Trills, Turns, Mordents, Slides, and Grace Notes (Common Violin Ornaments Explained)

If you’ve ever seen a sideways “S” in music or maybe some squigglies above a note, you’ve run into some violin ornaments or embellishments. Not to worry! These crazy looking symbols aren’t that hard to understand. I’ve identified the 5 most common violin ornaments you will see in classical violin music and fiddle music. Get ready to finally understand trills, turns, mordents, slides and grace notes in violin music!

Want to Download and Print This Ornaments for Violin Chart?

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How to Play a Trill on the Violin

Trills in violin music are notated with a “tr” over the note. To play a trill on the violin, simply hold down the main note that is printed and rapidly tap the next higher note. So if you have a trill over an F#, 2nd finger on the D string, you would rapidly tap the 3rd finger G while holding the F# down. This will make the trill sound like a bird trilling or a flutter. You can start slow and gradually speed up tapping the next higher note.

What is a Sideways S in Violin Music? A Turn!

You will often see some funny-looking sideways S’s in violin music. That’s a turn. How do you play a turn on the violin? It’s not as difficult as it seems.

If the turn is over an F, you would start on the note above the printed note, then play the actual printed noted, then go one step below the printed note, then back up to the printed note. Once you practice turns on the violin a few times, you will get the feel for what they sound like.

But sometimes the S is reversed, or sometimes the sideways S has a slash through it. That’s an inverted turn.

It goes the opposite direction of the normal turn. Start one note below the printed note, go up to the printed note, keep going one more note above the printed note, then back down to the printed note.

Remember, whether it’s a regular turn or an inverted turn, you always end on the printed note. What changes is what note you start on.

How Do I Play a Mordent in Violin Music?

First of all, what is a mordent!? Well it looks like a squiggle above a note. Like this.

See how it kinda of looks like an “m.” Use that to help you remember “mordent".” You can think of a mordent in violin music like a min-trill. To play a mordent on the violin, all you do is quickly play the next higher note once and then return to the original printed note.

You also have inverted mordents. That’s the squiggle with a line through it like this.

To play an inverted mordent, you’ll just start on the printed note, go down one note and then back up to the printed note. Simple as that!

How to Play a Slide in Fiddle Music?

Slides are very common in fiddle music. A slide is notated by an angled line leading up to a note. Like this.

To play a slide on the violin, just place the finger about a half step below where you would normally place the finger then slide up into the printed note. Think of it like you accidentally played an out of tune note and you’re quickly sliding into the correct note and that’s a slide!

How to Play Grace Notes on the Violin

The last type of violin ornament we’ll talk about is a grace note. Graces notes can be single or multiple. Grace notes are the little notes before or after a normal, printed note. They can be played on the beat or before the beat.

Different Types of Grace Notes: Acciacatura and Appoggiatura

If the grace note has a slash through it, it’s technically called an acciacatura. Acciacatura means “crushed.” The acciaccatura or slashed grace note is played before the beat.

If the grace note doesn’t have a slash, it’s an appoggiatura. Appoggiaturas are played on the beat and essentially steal time from the main printed note. Appoggiaturas often have a sense of leaning on the grace note and resolving to the main printed note.

Those are the 5 most common ornaments and embellishments you’ll see in violin and fiddle music!

Do you want more music theory for the violin?

Check out my course on music theory for the violin. It’s over 6 and a half hours of helpful information on music theory! Everything you ever needed to know!

Happy Practicing!

Easy Violin Harmonics Explained!

Harmonics on the violin often seem over-complicated and confusing, but harmonics on the violin are actually some of the easiest notes to play on the violin! Not only are they easy to play, they’re easy to recognize in music. After you go through this easy guide to violin harmonics I think you will find these special notes on the violin not only easy, but fun to play!

Here’s some common questions about violin harmonics that we’ll cover in this easy guide to harmonics. (Skip ahead if you like).

What are violin harmonics?

How to play violin harmonics?

What are the different types of harmonics?

What’s the difference between natural and artificial harmonics on the violin?

How are harmonics notated?

What are the most common harmonics on the violin?

How are artificial harmonics notated?

What’s the most confusing way to notate harmonics that I’ll probably never see in violin music? (I’m glad you asked. I’ve got an answer for you)

What Are Violin Harmonics?

The definition of a harmonic is: a wave whose frequency is multiple of the frequency of the same reference wave.

