The piano handbook

•

iano Handbook

The

Carl Humphries

The Piano Handbook Carl Hampbries

A BACKBEAT BOOK First edition 2002 Published by Backbeat Books 600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, US www.backbeatbooks.com

An imprint of The Music Player Network United Entertainment

Media Inc.

J Published for Backbeat Books by Outline Press LId, 115j Cleveland Street, London W1 T 6PU, England

ISBN 0·87930·727·7

Text and music copyright © 2002 Carl Humphries. Volume copyright © 2002 Balafon. All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or copied in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied

in articles or reviews

where the source should be made clear. For more information contact the publishers.

Art Director: Nigel Osborne Design: Paul Cooper Editorial Director: Tony Bacon Editor: John Morrish Photography Production:

Origination

Miki Slingsby Phil Richardson

by Global Graphics (Czech Republic)

Print -Qy Colorprint Offset LId (Hong Kong)

,

J 0809876

Contents SECTION 1

SECTION 3

UNIT 1

35

SECTION 5

UNIT 7

100

• Freeing-up

• Posture and technique

• Couplets

• Reading

• Phrasing

• Alberti

• Stress • Black-key

• Black-key

scales (2)

• Black-key

arpeggios

• Hand positions

and fingering

• Hands separately

and together

• Classical

175

• The keyboard music

the wrist

UNIT 13 style

• Sonata form

scales (1)

bass (2)

• The passing thumb

UNIT 8

• Scale and triads

• UNIT 2

53

• The black notes • Keys & key signatures • Major

& minor

• •

• Intervals • Major

& minor scales

• Broken

·· ·•

109

Legato pedalling Tone control Repeated

(1)

& gradation

• Rubato

hand staccato

• Legato

Staccato

• Black-key

arpeggios

sca Ies

Chromatic Two-octave

UNIT 15

arpeggios

123

• Jazz, rock, & blues (1) • Jazz chord • Two-hand

progressions voicings

• Chord embellishment (1)

• Legato & staccato

SECTION 4

• Triplets

UNIT 10

• Hand position • Chromatic

changes

SECTION 2 74

• Rhythmic

shaping

• Extended

hand position

• Cantabile

(1)

(2)

81 time

control

Direct

Pedalling

• Melodic

minor

scales

hands together

• Chromatic

scale hands together

scale

chords (1)

90 & improvising

layout Prog.ressions

• Cadences • Melody

& harmony

& variation

Jazz scales and soloing Rhythm

Changes

211 playing

• Wrist staccato • Four-octave

• Ornamentation

UNIT 17

• Left-hand

• 20th century

leaps

up the hands (2) arpeggios

scales & arpeggios

225 piano

(1)

·•· ··• · • • ·

music

• Tonal colour

(1)

• Modern

scales

music

• Irregular

UNIT 12

• Voice-leading • Chord

Development Texture

metres and rhythms

• Contemporary

• Harmony • Keys • Chord

Theme & motive

• Ragtime

145

• Four-octave

UNIT 6 • Composing

harmony

Contrast;

• Hand independence

• Arpeggios

• Mixing

chromatic broken

Chromatic

• Contrapuntal

• Black-key

Espressivo (1) Four-note

voicings

SECTION 6

Tonal balance Two-octave

Left-hand Off-notes

• Finger independence

U IT 5 Compound

Modes

UNIT 16

up the hands (1)

(2)

• Beethoven

arpeggios

Thumb

·• • ·

& improvising

• Espressivo (2)

UNIT 11

• Sca les • One-octave

·• ·· ·•

197

Composing

• Mixing • Rotation

UNIT 4

·•· • ·· ·

133

• Interpretation

scale on D

(3)

scale on A flat & C

• Expression hand position

(2)

scales (3)

• Articulation • Tempo • Extended

pedalling

• Black-key

• Scales & scale theory

• Dynamics

playing

Left hand melodies

UNIT 9 66

189

• Romantic

chords (1)

UNIT 3

U IT 14

160

music

• Scales in 3rds & octaves

Jazz, rock, & blues (2) Syncopation, Rhythmic

grooves

& swing

idioms

UNIT 18

238

• Latin styles

Riffs & licks

• Arranging

Song form

• Reharmonisation

12-bar

blues

• Bebop & modern

Lead sheets & standards

• Ethnic,

Embellishing

• Odd-time

Pentatonic

a tune & blues scales

7th chord fingerings

urban,

jazz

fusion,

crossover

• Free improvisation • Creating

a performance

Reference Section

259

Preface W

elcome

to The Piano Handbook, a new kind of book that aims

to introduce

you to all aspects of the piano, and piano

playing, in a single volume. The piano has emerged as the

most exciting and important

medium

for creative music-making

in Our

Bartok. Meanwhile, experimental

free improvisation

think about new ways of connecting with

other

movement

disciplines studies.

like

will require that you

up musical gesture and performance

physical

theatre

And if you're interested

and

performance

culture. As a result, it has a uniquely rich musical heritage. I've tried to

groove, you'll want co see how sequenced drum-machine

reflect that richness in this book, on several levels.

Afro-American

Firstly, although

The Piano Handbook is primarily

a tutor, to be used

either for self-study or with a teacher, it gives you the world of the piano as a whole. It guides you through the process of learning to play in a wide range of traditional repertoire,

and modern styles. It introduces the piano's enormous

and the vast choice of recordings

available by great players.

drumming

techniques

That doesn't

mean that the book is just a pick'ri'rnix of different

styles, crammed into a single volume. It's nor. It has become fashionable co assume that differem

cultures

have nothing

interactions.

This view has dominated

impact On western

world

the

for your own personal exploration

of this

wonderful instrument. learning

the piano,

over

intended

takes a completely

new approach

music education bur

in the western

its limitarions

have become

concrete

to challenge

historical

that

connecrions

The

languages,

but also by focusing

sirnilariries

between

different

approach,

between

not just by looking

different

musical

cultures

at and

on che deeper organic and structural

kinds of music. All music reflects basic

within the grasp of the individual player - has made it central, not JUStfor

human resources and concerns: nor just how we think and feel, but also

performers

how we hear, how our bodies gec involved in playing and responding,

but for composers.

That's why playing and composing

have

repeatedly come together on the piano to produce exciting approaches that treat playing itself as creative, in live performance as improvisation

and in

the privacy of the composer's studio. In this book, you'll learn to play, compose and improvise

side by side, and you'll see how closely related

and

how our own playing and the music we relate co unfold in time itself. One consequence

of this

is chat in The Piano

Handbook

you're

encouraged to develop musical auiareness by thinking about issues critically for yourself. The aim is not just

CO

see how different styles of music reflect

the same deeper forces, but ro grasp what chat might mean for your own

these aspects really are. Thirdly, this approach means you'll be able to compare and contrast techniques

used by classical masters like Bach and Mozart with those of

jazz and rock greats like Bill Evans or Jerry Lee Lewis. You'll also discover that those techniques are there for you to use in your own way, to help you unlock your own creative and musical potential.

involvement

as a player

recommended

a wide range of books in the reference section, designed co

and

creacive

deepen your critical understanding There's a full-length

individual.

To

help,

I've

of music.

tutorial section, intended for older children and

In other words, you'll

adults who want to move rapidly through the earlier stages of learning the

learn about each different style in a way that take it on its own terms,

piano to a level where they can cake advantage of the rich repertoire of the

giving it the respect it deserves as a culture or genre. That leaves you free

instrument.

to choose the elements

book combines

you wish to take further, as you discover more

about your own strengths

Focusing on laying the foundations

instrumental

and interests.

The approach I've taken in this book reflects my experience over many

designed

learn is generally

interpretation.

to begin with things

you want

reachers force young people ro srruggle

to learn. Too many

with music they can't

relate to, and which offers few obvious opportunities and realising one's creative potential. active

involvement

with

their

for self-expression

It's one reason young people reject

own

musical

heritage,

in favour

of

established

methods

with

of a sound technique,

the latest

thinking

to illustrate

and tackle the major points

There are often pointers

to additional

learning, and exercises to practise, if you want pace.

As you progress,

improvisation, music

the

about

learning. You'll find quite a few of the best-loved classics of

the piano repertoire, alongside newly composed study-pieces

years as a player, composer and teacher. I've found rhat the best way ro modern

you'll

come

CO

and exercises

of technique

and

reiared pieces for

proceed at a more relaxed

across

sections

dealing

with

jazz and other non-classical styles, and the fundamentals

theory and composition.

These

harmony

outcome is a graded course that I hope will be enjoyable and challenging

of popular musical styles that are actually

less creative than the classical music that drove them away in the first place. Perhaps you have experienced something

The piano as an instrument

every style of music seriously: that is, in its own way. In other words, if

types of music.

The

in new and exciting ways.

like this.

By concrast, The Piano Handbook encourages you to approach each and

in various

of

how and why melody,

with watered-down

imitations

and form work differently

explain

Walkmans and computer games. Teachers are left trying to lure them back

finding

uniquely

has always been about individuals

rich ways to realise their potential

could even say that's why the instrument

as musicians.

You

was invented and developed in

you're going to play jazz, you've got to learn about scales, voicings, and

the first place. Ir's certainly

soloing, so you can improvise alongside teal jazz musicians. If you're going

prepare you for. But it also means that the really important

to play classical, you need to master classical technique

experience of piano playing aren't going ro come from this or any book.

and phrasing and

understand created.

J

increasingly apparent to those who work in the field.

- its ability to bring complex music

to reflect its special characteristics.

amazing versatility of the instrument

to

in common:

one another in the

society, with only chaotic and random

last few decades,

I've decided

Secondly, The Piano Handbook

substantial

that the best rhey can hope for is to exist alongside isolated ghettos of our multicultural

broadest possible foundations

or

into exciting

piano textures. It's all here between the covers of The Piano Handbook.

And it directs you to the many books written On more specialised aspects In short, it aims to give you the

break-beats

can be transformed

of the subject. Ir also tells the story of the evolution of the piano and its musical culture.

and

in the latest dance-house

the culture in which great masterpieces of the past were If 20th century music interests you, there's no substitute for

learning to analyse and play challenging

composers such as Schoenberg or

whar I've designed

They will come directly from you.

CARL HUMPHRIES

2002

The Piano Handbook

co

things in your

J

THE ORIGINS OF THE INSTRUMENT The piano could be said to stand at the centre of the traditions

of western music that

have flourished

it epitornises

in the last few centuries.

that technological

sophistication

rich language without like

has played in western music's attempt

the role

to develop a

sacrificing expressive control or creative freedom.

other keyboard

allows an individual unfolding

As an instrument,

instruments player

(such as harpsichords

to create

the complex structures

melody,

and organs),

harmony

the piano

and texture

all at once,

of western music in the process. At the same time,

the piano retains a large element

of the physically

expressive control over sound that

is natural to singing and playing but missing from other keyboard instruments. This

combination

of factors

instrument

of western

improvisers,

and for ordinary

has enabled

music,

both

people making

remains easily the most mechanically The piano

uses small

hammers

the piano

for virtuoso music

complex piece of equipment that strike

- an instrument

stretched

between

zither developed Playing the spinet

moveable

Christina Antonio Somis playing a small octave

by ancient

spinet in the mid-18th cemury. Other members of

tuning

Somis's family play violin and cello.

that dates

the strings

thanks

and bounce

Greeks

in their

and harmony.

Age - in which

board are struck

to the addition

early experi menrs

Sophisticated

or plucked.

of a resonating

strings later

the

chamber

and

with

the mathematics

of zither

still

used

of musical

in use include

the

cimbalom.

The first zithers arrived century

examples

off,

has its origins in early forms of

bridges that could alter the pitch of the note, as on the monochords

Japanese koro and Hungarian

in Europe

as portable

from the Middle

instruments

evolved

instrument by

control

known as a "benrside" type, with strings running obliquely to the keyboard. The insrrumenr was made in London in 1742 by Joseph Mahoon.

first

metal

such strings

to be struck

hammers.

The

of

the

expressive

over volume offered by

the modern

The spinet pictured is a wing-shaped model

these the

became an important

and developed

harpsichord (right) produce their distinctive

the

designed

precursor

sounds by rrfeans of mechanically plucked strings.

-

small

dulcimer

Bentside spinet

From

with

specifically

The spinet (above), the virginal and the

East in the 11th

(psalteries).

dulcimer

4

and

to be found,

inside

back to the Bronze

sticks or over a wooden considerably,

the central

composers,

in their own homes, where it

leaving the strings to vibrate freely. This mechanism zither

to become

performers,

piano.

Taken

up

in the late 17th

Virginal The virginal was an early keyboard instrument. This one was produced in Italy in the 1660s and, given its lavish decoration, was probably made for a wealthy customer.

century

by Panraleon

Hebenstreit,

the exciting possibilities be freely and dramatically Although

a virtuosic

the Greeks are rhoughr

This

instrument

used a wheel

continuous

that

to use a keyboard, was turned

appearing

by hand

form of water-organ

(or organisrrum)

was probably

around the I Oth century.

to stroke

the strings,

making

Clavichord

a

Clavichords were important early keyboard

sound, while simple levers (keys) caused small anvils to press against the

Over the next few centuries, pipes activated

primitive

with

remain

a feature

identifying

letters).

from identical

These eventually

of modern

keyboards:

black

added in the 13th and 14th centuries.

this type of keyboard mechanism

17ch century.

arrangement

with

of the hurdy-gurdy

Known

inscrurnents;

the pitch.

pipe organs were also developed,

by sliders in turn controlled

marked

sustaining

showed

where volume could

to have used a primitive rhe hurdy-gurdy

string at different points along its length, altering

gradually

player, the dulcimer

instrument

varied.

that operated rather like a keyboard, the first stringed

German

of having a struck stringed

with the

its action, or playing mechanism. It employed a

handles (which had ro be

became keys

the pivoted

metal "tangent" at the end of each key to strike

keys that

the string and make it vibrate.

were

A fusion of

the string-based appeared

as che geigenwerck,

in the

it

looked racher like a harpsichord. By the 15 th cenrury, and polychord the larrer

the keyed monochord

had appeared,

that

the clavichord

and it was from most

probably

evolved. The compass of the keyboard on this and other

keyboard

during

instruments

the 16ch century,

process continued through

was significantly

to six-octave

expanded

from two octaves to four-and-a-half.

with the development instruments

of harpsichords,

This

and then pianos,

at the end of the 18th century.

The modern

piano keyboard has a compass of 88 notes, covering a little over seven octaves. Alongside

the clavichord,

whose existence

was first reported

in 1404,

the one pictured below is German

and dates from the early 1800s. Pictured above is

there

5

THE STORY OF THE PIANO a family

emerged

of keyboard

strings:

instruments

the harpsichord,

with

mechanically

and spinet.

mechanism

(the 'jack')

to pluck

them

when

the key was

released. They differ from one another

in shape, size

sophisticated strings

and

then

damp

and arrangement The outside

spinet

popular,

dynamic

contrast,

either

sympathetic

vibration

all the dampers

the dynamic

with real dynamic

away

more resonance through

of strings)

or by keeping

and suitability

the 17th and l Srh centuries,

or even the clavichord.

instrument

tuned to different

to create a crude sense of

by lifting

In spite of its popularity

introduction

to the

them

in contact with the strings as the notes sounded.

throughout not provide

a bigger

as the keys) and with

from the strings at once (producing partially

By contrast

perpendicular

for each note, sometimes

Srops were introduced

though

to produce

running

(in the same direction

several strings

the

to be effective

gatherings.

was expanded

sound, with the strings

octaves.

used a

and virginals,

were roo quiet

of small domestic

the harpsichord keyboard

These

of strings.

clavichord,

extremely

dulcimer

plucked

virginals

control That

control

of individual

meant

remained

for concert

the harpsichord notes

demand

offered

for a concert

unsatisfied,

paving

use

could by the

keyboard

the way for the

of the piano.

