LES MY MUSC TEACHER TOD ME usic Theoy Fo Gownups
Gerald Eskein, D.M.E.
Stage 3 Pubishing Woodlad Hlls, Calfora
LIES MY MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
By Gerad Eskelin, D.M.E
Manuacued in he United Saes o America
Firs Pning 994 Secod Pinng 1997 Tid Pning 998 Fouh Pintng 999 Fit Pining 200 4 Second Ediion 2005 Libay Liba y of of Conge Congess ss Con Cono oll Nume 200409 20040979 7965 65 ISBN -88620925: $6.95 Socove
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Dedicated to al those who studied music just long enough to be thoroughly confused
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BOUT THE UTHO ea Eskelin as been aking usic o oe an ve ecaes His voca goup e LA Jazz Co was wice noinae o a Gy A wa Having aso been a coege poesso o usic o otysix yeas wic incue tenues a e Univesty o oue Ca Ca o oa a Caloia Caloia Insiut Insiutee o te Ats Ats an Los Lo s Ange Angees es Piece Colege e as consieable expeience in bot coeci an acaeic usic His conucting ceits inclue alos eveyting o sypony ocesa to acing ban an aste coae to pop coi He as sung opea sow usic jazz babesop an even a bit o soute gospel D Eskeins expetise on usica attes is euenly cale upon by e Los Angeles/New ok/Nasville ega couniy He as e est stiie iie in eea eea cou cout t on be bea al l o s uc uc we wel lk kno nown wn pesonaiies as Jon ogey evie Wone l copose Alan i Micae Jackson an Te Isey Botes In a instances ylvesti ylvest is clien cliens s ave won ei ca case sess H e as als alsoo given usi usicoo coogica gica opinions o unes o oes incluing Maonna Jane Jackson Kenny Loggins To Pety an Ray Pake J Gea Eskeins acaeic ceits ncue a Docto o Music Eucaion an Maste o Ats egees o Iniana Univesity an a Bacelo o Ats egee o loia oute Colege ince publi publicatio cationn o te oig oigina ina vesion vesion o L Lie iess " e as con tibue tee aional woks intene o elp ipove usica unestaning an peoance Tese ae escibe on e last ew ges o tis voue
ACKNOWLEDGENTS
Ths po poect ect was bo b o abou abou wo wo an a half hal f ecae ecaess ago when e plannng cotee for a MACCC Musc Assocaon of Ca foa County Colleges conventon was dscussng eas fo the theory sesson Ae a nube of ol red opcs were consere soe ength I tosse ou the possble topc Les My Musc Teacher To Me" After the chuckles subse al eyes turne towar e An no one was ore surprse than I when Monty the charan sa Souns goo er oue on"
So ths gave e a chance o bounce soe deas off y col leagues n a settng where hey were soewha oblge to pay ttenton The sesson seee to go well an generate soe lvely conversaton Two years aer when I was no longer on the boar Mony calle and aske e to epea the les lecure" for hose who sse t the rst t te e I assue he wasn wasn ab able le o get an anyo yone ne ese an knew woul be an easy ark I was ol aer hat was he only e n the groups hstoy ha a specfc lecure ha been calle back by popua dean Whether or not a was ue suggest hat soe of y outofsep eas seeed o get a stve response o hose who e suppose to know beter So wh he encourageent of Mony LaBone a vaue fren an probably the ost nluenal eber MACCC ever ha I decde to wrte ths book Sadly Monty de jus befoe he book cae ou Not only o we ss ve uch bu I personaly sappone hat he lef before I coul presen h wth a copy of the prouct that grew fro hs nspraon
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Dung e Dung e yeas ollo ollowng wng e e lec lecu ues, es, I began began o pu pu e l e s own on pape an any o y suens, colleagues an snges wee kin enoug o eview y pages an oe coens Tee wee o any a I coul no even begin o nae e I sue o oge oge soeone wo souln souln'' be og ogo oen en
Howeve e wo eaes wo wee os inuenial n sapng e ognal anuscip ino s pesen o ae Sepanie Vie, lovely an billan we o one o y singes wo us appene o be an eo, an Sepen Piazza, y vey uscal epaen caipeson a Pece College Bo Sepanie an Seve convnce e o ge i o e swea wos n oe o sell books n e wes Ts evson as pove Sepanie wi e oppouny o ue pove e claiy o eos ake is nise wok a cleae an i oewse ig ave been He sense o syle an uo, as we well ll as e e ga gaa aca call knowow a ass co con n bu bue e sgnicanly o e pouc you ae abou o ea os poanly y vey alene an beauul we alene woke any ous ansoing y oignalvesion yellow-pa scbblings ino nice ypewen pages Ts was beoe I boug y acnos an esuece y unog ypng sklls Ts evelopen evelope n oun e poply pooe o ce ce pove pov e o encouageen A s pon se as becoe e copany accounan e ul ganoe, an e only eale gole in e aily
My ou clenDinne, To Ewa an Ekae gown up an ou ong e own ing Tey a nong o o w ee e oiginal o evse vesons o s book bu I connue con nue o suspec suspe c ey woul sill enjo enjoyy seeng e naes n pn
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V Dontt ski ths a Don ar r Wen we were cilren our arens an teacers taugh us things about life an the naure naure of the worl that we absorbe into our bo boy y of truth" wi innocent an uncriica uncriica fait fait An for for e os p p the the ieas they instile in in us were were soun Mos Mostt of us ha havve a soi concet of rivate property" an a healthy resec for te rigts of ohers," for eape Usually we were encourage to evelop a srong faih in soetingGo ru, iensip oursevesor soe cobination of ese We were also ol soe eporary" trus tat woul serve us wile we were young but wou laer be iscare or oie as we grew u o be resonsible aults Dont go ino e street" later becae beca e look both wa ways ys be befo fore re you cross cros s he street" street " When we we go a rivers rivers icense we were were to Dont Do nt rve rve fast faster er tan t tee see liit li it"" whic laer wa wass oi oifie fie by te te phrase phrase,, u unl nles esss ev ever eryo yone ne else is oing it too" Actually, our paens an eachers int realy t us about at oication We lee it by wacing te Hopelly, we grow in isceen as we atre, an le ow, when, an why o ofy the rules" when circusances ee i necessary an roper We cerish te goo sense of the naenal values we were given We give anta Claus" an te Easter B unny unny"" apropriate apropriate inel inellectua lectuall efinition efinitionss , an we go on to cr crea eate te vi
our own lestyle" cong as best we can wth any conlcts hat ayy arse a arse wt wth soc socey ey ay ay or or end endss we we choose to de dev vat atee o those undaentals" I t d dst stur urbs bs e however when ludcrou ludcrouss concets tha thatt have tt ttle le relaton to the real world are asse ro one generaton to the next by eoe who are suosed to know better It's excusable and understandable that schoars n the Mddle Ages roagated the dea that the word was at They ddnt know the acts But I have dscovered a culrt who assed along to e concets that should never have been absorbe nto the corus o huan knowlegeM MUIC TEACHER To be ar there is the ossbty that I soehow sunderstood h However when I ook at any o the textbooks that are beng wrtten today by authortes n usc educaton I can see that THEIR MUIC TEACHER LIED TO THEM, THEM, TOO T OO My reasons or akng ths brash accusaton are gven on the reanng ages o ths book I know ts rather resutuous o e to chalenge the earned schoars o uscal acadea and e wellestabshe well estabshe tr trad adtons tons o resect resecte e us us c educators Bu Butt then what the heck oe oeone one needs to do t
LIES MY MUSC TEACHER TOLD ME Te wo s ic wi beauu usic Coposes oug ages ave povie an enoous easue ove o aseieces wc ae sil peoe oay by ousans o aene uscans an ecoe o ou convenence wi eakabe eliy anks eveinceasing avances n soun ecnology Te uay an asy o pop olk couny and azz ave eace new sanas o excelence Te sand sandas as ae so g g a a sa sas" s" wi wiou ou cons eable ea ble aen aenss on' on ' as ve vey y ong ong Bu e wo s also ul o n s beauiul usic Wo s esponsbe espons be o a Does al al coe own o naua ae aen" n" soe peope cosen o be aiss an e es eegae o unecass o e unalene" by soe cosc ecson ae
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LISS MY LI M Y MUSIC T TAC ACH HR R TOLD M M
Wht c oe do to become euie music makr s we s usc consume? Tke msc essons? o to coee?
w s shh I c d une unequv quvocy ocy nsw nswe e "yes "y es, , but I I fr rid id cnt Moe thn fou decdes msic cdemi hs covce me tht sc instrcton tody ey misses the mrk Stdet who deveop msc er bfr they be fo studies seem t thrive Those who bei stdies "without n e ted to drop out fstrtion The mor eso this hppes s cer to me Msi techers ted to st out by techin ntatin rthe thn MUSC Whe ost coee poms do hve csses n e tr concepts tuht there e freqenty so nive d eoved fom t fcts of hmn musc percepto tht more fstto th eihtenment is eerted
m se yove herd the od syi, "Those who cn, do; those who ct, tech Ths pobby is tuer the ts thn n other ed Whie hve kown some ret performes who re s ret r et tech techers, ers, I hve otced tht mny excepton perfo fom mers ers hv hoed the sks ey thoh intitio, find t dfcut t comicte the bscs of the cr to beinners So, even mny o the "ret ones esot to poti the prty ne of ottio B the, sme sy tht rtists can't be tuht they hve to e their on their own, rey by tri nd eor We, whether or not thts tre, I thik my, f not most ms techers e pss o some very mbios, msedi n someties downiht eroneos fomto bot how musi woks They ndobtedy ot tht informtion from thir musi teches So enetio fter enetion, the "teted stdet mne to ch cheve eve scc sccess ess nd nd the "ut "u te eted ted stdents ed up o the wyside rocy, teches ofte hve bsicy ite to do wi eithe otcome To be sue, ood tech inspires sccess Bt y focus here i not o pedoy t is, rther, o the comnicto of speci
IS IS MY MUSIC TAC TAC R TOD TOD M
observbe des Cn roe ernin of rfic musc consrcs h inore he fcs of humn pecepon of sound ed sudens deveop keeer music wreness? do beieve so n fc, hnk hose who proress probby do so in spie of he hndic h ress from bein force-fed considerbe number of music "ficions"
Bu, cn we echers more eecivey cuive he es of ou sudens? Yes ik we cn, we re win o reexmine some o he des we hve been reuri, nd bse our educion prorms on sound (in boh seses foundion I know ski sk i music musicis is o reconsider he mor mor sc scee is ike skin skin souhern precher o reconsider he Bbe Bu hs excy wh m bou o do The sce, no he Bibe
The rhs presened here re prcic ones quie fmi r wh wh he er erur uree on hese subec subecs,s, bu hs s no n c cd deemi mi reise on musc heory, nor s exbook m simpy shrin some ides h hve mde sense o me, nd wch hve used w success Bu, you wi see, I do c o some of he re hisoric hories from ime o ime for heir heoreic suppor Unforuney or possiby foruney, hey re no oner vib o endorse or dispre my des, so you us hve o mke u your ow own mid mid s o heir heir vidi vidiy y d prci prciciy ciy The ery pr of his book des wh he pich spec of mus nd he er pr wih he rhyhm spec ch pr hs oic] coniy, so I sues you red he chpers n order, rher h humb hed o "ie h ooks picury neresin Im fri i my no no be s ce cerr f re redd h h wy he book is ireced primriy o hose who, ou of n ehu sisic curiosiy bou hs fscinn r form, ben prorm o form sudy, ony o ve i up n fusion whe empy rues n rifc consrucs fied o reec he ornic ifebood of musc isef Bu so, I hope my rofessio coeues in msic
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LE LE M M MUC MUC TEAC TEACHER HER TOLD M
coider hee ide d h hi effor mih coriue owr mi muic udie more uccefu d tfy experec for both tece d tude
Par
SCALES, CHORDS, AND OTHER THINGS AVING TO DO WITH PICH
ve you ever her he expr ve express essio io c crry ue i bske? I hte tht expressio You her it he ime whe fok re ske o oi i fmiy sio or whe someoe is ske "How oes tht ue o? Now my music echer kew h yo o c rry ues i bs o bske kess e be beiev ieve e h you cr crry ry hem sces e si h some meoies were i "mor sce, som were i "mior sce, so o Oky, so it ws very fuy Bu it poits o some cocepts cocepts tht tht I beieve beieve hve seriousy mise u reri rer i e tu ture re of meo meoi icc perce percepio pio h he ev eveo eopme pme of music e
Someimes "proress es us io some prey serious siu ios he iusri rowh of he weieh ceury hs cree ubesome pouio proem A ruisic coce for he ow roe s resue i you mothers bei cuht i "wefr rp, ouh proress is ow bei me i ht rer
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LS MY MUSC TACHR TOLD M
Music s we hs suffered from hree ceuries o "proress A eiheeh ceury echooic deveopme keybod buidi hs proressivey dued our ers d ke wy he re "bske h woud hve heped us cy our ues sed we ve pu our fih i rifici music sysem h bers reio o he wy hum er orizes music srucures Why do hik so? Red o
Lie #: Majo and mino scaes ae pitch pattens aanged in whole steps and half steps and can be head by playing them on the piano. Tuth: Majo and mino scales ae systems of hamonically elated pitches and a piano cant play them in tune.
