When you do grade exams on the flute, you have to learn loads of different scales and get tested on just a few of them. Some you’ll find harder than others and there might be particular ones that you hope will come up in your exam, as well as a few you really hope won’t. The scales you find easiest and hardest will, of course, vary between players, but there are definitely some that are harder than others.
There are a few different factors that make scales hard. One is how many sharps and flats are in the key signature. Another is how many octaves you have to play and how high you have to go. A third is the type of scale – major, minor, diminished etc. I would say the hardest scale on the flute grade 8 syllabus is C whole tone, 3 octaves.
The scales on the ABRSM flute grade 8 syllabus are difficult for a variety of reasons. It’s hard to pick out one particular scale and say this is the hardest, partly because it’s subjective and everyone has a different opinion on what is hard. Scales can be hard in different ways and depending on your strengths and weaknesses as a flautist, you may favour some scales over others. Some of the factors that contribute to the difficulty of a scale are:
- The type of scale, i.e. major, minor, diminished etc.
- The number of octaves required
- The key signature
- The range over which the scale is required, i.e. how low or high you have to play
- The articulation
I’ll talk a bit about how each of these things affects the difficulty level of a scale. I’ll also talk a bit about how the combination of these can make a scale harder or easier – for example, a three octave scale might seem hard, but be made easier because it’s in an easy key signature, or is in a major key.
Which type of scale is the easiest to play?
The types of scale and arpeggio required for ABRSM grade 8 flute are:
- Major scales and arpeggios
- Harmonic minor scales and arpeggios
- Melodic minor scales and arpeggios
- Chromatic scales
- Dominant seventh broken chords
- Diminished seventh broken chords
- Whole tone scales
- Scales in thirds
Which is the hardest type of scale?
There are things that are easy and things that are difficult about the different types of scale. In general, the easier types of scale will be required in more difficult keys. It is commonly accepted that major scales are the easiest, so they are required in more difficult keys. Harder scales, such as whole tone scales, are required in fewer and easier keys.
In earlier grades, students get a choice of whether to play harmonic or melodic minor scales. At grade 6 and above, they’re required to know both. Often, students will pick the harmonic minor scales as they’re the same on the way up as the way down. This usually leads to them thinking that the harmonic minor scales are easier than the melodic ones when both are required. If someone has always picked melodic minors, they’ll likely think these are easier when both are required, so there is some personal preference here.
Chromatic scales can be quite tricky, as the fingering can get a bit fiddly. There are also a lot of notes to fit in, and it’s better to do the scale all in one breath, so this can mean having to play pretty fast. One advantage, though, it that you’ll never forget which note comes next, as you have to play all of them!
Dominant and diminished sevenths are more like arpeggios than scales – they are in fact broken chords. One advantage of these, is that you don’t actually have to learn a different one for every key – you just have to start on a different note. For example, one of the diminished sevenths start on a C – the notes in it are C, Eb, F# and A. If you then take a diminished seventh starting on Eb, you find the notes are the same, just with a different starting note. This is the same for all four notes in the first chord.
This means that there are actually only three diminished sevenths to learn, with each one having four different possible starting notes. Dominant sevenths are more difficult. These are the broken chord V7 – the fifth chord of the key signature, with the seventh in it, e.g. in G major, the fifth chord is D, and the seventh of D is C, so the notes are D, F#, A and C. This means that if you are asked to play the dominant seventh in G, you actually start on a D.
The dominant seventh can seem quite confusing and in my opinion, is much harder than the diminished seventh. There is also a different set of notes for each starting note, unlike the diminished seventh, so these are ones to practice. You don’t have to do too many for grade 8 though, and they aren’t in the really difficult key signatures.
Scales in thirds can be very tricky, as they require you to jump around a bit more. The transition from going up the scale to going down the scale is often the part that students find difficult, as you have to keep going past the initial starting note. Again, though, you aren’t required to do many of these, and the key signatures chosen are some of the easiest.