Double-manual harpsichord For greater musical versatility, extra

CHRISTOFORI'S BRILLIANT INVENTION

keyboards C'rnanuals") were added co some harpsichords from the 17th century. This two-

By the end of the 17th century,

manual model replicates a 1638 Ruckers original.

organs,

the harpsichord

three types of keyboard

family, and clavichords. contrasts

performers,

such as violinists

of volume

The first instruments Bartolomeo court,

Crisrofori,

at the turn

number

of pianos,

hammers.

players ro achieve the subtle

being

demonstrated

by other

and string orchestras.

recognisable

today as pianos were built by

the keeper of instruments

of the 18th

century.

but brilliantly

posed by an instrument

were in use:

None offered the son of dynamic

response that would allow keyboard expressive

instrument

at the Florentine

He built

only a small

solved the technical

in which

strings

But his results were pracrically

problems

have to be struck

by

ignored by the musicians

of his own time in Italy. A visitor to Cristofori "gravicernbalo

described

the resulting

col piano e forte" (a harpsichord

instrument

as a

with soft and loud),

and it is from this that the modern piano takes its name. (Piano is short

for pianoforte:

forrepianos.)

some

early

instruments

In spite of the lack of interest,

refine his piano action, even developing Playing the harpsichord

that corresponds

A musical scene painted by Edith Hipkins in

direct

1885 shows a woman playing a harpsichord. (The

discovered

instrument at rhe back of her chair is a cirtern.)

strings

to the left-hand

the hammer

as to

the una corda mechanism

pianos. He used a hand stop to used for each note.

He also that the

could

at just one of the two strings

be securely

Crisrofori's

maintained

the case and altering

wooden block that supported

6

are

that longer, thicker strings would produce more tone, providing

strengthening

mechanism,

pedal on modern

known

Crisrofori continued

greatest whereby

stroke

under

a greater

the way the runing

tension.

That

pins were mounted

meant in the

them. of genius

the single downward

was his development movement

of the escapemene

of the key is convened

into

Cristofori action This sequence (below) illustrates the action of a 1726 Cristofori piano. The design is remarkably sophisticated considering it was the first of its type, though Crisrofori went on to improve it.

Cristofori piano This instrument was made by the man who virtually invented the piano, Bartolomeo Cristofori. He made this grand piano in Florence, Italy, in 1722.

two distinct

movements

of the hammer:

back down again so that the string

upwards to hit the string, then immediately

is left free to vibrate.

The trick was to let the

hammer

(and its shank) 'escape' from the rest of the mechanism,

rebound

and fall back down (with gravity)

key remained mechanism

depressed.

controlled

It was no longer

connected

even if the piano

to the part

of the piano

the pianos of Cristofori

bear little resemblance

to the

of today. The sound is much more delicate and projects less than that of

the harpsichord, hammers.

so that it was free to

the string,

by the keys.

In terms of tonal character, instruments

on hitting

and the touch is extremely

Nevertheless,

considerably

they

light,

do achieve

owing

to the small size of the

a real dynamic

range

while

being

more powerful than the clavichord.

ACCLAIM FOR THE NEW INSTRUMENT In the early decades of the l Sth century a number of instrument France

and

Germany,

independently strings.

of Cristofori,

None

description developing

inspired

by the

experimented

success

instruments

and

with actions that used hammers

of these really took off until

of Crisrofori's

manufacturers

of Hebenstreit

Gottfried

and attempted

Silbermann

in

working to strike

came across a

to recreate

their

design,

his own version of the piano action, known as Prellmechanik.

In 1736 Silbermann the time, Johann

showed his instruments

to the greatest

Sebastian Bach, who was impressed

German

but stated that the action was

heavy and the upper register weak. After many years of refinement again presented

one of his pianos, this time in Potsdam

composer of

Silbermann

at the court of Frederick

once the

7

THE STORY OF THE PIANO Grear (King Frederick II of Prussia), a keen music enrhusiasr This rime rhe insrrumenr Ir is probably

and

highly

exrernporising harpsichord,

Emanue'BACH

SONATAS & RONDOS

reflecred

culrure.

C.P.E. Bach's intensely

adventurous

approach

rhe new penchanr

Alrhough

his music

it laid rhe foundations

composing

and improvising

throughout

the 19rh century and, through who

added

Prellzungenmechanik manufacrurers classical period,

for emorionalism

or 'German

was raken

own action'.

developmenrs

both soughr

to England, to develop

This

and Haydn.

Haydn

and

on which rhis role

(zunge)

became

ro

popular

by Johann produce

with

rhe

German

of a check mechanism)

By contrast,

to

of the

Crisrofor i's later action

influenced

the 'English

forms simply as Srossrnechanik)

action'

to form the

in English piano design.

including

Americus

the possibilities

square piano with a simplified

in

for the

It rerained

up and developed

The Seven Years War, which broke out in Germany manufacrurers

conceived

styles of Mozart,

(with the addition

in its earliest pre-escapemenr

basis of subsequenr

and

(Ernpfindsamkeir)

principally

escapement

(which came to be known as Srosszungemechanik) (known

composing

action in pianos used by many of the grear composers

such as Mozart

the

emotionally

jazz, inro the 20rh century.

acrion his

the elder

role of the piano as the instrument

and was larer modified

become rhe Viennese

dramatic,

mosr fully overlap and inreracr.

Prellmechanik

Srein,

amongsr

keyboard

for the pianisric

as well as for the subsequenr

Silbermanri's

to

was probably

Beethoven,

Andreas

Music by Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach.

playing.

composer

for many years

sons, and the one who did more than anyone else to found

school of keyboard

Bach, the most original

in Porsdam

Emmanuel

numerous

German

Carl Philipp

that the court composer

Bach's

involved,

PLETNEV

no coincidence

was Carl Phillip modern

MIKHAIL

and amareur composer.

was acclaimed.

anion

of Crisrofori's (without

in 1756, drove many piano

Backers and Johannes action. Zumpe

an escapement)

Zumpe,

who

developed

a

that could be built

lumpe square piano Probably invented in Germany in the early 1740s, the square piano rose to fame some 20 years later in England. It was smaller and mare practical rhan the grand piano, with strings at right angles to the keys, and sold in large numbers, paving the way for the piano's coming popularity. The square piano shown here was made in london in 1769 by Johannes Zumpe and Gabriel Bunrebarr.

8

THE STORY OF THE PIANO

.

English single action This system, shown in (he sequence below, was developed action

by Johannes

featured

of two steps

from Crisrofori's

Zurnpe

a jack, or pilot,

around that linked

original

1760. It the key with

rhe hammer.

Beyer square piano contemporary

Almost opposite,

with the example

Adam Beyer in 1777. The footpedal lowered

part of the lid to provide

the instrument's

volume

stops Cleft) allowed

..

pictured

this square piano was made in London

,

by

~

raised and

some control

over

and tone. The brass hand-

various damping

effects.

English double action Zurnpe

It was soon in huge demand

easily at a lower cost than harpsichords. especially after].C. London, featuring

in London,

Bach gave the first acclaimed public recital on the instrument his own works, probably

the instrument.

Zumpe marketed

classes rather

than the aristocracy,

the first to be composed

his instrument

specifically

in

also pioneered

this system,

which was

patented

by Geib in 1786. The action,

sequence

below, introduced

for escapement,

allowing

shown in

an intermediate

rapid repetition

lever

of notes.

for

effectively, aiming it at the middle

and keeping

the casework

simple

with this in

mind. Later models of square piano rended to be more ornate, however. John Broadwood produced

also began to build square pianos around the 1770s, and quickly

an enhanced

above the strings) the modern projection,

piano.

However,

underdamping

(dampers

pedal: two important

as the demand

grew

below rather than

distinguishing for more

tonal

features of power

and

it became necessary to increase the length and tension of the strings. This

eventually

forced

installed

version, fearuring

and a sustaining

Broadwood

to develop

an iron hitch

pin plate

above the sound board. By 1821 his firm had managed

that

could

be

to build the first

...

'''!c.'''_~ .

square piano with such a feature. However, instrument

it was the grand

the square piano eventually upright,

piano

as the 19th century progressed.

rhar

emerged

as the

principal

At the same time, the increasing

led to its replacement

since people wanted smaller instruments

as a domestic

instrument

concert '~~

size of by the

for their homes.

9

-

SUBTLETY OR POWER? Vienna dominated

the musical life of Europe from the late l Srh century through

the early decades

of the 19th century.

patrons of the arts, including

The ruling

Habsburgs

music, and so artists and those with related skills were

drawn to the city. Vienna became another focus for the piano industry, but the sort of instruments they rested on contrasting other the 'English'

that emerged

hammers

on one hand the 'Viennese'

as

action, on the

action.

Stein's improved

are prevented

introduction

like London,

in the two cities were quite different,

types of anion:

Like London, Vienna attracted these adopted

to

were enthusiastic

of checks.

from This

a number

escapement

of German

piano makers, and many of

action (Prellzungenmechanik),

bouncing

back up and restriking

type of action

continued

in which

strings

by the

to be used by numerous

German makers right up to the start of the 20th century. The sound of these Viennese grand pianos is much lighter and more delicate than that of modern intentions

instruments,

and this can sometimes

of the great Viennese By the

composers

1780s,

such as Mozart,

the English

become quite distinct

shed light

Haydn and Beethoven.

and Viennese

as instruments.

and is normally

double-strung.

triple-strung

and has a heavier construction. while the English

the hammers mounted

grand

pianos

had

The former has a lighter

construction

is also lighter,

on the musical

action

The latter is usually The Viennese action is more complex,

with

on a separate hammer rail.

White and black Removed from the Rosenberger piano below, this keyboard and action

English grand action

shows black and white

Devised by Americus Backers and others at

keys reversed, typical

Broadwood in London in rhe 1770s, this action

of many luxury

helped in the development of a more powerful

Viennese

piano with superior rone and dynamic response.

pianos of

the time.

Viennese grand piano Michael Rosenberger made this impressive

instrument

in

Vienna in the early years of the 1800s. By this time the musically flourishing city was established as a leading centre of piano production.

10

Clementi's design The exploded action

view below reveals the keyboard

removed

Clementi's

from the Clementi

instruments

and

piano.

often featured

an unusual

"harmonic swell" system, where an extra length

of string

was brought

create reverberation

into play to

effects.

Clementi grand piano Best known

as a composer

Muzio Clementi "father

of rhe pianoforte"

was closely associated instruments this grand Clementi

whose hammers

would

strike the strings

in England

and

with the

that bore his name, such as piano of 1822. The Italian-born

had come to England

and later his dramatic

Unlike the more powerful English instruments,

and pianist,

was also revered as the

influence

as a child,

piano compositions

the way Beethoven

wrote

for the instrument.

in a direct manner,

the hammers

of the Viennese

the strings as they hit them, producing English

pianos,

impossible without

these instruments

a gentler

instruments

and sweeter sound. But unlike the

were constructed

in such a way that

to adapt them ro satisfy the ever-increasing

sacrificing

the responsiveness

Out of favour as increasing

numbers

tend almost to caress

demand

of the action. This eventually of players

preferred

it was

for more volume, led them to fall

ro use the English

and

French models. At the same time as this shift occurred,

the centre of attention

of musical culture

in Europe was moving from Vienna to Paris.

In England

the success of the square piano during

especially strong demand response.

The new action

conjunction

Here, pianos

leading piano composer manufacturer

and Stodart,

this was developed

big business,

of rhe day in London,

as well. The manufacturing

by Backus,

in

on the basis of the designs of Crisrofori

were already

and pianisr

the late 1760s had led to an

with a richer tone and greater dynamic

that was ro facilitate

with Broadwood

and Silbermann.

production

for an instrument

causing

Clementi,

the

to go into business as a

process became geared

Muzio Clementi

to factory mass-

much more rapidly in Britain than elsewhere.

John Broadwood help him improve

went further the technical

and engaged consistency

the assistance

of scientific

experts to

of his designs. As a result he altered the

11

0752-1832).

THE STORY OF THE PIANO point at which the string is struck,

to improve

the quality

the bridge into two sections. These modifications

of tone. He also divided

enabled him to add half an octave

at the top and bottom of his grand pianos. Such was the success of these improvements expressed his delight

on being presented

be the only instrument increasingly

dramatic

remotely

that the ageing and deaf Beethoven

with a Broadwood

capable

of fulfilling

grand. He believed it to

the taxing

demands

of his

and extreme compositions.

THE ROMANTIC PIANO The French Revolution factories in England. spotted

led to several major piano makers in France leaving ro set up One of the most important

that the market was shifting

to do this was Sebastien Erard, who

away from the square piano and so focused on

the grand piano. Erard's most important

innovation

Beethoven's piano

allows a note to be replayed without

This contemporary illustration, dared

much

1820, shows the Broadwood grand piano

complex mechanism,

rhar was owned by Beerhoven.

speedier

note repetition.

was the double escapement

mechanism,

which

the key having to be fully released, permitting

English

makers

doubted

and made the mistake of ignoring The which

the durability

19rh

century

the Romantic

in European

of this

ir for several decades.

classical

emphasis on emotional

was

movement music,

transported

period

III

emerged

leading

intensity

both works and performances. to see musicians

the

to an

and drama in

Audiences

liked

into stares

of

Kirkman grand piano A very grand piano indeed - rhis one was allegedly owned by King George IV and was kepr for him ar Brighton Pavilion in England. Made in London in 1820, rhe piano features Jacob Kirkman's

"octave stop"

feature rhar added extra harmonic colour by adopting some higher-pirched strings.

l Beethoven's Braadwood piano, srill in use.

12

poetic and emotional

rapture,

it was usually the strings, thickness

and many concerts ended with wrecked pianos. In fact

rather than the action, that presented

(and thus their strength)

framework

of the instrument

was constrained

could suppOrt

the problem:

by the limited

without

warping.

their

tension that the Thicker,

stronger

strings could be used, but to reach the same pitches as thinner strings they had to be put under higher tension, and that meant building Manufacturers

belly rail to which the hitch-pin could bend under pressure. running

and fixed to the hitch-pin owing

withstanding hammers

the number

of more

forces. With

mid-19th

(originally

of braces was

efficient

the increase

fixings

capable

of

in string

tension,

larger

advances paving the way for the modern grand piano in

century,

patented

The musical

with

the

by Chickering)

consequences

introduction

of the

and the development

of these developments

full-iron

frame

of oversrringing.

were enormous.

The increased

dynamic range over a much wider compass, along with the sustaining

pedal, allowed

romantic

composer-performers

unprecedented fireworks

previously

of Romantic

many believed often ability

extravaganrly

and sensual

the

exiled

Polish

the hearts of audiences

haunting

sensuality

a violinist

1808 for Louis, King of the Netherlands, who was Napoleon Bonaparte's brother. Today it is stil l owned by the Dutch royal family.

whom

Liszr encouraged individual.

the piano's images

the

He would people's unique

of Romantic

co note that Chopin,

composer-virtuoso

the tonal

It is interesting

with some other performers

subtlety

of Pleyel

and

still felt by many to

soul of the instrument.

together

Chopin

with the soulful melancholy

of his piano compositions,

the innermost

day, preferred

the

(above) was made by the Erard Brothers in Paris in

its rich variety of textures.

captured encapsulate

talented

he exploited

the complex

through

Meanwhile,

Paganini,

on his own and other

Like Schumann,

to evoke

literature

became

Erard grand piano Another opulent instrument, this grand piano

and dazzling virtuosity.

to be the devil in disguise,

improvise

The piano

technical

soirees, in which the great names of the day would entrance

to see him as a demonically

compositions.

and Liszt to explore an

as well as performing

have been unthinkable.

Like the lean and other-worldly public

Schumann

variety of new moods and textures,

that would

centrepiece

such as Chopin,

audiences with their displays of emotion

---

and Erard both lay

and more robust actions became feasible. Steinway would achieve

the other important the

Eventually

to the advent

greater

was to attach iron braces

on the same plane as the strings,

plate. Broadwood

claim to this development.

the pin block and the

plate is itself fixed, but even these

The solution

above the soundboard,

reduced,

a stronger framework.

began to use iron spacers between

instruments

of the to the Erard's agraffe An important innovation made by the Parisian Erard company was the agraffe, pictured above in early, simple form on a piano of 1818. Strings are threaded through the device, which prevents them moving when struck. It improved che piano's tuning stabiliry and enhanced its rone.

