How I'm learning Linnstrument

[Tj Shredder]

There is a difference between fingering chords and fingering scales. It does not need to be the same always, depends on the piece as well. When I learned violin, my teachers just gave me a fingering, which was different for different pieces. Its more important to know the shapes of chords, it will lead more or less automatically to convenient fingerings...
As I use the tritone tuning, scales are pretty straight forward, you just move straight upwards...; - )
I rarely use my thumb, but do use the pinky equally to the others...

[afta8]

Thanks for the advice everyone, things are starting to make more sense now and perhaps I was overthinking it previously, simply getting on and playing things certainly helps get the fingering right especially for the left hand where chords are more about the shape.

With regards to the right hand, I have settled on using 4 fingers like so this:

I find this the most comfortable with playing scales with the right hand and the layout seems the most logical to me, but as Roger said there is no right way.

I also found this Geoshred tutorial quite useful as an introduction for a complete beginner as it uses the same isomorphic layout.
https://youtu.be/JTW3WUVDRhM

Another thing I have found quite useful is sending midi notes to the Linnstrument which lights up the notes on the grid, this is really useful for learning. Perhaps this will help anyone else who finds themselves in the same situation.

[w1awb]

I just got my full Linnstrument a couple weeks ago and after working with scales a little, I felt I wasn’t really getting anywhere so, being a guitar player, I decided to learn a BB King solo...
Thrill is Gone, because 1. I know it on guitar and 2. It has a nice mix of natural notes and accidentals and 3. It’s chock full of the expressive elements that are the strong suit of the Linnstrument.

This proved to be a light bulb moment for me and worked really well.

[khidr9]

Hey all, long time keyboardist with no guitar experience focusing on really learning to play the linnstrument. Chords have come really well, and practicing arpeggios at different intervals has been intuitive, but I’m struggling to figure out how to practice scales through multiple octaves. Whether I play scales by moving to the next “string” after the second or after the third I find I always end up with my root finger (ring finger on left, index on right) on the 7th and need to slide it to start the next octave. Is there a better cross over point for getting proficient through multiple octaves?

Hope my question makes sense, I can provide some images when I’m back at a desktop.

[Roger_Linn]

As a general rule, I like to isolate a 3-column-wide area and play the lights, moving up one row at a time to the next scale note. For example, in the attached picture I’d play a major scale starting on the C nearest the lower left corner. To continue above the picture, I’d need to shift the same pattern left by one column. If I understood your question correctly, this should work for you.

[khidr9]

Thank you for taking the time to respond! I think that sort of helps. In other words, when moving up an octave, it's easier to not chase the octaves up and to the right, but to move up and to the left?

Coming from piano, I have a hard-wired left-> right mentality, so as I want to move up an octave, I want to come to rest in the same finger-position on the next octave up and to the right, If I think I understand your reply, the idea would be that the next octave would be the one up and to the left with a stretch of the 1 finger (ring finger left, index finger right) to land on the root with the 2 finger.

ls example.jpg

In this image the bottom left is what I've been trying to do which shows the problem of having to use the same finger for the 7th and the following root. (1 is ring finger on left, index on right, 2 is middle finger, 3 is index on left, ring on right) Starting with 2 on the root and crawling up the scale the way you suggest, I'd need to jump the 2 finger from the 7th to the root, which isn't great for fluid playing across octaves. (There's also the possibility to play a scale root 2nd third, then up to 4th, 5th, 6th before jumping up and having the same problem with the 7th and the root, which I haven't drawn out here)

To the top and right is how I understand you describe playing, which means to make the jump you play 3 on the 5th, 2 on the 6th, freeing you to stretch your 1 to the 7th to the top left, which then let's you repeat the fingering for the next octave. The only downside I see is in most positions it limits you to fewer octaves than moving up to the right since the octaves and scales are closer together to the right than the left.

We might not even be talking about the same thing though, I'm specifically looking to make that transition between octaves fluidly, so my focus is in the actual fingering to make those transitions. Hope that clarifies a bit.

Thanks again.

[Roger_Linn]

Take a look at the Chord and Scale Shapes page, accessed from the LinnStrument Support page. The right side of the picture on the page shows the scale fingering I was referring to.

[mrspiral]

Can confirm. Bass videos where scales and chords are taught will help a lot. Guitar videos (in standard tuning) will confuse you, because it's not an all-fourths layout above the bottom four ("bass + 1 octave") strings. I was a bass player for many years, and all my scale patterns translated right over... and because I'm right-handed, I actually found them easier to play with the right hand than with my left (while picking with my right).

[tiantong]

I'm also using the fingerings I learnt in bass, actually in a left to right motion, moving the index finger from the 6th to the 7th on a major scale and from the 7th to the 8th on a minor but being flexible with fingering at the same time. Sometimes stretching up to a third on the same string or taking advantage of the 8 rows and just going upwards...

