Hi, it's Geoff here from Discoverdoublebass.com.
Thanks for checking out another one of these video lessons.
Today, we're talking about the circle of fifths.
How to use it to practice your scales or arpeggios on all 12 keys and also an alternative to
that which is a process that I use when I'm teaching called scale pairs.
So let's get into that now.
Well, let's start with the circle of fifths.
This is a great way to practice your scales, as essentially, you're moving through the
letters, A-G, in a really musical way that mimics the most common movement between two
chords, which is either down a fifth or up a fourth.
So if we start in the key of C, say if we're practicing our major arpeggios, C is a great
place to start because there's no sharps or flats.
If we move up a fourth each time, C, F, B-flat, E-flat, I'll list them on the screen so you
can see the full run of letters, you'll go all the way around and you'll reach C again.
Although the circle of fifths is used for various different things when you're learning
music, I really recommend that you learn at least these order of letters.
So you practice your scales moving up a fourth each time.
It's a really musical thing to do.
And I think it's absolutely a terrific way to make sure that you're practicing everything
in all 12 keys.
So that's your first option to learn your scales and arpeggios and 12 keys.
Your second option is to use what I call scale pairs.
Now when you're practicing a scale, and there are 12 versions of it because there are 12
keys, we can actually make the process a little bit easier by grouping the scales into pairs
that share either the same or very similar fingerings.
Now, I'm sure you will have seen this already if you've done a bit of practice.
So if you're learning your E minor scale, you may have realized that the fingering is
identical to the A minor scale, just one string across.
So if you group those two together when you're practicing them, it will help you with your
muscle memory.
But this process applies regardless of the scale type or the arpeggio type.
If you're learning E major, the fingering will be the same as it will be if you're practicing
A major.
It also applies with the other ones as well, the other keys that we have as well.
We've got E and A.
We have F and B flat.
If we look at F major 7, the fingering is the same as B-flat major 7.
It's the same with G-flat and B, or F-sharp and B if you prefer to call it that.
G and C, A-flat and D-flat and lastly D and E-flat, which I'll come to in just a moment.
You can see how grouping these together will make the process just a bit smoother and especially
when you realize that it's very, very similar or exactly the same when you change into different
scale types.
So whether it's major, minor, dominant 7 you can always use these scale pairs.
Now the last two, they're kind of the odd ball ones that don't fit perfectly, are D
and E-flat.
Now if you're learning your D major scale, it would be the same as if you were learning
your E-flat major scale starting on the A string.
However, most people learn them starting in half position.
I encourage you to do that as well.
So the fingerings are different, but they share the same challenge, which is moving
up two strings, so shifting is absolutely key.
So although they don't fit perfectly, they're still worth grouping them together because
you'll be working on shifting up the two strings or they'll be identical if you move across
the three.
So it's a very easy concept to understand.
I'd suggest that you write out the order of letters for the circle of fifths and for the
scale pairs and mix your practice up.
If you're working on the circle of fifths a lot, give the scale pairs and see if that
helps you and vice versa as well.
There's a lot of information with scales to learn.
And particularly with the double bass, there's a lot of different fingerings that we can
use, so it will take you some time to become fluent in all 12 keys.
These processes will help make everything easier, so I recommend that you add them to
your practice routine.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed the video today.
If you have, please give me a thumbs up on YouTube.
It'll encourage me to do more like this one.
If you're really into learning your scales, you can check out the double bass scales play
along plectrum, which is a product of mine on the website to help you learn your scales.
So keep practicing hard, and I'll see you next time.