Book Review: "Scales – Harmonious Exercises for the Lyre," by John Billing
/If someone were to ask me which collection of lyre exercises I had found to be the most useful in the building up of my own lyre technique, I would have to answer without question: John Billing’s Scales – Harmonious Exercises for the Lyre.
Self-produced in a very straightforward format, John dispenses with any introduction or opening fanfare and just dives right into the work, which is a well-appreciated John Billing signature approach to learning the lyre! What he manages to do in 15 pages of clearly explained steps is to present a rich wealth of graduated exercises that, if followed and practiced faithfully as he suggests, will literally guarantee a robust lyre technique, which is a claim I make without reservation! For 12 years, Channa Seidenberg and I provided each of our students in the Resonare Foundation Course in Music out of Anthroposophy with this slim volume to practice between sessions (and for the years to come), which was entirely possible for the students because in his accompanying text in this booklet, John sits right at the shoulder of the player, explaining and inspiring the student to apply and work through each exercise. Those of our students who took this up always made noticeable progress – even just during the one year of our course.
The exercises are structured in 7 parts. Each one is a complex of exercises related to a theme, which, though not explicitly stated, could be approximately summarized as follows:
Exercise #1 – Fingering Dexterity
Exercise #2 – Interval-based Scale Sequences
Exercise #3 – More complex Interval-based Scale Motifs
Exercise #4 – Harmonic Interval-based Scales with RH/LH Fingering Indications
Exercise #5 ¬– Combining Harmonic Thirds as Ground Tone with Scale Patterns
Exercise #6 – Combining Harmonic Sixths as Ground Tone with Scale Patterns
Exercise #7 – Moving Both Scale Tones and Related Thirds and Sixths
It should be said that once any player has thoroughly mastered Exercise 1, the subsequent Exercises 2 and 3 alone provide excellent technical material for years to come. Exercises 4-7 are clearly more advanced but fully based on the acquisition of the skills that anyone can develop in the first three complexes of exercises.
The beauty of this collection is that no one will ever outgrow its value, since these technical exercises unfold in a purposeful, structured sequence that, in my experience, build a powerful technical foundation that can take one well beyond the skill level that most lyre players usually acquire just by improvising or playing pieces of music here and there. John has set out to demonstrate that just like with every other musical instrument, any student who sincerely wishes to become a serious and competent player can absolutely do so if he or she has the discipline to follow a well-laid out path of technical development. Through this valuable booklet, Scales: Harmonious Exercises for the Lyre, John has provided all of us with just that. (This booklet is downloadable as a pdf; click the title to go to our store.)