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S om omew ewhe heee in my ey e y mu mucc ain ainin in I ot the me meon on a a cae wa ie a ow of e itin on a hef moe o le o eqal imoance Each wa named fo convenience I thoht o w coud in hem a d i and o on and h ee ac o whee wh ee we wee wee n the ca cale le m m no e whee whee I f ot thi idea ut t t may have had to do with with how the cale a aea ea wh when en yo w i on the taff o lay it on the iano
D
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F
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LS MY MUSC MU SC TEACHE TEACHE TOLD ME
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A B
I did notice ha when you played a C majo cale on a eybod hee wee a couple of place whee you didn't pa a blac note a you went to the next tep My eache d thoe wee half ep I wa eally delihted when I eed to n a mao cae withou the hep of he piano, and o ecoize one (he cle, not he piano) when head i f omeone payed a won note in the cale coul hea iht away But, didnt now why it wa won It ut was Now ha wa hip to the ound of he cae, and new my d ,, B � , etc, I hould be abe to in muic ih off th rmi, F pape ih? ih??? ? W Won on At Atho houh uh I could in th the cale f fom on end to the ohe when the muic bean o ip aound, the tep tated o ound aie ep oin tac of whee wa n he ce ivin the w wn n name to th the i iht ht pitch and vice ve vea a My futaion wa manified when I noticed a thee e om peope who can identify ound fequencie and can tel, wihou inment, what the pch name fo a iven toneB, C, and on Thi abi on abilit lity, y, I wa wa told told,, i a facu facult ltyy a ift" no le whic ic one eihe ha o hant a bith Tadiionaly, it ha been cale pefect pef ect ptch," ptch, " howeve, howev e, I believe a bette bette and mo moee acc accua uate te em i i ih rgniin
Well,, no ma Well mat te e what yo youu caled i didn hav hav i. i . Wha moe I found ou hat larning pefec pich i not poible I have ee ome colofu lpae ad n muc maazine claii to teac it howeve, I haven't come aco any aduate yet
LIE # # SCALES SCALES ARE ARE STE STEPS PS
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A few yea ao I ha a tent who ha itch econition ew ew in a iano that w aly ot of u une ne She ha i ien enti tie e an laee of he itche conideay lowe than tand itc (A 440 viation e econ) an ha to tanoe (mental chane the ey) when he an inted mic with a iano o wi othe eole Now thats not exactly efect, i it?
Actaly itch ec Actaly econ oniti ition on i a ixed le lein in In my exe exeenc enc with o ine, I have fond that eole with thi ift" don alway in i n in tne a a wel we l a thoe tho e witho withot t it Evient Eviently ly when whe n on can oce itche y feqency ecetion one i le liely t eend on the elation of itche to one anothe an on matchin itche n y othe eoe Fo ine who ecome th hothot" mic eae in a cho and ae ed to havin othe ine folow them it may e ha to ive that eaehi oition an ene to the tnin of othe ine So enoh of my o ae" Since mot of ae not al to ientify itche y aote feqency ecetion lie tho eole," eole ," what ae we oe o e to o? Leave Lea ve th the mic mi c makin makin to ie few? The an anwe we of coe, i n noo " a atu tue e wiey ovi ovide de anothe way In fact, it i actually a bttr way (of coe I wo thi o), in that it it i eate eate to the hyical chac chactet tetic ic of mic mic on Conty to my elie tinin I evenualy ee at a cae i n jt a ow of e" t conit of itch elationhi that c e eceived qalitatively I ao eaed how to tiize a hma rlati ti pith We all have thi aility an i facl fac lty ty cae a en e nee of rla can e eve eveoed oed to inc incedi edile le leve lev e of o f aw awae aene ne My co cole le teache new aot aot elative itch an ovied coe of execie an ill on cale an inteval Bt I thin they mie the e eence of hman itch ecetion and how it eate to the wa mic wo If they i know, they int comnicate it to me
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LIES MY MUSIC TEACHE TOLD
Anyway th what I have oeve aout ch eceton ove he yea The ea hee thoh no entey onal eem to hav een lot lo t o the manteam of mu mu cc ntucton ntucton ov ove e e e a att few cenu e cenu e Muc Mu c each eache e concentat concentatn n on the theo oeca eca conuc conuc uch a cale evenualy lot ht of the ac fact of hyca on an o eceton of t I ont ow of any enn m theoy textoo hat eal ytematcaly wth the sunds of muc They a um ht nto Th a qa q ate te noe noe " I eleve mu theoy mae mch moe ene one ha exeence hycall an ecet hyca eceta a nat natee of muca oun The common oce of mcal on fo eucatonal uoe toay he ano o t moe offn the yntheze Now hee he oem A tana eyoa ntument not caal of elven accate tch nfoaton o o ea nce t ha ee temee" o etne fom naa acoutc n oe to ay n ey Temee tunn eveloe un the ehteenth an nneteenth nnet eenth cent centu ue e cont of a au un n the che che l l h hy y o the noteoth lac an whteae the ame ance aat Th mae t ole fo the eyoa to lay n any ey wthou etunn The au aue e n ne eva val l auhote auhote a a ae o n nnf nf cantly atee that he hman ea woul no e entve to ff ffeen eence ce Bt B t e wha whatt lid
Th ocalle oe" encouae muc heo to eet uate the concet that muca cae ae eentally ate of whol te an haf te Whle they may e atte of whole an hal te a fa a the ano ano conce concene ne c caa l e " a aee e ece ceve ve atoethe ffeenty y the human ea Let me exlan When cetan che ae one multaneouy the com aon ceae a econzae quay tha hman ea can hea an nteetnly one can hea a ven qaty even when e of tche oune ove the new et of che e e tanc tancee aa aat t a h hee ft ft et et S o t ealy etween the tche tche that en ene e not he tch tche e
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LIE LI E # 1 : SC SCAL ALES ES
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STEPS
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them eve themev e Som Someho ehow w o bain eite the the pic piche he compe h feqencie nd en o concione an abaction o imae of the phyical elati elationhip onhip In Inc ced edible ible I don t now now hw it wo nw i d ds s
If yo haven expeienced what Im ain abo ty thi expeiment Pay a pitch in yo medimlow inin ane on tainin intmen lie an oan o yntheize Chooe a on havin hav in a imp imple le one qal qality ity lie a e e o tin and witho vibato ow match yo voice to hi pitch and hen lide yo voic pwad vey lowly ie a vey lazy ien and liten to wha happen If yo do i owy and teadiy yo will hea the elationhi between e two ond chanin a yo voice ide p It a bi lie tnin in ation on an od-fahioned adio dia A yo aiv at each oca tation" i adaly come ino hap foc and he fade o of foc a yo o pa it What yo ae expeiencin i caled nsnan and dissnan When two pitche tend to f intoo each othe feqencie int eqencie and eem eem to aee aee wih each othe othe h he e ae aid to be cononan To he exten that ey dont fe oethe and eem to diaee with each ohe hey ae aid o be dionant Yo'll notice hat a few pitche ae vey cononan ohe a omewhat conon cononant ant and a few othe ae a ath the e dionant bt til ond ie they elate in ome way I i the diffeence in th hamon ha monic ic eaionhip eaionhip of thi colecion of piche hat indicae a a cae i no no t a ow o w of e e " So by payin at atte tent ntion ion to to he he hamonic qalitie one wil eventaly e that each cae ep ca be econized by i elationhip o a cental pich called a ey 0 ona cente Alo that each cale ep ha i own peonaity and it own et of ob in he mao/mino ytem Tha Ia i o han jt a noe to folow s," and i in fac a noe hat all hep deemine the mode (mao o mino) by povidin the co fo bdominant hamony It alo can add an inteetin avo t onicc hony oni hon y and on ome ome occaion occaion can povi povide de a ta taty ty nin ninth th to to a
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LES MY MUS M USC C TEACHE TEACHE TOLD
dominan chod While doin all hee diffeent thin la manae o et etain ain i own niqe eo eonai naity ty a c ca aee te 6 (Moe abo abo ee techic te ate) The ea eaon on why cale cale te te 6 can do hoe th thin in ca be b b ndeood by nowin omehin abo the hyica nate of itc elation ad how it i eected in o ecetion of mic Altho we dont now exacty how he bain ocee the mical maeia we feed into it we do now omethin abo the mate ma teia th them emeve eve Le Lett ' eview eview ome baic ba ic The fi micooi" we now mch abo he ancien Gee G ee Pyth Pythao aoa a viewed vie wed mic a a banch of of mat mathem hematic atic Now dont wo woy y m m not not oin to wad wadee int intoo a ea e a of nmbe and fan anc c la The la thin want to do i et boed down in fomla fom dicion of jt inonaion" diffeence tone" combinatio tone" etc Wha do want o do howeve i demonae a mica ecetion i baed on ome imle hyical fact o hamonic elation that we al c har Since Pyhaoa had no acce to yntheize amle o ocillocoe he had no choice bt to do omehin imleli examine a vibatin tin What he dicoveed wa tha the tin not ony vibated a a whoe ceatin a baic itch caled th nnal, it alo vibated in have thid foth etc ceati othe elaed iche called parials n a ene thi cold b decibed a havin itte iche wihin a bi ich We don' actaly hea the litte iche individaly They vay in ent fom one ond oce to aoe to ceate what we hea a mbr o tone qality what mae a me ond diffeent fom a violin B we an hea the eaionhi hat occ when a econ adible itch i onded a the feqency of one of thee ia We j j t obeved a att in o exe exemen mentt above So let tae a cloe oo at he eationhi between atin tin ad the eceta coaion of elated itche
LE # # SC SCAL ALES ES
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STEPS
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Evey time time a whole t ti i move bac ba c ad fot fothh oe time time each hal h al of the ti move ac an foth twice othe wod the h ti i movin twice a fat a the whoe tin Thi mean tha ott oly i th o thee pitch of the the half t tin in hihe th than an th thee pitch of th th whoe t bt it i elated i a imple way to the pitch of the whol We ca expe e eationhip of the to pitche a a of oe to two o : 2) 2) Wha Whatt i athe em em a abe be i tha thatt we me me mota ae eqippe to hea thi eationhip We cat cot th vibatio bt we can te whe two pitche ae odin i thi eatiohip
Wole sg vg 00 mes e seo
E f of e se sg vaes 00 mes e so
E d of e se sg vaes 00 mes e seo
