
Madhava
 
How to use these

I just updated the link to a direct download so it should be easier to get. I have also made a lot of revisions since I originally posted it so it might be worth printing a new copy.

The best advice I can come up with for what to do with these is to tackle them one at a time and concentrate on holding down each note as long as possible so you get the effect of them ringing like bells into one another. It is also important to be able to play them with repeats. I have tried to take special care to connect the end of each scale with it's beginning because that is often the weak link for performing any scale.

I have arranged them in the order of the circle of 5th's and -in general- the ones in the middle are the hardest. However, my favorite one is the key of E Major (top of page 2). That one seems to really flow and might be a good place to start.

They are challenging to say the least, and are probably best suited for an intermediate/advanced player. Beginners would have better luck sticking with open position scales before moving onto campanella studies.

Good Luck and thanks for the responses. I'd be thrilled to hear of progress anyone makes with these.
 
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Tanka very much

Thanks, Skidoo

I really like your recent post too. Those exercises are a great resource. I'm going to try them out on some students as soon as I've mastered them.




wonderful stuff - thanks very much!
 
Fantastic Work - Thank you so Much for Sharing This. I really Love It
 
Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting it.

One question: what does the Roman numeral notation, CII, CVII, CIX, etc., denote?
 
Like everyone said before me, you should probably have larger hands to really pull this piece off. Usually you can get away and make due, but this piece is the first piece I've come across that truly demands large hands. I can comfortably reach a span of 11 keys and found this piece a pain in spots to reach!

The piano level says it's a 10. I wouldn't strain yourself to learn it even if it's for a piano competition. Play only what you can play well! Chopin Etudes are at a level 10, but some are easier than others. Check those out if you are not ready for Liszt!
 
Capo Symbols

Those roman numerals represent the fret at which you are to capo the strings by laying the 1st finger across the fretboard. I tried to use the bracket line behind the capo symbol to show how long to hold the capo. The Db scale has an especially difficult capo that lasts for almost half the scale. Again, we're going for a legato sound and in order to achieve that harp-like sound where the notes blend together try to hold each note as long as possible.


Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting it.

One question: what does the Roman numeral notation, CII, CVII, CIX, etc., denote?
 
Now with Minor Keys!

I just finished adding in the twelve minor keys to these scales. Check out the minor ones below or click the link to get a pdf of all major/minors.

The bad news is that I said goodbye to the soprano versions. I figure they were probably unplayable to the majority of people on those ukes anyway, but let me know and if you want I can email you a copy of the ones I cut out. The minor ones now included are the melodic minor scales: meaning that they have raised 6th, and 7th on the way up; but revert to the natural minor on the way down. I did this to mimic the way Segovia put together his scales for guitar. It also helps the general idea I had of using different fingerings on the way back down the scale for both major and minor.

I'd like to add one more thing I've discovered after playing these incessantly for months now. When the left hand changes position it unavoidably cuts off the last played note. So we are left with some notes ringing for longer than others. When you are able to repeat a scale several times without stopping you should start to notice that these natural breaks and accents create a kind of melody within the overall scale. It is different for each scale as they all take advantage of open strings in different ways and change position at different points. It's hard to describe, but I still intend on recording these and maybe I can do a better job explaining it then.

Anyway, best of luck with these. I appreciate all the feedback.

Campanella Major and Minor Scales4.jpgCampanella Major and Minor Scales5.jpgCampanella Major and Minor Scales6.jpg
http://www.fileden.com/files/2012/12/21/3378675/Campanella Major and Minor Scales.pdf
 
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