Regarding chords, also from my time as a bassist, I rarely play more than 4 voices. Basic shapes like 1,3,5 (two notes on same "string", Linnstrument luxury) or 1,3,7 or 1,5,7 or 1,5,9 but also 1,7,11, etc.

Now that I'm writing it I'm thinking that I rarely make a right to left motion going up.

Also experimenting with different "tunings" is amazing. Major thirds is the one I've played more; minor thirds is tooo spread for me. I always come back to fourths because I'm lazy...

[khidr9]

Thanks all. What I'm learning, reading a ton about bass and other string playing in general is that sometimes you do have to slide your finger if you want to keep the same shape across octaves. Playing around though I can also see how I can play mostly vertically if I alternate the scale pattern each octave, so it really depends on what's most important when doing a run. The bass resources have definitely been helpful.

And yeah, tunings are a lot of fun. I'm sticking to fourths now to really focus on a standard, but the tritone spacing makes a lot of sense to my keyboard brain since it's truly symmetrical, but then I won't be able to pick up my buddy's bass in a couple of months and make him roll his eyes

[Tj Shredder]

Its worth to test out the tritone tuning. There octaves are just above each other, going straight up is very natural... I also play the bass and have no problem to switch. The LinnStrument is not a string instrument...

[John the Savage]

I’m struggling to figure out how to practice scales through multiple octaves. Whether I play scales by moving to the next “string” after the second or after the third I find I always end up with my root finger (ring finger on left, index on right) on the 7th and need to slide it to start the next octave. Is there a better cross over point for getting proficient through multiple octaves?

I use several different techniques to transition octaves...

• Since you're a piano player, think cross-over techniques: i.e. if you have to use a single finger from one hand to anchor a note, in order to allow for a position shift in the other hand, do it.

• Move your trailing finger inward, in the direction of travel, before you reach the octave, to set up a lateral shift in position. As a piano player, you could think of this like how you might tuck your thumb under.

• Get your pinky involved. This can be tricky to execute accurately, but being able to play four notes per row when needed opens up a lot of transition possibilities.

• Stay put and shamelessly use the octave up and down buttons, as you would on a two-octave mono synth for instance.

All of the above techniques serve me well; and they all work, ascending or descending, regardless of whether you're shifting left or right.

It's also important to remember that, unlike the piano, the LinnStrument is a nonlinear playing surface; so grab notes wherever and however you can: i.e. you could hit a note on the far left that fills a gap in the scale or chord shape on the far right, etc.

Cheers!

[w1awb]

• Get your pinky involved. This can be tricky to execute accurately, but being able to play four notes per row when needed opens up a lot of transition possibilities.

[/quote]


I agree. The pinky needs to be involved.

I play with my left hand because I lost the use of my right. I have been playing scales and modes in several octaves by playing 3 notes in 2 rows starting with the pinky on 1 then sliding or lifting from 6 to 7 with my index and then starting the next octave with my little finger again. That way you are repeating the same pattern with the same fingering till you run out of octaves.. Works with any 7 note scale.
I was a guitar player so I'm approaching the Linnstrument differently than a keyboardist might. I'm not using my thumb, for instance... though that might change.
Andy B

[khidr9]

Thanks all, definitely sent me off in the right direction - "get your pinky involved" is probably the best advice. What's awesome, having practiced a bit now is that bass teqnique can help, piano technique can help, but this really truly is a new instrument, so there are no method books or right ways.

I wanted to share what I've been practicing since I've found it's helping work my way around the pads and develop dexterity.

I'm practicing scales with two hands in three main ways. First I'm getting my pinky involved (left hand) or thumb involved (right hand) when I climb up to the 6th on the third row. This let's me reset my hand so that my middle finger lands on the root. It's much more challenging in the right with the thumb as I feel like I'm digging into the pad in an unnatural way, but it's obvious for left handed scales.

My second exercise is shifting the shape for the second octave to play with three fingers. For example - First octave is First row: 1st 2nd Second row: 3rd 4th 5th, Third row: 6th 7th and root with my index finger. Second octave: climb to second row for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Third row: 5th 6th 7th, Fourth row root with index finger. This is helpful for reprogramming my brain to think just in terms of the intervals of each scale and not just memorizing a shape.

Third exercise is three fingers simply shifting my middle finger when I get to the 7th. A number of bass scales have the index finger shift from the root to the second right off the bat. This makes a lot of sense with a fretted bass, and I bet fretless has some of the same problems we do with the ability to bend and slide pitch, but that's also why it's a good exercise in cleanly tapping from the 7th to the root.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, I look forward to contributing when and where I can.