Erard endorsements Erard made the most technically advanced pianos of the time and had factories in London as well as Paris. The company's instruments arrracted leading composers

and musicians; this particular piano

(lefc) was played by Mendelssohn and Liszt,

13

mechanical

sophistication

of Erards, bur also played Broadwoods

as the end of the 19th century,

a few late-Romantic

preferred

the Viennese-scyle

in England.

composers,

As late

notably Mahler, still

piano with its associations

of old

Vienna and the great classical masters. This

period

European Robert

also saw the

school

of piano

Schumann

married

day, Clara Wieck. had groomed Schumann,

the leading

her from birth

for an international

continued

to be felt through

and her own performances by improvised

own compositional

husband's

Pictured

was the leading and raught pictured

better

above left, Clara Schumann female virtuoso

many grear players.

is Wilma

(1819-96)

pianist

understanding

progressive

great

composer

female virtuoso

of the

career. Clara

preludes

talents

of them - a method

recently

were

of her own invention.

were sadly

career, but she encouraged

into the 20th

of works by others eclipsed

her students

around the pieces of music they were learning Clara Schumann

first

brilliant

as she became known, taught many of great pianists,

often proceeded Her

of the

The

Her father was a leading piano teacher who

whose influence century,

foundation

playing.

revived

by her

to improvise

in order to gain a

by some of the most

classical teachers of the present day.

of her day,

(The violinist

Neruda.)

THE EVOLUTION OF THE UPRIGHT The upright

we know today first appeared around 1800, following previous attempts

ro design vertical grand pianos (known as upright smaller, wanted

more economical an instrument

and portable

instrument.

whose sound retained

grands). It was developed However,

to be a

manufacturers

also

as many as possible of the qualities

of

the grand piano. More than one designer grand were redundant,

had independently

realised that the legs of the upright

so the bass strings could go right to the floor. Shortly after

that, Thomas Loud of London proposed

running

the strings diagonally,

so that either

longer strings could be incorporated

or the size of the case could be reduced. Loud

went to America, where he produced

small pianos, while in Europe obliquely

strung

pianos of this kind became known as pianinos. Another

Londoner,

1798, which allowed strings,

adding

William

Southwell,

the hammer

an escapement

had introduced

to be positioned and a check,

the 'sticker'

at the optimum

but it was Robert

Mahler's Gustav

Jules Massenet French composer upright upright

Massener

is seen here playing

piano for a few admiring was perfect

for entertaining

onlookers.

grand Vienna

in smaller

as a

was Mahler's first

made by Conrad

around

instrument

14

was renowned

pictured

piano,

later, Mahler

homes at the turn of the century.

who

and cond UC[Qr. The

instrument

an

The

Wornum

in

on the

Graf piano

Mahler

composer

action

point

1830. Seventy still preferred

when composing.

Graf in years

to use this

transformed Early

the upright

on, Wornum

stringing

piano into the instrurnenr

built

an upright

with the English

double

for the system

anion

used in uprights

today.

check the hammer

CO

further developed

that remains It employs

known,

French

manufacturers

production

wrongly,

was

meet

but

in

demand

action.

The

were mass

artistic

may have suffered.

The upright

piano was a product

also had the prestige the grand

pianos parts

extremely

important

of having evolved from of society.

and more

Size

was

an

issue, since the typical

middle class home in the mid-19th rooms.

that

classes, but it

of the wealthier

arisrocratic

adapted

his most

and his innovation

as the 'French'

could be sold co the middle

smallish

a

so that it cannot

of uprights

successful, to

standards

the basis

in Paris by Playel and Pape, so that it

became

commercially

diagonal

and in the 1830s he

strike more than once. In 1842 he parented advanced version of this anion,

we know today.

combined

action,

went on co develop the tape-check piece of tape

that

The

upright

or disguised

century had

piano

co function

else when not in use. Pianos

was often

as something

could resemble

tables and desks, or even chests of drawers. English especially domestic designs

and French

manufacturers

inventive appeal of Pape,

in

enhancing

were the

ofthe

ins trurnenr , and

though

expensive,

the

inspired

other

makers ro experiment.

Wornum upright piano The London-based maker Robert Wornum contributed a great deal co the development of rhe upright piano, including advances in actions. His "tape check" system prevented a hammer bouncing back and hitting a string, and is still in modified use today. This example ofWornum's crafr (above) was produced in abour 1835.

Sticker action

propels the hammer cowards the string.

This sequence of three steps, pictured above,

Building on Geib's action, it was pioneered by

illusrrares rhe mechanics of the so-called

John Landreth during the 17805 and then by

"sticker" aerion, named for rhe sricker rhac

William Southwell in the early 1800s.

15

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN GRAND The

great

exhibitions

opportunities

and

world

fairs of the

for the major piano manufacturers

public. As a result, American huge impact

19th

century

offered

excellent

to present their new designs to the

piano makers, led by Steinway and Chickering,

in the European

market

many awards at major exhibitions

in the second half of the century.

with their advanced

production

made a

They won

techniques

and

new ideas for design and marketing. The Steinway family (originally the 1848 revolution They produced represent

in Germany,

called Steinweg)

a series of innovations

the last major developments

In the 1850s they introduced cast-iron frame that could support it possible to produce they had produced

instruments

the overstrung

had emigrated

where they had already in the production in the evolution

overstringing

to America after

been producing

of the modern grand piano.

to square pianos,

and developed

Theodor Germany

Sreinway,

a

far greater levels of tension in the strings, making with a much bigger and richer sound. By 1860, grand - the real forerunner

of the modern concert

grand - and had began to make use of a process for machine-felting to achieve a more consistent

pianos.

and design process: these

their hammers

tonal quality.

the only member

of the family to have remained

behind

in

in the 1850s, worked closely with the great 19th century German scientist

Erard grand piano European makers such as Erard were shocked by the influx of American-made instruments in the second half of the 19th century, primarily from Steinway, and the technical innovations they introduced, such as the overstrung grand. Instruments like this Erard grand made in 1866 would soon seem old fashioned.

16

Steinway celebration A Sreinway

trade banquet

1926 (left) underlines booming

worldwide

honour included conductors

of musical

Hermann

Helmholtz,

instruments

who had investigated

and musical

harmony.

1860s, Theodor

Sreinway

taken up by other manufacturers

single-piece During

laminated

introduced

from Sreinway

as well itself.

around

in the

refinements

the world,

that

notably

the

War II under

the

piano rim. factory of Sreinway & Sons was

used to make aircraft parts, wbile tbe German to produce

Steinway

firm acquired

maker,

partly

international

to America

a whole series of technical

World War II the American

by the Nazis

of

the acoustic foundations

After moving

were eventually

success. Guests

eminent musicians,

and their families,

as luminaries

and acoustician

in Berlin in

the company's

dummy

aeroplanes

the reputation

through

factory was taken over and rifle butts.

as the world's

developing

close

premiere

relationships

concert artists, many of whom were inclined

The piano with

to refuse to

perform on any other kind of piano. Apart century three

from Broadwood

& Sons and Steinway

saw the emergence of which

Bosendorfer

stand

Austrian

out

for the

of Vienna and Bechstein

on creating instruments Liszts

of a number

piano

Imperial

also creating

Bosendorfer

of their

the 19th

instruments.

supplied

with additional

themselves

the ferocious onslaught instruments

Court, and remains the leading Austrian

an instrument

that extended

quality

of Berlin both prided

capable of surviving

playing.

& Sons,

of other great piano firms,

of

to the piano firm,

notes at the very bottom

the range down to low C below the A that is normally

the lowest note on modern

pianos. Bechsrein

best of the many other developments

skilfully

integrated

in piano manufacture

the

inro their

grand pianos. Tbe Leipzig-based beauty

firm of Julius Blurhner

of its insrrumenrs,

early 20th

century,

particularly

and production

was admired

for tbe tonal

in the late 19th century was revived

auspices of the East German government.

Bluthner

after World

and

made an important

innovation

in

the form of the aliquot system, in which an extra string is added for each note in the higher register for sympathetic

vibration,

to enhance the singing quality of the tone.

Empress EugEmie Bosendorfer One of the most famous world, designed Makart

by Viennese

PIANOS FOR THE MACHINE AGE of the piano prompted

the instrument

into homes where no one could actually play it. The obvious solution

was to mechanise

manufacturers

to try to think of ways to bring

Phillipe

the instrument.

]7

Eugenic,

Napoleon

Hans in

of stories surround

bur it was certainly

the Empress

The popularity

was'

craftsman

and bui It by Boseridorfer

1867. A number origins,

pianos in the

this ornate instrument

III.

its

owned by

wife of Louis

THE STORY OF THE PIANO Mechanical

instruments

such as music boxes had been popular in Europe since the

14th century, and Mozart even wrote music specifically for them. The earliest system was the barrel mechanism; a lever

a cylinder turned, and nails inserted into it would trigger that

themselves cylinder

then

meant

beginning

to sound

on strings).

the music

then

started

The

(or the circular

automatically

again.

In the

of the street

piano,

nails

would

shape

of the

returned 19th

began to fit barrel mechanisms

the exception

commercial

a note

notes that

and

manufacturers with

caused

pluck

to the

century,

barrel

pianos

This sort of solid barrel had many limitations.

For an auromatic

to gain wide appeal a more sophisticated

music was required.

way of storing

The solution was to use a cylinder with punched

holes instead of raised nails, and the first successful automatic based on this idea was produced

by Giovanni

or 'Pianista'

- a freestanding

Minx Miniature piano

the piano

Around the time of World \1I7arII the Minx

'player piano' refers to an instrument

Minature piano was a great success in Britain.

fitted

Manufactured by Kemble from 1935, it was aimed

so that its mechanical

automatic

at rhe domesric market by virtue of its small size-

information

although as the picture above shows, it was also

it. The advent

piano

viable,

Fourneaux, machine

'fingers'

played

developed

the keys. By contrast

a compact

made

and efficient

continued in production until 1966.

and pedalling

could

Consequently, performance

by a performer.

be adjusted

This possibility

including

invented

in a crude

way of storing

but tempo, volume

way by an operator.

really reproduce

an actual

became available with the development

a system

for encoding

tempo changes, dynamics,

an electric motor to drive the mechanism The

types of

pianos' in the early 20th century. Moreover, in 1904 Edwin Welte of

in Germany

performance,

sometimes

piano players and player pianos couldn't

of 'reproducing Freiburg

already

both

about the pieces of music ro be played.

Most early piano rolls were lacking in expression or dynamics,

successful in ensembles. Remarkably, the Minx

the term

player mechanism

roll in the 1870s

since it offered

for storage. a 'piano player'

that could be wheeled up to

with an automatic

of the piano

piano

Racca. In the 1880s he

a Piano Melodico that used folded cardboard

In the 1860s a Frenchman,

inside

but

had little

success.

instrument

patented

some

to their pianos,

automated

piano

every nuance

and pedalling.

of a pianist's

He also introduced

instead of pedalled bellows.

was the jukebox

of its day.

gramophone,

to its inevitable creative

use

American

later,

by individuals Conlon

as anticipating

computer

the arrival

the jukebox

of the

itself, led

and swift decline. Nevertheless,

composer

regarded

But

and eventually

sequencing

Automated

such

Nancarrow, the

use

its

as the can

be

of modern

techniques.

pianos were popular in cinemas,

and this was part of a broader drive to exploit

Tomasso street piano Italian immigrants to England in rhe late 19rh century brought with them the idea of "barrel" pianos. These were often wheeled around the srreers on carts, like the one shown here. Each "pinned" barrel contained ten tunes and each tune lasted about 45 seconds. This street piano was made in London in about 1885.

18

Steck reproducing

piano

Aeolian took over the New York-based George Steck company in 1904, purring its Duo-Art piano roll reproducing system of 1912 inro Steck uprights (below). Piano rolls (above), invented by Racca Piano Melodico

Edwin Welte in Germany in 1887, quickly

This "melody piano" was patented in 1866

became popular, with many great pianists making

by Giovanni Racca and made in Bologna,

rolls for sale by Aeolian and other companies.

Italy, around 1900. An improvement over the barrel piano, it allowed longer runes to be played by using folded cardboard sheets and a crank-operated mechanism.

the popularity

of the instrumenr

and situations

as possible. Pianos were adapted for use on yachts, and even

by adapting

it co as many social purposes

in the ill-fated airships. The development

of electric pianos,

in which the sound is electrically

altered, and then of electronic pianos, in which the sound is electronically generated,

produced

exploited

alternative

by popular

achieved

success

distinctive

musicians.

and

computer

and

electronic

digital

keyboards,

sounds or simulating

that sound

another

the musical

technology

sophisticated means

significance

Of the former, In popular

allowing

instrument

instrument

that were readily the Fender-Rhodes

culrure industry

circuitry

thanks

to its

has seized upon

to develop

capable of exploring

increasingly

a wide range of

the sound of an acoustic piano. The advent of MIDI

can now be processed

kind of numerical

technology,

data. Acoustic

entirely

in the digital

domain,

as just

pianos have also been fitted with MIDI

them to store information

about an acrual performance

on the

and then replay it 'for real' in the absence of the player.

Ironically, technology

characteristics

sound.

In recent decades,

synthetic

sound

even the most sophisticated has not yet succeeded in matching

'rouch-sensirive'

electronic

keyboard

the extraordinary

sensitivity

to human

touch of an ordinary piano action - one of the fearures whose expressive importance prompted

the invention

of the piano in the first place.

19

THE STORY OF THE PIANO

Modern grand action: 1: At rest

2: Hammer strikes string

3: Hammer in check

A modern grand piano action is shown in this

The jack continues ro move upwards unril its roe

Wirh the key still held, the hammer bounces off

sequence, featuring Sreinway's Accelerated

encounters the see-off burton. The jack flicks off

rhe string and is grabbed by the check. The

Anion. As che key is pressed, rhe caps ran screw

the railer, leaving rbe ham met moving in free

process of the downward movement of rhe

rises, causing the jack to push up on the roller

flight cowards the string. Meanwhile the damper

hammer has caused the repetition lever co

through a slor in the repetitive lever.

has been lifted off the suing by rhe damper wire.

compress rhe repetition spring.

THE MODERN GRAND The

Steinway

Model

D concert

grand

piano (shown here) is the instrument by

most

performance

modern

concert

purposes.

in 1857, although

only after another developed

e

• f)

e

• " e

0

Sreinway

unique

technique

the entire

to the instrument's

between countries,

since some raw materials

the

instruments

have a different

normal for pianos of this calibre to be adjusted

G

(USA),

to the individual

4D

period 16 moulded toe 171eg 18 leg cap 19 bent side 20 heel 21 rim or case 22 short stick 23 prop stick 24 front half, front top 2S top hinge 26 music rest 27 music desk 28 straight side 29 action 30 action standardl hanger

(the

introverted brighten

with

a

that

about

150

(Germany)

and

slight

differences

originating

in

the

two

source. At the same time, it is player, in order

of the action are optimally

suited

user's musical preferences and way of playing.

