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Alternate
Fingerings for EWI
by James West |
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The first thing that you must do is get past the idea of fingerings that must go in order, so
that you lengthen or shorten the acoustical tube by the proper amount. There ain't no tube
brother! All the keys on this instrument are simply switches that raise or lower the pitch by
either a half step or a whole step. Some of the keys are conditional, that is they work only if
another key is "down" (or maybe I should say "on"), while other keys work no matter what
order you use them in.
Diagram 1: These keys
affect the pitch of a note by a constant amount. The orange keys represent 1/2
steps and the blue keys represent whole steps. The G# key and the right hand
side key (Bb) are electronically connected, so if one is touched, touching the
other will have no further effect on the pitch.
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The first fingering I'll illustrate is a simple G# to A trill. Normally, this involves the
movement of the 3rd and 4th fingers of the left hand. On the EWI, however, you can get the
trill by fingering the A as you normally would, and get the G# by using either the first or
second finger of the right hind. Either key will act as a half-step down key in this instance.
Diagram 2: Alternate fingering for a G# to A
trill, the blue keys represent trill keys.
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An easy fingering for Eb is to use the first three fingers of the left hand, and use the first and
third finger of the right hand. I would use this as a trill fingering if I wanted to do an Eb to
F trill. It would be a simple matter of trilling the third finger of the right hand. (See
Diagram 3).
Diagram 3: Alternate fingering for
Eb.
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There are a bunch of alternatives for trills and tremolos that start on G# (Ab). For instance, a
trill from Ab to Bb can be done by fingering the Ab as usual (first three fingers of the left
hand down and the little finger of the left hand on the G# (Ab) key, and trilling with either
the second or third finger of the left hand. Lifting either key raises the pitch by a whole step.
(See Diagram 4).
Diagram 4: Alternate
fingering for an Ab to Bb trill, the blue keys represent the trill keys.
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If you need a tremolo from Ab to C, finger the Ab the same as before, and lift BOTH the
second and third fingers of the left hand. (See Diagram 5).
Diagram 5: Alternate fingering for an Ab to C
tremolo, the blue keys represent the tremolo keys.
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If the tremolo needs to be to Cb (B), again finger the Ab as before and tremolo with the first
finger of the left hand. (See Diagram 6).
Diagram 6: Alternate fingering for an Ab to Cb
tremolo, the blue keys represent the tremolo keys.
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If you need an F# to G# trill, the solution is similar. Finger the F# normally (first three
fingers of the left hand and the middle finger of the right hand), and trill with either the
second or the third finger of the left hand. Lifting either key again raises the pitch by a
whole step. (See Diagram 7).
Diagram 7: Alternate fingering for an F# to G#
trill, the blue keys represent the trill keys.
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With a little experimentation, you can come up with some other combinations, although the
really weird ones won't be very useful. My favorite weird fingering is for G#. Use the first
finger of the left hand, and the first and third finger of the right hand. Like I said, it works,
but I don't know if it will be much use. (See Diagram 8).
Diagram 8: Alternate fingering for a
G#, the blue keys represent the trill keys.
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9 below is an example of an entire pattern using alternate fingerings. This is one
of those "play as fast as possible" licks that you can insert into an improvised solo. First, try
to do it using normal fingerings (for that matter, try doing it on your acoustic instrument).
The scales are D dorian, Eb dorian, and E dorian. The Eb dorian is a bitch!
Using what we
know about alternate fingerings, however, we can finger the D dorian scale and by touching
the D# key (little finger of right hand) you continue to finger the D dorian scale. The fact
that you have the D# key down transposes the entire instrument up by a half step. To go up
yet another half step, continue to finger the D dorian scale with the D# key and now add the
G# key (little finger of the left hand). The whole scale is again transposed up another half
step. The entire lick therefore, involves fingering only one scale and adding keys that act as
"transposing" keys! I'm sure this will have other applications as well.
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