How To Learn a New Key
To become a good musician, it is essential to learn how to play fluently in any key. Once you know which notes are in the scale of a key you are not familiar with, the next step is to transfer the knowledge to your violin until you can instantly find any note of the scale.
Let’s take the key of D major as an example. The notes of the scale are shown in the following diagram. Notice that there are two sharps in this key – F# and C#. The numbers above the notes are the scale degrees. They indicate the position of each note in the scale.
The following example shows the fingering for all octaves of the notes of the D major scale in the open position. Learn it from memory and then play it with your eyes closed, naming each note as you play and visualising the notation in your mind. Once you can do this, name the scale degrees as you play instead of the note names. Notice that this example starts with the 4th degree of the scale (G). This is the lowest note on the violin.
Once you are confident you can instantly find any note of the scale you are working on, try playing some sequences with the notes of the scale. Once again, work towards memorizing each new pattern and then play it with your eyes closed while naming first the notes and then the scale degrees. You may need to write the note names and scale degrees under the notes before you do this, but the aim is to become so familiar with both notes and scale degrees that you can recognise them instantly.
The Eighth Rest
This symbol is an eighth rest. It indicates half a beat of silence.