Some players

Key

from

unique sound.

produced

to suit the individual

to ensure that both the tone and the responsiveness

rim

for

of wood - a feature

traditionally

York

it was

ten years that Sreinway

Model Ds each year in Hamburg New

~

1 balance weights/key leads 2 keys 3 front baize/key bottom 4 front rail S balance rail 6 balance pin 7 back rail 8 cheek 9 lyre post 10 una corda pedal 11 sostenuto pedal 12 damper pedal 13 lyre 14 lyre brace 1S castor

piece

contributes

0

0

G 6)0

its

manufacturing single

for

The first version of this

model appeared ~

used

pianists

like to express a preference

1920s

and

1930s),

which

for Steinways

made in the inter-war

are felt to have a slightly

darker,

more

expressive tonal character. This may well be a reaction to the tendency to the tone of modern

the preferences

whose expectations This characteristic other respects, now started

grand pianos generally,

of the recording

industry

are often influenced is most ptonounced

concert-going

by what they hear on modern

public

recordings.

in Far Eastern pianos (eg, Yamaha, Kawai). In

however, such as the responsiveness to rival the subtlety

to bring them into line with

and of a modern

that

of the piano action,

was once the sole province

these have

of the great

European firms. Tonal purists

may even go Out of their way to obtain one of old 'patent

Bli.ithner grands - instruments

known for their exceptionally

tone - possibly with a view to having it reconditioned. time

when

considered beauty

above

instrument,

20

the manufacturer inadequate all else,

was using

and rather or who

make

However,

only

this can represent an interesting

modest

choice.

action'

and beauty of

These pianos were built at a

a more primitive

unreliable.

subtlety

type of action,

now

for those who value tonal technical

demands

of the

J

THE STORY OF THE PIANO

-

4: Hammer freed

5: Back to rest

6: At rest, dampers raised

As the key is pardy released, rhe hammer is freed

When the key is fully released the hammer falls

When che damper pedal is pressed, a series of

from the check and rises slightly, caused by the

back so that it is JUStclear of the hammer rest.

levers raises the underlever, lifting the dampers.

reperirion spring. This allows rhe jack back under

The toe of rhe jack leaves the set-off button and

Once a string has been played and the pedal

the roller. If the key is played again, rhe hammer

the jack is fully repositioned under the roller and

pressed, a tab prevents rhe damper wire of any

hits rhe string, though less forcefully this rime.

the damper is lowered on to rhe string.

nore being helel from falling back.

Modern grand piano This Sreinway Model D, illustrated in exploded view, has had its full assembly removed. The keyboard and action have then been freed from the casework and partially pulled our ro show the keys and the key bed. The acrion has been lifred from

Key 1 serial number 2 agraffes 3 dampers 4 wrest pins 5 cast-iron frame 6 treble bridge

e e e e

7 duplex bridge 8 sound board 9 bass strings 10 bass bridge 11 hitch pins

f)

o

rhe key assembly.

21

Modern upright action

Hammer strikes string

Hammer in check

Key released

Half blow

This sequence illustrates

Just before the hammer

The hammer is caught by

Now the wippen lowers,

When the half blow (soft)

the action of a Bosendorfer

strikes the string, the roe of

the check, which prevents

freeing the jack from the

pedal is depressed, without

Model 130, which is similar

the jack moves to the set-

rhe hammer from bouncing

check. Then the jack, aided

a key being played, the half

to most modern upright

off burton. The hammer

back and re-striking the

by rhe repetition spring,

blow rail tilts forward, the

actions. Tbis first photo

then strikes the string and

strings. The key is still

relocates in its notch. The

bammer moves closer to

(above) shows the pares of

bounces back, aided by the

held and so the damper

note can be played again,

the string, and the nore

the action at rest.

bridle strap.

remains off the string.

though with less power.

sounds more quietly.

f) f)

f)

e ~

G

Q)

G

fi fD

Art-case piano

@)

This unusual "Ivory Spirit" Stein way upright was designed by New York artist and craftsman

4»

e

Wendell Castle in 1989.

CD

e

0 8 G)

0

e

4D «0

0 ~

22

~

Modern upright piano This Bosendorfer Model 130 is illustrated in exploded

view, revealing

its frame, action,

keyboard and strings. Few companies produce rheir own actions roday, and Bosendorfer is no exception,

conrracting

the work to Louis Renner

GmbH, one of the world's largest manufacturers of piano parrs. Renner and Schwander actions are both considered ro be of the highest quality.

Key 1 key block 2 lock rail 3 toe(s) 4 lock 5 side stick 6 sound board (part) 7 long bridge 8 pedal rocker 9 half-blow (soft) pedal 10 damper pedal 11 key 12 bat (front) pin 13 bass strings 14 short (bass) bridge 15 hitch pins 16 columns 17 balance pin 18 cheek 19 key weights

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

pilot wire pilot (capstan screw) action standard treble end treble strings action rail agraffes back half wrest pins halftop half-blow rail hammer checks bridle wire hammer rest rail frame hammers bass end half-blow crank

THE MODERN UPRIGHT Modern-day

teachers and performers

that does not preclude

who require a top-quality

home use have often favoured

Model

130 Srudio

(shown

upright

pianos. Most of this instrument

produce. The challenge of the inevitably problem diminished

is that

here) is one of the most highly is hand-crafted,

for a manufacturer

shorter

string

the action

requires

at a price

pianos.

regarded

is to compensate

for the effect

on tonal range and projection.

a shorter

key, which

Another

consequently

offers a

level of responsiveness.

The height of the Model 130 Studio is typical of modern full-size uprights:

..-..

51" (1300m).

However,

names depending (91D-965mm)

smaller sizes are available,

on their height.

A 'spinet'

known in America

uprights

- known

in Britain

also like to refer to instruments

pianos. The smaller types may incorporate

about

by different

piano usually measures about 36-38"

high, while a 'console' piano is about 38-43"

this are 'standard' Americans

Their

of modern

and it takes almost a year to

of uprights

lengths

instrument

Bosendorfer

(965-1100mm).

as 'full-size'

of 43-47"

uprights.

(l100-1200mm)

some alterations

Above Some

as 'studio'

to the action - notably

the use of a 'drop' action.

23

A NEW SOUND AND NEW VOICES By the

end of the

effectively would

19th

completed

continue

engineering,

century,

to be subtle

finish

Instead,

concentrated

improvements

composers

on exploiting

had

After that, there

and manufacturing

but there would be no innovations consequences.

the piano

its evolution.

in

technique,

with real musical and performers

the instrument

as it was

- and still is today. At that point,

however,

the musical culture

the western world received a new stimulus incorporation most parr,

of influences

from Africa. For the

these did not come directly

itself. Instead descendants

they came via America,

was beginning

piano played an important In the last decade

to Europe

where the music of former slaves and their

to be widely heard.

of the 19th century,

began ro develop a popular following:

composed

obsession

for Americans.

by Scott Joplin

Afro-American

musical

did establish

the typical

virtuosic dimension the innovations

It is most

'Jelly Roll' Morton's

24

musical

strongly

associated

ragtime

European

whose rhythmic

patterns

for right-hand

from ragtime

with

it became fashionable

into an essentially

ragtime recordings.

styles

was a syncopated

left-hand

jazz piano. One can hear the transition

to jazz piano, following

of Jelly Roll Morton (below).

and blues. Ragtime

Subsequently

bass note and chord later served as a foundation

and right). Art Tatum (above) brought a

the

songs and marches into something

speed on piano rolls. Although

elements 'stride'

two African-American

ragtime

(1868-1917).

the music played at breakneck The king of ragtime was Scott Joplin (top, left

And almost from the beginning,

parr.

solo piano style that evolved from minstrel national

of

by the

musical

of a

the rags ro hear

incorporates language, alternation

improvisation

it of

in early

ro early jazz piano in some of

THE STORY OF THE PIANO By contrast,

blues was an idiom that displayed

an immediately

compelling

manner,

in black slave songs in the American were flattened African

as a folk-song

South. It used a distinctive

in

genre rooted

scale in which notes

or 'bent' from the normal major scale of European music, to reflect the

feeling for melodies

suffering:

the legacy of African-Americans

since it originated

and to produce

an out-of-tune

feel, expressive

of raw

these were known as 'blue' notes.

The form of the blues consisted itself corresponds infinitum,

to a distinctive

of a repeated

relationship

to the underlying

sometimes

performed

sequence,

style of singing

that has a rhythmically

the rhythms

and inflections

with piano accompaniment, boogie-woogie

country as these developed Barrelhouse

acquired

ad

loose

metre (which is always in 2 or 4 time) and therefore

with

sometimes

of speech.

Blues was

with guitar.

However,

its real influence on popular styles of piano playing emerged through other styles: initially

which

AAB form. This can be repeated and elaborated

often with a declamatory

also a close connection

12-bar harmonic

and barrelhouse,

throughout

its influence on

but also much of jazz, rock and

the 20th century.

its name from the primitive

huts that functioned

as bars in

the lumber camps of the Deep South of the US. There the piano and alcohol formed a close association

in a rough and dangerous

environment,

where a saying like "Don't

shoot the pianist, he's doing his best" may well have been used literally. Boogie-woogie

was also synonymous

associated with drinking the 20th century.

with

establishments

the rough

In this respect, its pounding

rhythms

bass lines - echoing blues and banjo styles - contributed Yancey and Pinetop

Smith

and licentious

lifestyle

in urban America in the first few decades of

were perhaps

and rhythmically

marked

to its significance.

Jimmy

the most infamous

early exponents,

other masters who can be heard on record include Pete Johnson,

and

Meade Lux Lewis

and Albert Ammons. The slower, more bluesy feel of barrelhouse jazz pianists,

who fused it with the other musical

roots of jazz. Jazz emerged performer

improvising

musicians

maintain

bandleader which

around

mix

French)

andlor

Creole,

and musical

black musicians

began

to export

Great 'stride'

pianists

bands with written pianisr-bandleaders

with inventing Latin

arrangements

and

influences

to the

upon a solo while

The pianist

other and

Artur Schnabel was one of the greatest interpreters

jazz,

European

in late

the music

19th

to other

cities,

also took it up. began to emerge,

It was characrerised

used as backing

such as Duke Ellington,

by big

for solos, led by

Earl Hines, Nat 'King'

Cole and Count Basie, or, on a smaller scale, Fats Waller. The 1940s saw the appearance pianists,

of some

notably Art Tatum,

saw the beginnings emergence

phenomenally

gifted

virtuous

solo

Errol! Garner and Oscar Peterson. It also

of a radically

new conception

of jazz with the

of bebop.

CLASSICAL IN THE 20TH CENTURY Meanwhile,

the world of classical

great pianist-composers Schumann,

Chopin,

century

and Liszt had provided

fame and success and a brilliant generations

music continued

of the mid-19th

of virtuoso

players

repertoire, to

tour

to change.

The

like Mendelssohn,

a glamorous encouraging Europe

and

model

of Beethoven's

piano works

during the early 20th century.

In the 1910s and

such as James P. Johnson

and then, in the 1930s, Swing developed.

ptogression,

in the background,

where he lived and worked.

especially Chicago, where white musicians

that contributed

by an emphasis

a chord

is often credited

of Negro,

cultural

century New Orleans, 1920s

a tune

the beat and the harmony

the

idioms

in the 1920s, characrerised

'Jelly Roll' Morton

reflects

(especially

was taken up by many of the early

of

subsequent America,

25

THE STORY OF THE PIANO

leading

pianists at work: Ferruccio Busoni at

the keyboard

exploiting

the mass popularity

the time,

known

Alkan, Gottschalk, By the start

(below); Edwin Fischer and

Walter Geiskeing on record (sleeves, bottom left); and Emil Gilels in concert (bottom

right).

dominate

of the piano as an instrument.

for their dazzling

technique

of the 20th

century,

piano rolls and early gramophone

a number

Thalberg,

although

the degree

Ignace Minister

Pole, Leopold

(1860-1941),

the Romantic Godowsky

who also became Prime his loose tempi

and accompaniment.

(1870-1938),

composer

and

Another

was revered amongst

and tone. Josef Hofmann

testify to the subtlety and

can

to surpass even Liszt in his astounding

famous for his spontaneity pianist

intensity

the most famous of these,

style with

of melody

brilliance

Romanticism,

and expressive

was probably

pianists and considered technical

to

remains steeped

of 19th century

of rubato

Paderewski

desyncronisation

had begun

to modern ears.

of Poland,

epiromizing

personalities

Their style of playing

and drama

sound exaggerated

of

Their legacy would last into the age of

recordings.

in the intensity

26

included

Tausig, von Bulow and Anton Rubinstein.

the world of piano performance.

8uSM.

Other great pianists of

and intensity,

and risk-taking,

and depth

of insight

Sergei

Rachmaninov

(1876-1957)

was

while recordings that the Russian (1873-1943)

brought

to his playing.

0874-1944) Romantic

By contrast,

brought

the Russian

an element

Josef Lhevinne

of classical

restraint

to the

approach.

The Italian

composer-pianist

Ferruccio

best known for his transcriptions Romantic

pianistic

distinctive

decadence.

aesthetic

performance

technique

and far-reaching

at the time

works in a

for achieving

it is now disdained

practice.

is

in music with a Gothic intensity

Valued

of its own,

authentic

(1866-1924)

of Bach's instrumental

idiom, resulting

and Art-Nouveau

Busoni

Quite

intellectual

apart

a

by advocates of

from his phenomenal

engagement,

Busoni was one

of the era's most original composers for piano. His own works had to wait until the last decades of the 20th century to be appreciated. The French pianist perhaps the greatest his day,

Alfred Corrot (1877-1962)

exponent

of Schumann,

became known as

Chopin,

and Debussy of

thanks to his poetic feeling for tone, texture

and mood, as

well as his rigorous intellect. Meanwhile very centre

-

the works of Beethoven, of the classical

exponent

in the Austrian

Schnabel

caprured

Beethoven's pioneered great

the

sonatas

Beethoven

pianist intellectual

piano

unrivalled

reputation

(1895-1956),

imposed

sing

subtlety

Solomon,

distrust

expressively,

who studied

of virtuosity

Fischer

of

he also little

known.

(1886-1960),

The inimitable Glenn Gould, one of the most

Another

distinctive modern players of Bach's music,

whose Bach and

pictured here with leonard Bernstein.

50), whose emotional palette seeking those

of French

music,

achieved

especially

apparently

transcending

an

Debussy.

of tonal detail and his pedalling,

which

the physical

in his playing in a way that has stood the test

with

a pupil

of Clara Schumann,

of pianist artists was the Rumanian

refinement

and sense of proportion,

of tonal colours, bridged to continue

the perceived

who sought Julius

the gap between

inherited

the

Katchen

Dinu Liparti (1917-

combined

with a rich

those early 20th century

excesses of the 19th century

to reintroduce

classical

American

pianist

depriving

the world of a great Brahms interpreter.

rJI~r[DINU

parents,

for its own sake that was part of the legacy of this great teacher.

One of the most spiritual

and

drama but

by the piano action itself. The English pianist Solomon (1902-

88) fused classicism and romanticism of time.

style

unique,

were previously

for the interpretation

the instrument

pianists

emotional

born in France to German

This was thanks to his exceptional

romantic

authoritative (1882-1951).

are imbued with a deep sense of humanity. Gieseking

limitations

and

works, which

their

Schnabel

remains

of the classics was Edwin

Walter

make

like a colossus at the

found

Artur

in a way that

Schubert's

exponent

standing

repertoire,

(1926-69)

values.

Romantic

Like Liparti , the

saw his career cut short

by illness,

LlPATTI

The legendary final recital by Rumanian

Dernier Recital! Last Recital Letzter AuftriH

BcS.1cw;on.1SIX.1950 BACH • MOZART·

(;..I~te'A".1r SCHUBERT·

CHOPIN

ACc:t..I\.lfIUD 1.l:c..OIlOl"OS

~=~I=:,,:~~

O'f 1Hl

••

s se

pianist Dinu lipatti (far left), recorded days

alPlatOII.

1>~ ..~ ~ ,•.... 5.",...l-.,.,

before his death. Glenn Gould's exciting

GOUlD'S EICI11NG DEBUT RECORDING OF 1955

....••

debut recording of Bach (left) from 1955 is

BACH GOLDBERG

considered by many to be the most distinctive piano recording of the century .

VARIATIONS

GOUlDa

P IA N

27

Another intimacy

great Rumanian and purity

was Clara Haskil (1895-1960),

to her interpretations

Mozart) but is still not as widely appreciated great female pianist status

in Britain

working

who brought

of a range of composers

as she deserves. Haskil was not the only

at this time: Myra Hess (1890-1965)

for the expressive

a subtlety,

(most notably

immediacy

and religious

achieved

conviction

iconic

that her

playing displayed. The mid-20th

"1.101 •.. lull ••.••.••.• Jl;i•• · (.

rsfJ±~

...

...

:Ii ill

:~ 5

Exercise 7.4 The right hand calls for couplets just like in Exercise 7.2, so practise lifting and dropping. Here's an exercise to practise shifting the right hand finger position between the black and white notes, in blocks.

