VAG: Why Bother With Scales?

Aha!!! Scales... ...the DULL BITS!!!!

Well, only if you want them to be.

The thing is that although scales, arpeggios, and all the rest of the exercises that make up the core of violin technique practice are often seen as boring, this usually stems from the fact that people don't understand quite how, or indeed why these technical bits and pieces are so important.

As a child, I - like many others before me - never found scales and exercises particularly interesting, because they were always prescribed to me without explanation. I wasn't always fully aware of why I was practicing each one. Think of the doctor who recommends a medicine to cure an ailment, but doesn't tell his patient how the medicine will cure him. The patient is far more likely to forget to take the medicine, because... the notion of cause and effect isn't imprinted strongly enough in his mind. Because there's no immediate punishment or loss, an opportunity for long-term improvement is missed.

The key to getting the most out of anything is passion. And the key to getting the most out of scales, arpeggios and studies is of course...

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