+ Violin

rock

Learn How to Play

Rock Music on
Your Violin.
Basic/Intermediate Level

Mariana Aulicino
VOLUME I
 Violin
rock
+
Rock+Violin
Learn How to Play Rock Music on Your Violin.
Basic/Intermediate Level
VOLUME I

Copyright 2016 by Mariana Aulicino

Design & Editing: Milagros Lacaze
Published: 30th April 2016
www.rocktheviolin.com

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
table of content

INTRODUCTION 3

OVERVIEW 4

? The Pentatonic Scale 9

I. About the Pentatonic scale 9

II. The Gm scale on the violin 9

III. Long notes with the Gm scale.

Exercises #1 & 2
10

IV. Speeding things up: bow strikes over

the scale. Exercise #3 11

V. Digging deeper: the seven most used

tones. Exercise #4
12

? Quiz 14

? Time to Rock! Repertoire: Purple Haze

(Jimi Hendrix) 15

? Tips! & Cheat Sheet: A. 7 most used scales.

B. Exercise #4: all tones.
C. Quiz results. 17
INTRODUCTION

Many violinists had asked themselves if its possible to make a change in

their careers, breaking away from the path of classical music the one
imposed to us by the choice of instrument. Classical music is not
everyones passion, even if we tend to start from there; however, it
shouldnt be the only style that string instruments perform. Myself in
particular, I discovered that rock music moved me that was after long,
tedious and frustrating years of formation and performing in the world of
classical music. Rock music was what I wanted to listen to, play and write
in other words: to devote my life as a musician. After making that hard
decision, I started asking myself the critical questions: how do I start
playing rock on the violin? How do I break away from the string
virtuoso stereotype? You know the kind: those who cover rock songs, but
they do it without really separating themselves from that classical music
background. How do you introduce the violin in a rock band as a lead
instrument, and not just an arrangement in the background?

I decided to start analyzing the great guitarists and their style of playing,
the melodies performed by singers, and even groovy basslines. I
understood that was the path to follow, and from there I could start the
endless adventure of leading a rock band with my violin.

After some time, and having talked to my violinist friends, I realized Im

not alone and that there are many others who are passionate about rock
music. However, I noticed most of my colleagues dont have the
necessary tools to get started. This is why I decided to share what Ive
researched; and also, what Ive learnt from the great guitar teachers I had
through the first years of my adventure into the world of rock and roll.

In this series of books, you'll learn different exercises to work on the

pentatonic scale, the base of blues and rock music. You'll set your fingers
and your mind free and improvise, like you never thought you could (even
if you've never done anything but read sheet music). For information
about violin gear, sheet music to download, technique tips ro rock out, and
much more, please visit www.rocktheviolin.com

Mariana Aulicino

3
overview

Music is based on scales. Scales are basically a group of notes.

To understand them better, we can look at a keyboard (as in piano, not a

computer!). Its very easy to work out how scales are formed.

Lets begin with the major scale. The easiest one is the C scale. It starts
with the C, then the following notes are D, E, F, G, A, B, and C again.
Looking at the pianos keys, we can see that between C and D; D and E,
there are black keys. However, there isnt one between E and F; B and C.
Why is that?

Whole steps have an extra note in between. On other words: whole steps
are two half steps together.

The half step between C and D is C# (or Db): C-sharp, or D- flat. The same
note has both names.
In the same way, between D and E theres D-sharp (D#) or E-flat (Eb);
between F and G theres F-sharp (F#) or G-flat (Gb); between G and A
theres G-sharp (G#) or A-flat (Ab); and, finally, between A and B theres
A-sharp (A#) or B-flat (Bb). The only two notes that have no half step in
between are E and F; and B and C. This means that between them, theres
only a half step, not a whole step.

On the piano, this is easy to figure out. Theres a whole step between C and
D, another one between D and E, and a half step between E and F, where
theres no black key in between.

On the violin, when the fingers are next to each other, thats a half step. If
theres a distance of two fingers, thats a whole step.

4
 overview

All major scales have the same structure:

!
Tip whole step whole step half step whole step whole step whole step half step

Now we know how major scales are constructed. In the previous page, the
example showed C major scale, which means it begins in the C note.

Whats D major scale, for example? Its simple: using the same structure
(whole step - whole step - half step - whole step - whole step - whole step -
half step) we begin in D. This time, some notes will be sharp (or flat); we
need to use the black keys to complete the scale. Heres what D major
scale looks like on the keyboard:

D major scale is formed by: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C# and D.

We can do the same with every scale; its just a matter of following the
structure WS-WS-HS-WS-WS-WS-HS. You can practice starting in every
note, including sharp/flat ones. Now you know every major scale!

Each note is also a degree on the scale. For example, on the C major scale,
C is the first degree. Consequently, D is the second degree; E is the third;
F is the fourth; G is the fifth; A is the sixth; and B is the seventh.