Moving 3rd finger Right hand

3

3 2 1

2 1

&iij

7

q,

>

[1'

7

7

q,

>

7

7

~

3 2

1

>

7

~

~

Moving 4th finger 4 3 2

5

4 3 2

&~II~ II'

>

7

I,'

>

7

II'

7 ~

7

7 ~

4 3 2

>

7 ~

Exercise 7.5 Exercise 7.5 shows how to combine the hands by concentrating on the underlying pattern, so you see how the fingerings of the hands link up. Notice how frequently both hands use the same finger at the same time. Start very slowly and speed up gradually. Keep the thumbs light, especially when they play together.

,

,

(J

3

1

>

>

~

3

6

) \

f)

..

-

::0;

::0;

~

~,

-

>

-

>

~ -

>

~

~

>

~

::0;

::0;

3

4

>

>

-

~~

::0;

~

>

>

>

>

-

::0;

~

~,

~

>

-

4

~ -j#-

3

>

>

~

~

>

1

>

>

~

3

5

2

2

>

I

3

>

-

\

(J

~

>

3

>

I'-....!

-....! -....!

,I)

)

)

1

>

>

~ ~

>

~

~

.;,-

>

~ 103

1

>

>

~

::0;

.;,-

~

UNIT]"J Exercise 7.6 Now here's the whole piece. Remember, accidentals affect the note in question for the whole of the rest of the bar, unless cancelled by other ones.

CD: TRACK 24

Vivo 1~

fl

3

->

~3

~

4cJ

f




~

>-

5~

~ ~ ~

.~

~ ~ ~

~

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~

~t-

~

.~

1 J

1

4 cJ

~


-

=--

~

··

~

•

~

#

•

••••••

=--

~

4~

4~

p

~

•

~

l.-

11

5

f}/"

\",..001

40


•

>-

•

#

~

I

~2

~

--

6 flf"'\

r>.

2

5

5

h••

3

4~

-

-

4 J

: f+:

.If>-

>-

;:t

5 2

>-

# >-

~ -

I

I

I

3

4

5

~

UNIT 7 Exercise 7.7 'Country Gardens' is a traditional folk tune associated with English Morris dancing. The left hand callsfor coupletsat the start, while the right hand has quite a few changes of hand position within the melody. Getting the hands to lift off on different beats of the bar can be tricky here. Watch out for the change of clef in the left hand in the secondline, and for the unusual chromaticthirds fingering there.

CD: TRACK 25

Allegretto

.~

5

>-

;.

flJ,!

3

3

::::--

4

4

t.J

r~

11if

r.

5

9

4

rJJ,!

1

5

4

I

--

2

4

I

mp

-f"-

r.

~

3~

~

~

~~

~--............. "0

'V

:~

3

011

:::~

2

11

J

tT.~

1

....--. I

17 flJ,!

::::--

-===:

....--. I

1 4

I

2 3

I

1 4

I

I

4

::::--

11if

r.

r~

1

1

1'-.....

1

4

4

---3

-

t)

5

I

4

5

.~::::--

2

-

p flJ,! I!.J


:~1

.~2

>-

3

Ii)


-

I

~

4

3

~ --'-

~

~

5

Morris Dancing is a traditional

./

ritard. - - - - - - - -

---

.....mp r.

-

style of English folk dancing,

mainly from the Cotswolds and north-west of England, danced in groups using handkerchiefs, sticks or swords, and with bells attached to knees so the dancers make a rhythmic noise. Each dance has a specific folk tune. Many of these tunes were saved from extinction at the end of the 19th century when Cecil Sharpe and others went into the countryside to record them, since rural traditions were dying out in the face of industrialisation and migration into cities. Some claim that Morris Dancing dates back to primitive pagan times, but there are no records of it before the 15th century. Others claim that this is a myth, and that the participants invented this colourful history for themselves. The name 'Morris' seems to derive from 'Moorish', leading some to suggest North African origins for the dance. Originally all male, the dances are now often performed by women.

105

~~

-f"--:--

/"'--..,

UNIT 7 MAJOR SCALES ON BLACK NOTES Major scales starting

on black notes have a different kind of fingering,

based on the

need to pass the thumb under to a white note after a black note. In B flat major, this means we don't always get the same combination

of fingers (between the hands) on

the same black notes. Also, the second finger is put in at the start of the right hand, and at the top of the left hand.

B flat major

fJ

2

I

40

..

:> 3

2

-

3

2

1

3

4

-

4

:>

3

2

3

1

2

1

1

2

3

4

.•...

...,

3

1

2

1

2

4

3 2

••

:>

2

1

3

2

1

I

.• -

I

:>

-~~!'-~

:>

:>

--';-'" •

legato




4

3

2 1

3

3

4

~.-

I

..

2

:> 3

:>

1

3

2

•.•. -d

:>

J

:>

2

:>

:>

2

3

:>

2

341

2

E-flat major is easier, since the fourth finger is always used when two black notes are played one after the other, but never when there is only one.

E flat major

tJ It)

.2

2

I

2

I

·

-

:>

;;;~!'-~

4

-

3

~!'-~~:F~

:> ••

:>

legato




2

I

3

2

1

4

1

2

...,

3

2

1

3

~!'-~.1

2

2

:>

4.2

:>

2

2

4

3 3

2 4

4_3

:>

I :> 1

3

A-flat major works on similar principles,

1

~~!'-~ 2

121

2

3

1

2

1

2

:>

>-

;;;

:>

2

except that there are two pairs of black

notes, one followed by a single white note and one followed by two.

A flat major

tJ

I

U

2

3

.•.•

legato




:>

2

I

4 -:>

2

3

2

1

3

106

1

..., -,I .•.•.

1

3

2 4

3

2 2

:>

3 1

2 2

-

4

:>

:> •• ~.-

41

:> 3

:>

1 1

2

:>

3

4

2

J

1

....

.-

3

:>

2

3

2

I

3

1

2

:>

3

2

-,I?i-

:> •..•

:>

2-1

3

3

:> 4

1

2

3

:>

Remember

that for every major scale there is a relative

same key signature

but with accidentals

above scales follow the fingering

minor

added. However,

patterns

(see Unit 2) with the

the relative minors for the

for major scales starting

on the same pitch,

rather than for the relative majors. (So G minor follows G major rarher than B flat major, etc.)

G minor I'l

3

4

1

4

1

>

1

3

3

>

legato>

..

