Thomas Cowan

Basic Scales & Arpeggios Thomas Cowan

If you have gotten this far, and are now reading this, you are probably trying to figure out why in the world I would waste my time writing out scales and arpeggios. That's an easy one - I need them for myself, and think some of you may need them too. (We all know that you are supposed to memorize them - but how do you memorize Strauss 1 without the music?) I have been playing horn for a long time - probably longer than some of you have been alive - but I have yet to find scales written out for our instrument in a meaningful and lasting way - two, three, and four octaves for instance. There were a couple of great scale books I used years ago, but they are sadly now out of print. There are others that I know about that do fit the bill - but unfortunately, they are not widely available to our global horn community. So, where did I get the ideas on how to write out these scales and arpeggios? The great teachers and performers have told us what to do for a long time, either in lessons, writing, or videos. Those who have had the most influence on my thinking about this subject are Hermann Baumann, Kendall Betts, Dennis Brain, Bill Caballero, Lukas Christinat, Vince DeRosa, William Robinson, Gabor Tarkovi, Barry Tuckwell, and Radovan Vlatkovic - and to them, I owe a huge debt of gratitude. So, if you - like me - could benefit from having scales and arpeggios written out, this book is for you.