Steve Mansfield Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 I’m looking to get much better at using the top octave on my 48 key English for octave-hopping, variety, and because those buttons are there. I guess it’s basically down to practice! But, taking that on board, has anyone got any useful brain tricks or exercises to help my fingers get used to the fact that up there, everything is on the other hand and the other row compared to playing the same notes an octave lower? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Hi Steve, this is what I did some years ago out of a noisy „group“ situation with lots of fiddles mainly, to stand out in the upper register to, at least for me, quite pleasant results. However, I‘m still not very familiar with these buttons in the order of at least the „main“ keys. Only thing that springs to my mind is, what in fact I‘m doing from time to time, extending playing scales upwards right to the end. I reckon there will be more focussed methods - anyway, I wish you success! Best wishes - ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Yes, Scales extended up, and down , has to be a help as well as playing scales in as many keys as you can. This will tend to break the 'button position default' and free the mind... to some extent anyway. Much more interesting than scales though is to dive straight in and play tunes in different keys and octaves than normal.... it is just practice , practice and..... practice! Arpeggios, playing tunes in octaves, in thirds and other intervals will all help gain a sort of"second sight " of the keyboard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wild Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Jumping in fifths along the rows can help. E.G. when you reach the G at the "top" of your presumed comfort zone, the next button on the row is a D. Similarly find the high E from A, and C from F. Once you get a few buttons in that range, following the standard pattern can find the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Stein Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Work on arpeggios. Major, minor, and augmented to start. This will help with fingering and you'll get used to using 3rds and 5ths in the root triade. Once you develop a little muscle memory, add another set of arpeggios adding the 7th to the triade. I.e. C- E-G-Bb If you get real agressive try diminished thirds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d.elliott Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Might also be a good idea to check the tuning on the upper notes. I have repeatedly found that when instruments were re-pitched from old to modern concert pitch, some tuners either ignored the upper octave or so or only rough tuned them. They can sound really odd and would make life difficult for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mansfield Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 Thanks for all thoughts so far, & it’s working. @d.elliott I’m mainly doing this on my new Morse baritone so the tuning is pretty spot on: but after seeing your post I tried the same on my Wheatstone treble, and things are, er, a bit more scrobbly up there ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d.elliott Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Sometimes it's a bit like tuning baking foil, especially on piccolo concertinas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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