Got it? Okay, good. Moving on.

Just kidding. You don’t need to know anything about waves, overtones, nodes, frequencies, etc to understand violin harmonics.

What is my definition of a harmonic? A note that is played by lightly touching the finger to a particular place on the violin string, which produces a whistling sound.

When you are playing a harmonic, you are touching the string so lightly that you are actually allowing both parts of the string to vibrate (the parts of the string to the left and right of your finger). Think about it. When you put a finger down on the violin fingerboard normally, you’re allowing the string in between the finger and the bridge to vibrate, but the part of the string in between your finger and the nut of the violin doesn’t vibrate.

Allowing both sides of the string to vibrate is one of the things that gives a harmonic its characteristic whistling sound.

How to Play Harmonics on the Violin

Look at your string from the nut (the grooved part at the bottom of the peg box where the strings are touching) to the bridge. Do you see that distance between the nut and the bridge? On a full size violin that’s about 13 inches. You can either measure or just eyeball it, but lightly touch your finger to the string at the mid-point of the string. I do this with my fourth finger but you can do it with any finger. Move your finger around until the harmonic speaks.

Tada! You’ve found the most common harmonic on the violin. The harmonic will occur on the same place on every single string.

What you are playing is a natural harmonic on the violin. It occurs when you divide the string in half. That ration of 2:1 is the simplest ratio you can get, so the harmonic produced there is going to be really easy to play.

There are other natural harmonics on the violin. For instance, if you divide your string length into thirds, you’ll find there’s a natural harmonic right where your 3rd finger would go in first position. (Ever wonder why that finger is a “ring tone” on your violin that really rings when it’s in tune? Now you know).

There’s also a natural harmonic where the fourth finger goes in first position. Just try lightly touching the string and scoot your finger all the way up the fingerboard. You’ll hear lots of natural harmonics. The ones that sound clearly are more simpler ratios. The harmonics that don’t speak so easily are more complicated ratios like 7:1.

What Are the Different Types of Harmonics on the Violin

There’s only two types of harmonics on the violin: natural harmonics (what you just played) and artificial harmonics.

What's the Difference Between Natural and Artificial Harmonics?

Natural harmonics occur when you lightly place your finger on the string. On a full size violin the length of the string from the nut to the bridge is about 13 inches. So you’ll find natural harmonics at certain places, like 6.5 inches up from the nut (the exact middle of the string) Or 4.3 inches up from the nut (the string divided into thirds).

Well those same ratios exist even when playing on a different length of string.

Let’s say we put our first finger down firmly on the first finger in first position. Guess what?! You’ve changed the string length! You’re no longer dealing with a 13 inch string. You’re dealing with something more like a 12 inch string. That means those harmonics that occur when you divide the string in 2 or divide by 3 are going to occur at different places.

So if you keep your first finger down and lightly touch the 4th finger with your pinky, you’re essentially dividing that string into thirds. That’s an artificial harmonic!

An artificial harmonic occurs on the violin when you create an artificial “nut” by placing the first finger firmly down on the string and then placing another finger lightly on the same string to divide the string into thirds and play a harmonic.

How Are Harmonics Notated on the Violin?

There are four ways to notate natural harmonics on the violin. The first two are the most common, but you’ll occasionally see the second two.

The most common natural harmonics are usually notated with a 4 and a 0 or circle. You’ll find this notation for that common natural harmonic that occurs right in the middle of the string.

For the other natural harmonics, it’s common to see the note head in an open diamond shape. Sometimes you will also get a number like 3 and a 0 to indicate that note is a harmonic.

Sometimes you will see an open string below a diamond shaped note. The lower string is telling you what string to play this harmonic on. In the example below, you would lightly place your 3rd finger on the “G” note on the D string.

What Are the Most Common Harmonics on the Violin?

These are the most common natural harmonics on the violin. You can play them with third finger in first position, 4th finger in 1st position, or 4th finger in 4th position.

How Are Artificial Harmonics Notated?

Artificial harmonics often look like a double stop (two notes at once). But the bottom note will look like a normal note and the note on top will be diamond shaped. This is telling you to firmly place the bottom note wherever you would normally place it if it were just by itself. Now lightly place your pinky on whatever note the diamond shaped note is indicating (always on the same string).

Sometimes artificial harmonics look like this.

