riffs and runs going upscale

[deandrehodges]

praise god yall! will anybody give me advice on some excercises that"ll help me do my runs and riffs going upscale?for example heres a run ill do F F# G Bb C Eb F F# and so on.its basically thesame thing going up but i always get tripped up at around F# its as if my fingers are tripping up the stairs.my fingers may be positioned wrong .i do the same thing going down but going up is the doozy.

[T-Block]

First of all, what key is this run in, what scale does this run come from, what scale are you trying to play?

Second, what fingers do you currently use for each note?  I find that it helps if you write down what fingers you are using so that you can see where the problem note and finger is located.  This way you go straigh to the problem, fix it, then try it out.  You may find that changing the fingering for one note creates a problem for another note.  If this happens, then you need to start from scratch.

[deandrehodges]

im just beginning to get a idea ofgetting aquainted with the names of keys like c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c and so on.theres alot i need catching up on,but anyway i think the root key is "f".with my right hand when im trying  ascend the run,my thumb hits the f,my pointer is on f#,thumb g,middle finger hits Bb,thumb crosses over to c,mid fing.Eb,thumb is f,ring fing.f#,i try to cross over with my thumb to g,but right there ill usually get tripped up.i tried using thumb,pointer,middle,ring fing.,cross over with my thumb,so the keys that match my fingers  would be f,f#,g,Bb,c,Eb,f,f#.so basically when its slowed down,im not familiar with the key i think its f,its part of a bassline that ill play when playing shout music.its f,f#,g,Bb,b,Bb,g,f#,f,f#,g,Bb,b,c,Eb,f,f#,g,Bb,b,something like that,but i speed up the melody and it sounded like a run but speeding it upscale as a run? no. i can take it descending in a run all the way down but not back up.i hope youll understand this.

[T-Block]

From what u describe, you are playing the C blues scale, but you starting it on F.  Try playing it this way:

C = thumb (1)
Eb = middle finger (3)
F = thumb (1)
Gb = middle finger (3)
G = thumb (1)
Bb = middle finger (3)
(repeat)

It doesn't matter which note you start on, just make sure you hit it with the right finger and you should be able to continue this up forever.  You can even use the same fingers coming back down the keyboard.  Try it out and see if that works for ya!!

[cas10a]

Just info, the first run you posted is part of the framework for a Blues Scale in C. Its Blues-Pentatonic because you left out the E and B. The previous post to this one includes the E which make the scale closer to a Blues Scale.  I can't help on the fingering, alot of times a book or lesson may give you the correct fingering, but everyone's has different sized hands and what may be comfortable to me, may not be to you.  I looks like you already know where the problem is, try playing it slow for a while, over and over in rhythm.  Then speed up, you may be suprised, that in time the crossover with the thumb may become second nature.

[cas10a]

My fault T-Block it looks like I was writing at the the same time you were posting, but I guess it worked out because we both saw the C Blues Scale.

[ferrente]

Welcome to LGM  deandrehodges