We ca alo hea the eatiohip between a pitch coepodin to the whoe and a pitch coepoi to a hird of the tin ( 3) Othe imple atio can alo be eaiy hed ad wi a t o coc co ceta etate te pa pacti ctice ce one c a n ea ea to hea ad idetif idetifyy pit pitch elationhip a hih a he 13th patial Now we dot eed a ea tin i ode to expeiece thi peceptal phenomeo The ond of the two pitche ca com fom any oce ad eventally a with any concept the od" ca exit pely i the imaiatio Beethove did have to top compoin afte he became deaf He aleady ew wha pitche wet toethe and how ad he emembeed what the onded ie othe othe wo wod d he he had develo develope pe a o on n vocab vo caba ay" y" of o f pitch elationhi elationhip p
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LESS M MSC TEAC TOLD ME LE
emembe, we don' need o now e name of individua iche in ode o exeience and econize a ecific eaionhi beween he he Mo of can' can' identi identify fy fequencie fequencie anywa anyway y Wh Wha a we eceive and e-ceate ae the eationhi themeve, an wihh a bit of ain wi ainnn we can ca n le o econize and name name them
a
When you wee uin the lidin echnique decibed elie you obaby dicoveed a numbe of iche tha eem to aee (i vayin va yin amount) with you u utaine tainedd ow note f you eleced C a you low note the mot aeeabe itche you fond we obably on white note on the eyboad, and ley inclded thee
lay
Ty i aain and a you find a cononant ich in you voice fin i on he eyboad f you iten caefly yo wil notice that mo of he eyboad note e lihty diffeen fom the itche yo inin Tha' becaue the eyboad i temeed uned and you' not Cononance and dionance ae eaive tem tha i viou inteva can be vey cononan, omewhat cononan, ahe dionant vey dionan, o vaiou hade in between Howeve cononance i not lie iht in tha one can inceae ih in a adua continum (in hade of ay fom blac o blindin) When yo combin com binee two voice on the exac a ame me itch o in a 1 1 a ati tioo ( efect cononance) and hen move one voice to the ich that ceae the next mo i ime me ai aioo (wich (wich would would be 1 2) 2),, yo have to jum anothe location in the cae ahe han oin adaly to ade of cononance ie liht
LIE 1 SCALES
STEPS
3
Let me how you what mean Let' ay you tted you ide (in he expei expeient ent ab above ove)) on on the pic pichh C Whi Whie e yo you u voi voice ce wa union with he intumen you had a 1 atio A you made you voice ide p, you woud not each the 1 : atio uni you moved the way up to the next C on he intument (t' caed an ocave becaue i encompae eigh cae ep) f C mae he high noe too hi high gh fo fo you you voi oice ce,, it on any owe owe noe noe It wi wi wo on an pic
: ao
Now y thi Sutain the ow noe on the inumen and ing he : aio noe (an octave) above Whie uaining the igh note move you voi voice ce ve veyy i ight ghtyy awa awayy f fom om tha tha pitch pit ch bth bth up an down Noice tha tha hi cea ceae e conideabe conideabe dionance dionanc e When you voice i i the cente cente of e aea aea of agee ageeme ment nt,, you a aee in tun tunee When you ea he noiy conic of diageement you ae out o tune" Once you get the idea you no onge need o a an expe whethe yo e in o ou of une ou ea te you
Befoe we go on I wan you to noice ha no ony do bo piche in a aio ave he ame ee name, but ogicay highe mu mu ipe ipe ( 4 4 8 1 6 ec ec ) wi have tha e ete te name a we e ince ey a ae a in 1 a aio io Ao, ptia 3 wi have he ame e ett tte e name a patia 6 1 4 ec What thi mean i that an intea c be meaued" peceptuay by e neaet epeentaive of he pich name conceed Fo exampe a :3 atio i eeniay he am amee a a a 1 : 3 aio ince pat patia ia ha ha th thee ame name a he fund undamen amenta ta Oay e' e' go go on
24
LIES M MUSIC TEACHE TOLD ME
ear
So whee i the next mot cononant inteva? Ou tunin expeiment demonated that it i clely not the pitch at av u ou ou 1 : 2 atio Loic tell u tha thatt it would be a at atio io of 1 3 and h h thid patial woul wouldd be be hihe hi he than the econd eco nd pati patial al o we obably lippin out of vocal ane Now hee i whee we can u the infoation in the pecedin paaah To eep thin wiin a manaeable ane, we will ue tia tiall 2 a ou fundamental funda mental an lide u fom thee We find the pitch we'e looin fo lihtl hihe than hafway up the octave If you low note wa C e uppe pitch of the 2 2 3 atio atio i on the hih ide of the eybo eybod d'' G t fa l ump out at you when you find it I have obeved that mo tudent lea to poduce and econize thi inteval with elav eae
:
If we chat the fit ix (mot cononant) patial of the pitch on the eybod howin thei atio to the ndamental we ee tha they epeent only thee diffeent pitch nameC E and G
25
LIE # 1 SCA SCALES LES AE STE STEPS PS
A convenient (an (an ima imately tely moe ef) way to ow te te elationi elati onip p i iby te atio of neigboing patia a we i wit e eect above
:
5
Yo may aeay now at thee pitce e colectivey cale a mar chrd Eac of te tee membe a it own functiona name wile in ti eationip Te C being te fnamenta pitc fom whic te ote e eve i cae te r. Te E i cale te hir beae it occ on he he ti cale tep above te C oot _ An G e te h fo ma eaon
fift
You may alo now tat it oen't matte in wat oe o pacing te tee pitce appea becae t i te harmni rlainship of te pitce tat ceate tat paticua mica contct an povie tat niqe peceptal expeience Lie family itti itting ng aon aon te inne tabe tabe Da i till Da D a no mae whee e it
26
LES MY MSC TEA TEACHE CHE TOLD ME
A mao ho ho like al ee eeua ua geal geal i omehing o ohe he han he um of i a Only when all hee membe ae een (aualy (a ualy o in imaginai imaginaion) on) oe he one ex exi i i i an ab ab a a ion ion an iea iea a wel wel a a hyial henom henomenon enon Whe Whenn on oni iee ee eaaely ea eah h of he ihe C E an G a aee in ine ee en nen en yy imoan an ignifian Bu when oniee ogehe a hamoni famiy C i alway he bo" Ju a Pyhagoa' aial wee geneae by a funamenal ih he fequeny of a oo eem eemine ine he uning of i a aellie" ellie" ihe ihe Le' exen ou ha of he ihe in Pyhagoa' ing inlue ohe beyon he fi ix aial Pleae emembe how eve ha hi keyboa eeenaion i only an aoximaion o he eal ihe
27
IE # 1 : SC SC ES ES RE ST STEPS EPS
F#
B
G
E
G
5
6
DE
B
G B
7
Noic that h isanc btwn paials gs sall as a s th th nub nu bss gt gt high 1 2 is an oct octav av (igh (igh sc scal al stp stp s ) , 2 2 3 is is a (fiv (f iv scal sps sps)) , 3: 3 : is a foth, an an so s o on Sinc tha p pin inci cipl pl coninus up h sis of paials, th intval btwn G an B (6:7) is actally sall than inval btwn E an G (5:6) O h kyboa, both of ths this contain on an a half stps, an hy soun inical in haonic lationship whn you play th Claly, th kyboa is no lling h tuh h But hn o notic that it wasnt a ol of vaciy in its pfoanc o pfc fifth 2 : 3 ) i ith th
/
What this ans a ns in pac pactic tical al s s is hat, whil whil G tuns acoustically to a C oot slightly high han piano pich, h acousic B will tun consiably low han piano pich This, in tu, aks h int h intval val f fo o th tha a B up to to C (7 ( 7 : 8 ) a lag lag whol st stp p h han an h on fo C o D (8:9), an boh of hos a lag than th whol stp fo D o E (9: 10) this poin you ay b thinking, thinking, I I s his ally ip ipo on n Dos anyon ally ca? Wll, I suppos is not as ipotan as fining a soul a o stablishing wo pac Its only ipotan if you lik you usic to b in n ou also als o a b hin inking king,, C a on ally on ally ha th th iff iffnc? Wll, W ll, lt lt s fin fin out Play a C on a sustaining kyboa an sing G oving i up an own until you ha it lock in." Thn play G on t kyboa n you will ha th inc If i souns th sa to you you pobably not singing high nough o h pu uning Now, o h
28
LIESS M LIE M MSIC TEAC TEACHER HER TOD ME
sa on on B � ( ( b b i i ' s low ha hann piano pich) whil paying C oo. P P y y in insin singg o onn ' you hik? hi k? So po pobl bl wi wihh h aly kyboa was ha h pials O invalic inv alic laionships laionships bw b wn n pichs) pichs) i inn ' in in p whn play in iffn kys. If you un h insn acosicaly on a fnana you igh oa h uning on a cosly la oo ik G o F Bu if you pay in a o isanly a ky lk o F# i wo soun py awful. So, fo h kyboaiss sanpoin, p uning was a ific hing An i woul hav bnn a b if ific ic hing fo fo h s of s, oo, ha w bn b n w ing ou foaiv yas gang hs naua facs of if Insa w go h plasic infoaion
C E
B his has bn going on fo a vy ong i Han Hho a vy Hho vy poin poinn n ninnh cny cny w on usica acousics, ha copains on h sbjc: T a e Ta eome ome o e e e a akk do eally lay oao a ee dely oved y e vey ee ad exa el o Delezee (86. T oeve deemed e dvda oee o e mao o mao ae, a a w a laye layedd y d ded ed vo vol l ad voloell y mea o a aaely aed ad od a a e ee e l laye aye oded o oeel lyy e ee e Td Td ad Sx S x d ee e e eq aly em emeed eed o P y aa oe oea a Td Td o Sx Sx I wa wa oae eo o ave a a o oo o yy o mak ma ma oevao y mea o my amom o He Joam He ed vol exaly w e g±e o my me e eqeed m o lay e ae, ad mmedaey e ad layed e Td o S x, I av avee e o oe eo od d o oe o e amom amom By B y me mea a o e a wa eay eay o de dee em me e a d d ed ed m m a a ed ad o a e mao d o ad e e o e a e e S x B e e e laye l aye wo ae oo oo l lyy a aa aed ed w wa ey ae lay ae ae o oveome e dee o e ool d o e emeed y yem em wol w oldd ealy wo w ode delly lly moo moo ee a o eome o e eod ode e aem o aa a ee ensemble, ey ad ad ee ee aomed aomed om e o lay ee ae ae y a al al eval eval.. Te ea eae e o ol lee aed e aem wold e amly ead y e e we e ea a oe eome a o omed med o ea e ee e ooae I ea eally lly m eae o
LIE # SC SCAL ALES ES ARE ARE ST STEPS
29
aeed e deees ewee es e sae ae s a a a ele sal s al mae, we e e ea as e ee ee ased e ee s saes (On The Senation Of ne 86. Els asla Ells, 875. 5
I ge ge noboy i iten tene e Maybe Maybe Heolz He olz neee neee a more more eect tive pre agen Bt he i abolely right abot prely tne pic reation being air o perceive, a thereby conceive Inerva become iqe, iqe , an her hereo eore re mo more re recognizable recognizable;; an an a a rel an liele tempere-tne meloie are replace by parklig one So, no that yo kno he ierence, yo have a choice o me Which orl o mic o yu ant to exi in? I pr probably obably hol have e yo ha once expoe o hearig pre ing yo ma ever ev er agai agai be abe to i igg or play co com mor ora aby by ih o oher her pe peop op ho on on er ertan tan hi kin o ha harm rmoo i icc e ei iiv ivity ity I ee ge complait" every anary rom my LA Jazz Choir inger h i holiay caroling ih oher voca grop
)
I tol hem, hem, a I no gge o yo, to pa he or along There i a better orl o harmonic aarene We in inven i I a part part o a ar ree It jt got lot aog the ay
30
LIES M MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
Le #: Sngng wth the piano w hep deveop an accuate sense of pitch. Tuth: Snging wth the piano wi tend to prevet the deveopment of an accurate sense of pitch.