That’s really all you need to know to be able to identify harmonics in music. Sometimes you’ll see the word harm. to indicate the notes are harmonics. Sometimes you’ll see the word flag. which is short for flageolet, another word for harmonics. But that is somewhat rare.

What's the Most Confusing Way to Write Harmonics?

Wait, you mean you’re not confused? You’re disappointed because you thought harmonics would be sooo much more complicated? Alright, alright. Let me try and confuse you with this form of harmonic notation that you’ll rarely see in most violin music.

So what in the world is this trying to tell us? Are these artificial harmonics or natural harmonics? They’re natural harmonics trying to masquerade as some unnatural aberration.

Sorry natural harmonics, you’re just not that confusing.

Okay, stay with me here. The bottom note tells you what open string to play the harmonic on. The diamond shaped note tells you where to lightly place your finger. And the note in parentheses tells you what pitch is actually sounding.

The diamond note is the only important note in my opinion. The other two notes are completely unnecessary. The bottom note is not needed because where else would you play those diamond shaped notes? How about that first one? Do you want to try and play that G on the E string? Hmmm….probably not a good idea. Why don’t you just play it where you would always play that note! On the D string!

What about the second example? Where else are you going to play that low B? Well there’s only one string you can play that harmonic on, the G string, so your options are kind of limited.

How about those top notes in parentheses? Those are the pitches you are actually producing when you play that natural harmonic. The good news about natural harmonics is that if your finger is in the right place, the harmonic is in tune! No need to get out your tuner to see if that natural harmonic on the D string with 3rd finger is actually indicating that high D.

Composers have already done all the hard work to figure out what pitch they want to sound at that particular place in music. So the parenthetical notes are way more information than you need and often left out of most violin music.

I hope you enjoyed this easy guide to violin harmonics! If you would like more music theory, check out my course on Music Theory that covers pretty much every topic imaginable!

Happy Practicing!

~Lora

Easy Guide to Italian Words in Classical Violin Music

Open up any classical violin music and you might feel like you’ve been transported to Italy. That’s because the classical music tradition has strong roots in Italy and the language became the standard for musical notation. Even if you’re playing German masters Mozart or Beethoven, chances are the majority of musical words will be in Italian!

Now you don’t have to take Italian lessons to be able to understand what the composer is trying to tell you. It may seem like there are a lot of Italian words in classical music, but in this guide to Italian words in classical music, I’ll show you how you can divide these common Italian musical phrases into adfsdasdf categories. These categories are:

1.Italian Musical Words for Dynamics

2. Italian Musical Words for Tempos

3. Italian Musical Words for Changes in Tempos

4. The Most Important (And Common) Italian Musical Words You Need To Know (these are the ones you need to memorize!)

5.Italian Music Words for Musical Expression

I teach you all of these definitions and explain how apply them to the violin in my course on Music Theory. This is a massive course on everything you need to know (or everything you’ve ever wanted to know) about music theory, including a lot of topics I had way to much fun making this course! If you want to learn more about it, click here.

Alright, here’s your easy guide to Italian Words in Classical Violin Music!

Italian Musical Words for Dynamics

Dynamics in classical violin music tell us how loud or softly to play music. But there’s a lot more variation than just loud and soft. Remember these common terms: forte, piano, and mezzo. You can combine these three words to get lots of variation.

What does forte mean in music?

Forte simply means “loud.” For the violin that means using a lot of bow and a lot of bow weight to get a good strong tone. It’s indicated in music just with the letter “f” like this.

What does piano mean in classical music?

Well, piano is an instrument, but in classical music it also means to play something softly. In fact, the early versions of our modern day pianos were called “pianofortes” or “fortepianos” because they could play a range of dynamics, as opposed to the harpsichord which is a little more dynamically challenged. Piano is denoted by, you guessed it, a “p.”

Now we have mezzo, which means medium or moderate. So if you have mezzo piano or “mp” it means moderately quiet, so not quite as quiet as piano.

Adding “ISS” to musical words

Adding the letters ISS in the middle of an Italian musical word simply makes it “very” of whatever it is. So fortissimo means very loud! You can get crazy adding lots of ISS as you’ll see.

1. Dynamic Markings In Music Chart

Enjoy this guide to dynamic markings with this easy to use chart.