> >

->

··

-

> 5

~~~

•• ~~~~~~~

1

4

-

5

••

>loI

;) ~ -,J.• ! -,I

1 u


-

1 >

1

-

4

> 5

>-

>

C minor 1

I

3

.~q.~. ~.

1

4

I'l

I

>

3

>

I

)

40

.••

>

3

4

1

5

3

legato> >

4

.h.~

>

~

v

J

3

1

3

1>

•

~~. >

1

>

4

.?i-

>

>

4

5

>

-

3

I

3

5

>

F minor I'l

4 I

I

4

3

I

I

1

3

4

>

3

4

>

I

) J

~;)~-,J,! • .,.

40

>

legato>

·

.-

> 5

>

>

4 1

- .•~~q~~~ I

3

.. -

>

~~ 3

>

..

.,

•

..:~~ >5

>

3

107

> 1_

-

1

3

4

>

(/

UNIT 7 BROKEN CHORDS WITH BLACK NOTES broken chords can be played even when they include black notes that

Four-note

require thumb

to be used on them at some point. When this situation

approaches,

move the hand further into the black keys, even when actually playing white notes. This can be tricky, especially if you don't have slender fingers, but try to get used to it. Practise hands separately only.

B flat major r.h.

G minor r.h.

~ l.h.

1

2:~11~__ 5

4

2

1

5

108

3

2

1

021~5

1

2

3

5

1

2

45

2

4

5

-

SECTION

3

TONE PRODUCTION It's never enough just co know whac level of loudness you want - you need co know how co produce

it wichoue sacrificing

control over ocher aspeccs of playing.

You'll

find rhar you want co strike the keys harder for more sound, which may make your arms and wrists tense up: they can become sciff and lose the freedom of movement they have when relaxed.

Your muscles

may tire more quickly

and get strained,

leading co injuries. Before you know it, people will say you're 'banging' loudly in an awkward

-

playing

everything

too

and tense way. As a result, you may feel you have to make a

special physical efforc just to play quierly.

Bue chan can jusr increase the underlying

physical tension. So you need to learn how to produce by controlling

different

levels of volume in a relaxed way,

how much of the dead weighc of youe body is released into the keys as

you play them. Make sure you're sitting

up straight,

with relaxed,

loose shoulders.

Close the

piano lid and hold your arms so your hands are some way above the lid, ready to fall and land where the keys would be. Let go complecely

so they drop, noticing

how

hard the impact feels when they hit the lid. Then do it again, bue when your hands reach the lid, keep them resting there for a bit, with the weight still pressing so chat you can feel the lid accually raking when you lean against

something.

your weight

and supporting

down

you, like

Feel the weighc of the upper part of your body

and arms pressing down on the lid through

your hands. Remember

how that feels.

Now open the lid and try the same ching wich each hand in cum, so that you end up holding

down a simple

chord (like the one in Exercise 8.1). Can you feel the

weighc pressing chrough your hands and fingers and into the keys) The next ching is to control how much of your own weight chis by thinking

of different

go of more of the body releases more weight, and working

upwards

For maximum

you release. We do

pares of the body as having their own weight.

to include

starting

Letting

with the hands themselves,

the forearms, whole arms and even the shoulders.

loudness, we tilt forwards co chrow che whole weight of our back into

the piano.

Exercise 8.1 Try playing and holding the chords in just one band, adding more weight with each chord, then gradually taking the weight back up into your body until you are left with just the gentle pressure of the hands and fingers. Then do the same with the other hand, and hands together. Notice how the wrist plays the role of a support throughout, keeping the hand from collapsing under the weight of the arms.

light

----------I~~

5 2

tJ

11

5 3

il

I

5 2 I

------------I~~

19-

1

3 5

19-

~

~

..0...

J 3 5

1 2

5

110

light

5

5

3

II

I

~

40

.

I

heavy

~ 1 2

5

~

3 J

I

I

I

~

~

I

3 5

# 1 2

5

~

SECTION

3

SCALES AND SCALE THEORY FOR JAZZ, ROCK, AND BLUES In classical

piano

playing,

scales tend

co be treated

just as technical

warm-up

exercises. Bur if you want co be creative and compose or improvise

your own music,

scale theory. This tells you how differem

kinds of scale are

you'll need co understand organised,

and how they relate co each other, so you can use them to make music for

yourself. Traditional chromatic. provide

classical

By contrast, source

material

music

really

only

uses three

scales:

major,

jazz, rock and blues draw on a wider for chords

and melodies,

and

these

are still

often

understood

in terms of the major-minor

alterations

to the major scale that could be built on the same note, shown using

numbers

to represent

scale-degrees.

distinction.

though

minor

range of scales to

The best way to learn these is as

This will allow you to find the notes of any scale

in any key, providing

you're familiar with the major scale for that key. For example,

the classical harmonic

minor scale can be written

as:

1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 Within

the seven-note

all musical cultures

major scale is a more basic five-note scale, found in almost

across the world. This is the pentatonic

scale. Notice

how it

misses out the 4th and 7th of the major scale: 12356

,...

2

3

(4)

5

6

(7)

•

(0)

•

•

(0)

•

This means that instead of tones and semitones,

~

it consists of tones and minor 3rds.

Because it's found within the major scale, it's known as the major pentatonic. The equivalent

minor

penraronic

uses the same notes, bur starts a minor

lower. Note that 4th and 7th degrees of the scale are not omitted,

,...

major pentaronic,

~3

4

5

~7

...

•

•

•

Notice how the 7th of the minor penratonic

is already flattened,

the raised 7th of classical major and minor key harmony. 5th, to this scale gives us the blues 3rd, 5th and 7th produce

,...

scale.

Adding

1

~

when compared

a bluesy, our-of-tune

~3

4

~5

...

•

~o

5

q•

to

an extra note, the

This note is also flattened,

and the

sound when the scale is

played over major key harmony:

124

as they are in the

but the 2nd and 6th degrees.

1

flattened

3rd

~7

•

SECTION

4

UNIT 10 INTERPRETATION When

you learn classical

pieces,

you're

presenting

someone else, so you have to make judgements sound. That's what interpretation

music

that

was written

by

about how the music was intended

to

is all about.

In Unit 5 we looked at ways of making a melody sound more expressive by subtly Develop your interpretation

adjusting

Don't just learn the notes first, in the hope of

relation to harmony

working out an interpreracion and then imposing

as we go along, to reflect the structure

of the line and its

and metre. We can also use slight adjustments

the timing of particular

it later on: rhar never sncceeds. Let your interpretacion

the dynamics

notes or chords, to heighten

of tempo,

the listener's

and of

expectations.

There are all SOrtS of ways to pm across the mood, feeling or character of a piece,

develop gradually as part of the

process of mastering the playing, so technique and

but

expression are coordinated from the outset.

interpretative

only

if we've

STYLISTIC:

first

become

aware

of it for ourselves.

To achieve

proper

awareness, think abour these issues as you learn the piece: When was the piece written,

and what were the conventions

for playing

that SOrt of music at the time? (Don't panic: we'll go into this larer.) Who wrote it? Does it belong to a particular EXPRESSIVE:

What sort of mood, emotions

it suggest a personality? DRAMATIC:

genre?

Is it song-like,

What dramatic

or character

dance-like,

features or contrasts

does the piece have? Does

or like a conversation

or a march?

could you bring om? Where does

the climax come? How is it resolved? NARRATIVE: A musical romance

Does the music tell a story? What do you think happens in the srory,

and how does it end?

Robert Schumann (1810- 5 6) was one of the most important composers of the Romantic period,

By now you should be getting

which lasted from towards the beginning of the

imagination.

the message: interpreting

music is creative. It takes

19th century to the beginning of che 20rh. He was also a great pianist, writing a lor of fine music for

Italian

Abbreviation

Explanation

the instrument. He fell in love with and married

forte-piano subito forte subito piano sforzando

fp

loud, then immediately

sf sp sfz

suddenly

Clara Wieck (1819-96), the leading piano teacher .of her day; her students established some of tbe grear schools of piano playing of the last hundred years. The romance between

soft

loud

suddenly soft with a sudden accent

Robert and Clara-

the leading composer and rhe leading pianist of

See the Glossary

for more Italian

musical

terms

and their abbreviations.

the time - was one of the great events of the

advanced level you will also be expected ro know French and German

At an

terms.

German musical world. Legend has it that wbeo Schumann was trying to drown himself in the river some people passed by in a boat and fished

TEST YOUR INTERPRETATIVE SKILLS

him Out of the water. He immediately rhrew

The Schumann

himself back into the water again. Like several

inrerprerative

piece 'First Loss' (opposite) abilities.

offers a perfect chance ro exercise your

With a title like that, it's obvious it's going to be sad. (Like a

Romantic poets, philosophers and composers, he

lot of Romantic

evenrually went mad and ended up iu a mental

expressive piece, so we can do a lot with shaping dynamics

asylum.

the intensity

music,

it's about

dearh.)

melody

It's clearly an

and timing

to bring om

to heighten

musical story or drama. Note how Schumann

and accompaniment

ro form a single

sense of melodic shape and motion at all levels.

134

subject:

of the line, and we can also use speed and timing

overall sense of an unfolding integrates

that forbidden

texture,

the

cleverly

while retaining

a

UNIT 10 Exercise 10.1. 'First Loss' starts with just the right hand, inviting you to focus on the expressive value of each note euen more them usual. Although

the first note is individually

CD: TRACK 28

marked loud

(fp), this is relative to the overall character of the phrase and not aggressive. Hold it for

Precious silence

slightly longer, so it has a chance to die down a little. That way it will connect up with

Rests are as important as notes. Music isn't just

the line. (Note the way the left hand then fills out the harmony with ouerlapping notes:

about hearing sounds in more incense ways than

these produce a sustained

texture

and echo the falling

intervals

you would in everyday life - it's also about

of the melody.) The

learning to hear and appreciate silences.

and really starts to flow from bar 6 down

music only gradually picks up momentum,

tou/ards the cadence in bars 9. Then the expressive return of the opening can coincide with

a slight pulling

alterations

back of tempo,

(D-sharps

and A-sharps)

Not fast (j

5

j,j.

••

I

) 40 l\ ··

so it gets drawn

------

4

out yet again.

should also be highlighted,

"-----

1

4

~

2

..

J

3

2

4

3

2

l r-

:

~ 2 4

I 3

5

135

2 4

1 3

5

4

3

2

~

-""

>-

-

5

)

1

3

>-

4

4

4 I>

;::

4 )

I

··

,

3

I

4

>

=:::L

_.-

J

>

( ) \

4tJ

>

++----- " ""

I

3

3 I ->-

4

•

-

>

5

3

I

I

3

-

>

-.

~.tI..\

>

4

I

A

n.

1

3

>

;;:

=:::

>

I

3

5

3

+t.~

4

IV

5

-

4

>1

I .~;-:

~~f:1~ (q);- •

1

3

•

>1

-

4

I

.~ >

>

I

3

I

4

3

>-

:::.3

I

4

>.u.

-

5

h>:+t----q~(~~~

I

E melodic minor J

1

>-.

,-

5

/).u.

4

>

>

"

,~

-.:.

3

-

D melodic minor 3

1

fI.\>

• ~~#+-;I.+- (q)~~.- • •

->-

>-

4 4 ++. ~h.

.u.>-

1

-

~-,J",.>

·

3

>

142

-

3

J

I

>

>

> 4

1 \"V

\L.j.I-

I

3

>-

>-

;;

>-

I

5

notes

UNIT 10

B melodic minor

J

-

4

Il~

1~

..

-';>




1

2

2

3 4

>

z>

3

•• -p

>

>

3

v

1

5

+t~~~,L

-

•

4

J

>3

> c>

>

4

J

1

~.

•

>

>

t1.\

3

2

3

> 4

1

4

G melodic minor

Il

454 I

3

I

....

-,;

~


)

c melodic I

f

J

(~)~.

··

4

3

4

3 1

1

-

3

I

A >

3

minor

.-

40


~

3 J

->

··

Il

>

> • ~,Lq::=:+t.~.

>-

r

I

4

I

-

4

I

1

>3

5

.I..>:h.~

b

4

>-

3

1

>

1_

>

•

•.•. v

t:

\- /

-

J

4

5

~

>

3

>

4

',L

1 3

~)~.

1 3

4

>1

.? >

>

>-

>

>

>1..

3

1

1 >

4

h.~ v

J

5

3_

~

I

-

>

• >

4

A

11..\

1

5

>

-

3

>

F melodic minor

Il

I

1

.-

4U

>

··

•

3

1

4

5

>

I

1

3 t>

4 I

>1

J

4

>

>

>

~

>

4

I

3

4

> .~q~q~~~~

I

3

(~)~~.

3

\Vj

·W).

1

> •

-

>

3 1

4

143

4

1

-

>

.~ (J

> 5

UNIT 10 ARPEGGIOS TOGETHER the hands

Combining problem

AND

CHROMATIC

for arpeggios

if you've mastered

co join notes smoothly

SCALE -

(in the same direction

them hands separately;

when stretching

HANDS

only) will not be a

bur be careful, it's easy co forget

under or over into the next Octave when both

hands are playing. Slow them down co stare with. It's time co try playing directions

(contrary

the chromatic

motion)

scale hands

together:

then in the same direction

first in opposite

(similar

motion).

Start

with one octave, then extend it co a second octave with the same fingering. Note

how in contrary

between

motion

we get matching

hands when we start on D or A-flat,

fingering

around which black and white notes form a symmerrical

,

ar the same time

since these are the only two notes pattern.

fl

I




~F~r~~

Written:

Played:

r

~

A trill is a rapid alcemation

between rhe main noce and the note a scep higher. Trills

begin on the upper note in Baroque music (eg, ].S. Bach or Handel) immediacely Haydn,

by chis same nore, but as the Classical

Beethoven)

(unless preceded

chis practice

150

shifted

period

(Mozart, note

by the upper note as a grace note), Because (he tri ll normally

ends

for the melodic resolution

co starting

developed

on rhe written

with a turn (in preparation

gradually

unless preceded

that follows, if the latter is not

already anticipated

melodically),

the later style requires

inclusion

of a triplet

to fit

all notes into time. (The last two notes of the turn often appear as grace notes before the resolution

note.) Trills were employed

arias, coinciding not continue

with a final resolution

through

to round off cadenzas in concertos or vocal

of dominant

the entire duration

music become single alternations,

harmony

to the tonic, and may

of the note. Trills on short notes in fast

turns, or a combination

of the two.

Written:

Played (fast Baroque):

F Played (slow Baroque):

Played (Classical):

Written:

Played (fast Baroque):

tr

tr

$=f~l1~~F~~r~ Played (Classical):

Played (slow Baroque):

~

Mordents

evolved Out of trills on short, fast notes (,Schneller'

later came to consist of a single alternation

in German).

They

with the note above or below (like upper

or lower auxiliary notes).

Written:

Played:

r

J

•

Written:

J

~ Played:

#

J Note

how the small

chromatic

alteration

accidentals

~

placed

r

~

above or below

of the note above or below the written

ornament

signs

~

signify

note.

151

UNIT 11 Exercise 11.3 The Classical period ornaments in this theme from Haydn's A major Sonata should

CD: TRACK32

reflect the relaxed character of the music. Watch out for the difference acciaccaturas (bars 2, 4, 8, 10 and 12) and appoggiaturas Grace notes before the final appoggiatura

bar tell you to finish

between

(bars 5-6 and 13-14.)

the trill with a turn, while the

in the last bar takes two counts, resolving only on the final

beat.

Practise the melody without ornaments first, then hear how decorations embellish the line without distorting its underlying character and shape. The repeat marks means that in performance you could play each section first without, then with ornaments.

TEMA

Tempo di Menuetto cantabile '}.j.I

+!

-

tJ

--====

mf


:

~-~

3

•

-

:::::==--

~

6

tJ

,I,j.

-

4

+!

I

{

'--=

40 fl,l,j.

. .L...eOo_--'fI'--_----'fI'--_----'fI

9

I')J.I,

----

40
-

,.

>>-

producing

242

-

I

>-

making

life simpler

and

the third of the chord is the only

white note. (Try A-flat major like this too.)

E flat major 2

2

f}

I

>-

~ t)

1

2

as ordinary

-

>-

'V

4

4

~

I

in the equivalent

the same fingering key arpeggios

~

>-

2

2

.

legato

Arpeggios

I

i T

~.~.

4

>-

4

L.......I 4

-

4

2

1

2

.

>-

-

~

>-

..-

241

relative minor keys have a flattened arpeggios

third. They take

with just white notes. For instance,

major

start on the same notes. You can try G, C and F minors this way: JUSt

take G, C and F majors, flatten the third in each hand, but keep the same fingering.

159

SECTION

4

{--"

RHYTHM IN JAZZ, ROCK AND BLUES J

The fundamental from their

contrast

different

between classical and non-classical

ways of dealing

rhythm

and other aspects of music differently,

rhythm

itself.

. .1

,-'

rhythm,

Non-classical

music explores rhythm,

or in separate

combinations,

precise

effect

of music: between

feelings

about

melody and harmony

melody and harmony

combining

of combining

aspect

different

at the level of motifs, themes, and melodies. more independently,

them more freely later on as separate

to performers,

all elements

who don't have to calculate

at once

in the way that

the

classical

composers do. Because non-classical

music such as jazz, rock and blues evolved from the music of America in the 19th century, it reflects

black slaves shipped ,

reflecting

(until the 20th century) integrates

music

elemental

but they treat the relation

systematically

layers. This gives more flexibility

,

the most

Both kinds of music are rhythmical,

Classical

j

with

rhythm.

musical cultures comes

African traditions in American

from Africa to North

of drumming

revivalist

and singing,

hymns.

as well as the European harmonies

African drumming

makes rhythm

central,

that reflects dance, and when Africans dance, they really dance, letting whole body until

they fall into a trance. That's

elegance of European

courtly

It's this spirit of surrender

used

in a way

go with the

a world away from the controlled

dances, in which the body is held fixed and upright.

to the dance that emerges also in rock music and modern

dance music idioms. Because rhythm . -'

in non-classical

music relates to drumming,

it reveals a whole

new side to the piano: that it is, in fact, a percussive instrument. Something similar in 20th century classical piano music, with composers like Bartok and

happens

Stravinsky

(See the Bartok piece in Unit 17.)

Rock pianists play the instrument

percussively

using their whole body, releasing

much more physical energy than classical pianists. Jazz pianists

also feel rhythm

more strongly

in more exploratory

ways, channelling

movements

hands

of their

improvised

in their body, but work against this

their physicality

such a way that

over the keys can take on a life of their

the

own in

melodic lines and figurations. From jazz to house

The other side of this coin is that melody with

an Afro-American

gospel

base, such as jazz, which

music, and the spirituals

In blues,

tends to be rhythmically

the conflict

produces

expressive

suffering

and displacement

evolved

(the work and recreational

between

"out-of-tune"

African

scale-runings

effects C'blue

of Africans

notes")

freer in music

from blues,

religious

the commercial entertainment

harmony

that evoke the sense of

and poor people

generally

in America,

between emotionally -'

usually tells a story, with a style of declamation

heightened

speech and song. This lets the rhythm

the melody line reflect the irregular

rhythms

and continuous

much more closely, since it is not bound strictly tuning.

Instrumental

feel of melody rhythm

phrases comment

as heightened

in improvised

speech, resulting

lines, which

underlies

styles, but also much jazz improvisation. notation

isn't really designed

need to listen to old recordings

-

.;

inflections

by constraints

on the unfolding

and shape of of speech

of metre and scale

story, echoing

in a distinctive

that lies

this "raw"

feel for shape and

not just R&B and blues-based

The downside

to show these things,

ind ustry and the

demands of youth culture have played an everincreasing role. From jazz, ragtime and boogiewoogie through to rock'n'roll, rhyohm and blues (R&B), rock, pop, punk, funk, reggae, disco, heavy

especially as they moved into big cities in search of work. The blues musician

music, largely made possible by the influence of Afro-American music on urban cultures in which

songs of slaves). and European

The 20th century saw an explosion of new sryles of

rock

metal, death metal, acid, house, and whatever makes the charts and clubs this rime next week, popular musical styles have become parr of the cultural landscape against which most young people today define themselves. This means that musical styles closely reflect the preferences of particular generations and subcultures, as well as their approach ro social activities, especially dance.

is that our system of musical

so it misrepresents

them. You

to get the feel of how blues works. The point about

161

Afro-American underlying closer

rhythm

to its own

inflections)

Specialisation or crossover?

vety different from those of classical playing, you may have some choices to make. Let's be frank. You won't be able to pound away at rock grooves

is not just that

origins

Christian

used to happen

more flexibly

characteristics

to the

brings

(the

melody

rhythms

and

Guide at the back of this book for examples

styles. (pentecostal)