The ive ivetio tio o temp tempere ere t tig ig,, a ex exc ctg tg a it wa o eighteeth cetry hapichordit a or every keyboait ce wa or or the ret ret o a mixe mixe ble bleig ig A we o ote te erli erlier er,, i or ore e that ca play i ay key, it i ecery to lightl to bil pitche pitch e betwee the octave octave Pal Hie Hie th, or oe aj a jt t all i ot ot coier thi a problem. problem. Sng n y o w n g u un ung. u y y o o (y y wy g o ou o n o h Cra of Muical Compoitio 1937)
Mr Hieth mt have bee liteig to ieret iger a plaayer tha I Mot o the micia I come acroeve om pl highly ecate oeot eve kow there is a ierec betwee betw ee key keybo boar ar tig a pre p re ti tig g he heeve everr e bjec bjec ecatio , I wa wa a a re th that at the the light i ierec ce p rig my ecatio, ot igicat to the hma er, a eve i i i pitch wa probably ot wa, a perormer mical eibilitie wol corect the icrep acy Let me tell yo, IT DDN DDN T HAPPE HAPPEN N!
32
LES M MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
I migh mightt hv hvee hppene hppen e h we been bee n tgh to giv givee he e e o yong tent mple opponity o he ntempee, pe inte vl ne he keybo won o n we now hve popio o micin who cn't he pe pich reltion Or choi cn' ingg i n tne in tne O ol oloo inger wim togh meoie with with the the hop hop ht they ae omewhee nea he pitch Ove e yea, or e hv he tempee ith, thi n econ ntil they on ight One o my wokhop wokhop veten veten pino-b pino-b inge inie in ie th tht t he p interv int erv we wee inging inging one h hp" p" to he Chor inger lmo lmo nively lern lern thei no noe e in e em m pere tning The ection prcice heir p whie he note a rmme o on he ol eighy-eigh When hey inly in togeher the et, mny o piny know, i oen n gly conglometion o on only pro mohe co toere. t n o woner woner th th o o mny chore cn cn mini mininn pich when hey hey ing a capplla (witho inrmen inrmen Thei Thei epenence on on keybo i o trong th when i i no plying they re only it Hvi ng wok Hving woke e wih pro proei eion on inge, inge , hv hvee o yy h h mo mo (ye mst) omlly ine inger (even thoe with g egee eg ee hve neve nev e rely expeience p pe e coti coticc pi pic eltionhip her e e corrpe by ye o prcticing cle n cho with tempee-ne pino (o woe, n ot-o-n pino Mo cn' poce prey tne perect ithone o h imple o hmonic eltionhip Sing n win plye hve a mch beter opporniy o en cce tning imply bece hey pctice withot keybo Mothe Ne i moe likely to b he when he oen't hve to hot togh iicil ning Agin, hi i no new iion Anohe oe rom h nineeenh cenry cotician, Hemholz I mo no o aknowd a a n day w vnn o o v o o o aa n n a a a o x x a o o v va a vo vo w wn n oa o a y naoman naomand d,, o a mo mo aom oman an dd y
LIE #2 PIANO TEACHES PITCH
33
oa ona o oaona od d . ..nn a mann mann d o v a a a f noymn o f amony amony w o n o nonaon nonaon and mak a a n nv v o f f od? o d? Ty T y f om a a o n n o qa qay y m m d d anof anofo o . . T n wo a []o a md nmn a no n a a fo xay and any dmnn o vo
On o o an and d w w ofn ofn a o o ma m a am ama a wo w o av ad [ m o nn qa ] n y nonaon ndd my own xn ad m amo o affm a q a a a mo f fq qnny ad ad w nonaon wn n y yon mn w o a a yy n n any anyn n , an an of of nn and y a m an wn n y nd oo n wo aomd o aomanmn of anofo o oa. On The Senatin Of Tne, 326
I believe believe i Hemholz we wee e i ive ve oay, oay, h e wo champion Ameican amae amae singing singi ng taiio taiionn tha is e eqenly qenly ispaage ispaage b acaemia Have yo eve hea a ealy goo abeshop chos B abeshoppes can b bs s a cho" cho " tha tha is absolely th hli ling ng Evey voi is ocse ino an absobe by he son ntil he poct becomes somehing moe than the sm o its pats A wel tne tn e voca cho is some somehin hingg ha an inivial inivial canno cea ceae e aone It eqies a gop o inivias, each votaily elinqishing his o he iniviality o the se o a common expeience An, gess what! NO PIANOS ALLOWED The onl instmen inst mentt in in a babesho babeshopp ehea eheasa sa is a pit pitch ch pip pipe e A singe pic p ichh is given, eveyone hms his o he noe in rlatin to he given pich an away hey go An gess what elsethey on't go lat! Uness hey have poo vocal pocion, which babeshoppes sometimes o (Bt thas anothe book Its enitle Cmpnnts f Vca Blnd an can be obaine om yo loca bookstoe o iecl om Sage 3 Pblishing I won won go g o so s o a a as a s to ecom ecommen men tha tha pianos be b e banne o o elementay school cassooms, bt I wol sgges ha yongstes larn vocal msic wihot a keyboa The, ate hey hav expeience he pitches in elation o oe anothe, piano accom
34
LIES M MUSIC TEACR TOLD ME
paniment can be ue when appropriate Interetingly, the tempee tuning o the keyboa oen't eem to bothe choral tung once i i locke in place The ame i ue o olo inging The en reul i imply a ore pakling muical prouct Eviently the quick ecay ecay in the the loune o tuck tring keep keep the piano oun in the backgoun when ouning along wi utaine voice Alo, the timbre, or tone qualitie, o voice an piano are not at imilar Guitar, too, although tempee, woul b an eective alteative accompaniment Thee chaacteritic are, o coure, not true o the ogan, an inging againt utaine tempere pitche can caue conierable poblem, paticularly in low-movin paage In thi regar, regar , im Mooney Mooney,, one o o the ine inett recoin recoingg engin engineer eer in Hollywoo, an I were itting in a gol cat icuing vocal an piano tuning whle waiting to tee o He bought up an int inteetin eetin point goo piano accompanit know better an to play the melo with the oloit I ha alway believe that thi wa only to avoi tying up the oloit rhythmically leaving the artit ee to phra aoun the beat with a gaceul ubato im pointe out that anothe reaon i that playing the meloy in tempere tuning woul eithe ight with the oloit' exible tuning o pull the inger int tempee pitch The eult woul be either annoying ionance 0 ull an boring meloie, or pehap a bit o both A goo point!
A I am wrting thi, I am trying to emember when I becam aware awa re o the piano piano etrim etriment ental al inuence inuence on wel wellt ltune une ing inging ing experience ome great oun when I ang in the Royal O (Michigan High School A Cappella Choir Mr Feighner woul have the bae etablih a oli tarting pitch an we woul buil cho,, aing one note at cho at a time an lit litenin eningg caeully caeully to make make u u each one it exactly into the oun That choi ang ome grea muic, but what I remembe mot i the tuning wam-up Now, tha muic teacher wa not lying Pehap thi wa the ee that late owere an helpe me ecape the temperetuning bonage ha
LIE #2 PIANO TEACHES PITCH
3
seems to enslave most o to toa ayy s singers s ingers Lik ikee most yong st stent ent o great teachers, I took my raining or grante, thiking that hig schol singers were leing the same things we were Wow, was wrong!
A relate incient happene some years later in a chor concting class at Iniana University I ha jst sng a phrase t illsrate some point, an the insrctor inorme me hat I ha sn some so me pitches sharp It wa wasn sntt im impo por ra att to me at the the ti time, bt b t it i stick in my my min an case me to to take take special cae that I int in t sin sin sharp I wish I col go back in time an hear mysel sing tha phrasee again phras again I wol wol really like like to to know wheth whether er I actally wa wa singing singi ng sha, or whether my high highsch school ool trainin trainingg cas case e me to si sin n some o he notes in e phrase higher than at teacher was se t hearing them My sspicion that the latter was tre is signicantl increase as I remember that the teacher was was a ne neck cktie tie"" baton who eqenty eqenty sang san g lwr than piano pitch So, who knows? Mayb I was s arp An then again, maybe that teacher was operating wit empere eas
l
Dring the early years o my career as a msic ecator slippe sli ppe away om my soli so li hig hig schoo schooll training training in ine-tnin ine-tning g I e in wit withh the cr crow ow,, po pon ni ing ng ot notes notes on the piano piano or or my choir choir an settli settling ng or vi vicin cinity ity"" tnin tningg like mos mostt every everyone one el else se Mo Mos s grop singing I hear was so ba that anything that approximate piano pitch was consiere a sccess I was also probably isracte rom tning becase I was rying ot all those choral techniqes" ha lee in college
It wasn was ntt ntil I was teac teaching hing the Pierce Pierce College Colle ge azz azz Choir h hat at realize how etrimental the piano was to eveloping accrate pitc concepts I ha known (as o most msic ecators abot tempere tning, bt ha been nconcerne (as are most msic ecators abot its eect on accrate tning Now it was bgging me at hes kis coln colntt ma make ke e hot hot jaz jazzz chors chors po p o p " Th Thee msic msic sone mpy an sqare" (There is nothing lamer than a poorly tne
36
LIES LI ES M M MUSIC TE TEAC ACHE HER R TOLD ME
iteenh-anine cho Being a HiLs an, knew hee cho col be mch moe exciting So, ggete o Dwigh, o accompani, to play only oo a we ang o p a ith" wam-p Thi execie wa ve beneicial in emonating wha in tne" ealy meant Whe ith wee ece, we move on to othe inteval ni he inge coul make a mino econ (hal ep pakle ike a mic iamon
Dwight Eich i one o he inet accompanit I have eve woke wih He ha gea ea Oen he hea cinke e on hat mie He i mch moe than a piano playe When I ee he became he iecto o he pemiee choa gop a Piec Colege So wih wih Dwight hep, we weane o Pie Piece ce Coege Jazz Cho Choi i inge away om empee tning When we tne cho, h playe only he oo noe an allowe he inge o in he pac whe wh eee the noe ocke ocke ino ino pl plac ace e O O mot motto to wa wa i n g in cho, no hogh it We alo oce on ome ohe hing ha helpe ing into" cho, like vowel oc, netal ylable eonance matching, bighne ageement (Bt ha' anohe book Look o it a yo ocal Oh, we i hat aeay, in we? The oc on ning wa moe ewaing han we co hav eve imagine O aience gew beyon Mom, Pop an Unc Bill im Wahb, hen a poce a KCET, he Lo Angele PBS aion, invite the gop o o a ixtymine eeviion pecia W paticip pat icipate ate in the Playboy Jazz Fei Feival, val, ing inging ing at the manion o e pe coneence, an openng he how hat yea at th B ow ow Afe Afe a tip to he Eopean Eope an jazz e etival tival The Hage we ecoe an albm a gee Pey heay o a bnch o college ki
Mntywood x nd my nm n o wod y y?