2. Italian Musical Words for Tempos

Now let’s move on to the next category of words in classical music. These are some common words you will see to indicate tempo in music. These tempo markings in music correspond to certain ranges on the metronome. So the next time you see “Larghetto” in your classical violin music, use this chart to help you determine what tempo range the composer is talking about.

3. Italian Musical Words for Changes in Tempo

Musical tempos don’t always stay the same for an entire piece of classical music. Sometimes things change! You’ll often see these common Italian words to indicate speeding up or slowing down.

4. The Most Important (And Most Common) Italian Musical Words You Need to Know

You don’t have to memorize all the other Italian musical words, but these you do! These common Italian phrases will be repeated over and over again in various combinations in classical violin music. Once you have these basic Italian musical phrases memorized, you’ll be able to decipher a great majority of classical music jargon.

These words can often be combined with each other. For instance, meno mosso means “less motion” or less fast. Or you can see these words combined with tempo words. For instance you might see Andante Con Moto at the beginning of a piece. This means andante (at a walking pace) but with motion. So I translate that as: a little faster than typical Andante. Ma Non Troppo is another common combination. It means: but not too fast. You’ll often see Allegro ma non troppo to indicate the composer wants the piece fast, but not too fast.

You’ll see how these Italian words add flavor and a very specific feel to classical music composition. It allows the composers to be very specific about what they are telling you.

5. Italian Terms for Musical Expression

The last category in our easy guide to Italian musical words is perhaps the most enjoyable. Terms for musical expression! This is not a complete list, but these are some common terms you will see in violin classical music to denote a specific expression, mood, or atmosphere.

Hopefully this easy guide to Italian musical terms will help you play your violin music with more style and color!

What is Third Position on the Violin (And Why is it Hard!?)

What is third position on the violin? What do we gain by learning a new position? Why do we learn third position after first position? What are the notes in third position? And most importantly, why is learning third position so hard?

These may be some of your questions as you’re getting ready to learn third position on the violin. I remember learning third position turned my world upside down and I’ve heard similar stories from other professional violinists. For a longtime I watched my own private students struggle with learning third position. Then I finally realized the problem wasn’t with third position, but with the way we teach it!

Traditionally, we teachers plop a third position book up on the music stand and watch our students slog joylessly through reading music in third position. The reason third position is so hard is because students have never been taught to understand and speak the language of the violin.

Let me explain. I took a couple Spanish courses in college. I learned to parrot back a couple phrases. To this day, I sing a little ditty I learned titled, “Me gusta la leche, me gusta cafe.” Now I can say a couple things in Spanish. At one point I might have even convinced a few non-Spanish speakers that I could speak the language. But did I actually known and understand Spanish? NO! All I could do was repeat phrases I had learned. That’s not knowing a language in my opinion. But unfortunately, we violin teachers teach violin in the same way.

We teach you to memorize little things. “Play a high 2nd finger on this string, but not on that string. Just remember when you see this key signature you have to do it that way. Don’t ask why. There’s not enough time to explain.”

So when you get to third position, no wonder it’s so confusing! You’ve never learned the basic rules of the language and when you throw in an advanced concept, your world falls apart.

My method of teaching third position is completely different. I teach you the language of the violin through ear training and music theory so third position makes sense. If you want the real third position experience, check out my course on Mastering Third Position Basics (you’ll get the entire course as part of my Online Membership).

For now, let’s talk through these questions about third position.

What is Third Position on the Violin?

Simply put, if you put your first finger where your second finger normally goes in first position, you’re in Second Position. Now go back to first position. If you put your first finger where your third finger goes, now you’re in third position. The first finger in third position on the G string is on the C note, on the D string first finger is G, A string first finger is D, E string first finger is A.

Every time you change to a higher position, you gain one new note that you didn’t have in the lower position. You also lose a note on the lower end as well.

When Should I Learn Third Position?

You should wait to learn third position until you are pretty comfortable in first position. Once you can play all of the notes in first position with pretty good intonation and muscle memory, you’re probably ready to start learning third position. However, I think it’s very important to experiment during your practicing. Experimenting means not knowing what the outcome will be, so you can’t beat yourself up if the outcome wasn’t what you expected. It’s very important to experiment with the violin during your playing. You’ll discover so much about your violin by just “playing around.” So if you want to experiment playing in third position even if you are fairly new to the violin, I say go for it.

How Do I Get Ready for Third Position?

