NATURAL MINORS ON THE HAYDEN CONCERTINA

[JULIAN13]

Hi guys. I've been playing a 46 button Hayden for a few months and it has given me a lot of pleasure.

 

I'm aware that a major key is usually fingered like this with the right hand

C

F G A B

C D E.

 

I'm a bit puzzled about natural minors, by which I mean, for example, all the notes of the C scale but played from A to A to play A natural minor. (As a folkie I don't want to bother my poor little head with harmonic and what-have-you minors).

 

I play them like this -

 

FGA

CDE

AB

and I would expect this to transfer to all the usual keys coverd by the Hayden. However, for G, unless my ear is even worse than they said at school, I have to play G natural minor like this -

 

F G

Bflat C D E

G A

 

ie with 4, rather than 3, butons in the middle row and only two in the top row. Am I doing something wrong? If not, how can it be that there is a standard pattern for CDEFGA majors, but not a standard pattern for the same notes in a different order, which I think is what the natural minors are?

 

I'd also appreciate general advice on fingering natural minors scales and arpegios on a Hayden. For example, is best to finger A natural minor with the ring finger on A, retaining the usual Hayden pattern, using the little fnger for B? Or do people movethe whole hand down and use their three main fingers?

 

Thank you in advance for any replies.

 

JULIAN

[JimLucas]

...for G, unless my ear is even worse than they said at school, I have to play G natural minor like this -

 

F G

Bflat C D E

G A

I don't know about your ear, but your G minor scale should have two flats.

I.e., you should be using an Eb instead of an E (natural). That should make the fingering pattern the same as the other scales.

[SqueezeCat]

Hello Julian,

 

FGA

CDE

AB

The A minor scale you've shown is the (modern) Aeolian mode on A...

 

and I would expect this to transfer to all the usual keys coverd by the Hayden. However, for G, unless my ear is even worse than they said at school, I have to play G natural minor like this -

 

F G

Bflat C D E

G A

... and the G minor scale you've shown is the (modern) Dorian mode on G.

 

So, these are two different minor scales--hence, two different fingerings on the Wicki/Hayden keyboard.

 

If you'd like to play Dorian on A, you'd do this:

 

_G_A

C_D_E_F#

___A_B

 

With the 'usual' Wicki/Hayden fingering pattern, start on the middle finger if playing in the right hand.

 

 

If you'd like to play Aeolian on G, you'd do this:

 

Eb_F_G

_Bb_C_D

_____G_A

 

 

And with the 'usual' Wicki/Hayden fingering pattern, start on the ring finger if playing in the right hand.

 

 

 

For further insight, have a look here for a discussion of modes. In particular, see the section titled modern.

 

 

I'd also appreciate general advice on fingering natural minors scales and arpegios on a Hayden. For example, is best to finger A natural minor with the ring finger on A, retaining the usual Hayden pattern, using the little fnger for B? Or do people movethe whole hand down and use their three main fingers?

 

The ring finger and the little finger use the same set of muscles, so is often best to avoid using these two fingers sequentially. That said, for the most part, I tend to use the 'usual' Wicki/Hayden pattern for fingering, just moving my hand/finger position depending on the mode.

[David Barnert]

The 46-button Hayden (I've been playing it for 20+ years) doesn't have the Eb needed for a G natural minor scale where you want it (to the left of the F, but it has a D# that you can use for Eb in an awkward place (over on the right, next to the C#, where you'd expect a D# to be).

 

Consequently, to play a G natural minor scale with the right hand, you'd have to play as follows:

 

   F   G
    Bb  C   D ------> v
      G   A   .   .   D#

 

You pretty much have to play the D# with your little finger.

[SqueezeCat]

The 46-button Hayden (I've been playing it for 20+ years) doesn't have the Eb needed for a G natural minor scale where you want it (to the left of the F, but it has a D# that you can use for Eb in an awkward place (over on the right, next to the C#, where you'd expect a D# to be).

 

Consequently, to play a G natural minor scale with the right hand, you'd have to play as follows:

 

   F   G
    Bb  C   D ------> v
      G   A   .   .   D#

 

You pretty much have to play the D# with your little finger.

 

Ah, yes... I was looking at Hayden/Wicki in the abstract. For a 46 key instrument like the Wakker H-1 you'd need to substitute D# for Eb.

 

Apologies for missing this....

[danersen]

David,

Your comment above is a good example with regard to your query about my interest in the Stark layout rather than just adopting the Hayden layout.

Dan