IE #2 PIANO TEACHES PITCH
37
The bigget pobem we ha wa that the gaating inge wonn t leave the wo the gop o new tent tent col co l get into it A Atte the gaate gaa te om Piece Piece hey went on to USC o Cal State No Nothr thri ig g o got job bt mae e they co til chee Piece Colleg Jazz Choi So we qit caing it a college gop an thoe inge became p poo (i yo cal te tenn bck a gig a living livin g Th Th i i 1 980 980,, the the LA Jazz Choir Choir wa bo bo Soon ing wee coming om al ove town to aition o LA Jazz Choi, incling ome expeience expeience po poe eiona ional l That wa te te c c we thoght at tt bt it intr introce oce a new poblem The new inge ing e wee wee not al alwa way y hip to to the vo voca ca techniqe techniqe th that at ha brogh brog h the gop it poi poinence nence Mot Mo t we wee e loc locke ke into piano tn tning ing noce vowel an othe voc habit that he gop ha alea ovecome Thi o coe annoye the vetean It annoye the even moe that it took p pecio eheaal time to make the new inge awae o acotic tnng an othe baic eqiite o LAJC on etablihe the LA Jazz Chor Wokhop whee inge new to the oganization col hone the neee k a wel a le the LAJC book Hee the new inge col exploe jazz tyle tning, ben an phaing withot the pee o a peormanc chele an withot lowing own the LAJC peoming gop eheaa o may be woneing Why al thi backgon on the LA Jazz C Coi? oi? Actaly, I have a point Let me me it by by eci ecibing bing a typical (an qite eqent mo momen mentt in a wokhop e ei ion on We We'' tying to get a cho to ock an we've checke vowel eonanc an othe enemie o blen bt it jt int happening We chec each cho membe by having Dwight tain the oot an al inge on that note ajt it ntil all the noie (ionant beat iappea I it till oent happen we go own the ine an hav each inge tne iniviay Aha The tbbon pitch i co om one o the new ki on the bock (thogh not alway)
8
LIESS M MUSC TEAC LIE TEACHER HER TOLD ME
The oher iger i the room repo like revivmeein zealot who rejoice whe a ew cover i abo o be bo ito kigom A I rge the ew iger o orke he ecrity o pi pich, ggeig he or he rik beig beig harp j to ee what happe happe hee ot h other her i iger ger oer ec e cora orageme geme G Goo ahea, ahea, Try it it, , o 1 e e e , et etc. c. At ir, ir, he propectiv propectivee cov co ver er i rel relca ca an coe a i covice ha were al a lite crazy o gget iger i ger elibe eliberaely raely ig i g a pitch ot o e e. . Evetally thi eeivee i replace by crioiy, a al he iger begi to expore he pace otie he o comor zo e the cover experiece the peace cam that occr whe th ote lock with Dwig Dwight ht aie roo, the eye eyebr brow ow raie, rai e, e eye wie, givig eviece tha aoher ol ha bee ave rom h valey o he haow o empere tig t wa probaby gratiyig or the ew iger o bak i all h mile i the room, a i m have bee reiorcig whe h mile appeare preciely whe ccel tig wa achieve T be hoe, however Im o re tha every mile wa the ret o happie or the iger bor agai mical lie I pec ome o he joy cme rom kowig hat we wolt have to ie to hat iger empere ig aymore
Lie #3: Singing scaes and meodies is the best way to begin deveopng a musica ear. Truth: Deveoping accuracy in meodic tuning greaty depends on a sense o harmonic reationships So, which came irtmeloy or harmony? Althogh thi ma eem li like ke e ol chicken chic ken or eg egg g qetion qetion,, it rea really lly i inn t Hi Hior or nicate that meoy wa ar more prevalent in early mica raiti o the wor In act, ete Eropean cltre i the onl one h wen harmonic." Mot o the other evelope highl ophitiate meloic bletie an/or rhythmic compleitie Thi ac evienly ha inence mic ecator to ame hat, inc eloy came irt hitorically, meloy hol be the irt iem o ine ine in i n aining mical ear.
A yo migh epect, I have a major problem with hat philo ophy. An eamination o he rctre o mot meloic traition how that the pitche in a given yem (or sal) are almo alway ae on harmonic conieration. Im not ggeting that al meloy i bae on pre harmonic reationhip ol Schoenber an hi iciple compoe mic on an artiicial ytem (twelv eqally pace pitche an achieve an intereing rel. Bt hav yo notice how poplar tha ytem i toay? Have yo ever ie t ing twelvetone twelvetone mic? m ic? Have yo ever e to listn to it?
I know hi icion i making me vlnerable o he charge tha am obvioly incapable o appreciating the more challengin
0
LIES M MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
copoitioa tye that' what yo'e thiig, yo ae i ac maig y poi The ai eao thee atiicia mica yte ae oe chalegig i peciely becae they ar cia yte! That i, they ae bae o atheaticaly iviig te octave it eqal eget athe tha o the a-be atio o ata] peceptal haoic So whethe o ot al eoy i bae o hoic elatiohip i ot the poit hee t ealy oe't atte What oe atte i that eoy an be peceive (a eae i te o haoi vocaby Eve tweve-toe ic I act, a ee o eative pitc (haoic eatiohip i the nl nly y pr p rptual ptual mans o accat eoic eo ic mea meaem emee t we ha have (except (ex cept o o th tho oee " people people Whe oe coie that haoic peceptio ae bae o obevable phyica act (eebe Pythagoa' tig it ae eve oe ee I knw, ate oty ive yea o teachig e taiig, that ic tet who ow thei way ao a ajo cho e bette at igig eloie accately tha thoe who o't Espially Schoe Schoebe beg' g' e eo oi ie e So, the citica qetio i ot which cae it hitoicaly, b athe, How a to what extet o meloic tcte eive o haoic eatiohip?" We ca begi iig o awe b ooti g th that at the el elo oic ic pe ee ect ct if ifh in intte evva i o po poi iet ety y ethic ica ytem ao the wo A ew yea ago, I i a micoogical ty o a awye who wate to ow how oigia" wa the Mach o the Wiie" (o h Wizard Oz) A yo ay eebe, the te i a chat-lie eoy tha coit etiely o peect ifh
O ee
Ee h
Sice I pecte that fh wee petty baic to eay al mi cal yte, I we ow to the UCLA ethoicoogy ibay
IE #3 SCALES TRAN EARS
41
istened to msic fro every coer of the world What hear veried that e perfect h is to melody what the two-yfor is t house ilding. Without this basic stabilizing ingredient melod wold ose perceptal focs and become a rather hazy affair An that's what melody appears to e for many students who haven' developed h hmonic monic awa awaen enes esss a hazy affair ow here's an essential point People don't always know wh they think what they think or do what they do Jst becase t world was fll of melody before it was full of harmony doesn' mean that the sense of harmonic relations was not inencing way melodies were pt together And just becase early msi theorists talked almost exclsively aot melodic practice doesn' mean that acostical considerations had no effect on melodi creation Examining the melodic product itself shows that contry is qite lely te. It is very significant that the earliest harmony in the eighth o centry,, was centry was created at at the interval of a perfe perfect ct fif fifth th Rmor ha hass it a highranking clergyman was inadverently singing the tune a fifth lower lower than the others and no one had the nerve to draw it to hi attention Althogh that story is probaly suspect the fact that world wor ld'' s first first harmo harmony ny occrre occ rredd at th thee interval of a fi fihh is not Pythagoras woldn't have been surprised He'd have considered t "ot of tne clergyma a clever and perceptive chap This reakthrogh in musical practice provided a new way o composing The new music consisted of comining simltaneo melodies related at structural points by the stabiity of the perfec fifth fi fth an andd othe otherr co cons nson onan antt interval intervalss On th thee surface it appeared appeared th tha a "harmony was orn Actally it had been there l the me sbtl inencing how melody had een shaped all throgh the earlie centuries
oral music dring the early centries in Europe was largel religios and was ased on a few scales called churh mds o
42
LIES MY MSIC EACHER OLD ME
the chrch modes can be fond on the white notes of the mode keyboard (appoximately of corse) Each mode was chacteize by a diffeent patte of whole steps and half steps Howeve notic that a feat common to all of these modes is the pefect ·fift interval occuring om step 1 to step 5 . DORI MODE
pc
PHY PH YG MODE
LYD MODE
t pc
MOYD MOYD MODE
pc AEOL MODE
IE #3 SCALES RAIN EARS
43
It s signficnt tht the wholestep/hlfstep pte om B to B s used y the musicl church fthers Notice tht it s the onl hitenote scle ptte on the keybord tht doesnt hve perfec fth etween scle steps 1 nd 5 Its smller thn the others. her re only two lck notes n eteen nsted of tree Ply t You her the difference
LOCR MODE
s
One hs to suppose th the B mode ws not used ecuse o this unstle fih etween scle steps one nd five Interestngly composers struggled with this strnge fih ll through the erl centQries of musicl development. It wsn't untl the seventeen century just efore the tme of S. Bch tht composers fgure out how to del with it her reveltions noduced the wod to most ncredle muscl construct ever devsedthe mor/mino system
The gret eighteenth century theorist enPhilippe Rmeu proposed wht ws then ve novel ide tht music is founde on His conclusions rose from study of the ntur prncples of mth nd physcl vrtng bodes Seems like a resonble thing to do doesnt it? Pythgors would hve though so Rmeu s new mus Rmeu music ic sy system stem ws w s se sedd on o n brnd ne ne concept Yes its hrd to elieve ut the concept of es sic uilding blocks of musicl strcture tht we tke for grnte tody s ctully only bout four hundred yers old Before chords muscns thought of musc s horizontl (melodic ow
44
IES Y USIC TEACHER TOD E
sometimes wit simltaneos lines onneted at itial points b stable intevals Now we tink of msi as having bot oizonta melodi) an veial amoi) aspets A signifiant pat of Ramea s wok was that it explained to a geat extent ow that non-pefet fih in te B mode woks. Th ealy uh msiians thogt basially in melodi tems B viewingg this nstable in viewin inte teva vall aonially aonially its se s e beomes le lea a an patial. Yo an be se I'll talk moe abot that late The impoane of Ramea' s evelations seems to have been los on today's msi eduatos as they appea to be inened moe b the histoial ode of msial development. Sine melody am fist it was appaently assmed that one sold stdy msi an tain yong eas by onentating on melody fist I tink w followed te wong path In my teahing expeiene I have obseved tat melodies ae to omplex fo a novie ea to gasp sttally Swimming teahe woldn't tow tei new stdents into the deep end of te pool b many msi teahes do While downing in a swil of pithes ma not be detimental to one's pysial wel being it an be devastatin to a yong peson's msial gowth If the stdent's onfidene wa waveing befoe he o she takled sale singing the expeiene ol spply te fatal blow elegating te student to te anks of thos whoo believ wh believee tey an' an ' t a a tune tune in a yo-know yo-know-what -what I am onvined te way to ompehend melodi stutue is t fist ndestand ow sale steps elate harmnically to a enta pit o toni note One tat ha happe ppens ns indivi individal dal sale steps take o pesonalities tat an be identified and/o poded at will an wit wi t onf onfidene idene The The e eggs ggs in a o ow w on one ept pt of sales disappea disappeas. Singing no longe swims aond the pithes but spakles with a fosed elationship to a ental toni si eading beomes a tanslation of symbols epesenting ral msical prcptins an cncpts instead of an inse insee e guessing gu essing game
E #3 C CLE LE TN E E
4
Heoz elieved ha accurae armonic coceps provide asis for accurae meodic perforace (m realy geing o s guy.) Te eao eaon n o o e one one ae enea m ea e e o o ee w dnne n amoned ] dnne ] an n omo omoon on (e men unhamnzed unha mnzed m m. . In e ae e een ee n o eaon o one deend oe on e amene o o wo aa n wo one oneve ve ma ma one one B wen we n we ea ea e e eo ond nd . .one one we n a mo ememe e and ene we ae dven o omee e omaon an a o memo Te ononane on e oe nd, ve e e ea aon on an mmedae mmedae a a o en enaa on on;; we ae ae no one dven dv en o ave eo eoe e o memo we ea ea ea o o ee a one n e omned ond wen e oe eaon ae no eeved On The T he Sensatn Of Tne Tne,, 9
In oer words pracicig wi simultanus pices provides h asis for praccing wih consecuive pices Once we ge used earig ow pces soud ogeher we ca lear o imagin overoe srucure of he firs pic ad compare i o e seco pic We ca also ea o antiipat were he secod pic w unn we sging he rs oe u Doesn' i make sense o sar w he simples ings earr pu ea pure re smpe iervals iervals ad o o uild ui ld from from ere? s ogic og ical al f f we wan wan o each people how mus music ic works o sar demosraig e basi stu of w wc c maj maj or/mi or/mior or mus music ic is made made Lke cords? "Wha??? ca ear some readers gaspig "Teac cor c ords ds e efore scal scales es?? Ne Neve verr ! jus s snn ' doe doe!! kow kow Tha Tha ' s proem!