Well, I’ve got 7 tips for making sure your set-up and violin hold is ready for third position. You can watch the video here.

What are the Notes in Third Position on the Violin?

Here are the notes in third position for each string. You’ll notice you gain a high C and D on the E string. These are notes you didn’t have in first position. But you also lost the low A and the low B on the G string.

Why Do We Learn Third Position Before Second Position?

Certain key signatures fit well with certain position. In first position, you probably learned D, A, or G major first. Trickier keys in first position are B Flat, F Major, E Major, etc. These are tricky because they involve “low 1s” or “high 3s,” notes that don’t fit in that normal finger pattern.

Every position has keys that fit will in that position. Third position tends to favor the same key signatures in first position, and therefore, favors keys that are very popular on the violin. Second position however, favors B flat, F major, etc. So when you’re learning your first higher position on the violin, it’s best to learn one that favors keys you are already very comfortable with.

Another reason we teach third position before second position is because third position can feel more comfortable and stabilizing since your palm will be touching the actual body of the violin (with most hand shapes). In second position, your hand just feels like it’s floating out there in outer space. There’s not a lot of physical cues to help you know where you are.

How Do I Play In Third Position?

To get up to third position on the violin, you need to start in first position. It’s very important to prep third position. Play 0-1-2-3 in first position on any string. Make sure your third finger is very in tune (hint: ring tones!)

Now replace your third finger with your first finger. Or move your hand so your first finger is playing the exact same note you were playing in first position. Ta-da! You’re in third position. Yep, it’s that easy. However, it does take a LOT of practicing and muscle memory and ear training to get that transition really smooth and seamless. Don’t worry, I cover these topics in depth in my Third Position Course.

Scales in Third Position

Before you learn scales in third position, it’s very important to learn the universal scale pattern for the violin. Once you learn this pattern, playing scales in third position will be so much easier. Watch the video below to learn about the universal scale pattern. I think you’ll be surprised how easy it can be to play in higher positions when you aren’t worrying about READING music.

If you are ready for more easy scales in third position, learn more here.

Ready to Master Third Position Basics?

Learning third position shouldn’t be a struggle. Let me show you how easy it can be! Click below to learn more.

Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Why They Are Important for the Violin

Most beginner violinists have a big fear: knowing where to put their fingers. While there are no frets, keys, or markers of any kind on a fingerboard, that doesn’t mean we aren’t using a framework to help us. That framework is built out of…you guessed it, half steps and whole steps.

What is a half step and whole step? First, let’s start with intervals which are measured distances between one note and another note. These distances are measured using half steps and whole steps. A half step is the smallest distance between one note and the next. On the violin, a half step is when your fingers are basically touching each other. A whole step is two half steps.

Half and whole steps are a lot easier to see on the piano. A piano keyboard is made up of white and black keys.

Do you see how there is a repetition of 2 black keys then 3 black keys? This pattern continues all the way up and down the keyboard. A half step is the distance from a white key to the black key that touches it. If you move to the right, the closest black key is a sharp. If you move to the left, the closest black key is a flat. Take the note D. If you move up a half step, you’ve reached D#. If you move down (left) a half step from D, you have D flat. On the violin, moving up towards your bridge makes a note sharp and moving back towards your scroll makes it flat. On the piano, if you go from one black key to its nearest white key, you are also traveling a half step. D# to E is a half step.

If you study the keyboard you’ll notice there are two instances where white keys are touching each other with no black key in between them. These two instances occur between B and C and between E and F. That’s because B and C and E and F are half steps apart from each other respectively. If you go up a half step from B you get C (not B#). Other than these two instances, if you travel from one note to the next note in the musical alphabet you are traveling a whole step. For instance, G to A is a whole step (you can also see how you’ve traveled two half steps: G to G# and G# to A).

It’s very important to remember those two sets of half steps between white keys. It’s going to make a lot of sense once we start talking about scales. For now remember B and C and E and F. I use the mnemonic “Buy Chocolate” and “Eat Fudge” to help my students remember.

So how does this help your violin playing? Two ways. Half steps and whole steps make up your invisible framework on your fingerboard and they also help with intonation. This is where ear training can really come in handy. All intervals can be associated with certain songs to help you identify them. A half step sounds like the beginning of the theme song from Jaws.

