Why do scales go up?

Trumpetsplus

Just put this up on my Waiata page http://www.jaegerbrass.com/Blo/index.html

When you ask someone to sing or play a scale why do they always perform an ascending scale? I do this experiment often and very seldom does anyone descend.

Why is it so easy to recognize “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music as a scale even though it is very broken up, but not so easy to recognize that the theme of the Nutcracker “Pas de Deux” is a straightforward descending major scale?

Could it be that the period of early concert music, early music pedagogy and early musicology was when string instruments dominated? String instruments are, by their nature, ascending instruments and ascending scales are amongst the first things played after open strings?

If you ask someone why they play ascending they will often reply that they were taught that way. But why were they taught that way?

We will never know the answer, but it’s an interesting question, isn’t it?

neal085

@Trumpetsplus I wish I had an intelligent and factual response to that, but I'll just say I've never thought about it, and it is interesting.

Now I need to go home tonight and spin the Nutcracker on my record player and pay attention to that.

Kehaulani

I never thought about it either . . nor care.

Why is it taught ascending could be because it's easier to play the lower notes which get more challenging as one ascends. Therefore, easier to harder. This is relative, of course.

But the explanation above about violins being an added vs. subtractive motion may also have some validity.

Bob Pixley

Higher, faster, louder... lol

fels

a very useful study tool is the use of "upside down scales" learning them in the opposite direction. My wife (pianist) will always suggest that i play troubling passages backwards also.

Trumpetsplus

Talking about backwards and wives, a friend suggested that when you get married you should film the whole ceremony so that when the disillusionment sets in you play the film backwards and end up single again!

(It's my thread, I'm allowed to hijack it!)