Happily ran across a new earrang exook receny a inroduced inrodu ced e majo majorr chord as a a asisicc src srcu ura rall concep rig here here hap p tr (unforuaey here was o discusson o e snd ha acouscal relaioships Ieresigly he frs chaper conaed oigaory dscussio of whoe seps ad af seps an aura percepion a my eacing experiece s oe of he mos dicu o deveop suspec e auor knows e major chord is a
46
LES SIC TEA TEACHE CHER R TOLD E
ood pace o s bu reaized ha if he didn' pu scaes up on many music eachers simpy woudn use his book Meodies in maor and mior modes are usualy conceied fro hmonic srcures In oher words he selecion of meodic piche is realy inuenced by he chords he composer has in mind whil composin a une Since his is rue one woud hink ha eacher would bein heir sudens musica deeopmen by proidin wel-consruced harmonic "baske in wich o cay he une eacher didn' And I suspec yours didn eiher
Lie #4: Namin scale seps on syllables (do re mi ec) or numbers ( 3 ec) ensures success in sinin meodies accuraely Truh: Namin scale seps does no conribue o idenifyin hem uness each one has been auraly expeece as unique
The use of sllables n eachng melodc sklls s almos as old as the Bble and s ofen practced as relgousl It was nvened b Gudo of Aezzo n he enh cen cenur ur nd has been wd wdel el used snce then th en As mel melodes odes becme more crom cromac ac he he ssem was m mp pve ved d addng sllables o represent he "black noes as well as he whte noes. ome techers use he sllables to represen fxed pches d s alwas a s alwas F m s alwas , etc whle ohers use he sllables o represent the relaonal aspects of scale seps n 5 an ke (d s alwas scale sep , fa s alwas 4 s alwas 5 ec
e
her eachers (ncludng me have preferred numbers over sllables manl because t means one less new anguage to le. tudentss are alread tudent alread famlar famlar wth he order order of he numbers nu mbers om one o seven so I prefer no o boher wh drmi ( or or Gdo There are some dsadvanages however n usng numbers nstead of sllables For example seven has two sllables so s awkward to sng t on one note I scrunch nto a onesllable soundsevnwhch works farl well Also when sngng a chromac pch has o be caled sharp sharp fve or he lke wch wch cn be awkwrd
48
IES MY MSIC TEACHER TOD ME
I c c rc rcice, ice, however, the wk wkwrd wrdes esss s ot re re robem Oce stdet cches o to e sods o e bsc sce stes, e or se does eed o me o od everhg h s sg I c, rig o me ever oe ges i e w oce e works ite seed For exme, sce-wse ssge o reqires ideiig sg d edg ce Ad eve the dot reqire dibe ideiico Js hikig he coce is h s eeded For exme, i I see m whose me I c rec, t does do es me me I do do recog recogze ze him O co corse rse it wod be wkw kwrd to s, "Hi, here, m wom I me o the go corse te oher d B I kew who he ws, eve hogh I did s his me I sose he decisio o se oe sstem or other deeds rge o wh he echer execs he mig o ccomish I sbes re o ieded o rovde coveie mes b wc o reer to seciic itches, the "ixed d" is erect deqte Ths sstem c e s ver mch i deveoig r sese o msic msic orgizio, however, sice sice mos mos o s mors do do recogize xed iches (eqecies) w I bes re eded o reer o o reioss, he eier movebe d or mbers is se he go were o me ever oe oe sgs, he eg Gidos sbes wod be he ogc choice I oe eeds o occsio to me secic sce ste, inkg o mos oes s beogig o rger coces (ike sces, or chords chords),), h he e mbe mbers rs wi wi work we
here re s e rob robem em wth sbe sbess d d mbe mbers rs I I s o t B, he he e sed o ech meod, b h echers seem o ieve (or es o m) he se o sbes (or mbers) i ise eds o sccess rgnizing sce ses I dot beieve h i does. Ive ow some msicis who c ri hrogh some re ogh meodies sgh wo swer b sbes d ohers who re r eer er workg wi mb mbers ers Wt W t cs csed ed me t o bec ecom omee ssicios ws observig sdes who sg correc itces d ed hem b wrog mes Obvios, i ws o he mes h
#4 SY SYABS ABS TR ARS
49
led stdens to he right pitches They eed he syse in spite of he naes They cold have sng d-daddad or scooedoo s cooedooe-doo e-doo and don donee s as we Actaly we proaly le everything in spite of the naes. In fac a nae soeies sends sends s down he wrong rai rai e erre confsed ntil we discover he eoneos designaion So tat rings s o he centra qestion: hy do soe of s sing accraey and in ne ne an andd soe of s c an fin findd he aske aske I think par of he answer has o do with paying attention o the righ hngs and doing i efore we are confsed wi drmi sharps and at-sevens. an yo iagine soeone earning to wk y readi reading ng a oo ook k Or eaing o speak y ooking ooking at lett letters O f corse no no e e o o wak y y expeiencing expeiencing the the dynaics dynaics o f odiy oveent e earn to speak y iiating sonds And st as natraly we le sical strctres y experiencing and miaing pitch reations. Sara Mcerrin Boys oher was teling s a a sic edcaors convenion ha ding his very eary years he wod hang arond nder the piano whie she was giving sic lessons He wod ake these fnny itle sonds with his voice explong ides of pich coinaions with eager cosiy Today Boy Mcerrin is recognied as the mos phenomenal voca gynast in he word and proay proay in sica history history Its no srprising that sic stdents with the es ears coe fro faiies where sic was considered a part of nora eeryday ife Yongsers who were encoraged to paicipae in sic aking from an eary age oen possess a distinct sical edge If they eventaly find ther way into colege sic classes they discover hey erey have o earn he naes for wha xprintiay hey aeady know assates who have not had his advantage ofen srggle with he drmi and 1-23s hoping ha these aes w nock e tona ysees ha see to ede he
0
LES MY MUSC TEACHER TOLD ME
Haily breakroughs do occur ad ha brigs hoe o hose ho earesly eares ly wi wish sh o j oi oi he raks of he he gifed gifed o oee s fo forr who whom m music seems o come so easy wa o make i absoluely clear ha musical lieracy is o merely readig ad wriig musical oaio jus as laguage lieracy is o merely uig words io syax True lieracy i eier sese is makig coecios bewee symbols ad ideas music ideas are coceual aes of soud ihou he souds oaio is esseially meaigless Musical souds seem o s s wim i e e erc rce eiio o of my my eoleeve some musically educaed ele These folks simly ever develoed a awa awarees reesss of h hee u ure re ad simle s suf uf of which music is made made u uu ure re archiec archiecs s lay wih bloc blocks ks Tiker Tiker Toys ad Lego ses uure ariss lay wih ecils crayos ad colorig books uure oes lay wi words feeligs ad ideas uure musicias boh maeur ad rofessioal) eed o lay wi iches Bu how? s ulikely a yougser will ge excied abou e uisirig souds roduced by a oy iao or a i xylohoe. However if a child is lucky eough o ave ares who ca each how o use he voice o exlore ich relaios e or she may cach o Uforuaely our lile begier ca make more ha oe soud a a ime wih his or her voice a defiie disadvage comared o he buddig arciec wo ca combie blocks io ieresig srucures all aloe or he edglig aris wo c combie shaes ad colors wiou collaboraio Evely erhas some eerrisig oy maufacurers will roduce ieracive device ha will allow a yougser o exlore ure ich relaioshis Durig a discussio of his oi wi my college heory class oe youg ma remembered a he firs became awe of ich relaios by sigig alog wih he whie of his mohers vacuum cleaer Now ha was oe hi kid!