The first degree of a scale is also known as the tonic, because is the one
that shows the tone (scale) in which were playing. The fourth degree or
note is called subdominant, and the fifth degree or note is called
dominant.

This names are going to come in handy when we start learning all about
pentatonic scales, which are rocks bread and butter.

5
 overview

In the violin, however, half steps arent always the same. In the piano, C-
sharp is the same key as D-flat; but in this string instrument, there can be a
tiny difference. Yes, its the same position; but the finger will be a little bit
further up if its a C#, or a bit behind for a Db.

This small difference makes the violin sound so bright, in comparison to

other string instruments with frets (like guitar and bass). Keeping this in
mind will improve your playing, and your instrument will sound deeper
and much more powerful. The sound, even without amplification, will
reach the people further away in the audience.

Continuing with the scales, lets see what they look like on the violins
fingerboard. Here, the easiest scale to play is G major, which begins with
an open 4th string (the lowest in pitch).

Following the pattern we used before (WS, WS, HS,...) for major scales,
this one will be: G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G. This is what it will look like in the
violins fingerboard, in the first position:

Please note the half steps are marked in a different colour (yellow): F#
should be played closer to the G, to give that brightness - as explained
before. Open strings are marked with a white square.

i p! 1st string = E - 2nd string = A - 3rd string = D - 4th string = G

T
How to play G major scale:

- On the G (4th) string: Open G, A with the first finger, B with the second
finger, C with the third finger.
- On the D (3rd) string: Open D, E with the first finger, F# with the second
finger, G with the third finger (closer to the F#, its a half step).
- On the A (2nd) string: Open A, B with the first finger, C with the second
finger (closer to the B, its a half step), D with the third finger.
- On the E (1st) string: Open E, F# with the first finger, G with the second
finger (closer to the F#, its a half step).

6
 overview

Lets learn now about the minor scale. Its just as easy as the major scale,
but with a slightly different pattern. This time, well use the A minor scale:
in the keyboard, we dont need to use any black key. The scale is formed by
the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and A.

The structure of the minor scale is:

!
Tip whole step half step whole step whole step half step whole step whole step

Like we did with the major scales, we can try starting with another (tonic)
note. Heres G minor scale in the violin, which will come in handy when we
start improvising over the pentatonic scale.
Following the same structure, the notes will be: G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F, and G.
This is what it looks like in the violins fingerboard. Please note that the Bb
should be played rather close to A, and the second B and the F from the
first string go really close to the beginning of the neck.

How to play G minor scale:

- On the G (4th) string: Open G, A with the first finger, Bb with the second
finger (closer to the A, its a half step), C with the third finger.

7
 overview

- On the D (3rd) string: Open D, E with the first finger, F with the second
finger (closer to the E, its a half step), G with the third finger .
- On the A (2nd) string: Open A, Bb with the first finger (closer to the neck;
its a half step with an open string), C with the second finger, D with the
third finger.
- On the E (1st) string: Open E, F with the first finger (closer to the neck;
its a half step with an open string), G with the second finger.

i p! The distance between a note an another (whole or half step) is

called an interval. That is, the difference between two pitches.
T
Now that we refreshed our major and minor scales, were ready to start
learning about the pentatonic scale... and to start rocking!

8
THE PENTATONIC SCALE

I. About the Pentatonic scale

Pentatonic scales are rocks foundation. They arent the only scales used
(for example, in prog-rock or metal, there are others used often); however,
in classic genres like rocknroll or blues, the minor pentatonic scale is the
most common. In other words, you can pretty much improvise over any
classic rock song using the pentatonic scale, and it will sound right.

This is why its so important to learn this scale on the violin, in every tone.
Now, every time we want to improvise over a rock backing track, or
jamming with a band or a musician friend, well be able to play with ease,
like the great guitarists! The best action to take is to try all those boring
and forgotten scale and sound exercises, but with the minor pentatonic
scale. This is the easiest way to learn and remember the pentatonic scale,
whilst practicing those sound exercises for violin in a way that will be
much more fun, and itll rock! As a result, we will get a much more
powerful and potent sound with our instrument.

Unlike with the minor and major scales, the pentatonic (as the name says)
has only 5 notes, instead of 7. Hence, the minor pentatonic scale has the 5
degrees off the minor scale: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th.

II. The Gm scale on the violin

Using the structure of the pentatonic scale we just learnt, lets try the G
minor pentatonic scale on the violin. Its formed by the notes: G, Bb, C, D,
and F. This is how to play it (dont forget what we said of the half tones!):

- On the G (4th) string: Open G, B with the second finger, C with the third
finger.
- On the D (3rd) string: Open D, F with the second finger, G with the third
finger .
- On the A (2nd) string: Bb with the first finger, C with the second finger, D
with the third finger.

9
THE PENTATONIC SCALE

- On the E (1st) string: F with the first finger, G with the second finger.

To learn how the Bb should sound, and to play it from the open G string in
tune, check out the Tips! section at the end - youll see a very easy way to
get the tuning right.

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