Choose any note on the violin and play “Jaws” using one note and a half step above that note. Your fingers should really be touching. Almost all beginners have trouble with their half steps being too far apart. Try playing “Jaws” again but this time scoot your half step finger up a little from the first. It doesn’t quite sound right, does it?

Now let’s talk about how half steps and whole steps make up your invisible frame work. Your half steps and whole steps will change depending on what key you are in. Let’s say you’re playing in the Key of C. There are no sharps or flats in the Key of C so your only half steps will be between B and C and between E and F (remember Buy Chocolate and Eat Fugde?) Here’s what the Key of C looks like on a violin in first position.

You can see the half steps, they’re the notes that are touching each other. You see how there are fewer half steps than whole steps. In fact there is usually only one pair of half steps for each string. Whatever key you are playing in, don’t worry about the whole steps, concentrate on remembering where the half steps are. This is how you build up your framework.

If I’m playing in the Key of C, all I have to remember is where the half steps are for each string. My framework looks something like this.

G string= B and C (2 and 3)
D string= E and F (1 and 2)
A string= B and C (1 and 2)
E string= No half steps (but your F is lower than your other first fingers since it is natural (not sharp or flat)

So when I am playing in the Key of C, I simply remember where my fingers touch on each string. Starting from the G string, I say to myself, 2-3, 1-2, 1-2, low 1. This way you don’t have to think, “Is that second finger high or low?”

As your fingers develop more and more muscle memory, you don’t necessarily have to think about these numbers, your fingers will naturally find where they need to be. But until then, practice thinking in terms of half steps.

Now you try. Let’s say we’re in the Key of G which has one sharp, F# (we’ll talk about why there’s an F# there in the next lesson). Your violin fingerboard is going to look almost the exact same except all of your F’s are going to move up one half step. What is your framework going to look like now? What are the numbers you are going to remember for each string?

Here’s the answer for your half steps in the Key of G:

G string= 2 and 3 (B and C)
D string= 2 and 3 (F# and G)
A string= 1 and 2  (B and C)
E string= 1 and 2 (F# and G)

Try playing through a G scale starting at your open G string and going to your high G on the E string. Play it as fast as you can. You’re not thinking about notes, sharps, “high” 2s or “low” 2s. All you are thinking is 2 and 3, 2 and 3, 1 and 2, 1 and 2. Make those half steps fingers on each string super tight.

Can you play through the scale faster than you could if you were just thinking note to note? Keep working on it, just thinking about the half steps. The more you do it, the quicker it gets!

Try thinking of half steps in all of your scales. If you aren’t practicing scales, you should be! Check out my free scale sheets or order some of my favorite scale books. Scales really are the secret to better playing.

Embrace your half steps! They are the tiny building blocks for your left hand technique. Later we'll discuss  using half steps to help you play notes that span big leaps across the fingerboard, but first let’s talk a little about key signatures and scales.

Happy practicing!

To learn more about music theory and how it applies to the violin, check out my course Music Theory for Violinists: Everything You Need to Know. It’s part of my Online Studio Membership. Learn more here.

Major Scales and Key Signatures for the Violin

It would be pretty boring we played all music in the same key. But we can rearrange where the half steps are in a scale and get 12 different major keys. (Do you know how many half steps there are in a scale? That’s right, 12!) A major key can be built off of every half step in a scale.

C   D♭  D   E♭  E   F   F#   G   A♭  A   B♭  B  

You might be wondering why I sharped some notes and made others flat. That’s because you will play something in B♭ a lot more than you will play something in the key of A#. Look at the piano, B♭ and A# are the same note. That means they are enharmonic equivalents: the same note written two different ways.

Major Scales

How do major scales work? Well it all depends on the arrangement of whole and half steps. Start with C major. Can you write half or whole in between each note? Remember “Buy Chocolate” and “Eat Fudge". Half steps are going to be between those two pairs of white keys that touch on the piano keyboard.

This is the order you get. Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half. I sum it up like this: WWHWWWH.

That’s the order of half and whole steps for all major scales which is why major scales sound the same. They have the same relationship between the notes. Try this exercise. Print out some blank sheet music. Notate an E (the first line on the treble staff). Without looking at a scale book and without thinking about your key signature for E, begin writing the scale just by the order of whole and half steps. Now compare your scale to an E major scale in your scale book. If you really  want to give yourself a workout, try doing this for the more complicated scales like A#.