LE #4 SLLLES T ES
5
I can hear omeone aking Doe thi mean i one han' deveoped an ear a a chid, that there i itte hope o deveoping a good ear a an ad? Im ga yo ake The anwer i emphaic no no It It impy a matte matterr o payin payingg atenti ention on to ome baic ond phenomena that can be heard by anyone with norm hearing Severa decade ago I wa dicing thi over nch with a coeage coe age and I ated ated ha I pe pected cted there there i no ch hing a a a tonedea peron (provided hearing wa phyicay norma Hi repone indicated tha he conidere me an ivorytower ideai, athogh he wa gracio enogh not to ay i in o many word That chaenge wa a I neede I aked my epartmen ch peron to open a chora ca or non-inger I convince the editor o the oca paper o do a eare arice abot my idea, and I began wih a coection o crio, omewha apprehenive bt wiing bject We, we didn't perorm the S Mahw Passin tha emeer, bt we id ge eve inger to prodce he ame pitch a the ame time We even ang ome impe orpar mic d ony occaionay did omeone a ot o he ond S o what magic did we e to perorm perorm thi mi mira race? ce? None e mirace wa perormed eon ago when natre mae ear tha can hear and recognize impe imp e pich pich rea reationh tionhip ip and voca voca cord cord that can reprodce thee pitch reationhip did wa point e way they di wa i iten ten carey carey o pich reationhip reationhip They di dicov covere eredd rather oon that they were on eir way to becoming mica peope When I ay mica peope Im not neceariy reerring o tho who read mic, or who know that the key o A major ha three harp, or who took piano eon or ve year I'm ting abot peope who can reate pitche in a mica way, whether or not ey can name the pitche or write them down My ate bother odd wa a mica peron with incredibe ki I remember once ying on the oa itening to him improvie on the piano or a cope o
52
LIESS M LIE M MUSIC MUSI C TEACHER TEACHER TOLD ME
hos We wee i o ey thities, jst a ew yeas beoe he ded He eve stdied msic omay He jst kew how to make it Bette tha alost ayoe It aways botheed Rodd that he didt ead msic poicietly He did destad otatio ad eed a good livig aagig ad peomig demos o sogwites Icidetaly, Rodd has ecetly become a so sot t o msica msicall ct heo Ete Rodd Kei Keith th ito a Google seach, i yo ae iteested Bt he, like may othe spe taets I have kow, cod co d ot big himse to stat ove" ad stdyy msic o std omally I ges g ess, s, oce yo have eached eached ad adl lth thood ood it it s pett p ettyy had had to to stick to a e egime gime o ms msica ica ABC ABC s , pticlaly whe yo have achieved a cosideably high evel o peomace skills o kow, I thik he pobabl pobablyy ead msic b tte tha he ed s to bei be iev eve. e. He He may ha have ve maacted a so sott o pe pes so oal al iteg itegi ity ty camoage to cove his ack o omal aiig Beoe we get back to wok, et me shae oe moe memoy Rodds gilied Debbie aso gew p aod msic He dad, my good ied Aa Davies, was a vetea stdio sige ad age ad he he mom a pia piao o teache teache ad a si sige ge as we well Rod Roddd , Deb Debbie bie ad I took my wie, Maee, to die to ceebate he bithday We had decided o a popa seaside estaat estaat i Maib Maib,, a add the thee e wa wass a cos co sideable ideable wait o o o ta tabb e abot the theee hos o so D Di igg a att time, thee wee six o eight peomaces o Happy Bithday Restaat edeigs o this taditioa te ae sally ot vey memoabe, om a msica stadpoit at least, bt these wee piclly picl ly awl awl Rodd, Debbie ad I decided that whe it came me o Malee to bow ot the bithday cade, we wold ty to maitai some msica stadads at o tabe. We ageed o a statig pitch, ad decided deci ded who wod si s igg meody meody ad who wod wod stat o what ote i the chod e it was me, we impovised a theepat ivetio o Happy Bithday" that old oha Sebastia himsel ght have ejoyed Althogh we wee sigig athe qietly (i cotast to
L #4 SYLALES
T
EAS
53
earlier offerings), he noisy restaurant gradualy became hushed. Then, a he fil cadence of our litle improvisaon the whoe pace expoded wih applause. So why was he RoddDebbie-Jerry trio so worhy of specia atention? Wha did we know hat the other performers tha evening didnt? wasnt extensive foral aining, since was the ony one of the tree who had a music degree t wasn ability to read msic, since we didnt have any sheet music there And even if we did, we probably wouldnt have performed it without some rehearsal What we tree had was an awareness of d experience with the bic stuff of musicpitch relationships Not book-earning rues or every good boy does fine." Simply the sounds themselves. ree of s had been isening to and playing wih msical sounds since ey childhood (A few years ago, we wen to hear Debbie headlining a BB. Kings bles" nightcub in Universal City She has become exciing performer and recording artist. f yo enjoy good bes guir gui r and vocas you mig might ht visit www.debbiedavies.com www.debbiedavies.com)) n contrast, have known some experienced insmentaists who could rea readd fai fair ryy diff diffic ict t mu musi sic, c, but but wh whoo had litle musica mu sica idea of of wha they were playing. Ahough it might appear tha hey had grown up playing wi msica sonds, they probably were not realy istening. They had learned by associaing noation directly wi finger pacement withou paying atention o he organization of e soun so unds ds They co coul uldn dn'' pay by by ear or improvi improvise se a si simp mple le harmonization harmonizat ion of a fok ne On e other hand, there there are peope li liee Rodd who create incredibe music, but who re not procient music reaers. Clely, then, successfl music making is no directly reated to music reading abiity Why, hen does msic study consis largey of dealing wih notation rather than with sounds? very college Msic 1 0 1 textbook have ever seen deals principaly with notation. Stdents
4
S MY MSIC MSI C TACH TACHR R TD M
who have some pror experence wh sonds ma be read o le some names and ssems b hose who have no developed some sor of ear migh as well wel l be sding Marian Sinc Sincee i is ex exe eme mel l boring o learn names for higs o haven experienced, e dropou rae in hese classes s ncredibl hgh Those sdens who do scceed b sheer gri and deerminaon are no necessaril an closer o developing musicali han he dropos Sadl man of hese pencilandpaper muscans end up as eachers who fois hese dr emp mehods on he nex generaon of in es Years ag Years agoo ma mahh ed educa ucaor orss cme o grips wih he emp em p r l e s problem and were innovave and brave enough o inoduce a new mah B msc classes even advanced ones) are sll flled wi sdes who are pushng noes arond o a saff having lle dea wha sonds he noes represe To help allevae he emb embaassme aassme of gradaing msic ma majors jors who can hear man college msic programs inclde er raining classes nvarabl hese classes have prerequise heor cl asse sess ha ha mu mus s be ake akenn befo before re o oee is admed o he hem m Wi Wi,, folks! Yo've go i backwrds! Remember whe o learne learnedd ao dogg do gge ess ? Yor or orss were suall shap enough o se he word onl when here was a real doggie in sgh, or a sffed one, or a leas a picure of one. Msc Ms c eachers, eachers , on he oher hand, have s mem memorzing orzing nonsense smbols hopig ha a some fure me or ear wll mseriosl discover wha he smbols represe. To be sre i occasonall happes B sn ha doing i he hard wa? How mch more sccessfl would msic sdens be if he were agh smarr o hardr?
Lie #5 #5:: n iner inerval val is he disance beween wo piches. Truh: n inerval is a qualiaive percepion of consonance
In a sic theo penci pencian anpape pape sense an i ite te a a is li lite tea allll he sance between two piches" bt in es of han pecep on of son i is not ans have a elative poo peception of sance holding o hans what o beieve to be 27 nches ap and then have soeone ease he stance w a stck See what ean? Now No w wthot looking click on a stopwatch an an hen cick t off when o think 24 secons have elapse Befoe o look how ch wo o wage on o accac? Get the ea? Se" o sa bt what oes te and space have o do wih sica intevas?" hass h pin ans don peceive scal Nohng! And ha ntevals as dist distance ancess ; he he peceive the as vib viba aon on atio atioss. a att a sond a bit technca b t eal isnt Let e illsae. We ientif ien tif colos as g gee een n"" e e" " p p pl ple e"" etc. Yo Yo a kn know ow no ha hatt colos ae aca igh ightt feqencies feqencies b o didn know t when o wee a chi leaing o colos; diffeentiating colos was a prpual expeiences
56
ES MY MUSI TEAHER TD ME
W xpn ph n a sma wa. En hogh ph s phsa bang qns o spd w h phs as hgh ow W ansa a m and spa oun no a ppa xpn W an on h baos b w an whn h go as hgh) o sow ow). W a' h nam nam o a gn ph wh wh an an pson ps on nss ns s w a on o hm) b w an whn phs a ombnd n an was.
In an a dssson, w od ha whn w ha phs ombnd n ownmb aos w a ab o p s xpns as unq and dnab. W aso saw ha nas ang ownumb aos (2, 23 23 34 ) mo onsonan, and ho a as o ha and an h mo dssonan ns wh hgnumb aos (78, 89, ) W aso showd a osonan/dssona aonshps a qualai ah han quaniaiv ppons
d
I know ha sonds absa, so m pan n pa ms.. Whn as a ms a n nd d an h sam sam o o sma) onsonan/dssonan qas. Fo xamp whn o mo h boom no o a p an oa o g a oh Pa hs nas on a kboad b sng hm) and o w ha ha h sod sma Th nb nas dsgnad h b h bod nmbs on ks)
h
oave
o
IE # TERVAS
A
DISTACES
57
When you move he boom noe of a hid up an ocave you ge a sih ke e fifhfourh par, hs pair also sounds silar
sx oav
When you move he boom noe of a second up an ocave you ge a sevenh, and (you guessed hese nervas sound even more lke each oher han he fourh/hs or he hisixhs.
oa
Noice ha Noice ha he sze sz e dif difffere erence nce var vares es om pair o pai pai Wl Wlee e disances of he fourhfifh par are simiar here is a grea size difference beween he second and sevenh Also noice ha, even hoghh he dis hog disance ance of an ocave s ner he he disanc disancee of a seven, e wo neas sound very differen. Te sevenh is far more dssonan han e oc ocav avee .
58
IES MY M Y MSIC TEACHER TEACHER TOD ME
oav a ao o
sv 8:15 ao
Clearly, i is e percepua consoance/dissonace quali a makess hese make hes e nerva nervals ls simi simiar ar ad/or diff differen eren fro from m one one ano anoher her and elps us differeniae hem Te primary means of recogo owever is no simly of disce Tis being e case seems raher ponless o ask sudens o learn ne nerva rva recogio by doing dsanc dsancee drll drllss . I coll college ege I remember singg exercises on scae seps like hs 21 1-31 144-1 1-5-1 1 1-5-1 1-6 1-61 1 171 71 18 18 1 Now I suppose if oe did enog of s dri, one migh noice he qualaive cracerisics of eac ierval Tak goodne goodness s oug oug, , some sudens sudens learn in spie of poor eacing Do you suppose a's were progress comes from?
Lie #6: scale is a series of eih xed piches. Truh: scale is a sysem of exible piches whose unin chanes dependin on harmonic conex
I imagie your usic teacer told you abou scales ad keys e same sa me ay as ie ie I so so,, yo youu lear ared ed a a a ma or scale is a oe octave patte o ole ad al steps i a specied ode ad at te pitc you start o is te ame o te key.
VV"/VVV/ WWHWWWH
60
ES MY MSC TECHER TLD ME
uW uW /H Wu Wu uW 'H
uW uW 'H Wu uW uW 'H I
ca swea ha he acualy sad ha a scale was oe ocave og, bu pobaby go ha iea because al e scaes we ae cass (ad i e ebook wee ha log do kow howeve ha sudes hik hs way because hey sowed up y usic heoy casses evey seese wh his aive cocep fily i place. o eape i eve occued o he ha hey could i scale sep 6 by couig down f fo o he keyoe
I
#6 SCE TCES ARE FXE
61
6 7 1
.
Youve probab ougrow ha absurd idea b ow, as have, bu do ou bu ou ever cach cach oursef ref referr err gg o h hee sarig sarig o oe" e" or he firs f irs oe" of a scal scale? e? hik hi hiss phraseolog phrase olog is le over over fo fom m e Medieval idea of modes scaes wih a ed pae of whole ad half seps) Medieval music eorss oiced, however, ha some melodes were o coa coaied ied bewee bewee wo keoes keo es a oc ocav avee apar apar Whe a cha covered he area from a fourh below he oc pich o a fifh above i i he added h hee pr pre e h hpo " o whaev whaever er mod modee i was was oher words, he hough he mode eeded a specia ame f e melod escaped he bouds of he oeocave scae from oic o oic DR MDE
2 5 6 7
YR MDE
5 6 7 5
S MY MUS M US TEAHER TEAHER TD ME
62
Ths pcce n nd dces ces h hey vew vewed ed msc ms c s e ene ne ll llyy conned whn n ocve ne A mo mode de ppl pplc con on of h hs s concep cn e lsed by obsevn how he folown sons ele el e o keynoe
7
Joy
to
A
2
te
od
5 6
7
te wold 2
5
5
6
5
way
n a 5 6
2
mange mange no
ome
7 6
o o a
5
ed
7 2 3 4 5
The fs s conned beween he hh nd ow onc noes, whle he second hs he onc ne he mddle of s ne. These wo nes f ncely no he ne of one ocve, b mch msc does no So, o concep of wh key s fs needs o be epnded o nclde he pches osde snle ocve Secondy we need o vew key s moe hn js sees of whole seps nd hlf seps n
L #6 SCE ICS RE ED
3
ptcul cofuto he ely theosts thouht t ws ely becuse they wee oo t musc s f t wee oly sees of sle cosecutve ptches s wht we cll mlody) Eve whe composes stted to combe two o moe smulteous melody les l es to to polyph polyphoc oc my voced textu textues theoy ws stll loced o scles s the bss of musc ozto h they ew bout Pythoss descpto of hmoc eltoshps d they mde sue tht the combed melodc les tesected t sttec pots wth cosot tevls hey clled tht techque ounrpoin d we stl do tody Du the Ressce musc becme moe d moe poly phoc It must hve bee et fu to s ll those ctely cfted musc tpestes Ne the ed of e peod t lso becme moe comtc ht s composes dded lots of shps d ts to escpe the boedom of the pue mod sces Due ptly to the Ctholc Couteefomto these cot putl d chomtc excesses" ve wy to ted towd smple muscl poduct Composes be to expoe the de of buld muscl stuctues vetclly s well s hozotlly Hoeve Hoe ve th they ey hdt hd t yet ye t devel developed oped syste system mt tcc ho how w to to " ht ws suppled du the follow e the Boque peod whe hllpe Rmeu descbed the ew vetcl" musc s nional harmony he dvdul vetc stctues becme ow s chods" Rmeu demostted tht ot oly e meodc ptches eted to chods but tht chods e elted to ah ohr Whe ths fomto fst eched me t ws blued by cdemc dscussos of modes d scles d someth cled hstcl muscl pctce" ws ecoued to hmoze dusty old chole meodes fo whch I hd o ptcul fodess o fmty ccod to set of ues hded dow ove e cetu es cetu es e cu cuous ous ue ws hou shlt ot mke y y voces voces move plel fths o octves" But o oe seemed to ow why ths pctce ws udesbe I dd otce tht S Bch dd't
64
LIESS MY MUSIC TEACER TOL ME LIE
aays subsribe o he rule, bu someho it as osidered fashionable by he ime I ent o olege I no beieve that he prohibition against paralel fifths and otaves ad o o ith the fat that, sine these are very onsonant intervals, voies moving in this pralel relationship tend o ose their individual identiy So, hy didn my teahers expain hat? idn't they kno? And if not, hy didn' hey find out? Or as this like being told he pediai rle, on go ino e stree, after hih ere supposed to gro up and ferre ou he tru for ourselves? I an o beieve ha Rameau had nohing to do ih he onfusing ay as taugh harmony I ourred o me ha he probably lisened to the same harmoni reaionships beteen pithes ha e o, and that his physial ord of sound as essentialy the same as ours oday In any ase, ha as mos important for me ass tha Rameau a Rameau s idea ide a of of funtina funtina harmon harmony y broke bro ke the ase ide open So let's talk abou ha. First, let let'' s loo loo again a Pytha Pythagoras goras'' s string string and see if i offers any further ins insig igts ts into the nature of a ma major sale sa le In a previous setion (p 27 e ooked a the series of partials hat ours aoustiay from from a singe pih on C. You may remember that e oer end of he series ontains the pithes of he C major triad (C, E. and G When e v vee at the tav tavee bet beteen een parial parialss 8 and 16 findd a fe fe ore pithes pithe s tha appear t o bel belong ong o the th e C ma major jor e fin sale, as ell as a fe suspiious haraters hose presene here seems a bit srange.