and African

members

of a congregation

with individual

freely exremporised

can relate

but that this freedom

in the expressive

of speech. See the Listening

In gospel, together,

melody

and metre of the music,

of the many Afro-American

Because the physical demands of rock and other strongly rhythmical Styles of piano playing are

idioms

(shamanistic) bursting

traditions

merge

spontaneously

into

song above a chorus, 'taken over' by the Spirit. The same thing

in European

religious

singing,

and can still be encountered

on

one day, and play Mozart with the delicacy and

remote Scottish islands. All this fed into the way popular singers and jazz musicians

control of a great classical concert pianist the next.

work using melody to extemporise.

So be clear about your priorities. Do you want to be a great classical pianist, or a leading light on the rock scene' On the other hand, in today's 'crossover' cul ture many cop professionals prefer to

Jazz over the last half-century band arrangements

of the 'swing'

work between these extremes. Physically, it's

'cool jazz' to Sixties

easier to combine jazz and classical, as pianists like

sophisticated

Friedrich Guilda have shown, reaching the top in

increasingly

both fields.

has drifted away from the traditional

improvisatory

styles of New Orleans and Chicago Ctrad jazz') and the entertainment-orientated

you're

and experimental reliant

more likely

stretching

era. From bebop in the Forties,

'new wave', modern

jazz has become

through

Fifties

a progressively

more

art form with its own connoisseurs.

on compositional

techniques

to find the tradition

from C.P.E Bach through

keyboard

Beethoven,

These days,

exremporisarion

Liszt and Chopin

greats of jazz and rock - being kept alive by 'free improvisation' the 'alternative'

It's also become

from classical music.

of free-style

Mozart,

big

specialists

-

to the working

music circuit.

The only real way to learn popular styles is get our there and experience

the dance

cultures of the day (if you don't already do so), and, as with jazz, to learn by listening to what other musicians are doing. In this book, we can only hope to sketch the most basic features of rhythmic

styles and the differences between them. It's up to you to

get into the 'feel' of the 'groove' (ie, the particular

rhythmic

style), and that's more

abour how you relate to your own body than it is about any techniques

you could

ever learn.

SYNCOPATION, GROOVES & SWING The principal

distinguishing

features of rhythmic

styles derived from Afro-American

music are: offbeat

emphasis:

the weak beats of the bar (normally

rock and heavy rock this can be extreme,

creating

the 2nd and 4th beats). In

what drummers

call a strong

backbeat. syncopation:

displacing

the rhythmic

the metre, usually on to a subdivision (It's worth

pointing

accent away from its normal

position

in

belongs

to

of the beat.

our that syncopation

is a concept

classical music. In African music, syncopation

that properly

is the norm rather than the exception,

whereas in classical music it is treated as a 'rhythmic

dissonance'

- between

actual

rhythm and implied metre - that has to be resolved.) Rhythmic

styles also divide

into those that subdivide

threes. The latter will often be heard as also dividing unequal

length,

approximating

to a triplet

rhythm of two-thirds,

bear. In blues and slow styles, you'll often see this written 12/8 compound

162

into twos Ot

then one-third

our as a shuffle

rhythm

of a in

time, but in jazz it becomes so normal that it's assumed even when

the music is shown as even quaver divisions permanent

the metre

the beat into two parts, bur of

or as dotted

triplet feel in simple time is known as swing.

rhythms.

This effect of a

, UNIT 12

Written:

'!~@ Played:

'!~

Swung

rhythms

American

in jazz also reflect

folk music

traditions)

metre, to create a distinctive

the strong

of how melody

'upbeat'

or 'downbeat'

strong links to Celtic folk music traditions the beat by making tends

to create

delaying

atmosphere

(in black

and white

can work rhythmically feel. Country

against

music (which has

in Scotland and Ireland) will often push

melody notes consistently

a dragging

awareness

anticipate

of frustration

the main notes so they sound slightly

it slightly, by leaning

whereas blues on the

beat,

after. (Not all blues does this, since

not all blues is downbeat.) The particular and strength of the style figurations

combination

of speed, subdivision,

of offbeat, will define the groove may rest.

Harmonic

devices,

degree of swing or syncopation,

of the music, on which the whole feel melodic

elaborations

and

bass line

often derive their sense from this, especially as different rhythmic

open up gaps in the texture for melodic elaboration get a glimpse

in different

of some of the most widely used rhythmic

popular music, at least in their simplest

idioms

ways. Let's try and

idioms of Afro-American

forms.

fiNO OIlT /tit OVERr08£1.

The great rock session pianist Nicky Hopkins, seen here playing electric piano.

163

UNIT 12 RHYTHMIC IDIOMS The examples that follow just illustrate there are endless variations.

the most basic forms of groove - on which

Play each one through

over and over until it's in your

bones, and your own body will begin to tell you how to vary the rhythms.

Ragtime & Jazz Ragtime

was one of the first syncopated

who found employment

styles, developed mainly by black musicians

in cities by playing pianos in bars. Left-hand

provide the basic rhythmic

pattern,

with syncopated

on top. Composers like Scott Joplin developed

stride

semi quaver right-hand

this into something

patterns figures

closer to classical

music. Turn to Unit 16 and you'll see the most famous ragtime of them all: 'The Entertainer'. Early jazz also uses left hand stride patterns solos as a substitute swung rhythms

and walking

bass effects in piano

for the rhythm section of the jazz ensemble. These can suppOrt

like those in Example

to spread the walking tenths, starting

Stride:

12.l. Unless you have large hands, you'll have on the lower note.

Walking tenths:

Later jazz moves away from this in order to create rhythmically melodic improvisation

over the subtle background

section (ie, drums and bass). The pianist often contributes accompaniment

for instrumental

freer styles of

textures of the jazz rhythm syncopated

chords as

solos (known in the lingo as 'cornping

left-hand

voicings that we'll be looking at in Unit 15. The patterns

here are designed

to work over a rhythm section, so they stay off the beat, and you

can feel the difference between 'cornping them with a metronome.

When 'cornping,

behind and ahead of the beat by practising try to keep out of the register of the

soloist. Don't worry about the voicings for the moment - we'll investigate due course.

After the beat: ('j

Before the beat:

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more economical

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those in

UNIT 12 12/8 styles Boogie-woogie

offers an insistent

a basis for bluesy improvisation

rhythmic

background

- the shuffle

rhythm - as

over a strong bear:

2:W~ Rock 'n' roll in a ballad

style has a relaxed feel, with right hand providing

even quaver (eighth note) ride pattern

a kind of

while the left makes the bass line move

around the middle and end of the bar (the 'rock' and the 'roll'). Rock shuffle 'rock-a-boogie'

combines

this with the more powerful left-hand

woogie, with right-hand

patterns

or

of a boogie-

breaks for soloing.

CD: TRACKS 35 AND 36

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Rock Shuffle:

Country

shuffle

then adds country

7ths on the tonic and using fretted guitar fingerpicking, hammering-on

harmonies

with alternations

and pulling-off

and feel by avoiding bluesy flattened

style right hand elaborations. of fingers and thumb,

techniques,

The latter copies

and guitar

using added 4ths or chromatic

notes on

or before the beat that resolve by shifting quickly up or down by step to chord notes. Actually sliding fingers between black and white notes in 3rds adds to the effect.

Country Shuffle: tllol

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165

UNIT 12 4/4 Straight ahead styles New Orleans

Straight-eight

beat, while straight-eight

style and Cajun use two-handed

grooves to push the

boogie drives the rhythm harder with eight left-hand

pounding

quavers (eighth notes) to the bar, bass-line movement on offbeats, and

right-hand

stabbed chords (called chops) helping to turn the rhythm

around

(ie,

leading the cycle of syncopation or offbeats back to where it starts again). Straight ahead or 'get down' funkier right-hand

rock then develops this with left-hand octave alternations

rock dance groove. Country arpeggiations

and

figures, especially around chord changes, making for the standard (L.A. sryle) rock has more relaxed right-hand

in quaver eighth notes (like guitar strumming),

with the bass moving to

the 5th of the chord at the half-measure in a dotted rhythm. Srraighr-eighr

rhythm

and blues mixes blues (lots of flat 7ths) and gospel harmonies (see below) wirh melodic turnaround CD: TRACKS

Straight-Eight

)

upbeat pushing of the beat that varies in intensity as the music picks up or subsides.

39 TO 43

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UNIT 13 ' and singing tone and an even flow throughout. The opening puts the left hand in the more penetrating middle register, so you've got to work for a proper balance between hands, Lift and drop lightly with the wrist to articulate left hand crotchet upbeats and downbeats from bar 5 on, with the right hand semiquaoers flowing evenly but heading towards the first beat of the next bar. (Feel the arm drawing the hand and fingers across the keys - also in the left hand scales starting at bat' 50.) Practise bar 11 slowly, with left hand lateral movement to kick back round from the thumb to the 5th, and a crisp right hand staccato. You will certainly need rotation for the left at bat, 13, and the speed at which you play the trill over this will set the upper limit for the speed of the piece: there's no point starting quickly if you have to slow down here, Lateral movement and blocks will help fat' seamless flow between hands from bar 18. The long trill in bar 25 is best played as quickly as possible, but in Fee time: use rotation to assert the rhythmic independence of the left hand, but synchronise the arriual on the first beat of the next bar between the hands. (A forte-piano followed by a crescendo is effective on long trills of this kind.) The arpeggio-like figure in bar 26 will also benefit from lateral movement. A good interpreter

needs an analytical

you analyse

the

form

development

and recapitulation

of this

understanding

Mozart

of the music being played. Can

movement)

start and finish)

group in? How does the recapitulation

Where

What

do the

exposition,

key is the second subject

differ from the exposition?

MORE BLACK-KEY SCALES Scales of D-flat major and G-flat major work like B major: they have all five black notes, plus two white notes, so they are distinguished not the black notes. Thumbs

play together

by the white notes they have,

on white notes, with 3rd going over on to

groups of rwo black notes, 4th on to groups of three, like in B major. Check our the key signatures

in the circle of 5ths (Unit 6). Here are the white notes for these scales:

B major:

B, E

D-flat major:

F, C

G-flat major:

B, F

G-flat major can also be written

as F-sharp major, since the former has six flats,

the latter six sharps. In G-flat, the white notes are C-flat and F. In F-sharp they're B and E-sharp - the same keys on the piano since they're enharmonic B-flat minor same fingering

(harmonic)

is the relative

minor

of D-flat

equivalents.

major, and follows the

pattern,

even though the A-flat is raised to A natural. In other words,

it's fingered as though

it had all five black notes. (The melodic minor uses the same

fingerng

with G and A naturals going up and G- and A-flats coming down.)

B flat minor (harmonic) ('j

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The same goes for E-flat minor, same fingering. D natural,

which is the relative minor of G-flat and uses the

Note how the raised 7th produces an awkward stretch from C-flat to

bur we still pass the left hand 3rd over onto the D as if it were a black

note. (The melodic minor uses the same fingerng

with C and D naturals on the way

up and C- and D-flats on the way down, so it's easier to play.) With

these scales,

rounded:

keep the hands

well into the black

keys and the fingers

try to get used to playing white notes up in between the black keys.

E flat minor (harmonic) 3 ()

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MORE BLACK-KEY ARPEGGIOS The arpeggio

of D-flat

major is like A-flat and E-flat majors. Only the 3rd of the

chord is a white note, so 2nd and 4th fingers come together flats, with thumbs However,

on the D-flats and A-

together on the Fs between (see Unit 11).

B-flat minor (the relative minor) is different,

since here the white note

is the 5th of the chord. Note: the left hand follows the fingering

B flat minor

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By contrast,

arpeggios

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of G-flat major and E-flat minor have only black notes, so

we finger them as if they were white notes. G-flat major has 3rd finger on the second note in the left, whereas E-flat minor has 4th finger as the gap from the first note is smaller. Aim for rounded

fingers, playing

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G-sharp minor melodic isn't affected in the right hand, since the raised sixth is an E sharp, which is still a white note (equivalent fingering F-sharp,

to an F natural); however the left hand

must alter on the way down, since F double sharp is lowered to an ordinary which is a black note. (Notice

how we write the accidental

cancelling

the

double sharp to a single sharp.)

G sharp minor (melodic)

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THREE MORE BLACK-KEY ARPEGGIOS Arpeggios

of C-sharp minor and G-sharp minor follow the same fingering

patterns

as D-flat major and A-flat major, since the 3rd is still a white note when flattened, F-sharp minor follows the same principle,

so it's different from G-flat major. In each

case the notes will be the l st, 3rd and 5th of the equivalent

196

minor scale.

~

SECTION

5

THE INTERPLAY OF LINE AND HARMONY In this unit we're going to look at the way harmony, in the freer kinds of jazz improvisation, used in composition. shadings

of harmonic

improvised

Jazz improvising structures

melody, form and tenure

works by turning

direcdy

line in the first instance

the subtle

is just the way it expresses

notes foreign to it, or by deliberately another,

sounding.

bur also pulling

colours

into melody. So what's important

suggesting

It's the interplay

a different

as

either by adding

harmony

of line and harmony

and

about the

the harmony

melody. On top of this, the line can also work against the harmony, that is actually

work

and at how this relates to similar techniques

from the one

- expressing

one

against one another - that gives jazz its musical subrlery.

MODES Because jazz melody expresses and explores harmony, are created more as particular of notes sounding extensions

This is a logical extension

of the technique

of treating

such as the 7th, 9th, l l rh or 13th as part of the chord, since that means, notes.

material

chord changes

kinds of melodic resource than as precise combinations

together.

in effecr, that practically harmony

the underlying

all the notes of the diatonic

So it's simpler

just to think

it gives rise to. This corresponds

scale are included

of the chord

in terms

to what we get by playing

the music is based on over the roor of the chord in question:

as potential of the scale the scale that

notes of the scale are

ro that root, rather than ro the normal starting

then heard in terms of their relation

note of the scale, the tonic. When we treat a scale as starring

on a different

note from

normal, even though its actual notes are the same, we call it a mode. Here are the modes created when we play the notes of a C major scale, starting not just on C but on each of the scale's sequence degrees

of

tone and semi tone steps,

of each mode (indicated

relative ro a major scale starring modes independently

Each mode has its own

and thus its own character.

by Arabic

numerals)

are flattened

Learn which or sharpened

on the same note. That way you will be able to use

of the underlying

intervals in each mode correspond

notes in turn.

key when you wish to. Observe also that the

to those in a chord built on the same starting

note

(the Roman numerals show this).

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(t

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0

)

~3

*

()

0

()

with

dissonance

the implied

in non-classical

at prominent

177

0

0

~S

~,6

0

0

4

The notes marked with an asterisk are considered clashing

176

8 -e-

~

Locrian - VII 172 1 0

5

4

root

P

-e-

dissonant

of the chord

8

..0...

- that is, they're heard as

(we looked

at the treatment

of

music in Unit 9). We therefore tend to avoid using them

points in the line or at the same moment

gets struck. In these cases, we would substitute

that the chord itself actually

a raised (sharpened)

note instead.

For example, a I chord in a major key gives us the Ionian mode (which happens to be the same as the major scale itself), and here it's the 4th degree of the mode that's problematic.

So we JUSt sharpen the 4th to make it less dissonant.

However,

do this enough

times in the solo and you start to hear the sharpened

4th itself as part of the mode. So it can sometimes Lydian

mode (which

already

contains

be simpler

the sharpened

just to think

4th) as providing

of the

the scale

material

for soloing over chord I, rather than the Ionian. (Parallel to this, Dorian can

function

as VI, but sharpening

dissonant

notes in other modes, such as over II itself,

gives rise to more advanced jazz modes that have to be derived from the jazz minor scale rather than from modes of the major scale. See Unit 18.) Which way you think of this is up to you: seeing it as a change of the actual mode used on the chord is really just a kind of shortcut

to getting

it's handy if you generally prefer to avoid dissonant

scale degrees in favour of a cooler

or sweeter

sound,

but not if you like to maintain

melody and harmony. exception working

---

rather

a continuing

than

the norm,

harmonic

structure. is to see how alterations

as we move away from Ionian (as chord 1), ascending

So when jazz progressions of VI-II-V-1),

between

since this keeps you aware of how the line is

The best way to grasp how modes relate to one another

(think

tension

In the latter case it's better to still treat the raised notes as the

both with and against the underlying

accumulate

the right alterations:

have the root descending

the resulting

the major scale of the underlying

modes gradually

the circle of 5ths.

in 5ths, as they frequently

do

converge with Ionian, which is

key:

CHORD:

MODE:

ALTERATIONS

FROM MAJOR

VII

Locrian

b2

b3

b6

b7

III

Phrygian

~

~

M

~

VI

Aeolian

b6

II (& VI)

Dorian

b3 b3

V

Mixolydian

b7 b7 b7

I

Ionian

IV (& I)

Lydian

b5

#4

199

UNIT 15 OFF-NOTES Take another

look at the notes with asterisks in Ex.lS .1. Note that different modes

have different dissonance twelve-note these

dissonant

notes to be avoided.

works in relation chromatic

are called

harmony

But there's

another

scale, this leaves a set of five unused

off-notes,

used when

and sound "out-of-tune".

now from blues.) When

aspect

to how

to modes. Because each mode uses seven notes of the we want

notes for each mode:

to deliberately

go against

the

(That's a concept you should be familiar with by

you're familiar

with each mode as a set of alterations

the major scale on the same note, try learning

the off-notes

from

for each mode in the

same way.

Improvising

CHORD:

MODE:

OFF-NOTES

Greeks

VII

Locrian

2

3

S

6

7

The scales and harmony of western music

III

Phrygian

2

3

6

7

originated from modes just like those used in

VI

Aeolian

6

7

Dorian

European church music (eg, liturgical plainchant)

Mixolydian

during the Dark Ages and medieval times.

I

Ionian

Byzantine culture centred on Constantinople-

IV

Lydian

b6 b6 b6 b6

7

V

b2 b2 b2 b2 b2

3

II

bS bS bS b5 b5

j32Z.The Ancient Greeks used modes, as did Byzantine culture, which influenced early

3

b3 b3 b3

4

7

b7 b7

now called Istanbul. It had been the Eastern part of the Roman Empire, surviving the destruction of the rest of the Empire, and keeping a rich library of classical manuscripts daring back to Ancient Greek rimes. Because of its location it was heavily

LEFT-HAND VOICINGS

influenced by Arabic as well as Ancient Greek

Voicing

culture: in the Middle Ages the Arabs had by fat

right hand to solo over them, so it's handy to have a way to voice chords entirely in

the most sophisticated musical and literary culture

the left hand. We do this by omitting

in rhe world. When Constantinople fell to the

chords between

the hands (as shown in Unit 9) limits

player in a jazz ensemble,

Orromans in 1492, the scholars fled west ro

the freedom of your

the root, which is often provided

and even if it isn't, is heard as implied