Possibly the hardest type of scale required for grade 8 is the whole tone scale. This is made even more difficult because it isn’t required in any syllabus before grade 8, so students are unlikely to be familiar with it and will have to learn the sound of it. It has one fewer note per octave than a standard major or minor scale which can also lead to confusion. It also doesn’t represent a standard “feel” that the majority of pieces people are familiar with have – this would normally be a major or minor feel.
How does the number of octaves required affect the difficulty of scales?
Most of the scales on the ABRSM grade 8 flute syllabus are two octaves, however, any scale starting on a C is required to be played over three octaves. While C major is possibly the easiest scale to play on the flute, it becomes much more difficult with the addition of the third octave.
One thing that makes the third octave more difficult is the fingering. For the notes at the top of the range of the flute, the fingering is much more difficult than the lower octaves. This octave is also less familiar in general to the player, so the fingering will not come as naturally and may be harder to learn.
Another difficulty with having to play three octaves is breathing. It’s not mandatory to play the full scale in one breath, but it must be uninterrupted, and it’s hard to take any significant breaths without interrupting the flow of the scale, so most people try to get it all into one breath. A three octave scale can take a while to get through, so you need good breath control to manage it. This might lead to having to play the scale a bit faster, again making it more difficult to get right.
Which key signature is the most difficult on flute?
The key signature is one of the most significant things that affects the difficulty of the scale. A scale in C major, for example, has no sharps and flats. This means that there is nothing extra to think about in terms of the notes. When the key signature gets more complex, there’s naturally more to think about.
It’s not necessarily true that the more sharps or flats, the more difficult the scale. Some key signatures have lots of sharps or flats, but the notes still fall easily under the fingers. Some may have less but are much more fiddly. Sometimes a Bb in the key signature, for example, can make things more difficult, as you have to think about whether to use the thumb key or the long Bb key.
Key signatures in minor keys can be even more tricky. In a minor key, there will always be notes that don’t fit the key signature. These notes can often be problematic for a student, as it’s an extra step to remember, particularly as it’s different in harmonic minor to melodic minor. It can also be more likely that the fingering will be difficult when there are notes that don’t fit the key signature. I always found F# melodic minor to be a particularly difficult scale to play.
How does the range of the scale affect the difficulty?
The range of notes that the scale covers can have quite a big impact on how difficult it is. In general on a flute, the highest octave is the most difficult. Two scales, both two octaves long but one in the lower range of the flute, for example, starting on D and one in the higher range, for example, starting on B, could be very different in difficulty.
Fingering in the higher range of the flute is possibly the main factor in this, as it becomes much more difficult. It’s also true that breath control and tone quality become more difficult in the high register as well, which again adds to the difficulty. A scale that is both in a difficult key signature and in the higher register of the flute is likely to be a challenge for the player.
How does the articulation affect the difficulty of a scale?
For ABRSM grade 8, you are required to play scales in three different forms of articulation – slurred, legato tongued and staccato tongued. There are advantages and disadvantages to playing with different articulations. This is often down to personal preference but there are also some reasons why one might be easier than the other in some cases.
For scales over a wide range, where breath control is difficult, being asked to play the scale staccato can be an advantage. It is easier to sneak a quick breath between notes when the notes are shorter and you may be able to do this without it being noticed. In a slurred scale, you have no chance of breathing without it being noticed and it’s also difficult with legato tongued scales.
However, with staccato scales, and to some extent, legato tongued scales, the player has to concentrate more on the length of each note being the same. This can be quite difficult to achieve, particularly between the low range and the high range, as the perceived note length will be slightly different to the actual note length between these ranges. With slurred scales, it is much easier to keep the note lengths the same, assume you can keep your pulse consistent.
Summary
To sum up this post, there are many ways in which scales can be easy or difficult. To some extent, it can be down to personal preference, but there are lots of factors which can influence the difficulty of the scale. The type of scale, number of octaves required, key signature, range over which the scale is required and the articulation all play a role.
You won’t be able to choose which scales come up in your exam, but you can work out which ones you find the most difficult. Once you know this, you can make sure you take extra time to practice these and become more comfortable with them. You’ll probably find similarities in the scales you like and dislike, for example, you might find scales in a minor key easier, or find staccato scales particularly difficult. Just make sure you take the time to work this out and get yourself as prepared as possible.