So if you’ve ever wondered why the Key of G major has one sharp—F#, this is why. Start on a G, follow your half step whole step pattern for the major scale and you will end up with F#.

All scales have two sets of half steps. Think of the Key of C as your vanilla scale with your basic BC and EF half steps. Every time you add one sharp, you are changing these two sets of half steps. In the key of G, you haven’t changed anything with B or C so they are still half steps. But E and F are no longer half steps because you had to sharp that F. Now F# and G are half steps.

What’s up with all those sharps and flats? They look like they are completely random but they always occur in a certain order. If you have one sharp, it will always be F#. If you have two sharps they will always be F# and C#. The order goes like this:

F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

Use the mnemonic “Fat Cats Go Down Allies Eating Birds” to help you remember the order.

For flats, the order is the reverse of what it is for sharps.

B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭

Remember “Bead Go Catch Fish” for flats.

You can number each note in your scale. We call these scale degrees. The numbers above the notes are the scale degrees.  Each note in a scale also has a name which are written below the note in the following picture.

Don't worry about remembering the name for each scale degree. The most important ones are tonic, dominant, and the leading tone. Scale degrees and scale names are the same for major and minor keys.

Why do we call the seventh scale degree a leading tone? Because it wants to lead to tonic again. Try playing a scale and stop on the leading tone. You’ll be itching to play the tonic to feel complete. (Legend has it Mozart’s father would play scales in the morning ending on the leading tone. Young Mozart would jump out of bed, run down stairs, and play the tonic. Brilliant idea to get a prodigy up in the morning.)

You know what key you are playing in based on the key signature at the beginning of the music. Here’s a list of all the major (and their relative minor scales). Don’t worry about the minor scales for now. Try to memorize each key signature up through 5 sharps and 5 flats. In the violin, you will spend most of your time playing in the key signatures with 0-5 sharps or flats so focus on those.

Next we'll talk about minor scales!

Happy Practicing!

Understanding Minor Scales for the Violin

For every major key signature, there is a minor scale that shares that same key signature. We call these minor scales relative minor scales, since they are related to the major key signature. Relative minor scales will have a different starting pitch than their relative major scales. For instance, C major and A minor are relative scales since they both share a key signature (zero sharps or flats).

Minor scales are a little more complex than major scales because minor comes in three flavors: natural, harmonic, and melodic. Before we get to that, let’s figure out the half steps and whole steps in a minor scale.

We’ll start with the A minor scale. Can you determine the order of half steps and whole steps between each note?

Your answer is: Whole Half Whole Whole Half Whole Whole. Sum it up by remembering WHWWHWW

This is a natural minor scale. It’s in it’s “natural” state. Nothing has been changed or altered. Try playing it. It sounds a little strange doesn’t it? Remember how the seventh scale degree or leading tone should lead to tonic? When you have a whole step between the leading tone and tonic (scale degrees 7 and 8) it doesn’t really sound like the leading tone is leading anywhere. What if we raised that seventh scale degree to a G# so that it’s a half step between 7 and 8.

Our scale would look like this.

This sounds a lot more “right” doesn’t it? That’s because the G# really leads to the A. When you raise the seventh scale degree in a minor key you get a harmonic minor scale. Most music written in minor keys has the seventh scale degree raised like in this scale.

The only problem with the harmonic minor scale is that it creates an awkward leap between the sixth and seventh scales degrees. Now, F and G# are three half steps away from each other! Since we are raising scale degrees, let’s just go ahead and raise that sixth scale degree too. That makes the big leap a little less big.

Now we have this:

That’s our melodic minor scale. Well, it’s half of our melodic minor scale. Natural and harmonic minor scales are the same ascending and descending but with melodic minor scales, we change things up on the way down. In a melodic minor scale you raise the sixth and seventh scale degrees on the way up and you naturalize them on the way down.

You might think that rule was created to torture music students but it does make sense. Why did we raise the seventh scale degree to begin with? Because we wanted it to “lead” to tonic. If we are descending and going away from tonic, there’s no need to have it raised. We practice melodic minor scales because that’s what we’ll see in most music written in minor. If we are ascending towards the tonic, the sixth and seventh scale degrees will be raised. If we’re descending, they will be natural. Here’s your complete melodic minor scale.

Now that you know about scales we’ll move onto intervals how they can make a big difference in your violin playing!

Happy (scale) Practicing!