Woven Scales

The word “scale” tends to evoke memories of endless practice sessions running mind-numbing scale progressions to satisfy some childhood music teacher. And the default way of playing a scale — running the scale repeatedly, from bottom to top and back down again — seems to reinforce that mind-numbing aspect of scales.

Woven scales (also called “broken scales” or “scale ladders”) can help avoid that problem. They are a way of playing a scale that involves changing directions rather than playing the scale in strict ascending or descending order. Woven scales make good finger dexterity exercises as well as providing a basic melody that is more melodically interesting that a straight scale.

The formula for playing a woven scale is simple:

Two forward, One back.

Try starting from the bottom note of the scale (), play the next two notes ( ), then go back one note (). Repeat this all the way up the scale. At the top of the scale, you might have to experiment a bit to figure out the best way to turn it around and proceed back down.

The sequence might look like this (with the “one back” notes in red):

Pentatonic Minor Woven Scale

Here's a recorded example. It plays the basic scale run up and down, followed by a woven scale on an E minor Native American flute:

Woven Pentatonic Minor Scale

Clint Goss. E minor flute of Spalted Maple by Barry Higgins.