by the functional

Europe, bringing with them their knowledge of

character of the chord. Left hand voicings have the same voice-leading

Ancienr Greek and Roman traditions, and giving

as the II-V-I progressions

rise to the Renaissance Crebirrh') from which

but

modern western culture has developed. Ir was only

distinguished

then char the major-minor tonal system - the basis of diatonic harmony - emerged, when musicians in Florence believed that rhe Greeks had

also include

the

we've already looked at (ie, alternate

13th

by whether

for the V chord.

pattern

descents),

are two voicing

parrerns,

5th finger plays the 3rd - 7th - 3rd or 7th - 3rd

- 7th at

but the choice of voicing

also depends on the key you're in, since this affects where the voicing lies in

improvised over chords, and tried to do rhe same.

relation

produce different

refer to rheir origins in different regions of

generally move to the position

Ancient Greece. The Renaissance also took from

just played. These voicings

decoration and colour in the arts. You can hear

characteristics

stepwise

the bottom of the chords. Chord voicings are colouristic,

We still use the Greek names for modes, which

Byzantine and Arabic culture a new feeling for

There

by the bass

to the middle

register of the piano. Note the variations

degrees of harmonic

Evans and Wynton

resolution.

Outside

on chord I, which

of II-V-I progressions,

emerged

in [he 1950s, associated

with players like Bill

Kelly, and were widely used in the 1960s. (Note that the chord

this in the music of Monteverdi, but it remains

symbols

above the music here only specify the type of 7th chord,

central to all western music that focuses on colour

added notes, as in classical music or ordinary popular

and decoration, whether it's Chopin or j32Z.

7th chord is enough

to give the chord function

but added notes that are chromatically Dm?

we

for the next left hand voicing nearest to the one we've

rather

than all

music. In jazz, indicating

for standard

unaltered

[he

progressions,

altered would be specified.)

G?

Dm7

G?

eM?

~,~/ib ill

I

v

5th finger

I

T

5th finger

These voicings are too dense to use lower down in the left hand register, want fuller sonorites go for the pared-down like Bud Powell: these are two-note

200

voicings of earlier 1950s bebop

or three-note

root position voicings.

so if you players

IUNIT15

Gm?

FM7

C7

FM7

Exercise 15.1 Take all of these left-hand voicings through all keys in descending 5tbs, major 2nds and semitones, just like we did with the two-hand voicings. Then try playing the appropriate mode for each chord of the Il-V-I progression in the right hand at the same time. Hear how each mode expresses the harmonic flavour of the corresponding chord, in melodic terms. Then try improuising figures over the left hand voicings with the modes.

CHROMATIC HARMONY Classical Chromaticism

is a major feature of jazz, but your appreciation

of it will be far richer

if you're also aware of how ir works in classical music. Make sure you take the time to play through

each of the following

carefully

to the voice leading.

classical

music

harmony

for colourisric

Baroque

period

was the gradual

(quoted

introduction

surprises

with J.S.Bach,

highly chromatic.

examples

whose harmonies composer

listening

of the development

of ever more

chromatic

This started

often anticipate

Look at this famous harrnonisation

emerges naturally

several times,

and expressive contrasts.

later by the 20th century

chromaticism

musical

One of the main fearures

of

forms

of

back in the

jazz and can be

of the chorale 'Es ist Genug'

Alban Berg in his VioLin Concerto). The

our of the melodic voice-leading

of individual

parrs,

partly results from his unique approach to composing,

which

bur still gives rise to strange chords with an 'other worldly' feel:

Es ist genug;

Bach's chromaticism emphasises unfolding

the horizontal simultaneously)

or polyphonic

aspect

and the vertical

(the relationship

or harmonic

between

lines

aspecr with equal force, so

neither can be reduced to the other. (You can see this in the Fugues from the 'ForryEight'.

See the Reperroire

Guide.)

Before Bach, composers

harmony

dominate;

after Bach, music

between

individual

melody

lines and harmony,

prevent

composers

ronal system and introducing

chromatic

However,

this didn't

became

let either polyphony

more focussed at least until

from expanding harmonies.

or

on the relationship the 20th

century.

the range of chords in the

Let's look at some of the ways

they did this.

201

.

UNIT 15 relations, so a chord can be treated as a

Classical harmony centres on tonic-dominant tonic even when it isn't one by introducing modulated passing

to that key for a moment.

modulation.)

into the harmony

that don't

I

.J

alterations

of the dominant',

I

IV

~

1

I

I

v

VofV

V of II

Note how V of V introduces in the dominant chromatically unaltered,

or cross relation, Augmented

I

I

I

~I

~ I

v

II

upwards

nore comes just after a chord

these are normally

of

I

the raised 4th of the scale, which is the leading tone

key, and so can resolve

altered

1

:;1

~

c.

notes

key of the passage, and are

I

~ I

they inttoduce

shown as V of V.)

~'I

'~

it had

it's called a

of the scale. (The most important

I

I

as though

happens

dominants:

belong to the underlying

as chromatic

these is the 'dominant

~ 40

this actually

These are called secondary

tben heard melodically

~

its own dominant,

(When

chromatically. with

(\1Vhere the

the same scale degree

both placed in the same part to avoid a false relation

though there are cases where these are allowed.) 6th chords

also produce chromatic

with the raised 4th over the flattened

movement

on to the dominant,

6th of the minor key scale. The name refers to

the interval between these two notes. Technically, the chord can be analysed either as altered lIc (with sharpened 3rd and flattened 5th, omitting or including root or flattened 9th) or as a ivb chord (with chromatically raised roor)

a chromatically originating

from stepwise contrapuntal

It comes in three forms that all resolve on to V. (Note how the last one avoids parallel 5ths by moving to Vc). Italian sixth

tl

French sixth

*

lJ .

German sixth

*

40
-ten.

••

:: :: --::

-----

'""T

~

:

:: == ::

--

".H.I.!-~~n. ••

i~

n.

••

una corda When

you've got the hang of this, try taking simple melodic shapes (preferably

your own invention) melodic sequences (You'll

and repeating

them in transpositions

- creating

of

what we call

- so that they arrive in the right place for the next harmony too.

find sequences

all over the place in classical music tOO, when phrases of a

tune are repeated a Step or so higher or lower.)

(j

*

)

1\

4U

.. #

,.

*

I

-

-

,. -

II

-

*

""

-

-~

-A-

v

I

The second point is really down to you. The whole point of jazz and improvisation to develop

your own style of creative

formulas worth learning, own personal repertoire

playing,

so there are no standard

unless you want to sound boring. You need to develop your of licks and riffs and other melodic figurations.

Listen to what others do, but don't waste time practising fashion. (There are loads of books that encourage they're guaranteed

to turn you into a mediocre

phrases as everyone else. Do you think

melodic patterns

you to do this. Don't musician

buy them -

the jazz greats of the past used them)

in which you jot down the ideas that you discover through

that excite you, and then be disciplined all keys and building material.

208

sequences

parrot-

who plays the same tired

must be joking!) Take your own ideas seriously from rhe start by keeping notebook,

is

tricks or

abour practising

You

a musical

playing,

and

these, taking them through

that work over chord changes

and different

scale

'·UNIT15 RHYTHM CHANGES After the 12-bar blues, the most important those

based

Rhythm'. heads

on the American

The chords

(ie, melodies

composer

'I've

Got jazz

composed

by jazz musicians

together,

popular

used in jazz are

from this song were used as a basis for many famous

hence they're known as Rhythm basis for improvising

set of chord changes Gershwin's

number

on the basis of existing

chords):

Changes. Like 12-bar blues, they're often used as a so you should be familiar

with them if you want to

be taken at all seriously by jazz players' George

Gershwin

improvised

--

VI-II-V-I

was a classically

and composed sequence,

trained

in a style strongly

and the borrowed

composer influnced

who

from the minor key in bar 6 (the E

flat minor chord). This is a minor subdominant

chord, just like in classical music. It

reasserts the tonic after the V7 on B-flat in the previous bar, which in classical terms a passing modulation

to E-flat (as V of IV, a secondary dominant).

jazz it could equally mark the start of a move through the 'bridge'

But in

the circle of 5ths (like that of

section).

'~I'! '~I' '~b '~b BD

[ 1. BD

Gm7

Gm7

BD

p7

Cm7

Cm?

BD

112.

f7

Gm7

Cm7

f7

BD

BD

f7

BD

ED

f7

C?

BD

Gm?

II

Grn?

Cm?

f7

BD

BI>?

ED

EDm

BD

bridged the gap between classical concert music and the more populistic culture of the American 'Broadway' He began as a songwriter,

musical.

but had hits with theatrical

songs

based on lyrics by his brother, Ira Gershwin. The combination of classical structure and jazzy or bluesy harmonic and melodic elements have made some of his songs and chord progressions important

EDm

~

George Gershwin (1898-1937) was an American composer who

-

BD7

D?

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chord

suggests

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creates

crisp accents

on individual

notes through

individual

finger movements. Hand

staccato

sequences, consistency Sometimes

uses a loose flapping of the hand from the wrist for rapid staccato

with less emphasis

on articulation

of individual

notes than on overall

of speed and attack.

the musical context

requires slower and more relaxed forms of repeated

staccato. In these cases we use the wrist as a lever: Wrist

..-.

staccato

uses a lift of the wrist to kick slightly

the same time, shortening

... ~

~.,.... e

the note, just like in couplets

into the keys and lift off at .

217

-

S: J

~

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4

Let's remind ourselves of the kinds of staccato we've learned so far: staccato

~

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WRIST STACCATO Finger

•

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f

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'UNIT 16

Go back and try playing focusing

on achieving

the Bach Invention

(Exercise

16.1) at a leisurely

a loose and relaxed wrist staccato for quavers.

how much more natural

the music sounds'

Then try playing

speed,

Can you hear

at a faster speed: note

how this requires you to change over to hand staccato. An extension kicking

of wrist staccato

consists

in to the keys to individually

more sluggish correlation

articulate

recoil or shortening.

This

between volume and length

instruments.

This is sometimes the elbow)

of using the arms themselves chords,

technique

accents with a

sets up a natural

of sound - a feature common

called arm staccato, or whole

to produce

(levering

from

arm

depending

on the volume and length required.

as levers, (physical)

to percussion

and can work from the forearm

(levering

from

shoulder

and

back),

When a very shore and sharp staccato on loud chords is needed, we use clenched hand

staccato:

a sudden clenching

of the hand that draws all fingers off the keys at

once with a sharp, snappy feel.

Exercise 16.3 This octave study practises

CD: TRACK 56

maintaining

positions, but also offers opportunities

the octave stretch over shifting

hand

for wrist, arm staccato and clenched-hand

staccato, depending on the speed. Let your body guide you in matching staccato technique to the musical situation.

the right

Notice fingerings for moving between

white and black notes in octaves. To use 4th finger

and thumb

on black-note

octaves you need large hands, so you may prefer to stick to thumb and 5th. Focus on speed of shifting and quality of attack, but without arms stiffening

Presto (faster 2nd time) 5

fl

>-

Ii:

j,j,

5

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4

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5

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l 218

BEETHOVEN The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven changed and

irreversibly

Napoleon,

unprecedented

the face of European

he asserted disregard

his

uncompromising

sensitive

personality

originality,

while the deafness

increasingly

introverted.

was a titanic genius who

transmitted

by the French revolution

artistic

for both social and musical

profoundly

(Tur Elise') in Unit

(1770-1827)

music. Inspired

conventions.

itself directly

that eventually

individuality

isolated

with

His fiery yet

into music of startling

him from others

left him

We've already looked at one of his most famous melodies

5. The evolution

of his compositional

style divides into three

phases, known as the early, middle and late periods. The early Haydn),

period

reflects

the priorities

but with a more intensely

development

dramatic

approach,

with

opening

especially

with

where thematic

the

Symphony

No.3

('Eroica'),

the

In his late period

for composers of the Romantic

Beerhoven

retreated

rediscovering

transcend

classical and Romantic

and transfiguring

earlier

new formal possibilities

with deeper forms of structural could not understand

works, which

into something

such as fugal

improvisatory

unity, anticipating

more details in the Repertoire

yet intellectual

and

period that followed.

unique,

writing

while

freedom and decoration

20th century they blamed

music. Audiences on the composer's

he'd gone mad. His 32 sonatas are technically

works that reflect his dramatic

shows

dramatic

The late piano sonatas and

tendencies

techniques

combining

these strange

deafness. Some thought

Beethoven's

period

more and more into his inner world,

affected by his deafness and other tragic circumstances. string quartets

middle

up classical forms into a much more expansively

lyrical idiom, the inspiration

exploring

style (he studied

is concerned.

Beginning Beethoven

of the classical

demanding

approach to the instrument.

There are

Guide.

pupil Carl Czerny taught Liszt, who then caught many great players

of the late 19th century,

some of whom were still around when the first recordings

were made. So if you take the time to hear and learn from them,

you'll be a step

closer

his works.

to knowing

Listening

how Beethoven

himself

might

have played

Guide at the back of the book has recommendations

The

on recordings.

Beethoven became ill and died because he was so poor that he had to travel home from a performance of his music in the back of an open cart, in the cold and rain. Legend has it that his last gesture was to shake his fist in defiance at his fate. His late works only began to be appreciated much later, when composers like Wagner rediscovered them. He was constantly frustrated by the limitations of the pianos of his day, which he often wrecked. A piano was made especially for him by the English maker, John Broadwood, whose instruments can still be bought today.

219

Exercise 16.4 CD: TRACK

This Scherzo, No.2 from the Bagatelles (Op.33) is probably an early composition that

57

Beethoven re-used. Notice the sudden leaps of register and contrasts of loud and soft, both of which anticipate You'll

need to practise

combination

the fragmented, the physical

disjointed

movements

character of modern music.

across the keyboard

to get the

of speed and control needed to land in the right place at the right time.

Notice the sudden switches between legato and staccato as well. Kick in with wrist and forearm for the louder staccato crotchets, with a light and springy hand staccato for the softer repeated chords. Make the final

chords short to the point of dryness

(with clenched-hand staccato) to compensate for the greater resonance of the lower register.

Allegro fl

2

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mit sehr zartem Ausdruck

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[with the most delicate feeling]

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[like a breath]

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231

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UNIT 17

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was the most controversial and radical composer and theorist of classical music in its modern phase. Coming from a Slovakian family, but based in Vienna, he dominated

Austro-German

music

until the rise of Hitler forced him to flee to California, where he then exerted an influence on American musical life. In his early works, Schoenberg pursued Romantic music's tendency towards increasing extremes of chromaticism,

rhapsodic comlexity, and richness of

texture. He took it beyond anything that had appeared even in the works of such composers as Wagner, Wolf, Mahler or Richard Strauss. This led to increasing levels of tension and dissonance, and to the suspension of tonality At the same time, he reintroduced

(the sense of key) in music.

stricter formal techniques associated with Brahms

and the classical masters. In this way he reintegrated Austro-German

the two opposing sides of the

musical legacy (which at the time were identified

with Wagner and

Brahms respectively), but under extreme circumstances. Schoenberg's move into atonal music reflected his sympathy for expressionism in art (he was also a painter), and led him to develop the 12-tone technique, composers worked throughout

which continued to influence the way modern

the 20th century.

His work Pierrot Lunaire, for female voice and chamber ensemble, introduced speaking, half-singing

style of declamation

a half-

called Sprechstimme. Later, when the

composer returned to his Jewish roots, he composed an opera, Moses und Aaron, which explores the conflict between the truth of ideas and the eloquence of earthly communication.

This reflected his conception of music as an art that should remain true

to its inner formal and expressive principles - its ideas rather than its surface style. This has made him a figurehead

for classical composers and musicians throughout

the 20th century who seek to distance themselves from the growing

influence of

popular culture and commercialism on western society. Schoenberg was an important teacher, who developed important should be understood

theoretical

rhythm shapes, and illuminating repertoire

232

unifying

melodic and

the workings of tonal harmony and traditional

While many composers influenced challenging

concepts relating to how classical music

and analysed, emphasising underlying

forms.

by him have seen their music accepted into the

after initial protests, Schoenberg's own works remain difficult to this day. What do you think that tells you about them?

and

IRREGULAR METRES AND RHYTHMS The music

of the 20th

signatures:

these can make it hard to judge the timing

intuitive

century

often makes

use of irregular

and shifting

time

of the music in the normal

way.

Irregular obviously

metres

have an odd number

regular groupings.

(jazz players know rhese as 'odd time' - see Unit

This means feeling every equal subdivision larger groupings: rhythmic

of beats to a bar, so these don't fall into

it is called additive

18).

in its own right instead of as divisions of

rhythm,

which is also a feature of complex

systems such as those of classical Indian music (see Unit

five, seven or eleven beats in a bar are irrational,

18). Notice

but nine is just compound

how triple

time. In some cases there is a regular division into unequal groupings.

Irrational

3+2

2+3

3+4

4+3

rhythms

different

number

signature).

We've

alternative

divisions

We normally correct

are also a feature of modern music. These divide the beat into a

of equal subdivisions already is tuplets,

triplets.

of subdivisions

necessary to calculate

judging

into the available

the exact relationship

European

term

for these

the speed required

time-span,

to fit the

but occasionally

subdivisions,

it's

to achieve the

divisions are superimposed.

QUINTUPLET: 5 in the time of 4

TRIPLET: 3 in the time of 2

The Hungarian

general

as ratios in modern music.

ro normal

that result when normal and irrational

by the metre (ie, the time

The

which are often indicated

learn to feel them by intuitively

number

cross-rhythms

from that implied

encountered

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)

was possibly

composer of the first half of the 20th century.

the folk music of countries such as Hungary music draws on the unusual

features

and Bulgaria,

he discovered,

the most important

Eastern

Bart6k spent time studying and of the gypsies, and his

especially

the use of irregular

metres and modal scales quite different from those of western classical music. He was also a virtuoso techniques

concert pianist,

that influenced

and developed

later generations mathematical

many original

of composers

use of special 'Golden

Section'

which larger structures

of melody and harmony evolve.

formal compositional

across Europe, such as the

ratios and tiny chromatic

cells from

233

CD: TRACK 62

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