The natural minor debate
For some time now we’ve been debating about the role of the natural minor scale in teaching and learning. This has been sparked by the idea of introducing this scale for string players at Grade 1 - an idea arising from our ongoing Bowed Strings review.
The reasoning is that through having the easiest minor within the Grade 1 scales, a student’s understanding of the minor mode, very much linked to its relative major, can begin to be encouraged both aurally and theoretically.
Technical challenges
At present the strings aren’t introduced to the minor modality until Grade 2, because the technical challenges of melodic or harmonic scales are too great until this stage, especially with the finger stretches they demand. So while non-string players get to grips with major and relative minor scales on the first rung of the graded ladder, string players are currently left behind.
Further information
Nigel Scaife, Syllabus Director, shares his thoughts on why the easiest minor scale is so useful in teaching and invites you to join this debate.