IE : CAE ICHE D
iv qn iv qn n v n w un
5
0 2 3 4 6 3 5
8 9
5
7
Bt here is a bigger problem here is o , a very imporat igrediet the key of C If yore begig to sspect at ere is more to the maor scale ta simply a stack of partials yo're rig Varios scale theories have bee proposed throg he cetriees, eac cetri eac off offerig erig a mat mathe hema matical tical stificatio stificatio fo for the mao orr scae A Pyhagoran al was devised by pilig p fifths ad the redcig the reslat piches to a sigle octave. I did come ot qite right. Aoher system called u inonaion has some iter estig relatioships to Rameas cocep of cord relaios, bt it, too, has some sortcomigs. hese ad other atempts to explai e maor/ior sysem mahematically ave a como fata aw. hey are all based o e assmpio that the scale is a collectio of fixed pitches h ha a relate direcly to he toic Bt or ar tel s this is ot the case. o me, the pra practic ctical al as well as e eore oreic ical al soltio solti o is simply to realize hat msic sold o be ammed ito a rigid ilexible system of xed pitces pitces ig ig s a dya dyaic ic ad lively lively pro proce cess s at is a atral p of the of msic or example scale step six es as the irteeh partial oly whe e oic ote is the root It tes qie differetly as the hird of the sbdomia roo (scale step for) It chages agai as the th of a domat root (scae step ve) Yo see, as he chords cage so does the tig. If yo wa to ry it sig a A while yo play back ad forh betwee a low C ad a low My ear hears the A slighly higer whe he low F is sodg. Now, sig e A with a low G ad see wat appes
66
ES MY SIC TEACHER TOD ME
Th w he nigh rell broe open for me A chor cnge e e unng of e vrou cle ep ep cnge, cnge , oo. A repee repeedd noe no necerl repee pih How, hen, doe muc uin el b ble le em em?? If ccur ccure e uning uning i o e ex xble ble wh preven he e cener from wnering no e wil blue onder? The wer o o wh Rmeu' chord relon (wheerr or no e conere (whee coneredd exbe unng unng In our cuon of hgor' rng, we noed h he mo cononn in iner ervl, vl, oher n he ocv ocvee i he If we we ue C cenrl pch, d e piche fifh ger n ffh lower hen buld mjor r on ec of hee hree pche we ge e pce of h hee C m mor or ce
f F
wn
A
f
ni
cc
E
f
u
G G
B
D
D E F G A B
We ve een ow he pce E n G f no he overone erie or prl of he pch C o me wh we c mjor cord. S mlrl mlrl, , he G funme funmen n provde he he unng unng fo for (4 n D ( 2 3 ) whle he F unda ndame men n prove prove he u uni ning ng for f or A (4 nd C ( 2 3 ) Wel cu cu l l e e C nce nce e oni or cenl pch of he
LIE #6 SCALE ITCS D
6
ke s real provd provdng ng the the tunng for te F us ustt as t provdes the tunng for the G (23) Smpct wns agan e no longer need to e coceed aou e suspcous tung of te A drec to e onc C ( 1 3 1 6 snce t can tune more funda undame ment ntall all (4 (4:: 5 ) to th thee F s s own p arent" pch It I t ' s th thee tat needs to tune wth he C Lkewse, he B does not need to tune drectl to he onc (516) when ts presence s sponsored e G (45 So, wh ddn't an of the egos of musc teachers who educated" me tell me about about h hss ? h h d ddd have have to dicor what a major scale s al aou almos accden whe contemplang ad expermentg wh unng? The dea of dervng te scale from te three prncple trads s no new t was after ad coled these deas together for mself that dscovered m od end Helhotz knew yar bor tat ths was the case. y mens me ns f f e rs f e p p numbers e ed dy y ssgned fr e nsnn nevs s esy, by pursng ese nervs rugu ue e rs fr e we een f e mus se. e r rd r rd f ee nes, nsss f mr nd Ff. Hene s rs re:
r
3
E
4
5
6
D,
If we sse w w s d d f s dmnn : nd f s subdmnn F : C e f w s ne ne n mmn mm n w w e e rd f e n C E we bn e pee sees f nes fr e mr se f C w e fwng rs f e p numbers
:
·
68
S MY MUSIC TACR TOLD M
[
c or
24
E
98 4 43 3 5 8S
c
45
48
27
30
32
G
36
A
40
2
]
Can you imagin how thrilld I was whn rad that? rally lo this guy lmhotz did no atualy spous xib uning too atmptd to arv his hord-drivd sa stps ino grani. (Okay so nobodys prft. Somhow I think h would hav arrivd at a btt b ttrr onlusion if h had livd long nou nough gh So wha about thos suspiious highr partias w wr ooing a arlir? arlir? Ar Ar th thyy usab? usab ? Mozar Mozar who didn didn us many of m igt hav said tha th ons byond 7 or 9 ar no but snsiiv usians us ians si si Dbussy wou woud d pr prob obab aby y in in ud ud a last last 1 an andd 1 3 Cord brs orrsponding to ths uppr partias srv to add olor to musia sonoritis prhaps in a way rlatd to how partials rovid th haratrisi olors of th vious instrumnts I othr words 'm suggsing tha fftiv uning imitats th partials in ythagoras's string rathr xatly and whn a hord-full of piths is produd by approxiating th tuning of pials rsult is that h individual piths tnd to disappar into th gsalt of h h soun soundd itsf as whn th th ir ir Jaz Jazzz Choir sin s ings gs i nto th hords" Lt's tak a look and a listn. Whn piths abov th 6th pial ar usd th prvailing hord usually funtions as a donant (sal stp 5 5 so a G root was sltd for h his is ilu ilus srrai ion on thus plaing ovral tonality on C Th numbrs bsid th nots on th staff and abov th th kyboard ar th parias abov abov G Th numbr numbrss bow staff ar th sal stps of thos piths in th ky of C
IE #6 SCAE PITCHES
IXED
69
D
B
F
2
o C
E
Of course, the keyboard can ony approximate these pitches The D s a ad ad higher th than an pan panoo pc, he B is lower lower bu bu commony su sung ng iger ig er (see below bel ow,, te t e is cons conside iderabl rablyy lower, low er, te A a bit higher, higher, t tee C " is is not not rea really lly very very close close to to anyting on the keybod keybod and the the E s percepiby hgher I don' suppose you have a hafdozen good strng payers handy, do you? f the adustments from pano pitch required to ne-tune basic riads are consdered slg, the adjustments needed o tune the upper partias ar aree enormou enormouss Whie part partia ials ls fro from m 1 to 6 may be close enoug to piano pitc to recognize" tem as tose ptces, the 7 9h, t and 3h are def defini iniel elyy in he cracks cracks " So does h hat at m mk ke em em unusa unusable? ble? I don d ontt thn thnk k so He Herre s wy The goal in my vocl groups has been to tune chords unil the noes dsappear" (provided this vocal style is appropriate) We found _ta _tatt whe whenn agee on vowel, resonance brgtness and other vocal va vai iaabl bles es we can can hea hearr qui quite te clel clelyy wer weree te pitch s o u l d " go Whe Whenn we move i t her here e our our ndvdual voices voices end to t o dsa dsappe ppear ar into the sonority In oher words, we are hearng the chord quali more tan we ae eaing e idividu idividu pitches
70
IES MY MSIC EACER OD ME
I bv hs happns bas h phs ra o o aohr h sam ay h parals n Pyhagoras's srng ra mbr W don ' har h h ndvdal ovrons or l phs" h a vo or r rum ump p pays a sgl no baus b aus h hy y ar ar prfy prfy n d " by nar Smarly o h n ha or nng approahs prfon" nd no o har h dvdal vos n a hord av I provn hs? No Non prnd hs fallg appl I prnd my homognzd" hords
l
In as you ar gng h mprsson ha I hk I hav grd ou l m assr yo ha I havn'. Evry book nds a b of mysr mysry y r r s mn mn h h f ff fhh paral (s (sal al s sp p 3 s a a al aly y lo lo rr ha ha h mp mpr rdd ma ma r hrd hr d Y Y man manyy ph-s ph-snsv nsv msans (pararly srng playrs and sgrs sm o prfr a nng ha s hghr han h mprd hrd hn h ffh of h hord s aso sondg. Evdny hr s mor happng hr a s smpl parals. (S Mysry of h gh hrd" a sag3ms.om.. sag3ms.om
j
I h mah h praa boom n s ha msans shod approah unng as a onsanly hangng pross Wl und maor/mnor mus anno b lokd no a rg sa" hh nds o rndr a prforman oodn lflss and ulmay borng. Aural snsvy o bl aos nng brahs lf and ra mn no a prfoan and ulmaly provds a mor moonpakd prn for boh h snr ad prformr S o yo s s a ma ma or sa sa s no u us s anohr mod k h h Mdval hurh sals I along h s alr go h mor mod as a da dvlopd by h nv musa arsry of la Rnas Rn assan san a add ary B aroqu omposrs ompos rs and dsr d srb bdd by our lvr frnd Phlp Ramau Your no ovnd? Yo say your o rady o gv p yor ho sphol sphalf sp" roun? Jus hag o o yor grand saff Yo hav sn ayhng y
e
Lie #7: key is he name of he rs sep of he scale Truh: A key is a sysem of harmonic relaionships revolvin around a cenral pich
Th mormino onl sysm is simi o solr sysm in tha h oni is rhr ik a sun round whi h or pihs volv lik sallis If w ar th svn sl stps o show h armoni rlionship o t oni pi, w n lrn soming abo hir individul rols, or ntions i h mjor/minor sysm. Aso i wil b hlp this poin o h funional is.
oc
(
dona ona (5 ) edan (
2 sueoc
udonan 4 uedan ) leadg one 7 udonan
Th dominn ( fith bov oni) nd subdominn (a fh blow i) r mos losly rld o oni hrmonially (2:3) nd srv o ltly pull h nr of grvity way om h toni mdins, prsumbly nmd bus thy r positiond oughly hlfway bwn h oni and hi rspiv dominans r mor dsanly rld hrmonia hrmonialy ly to toni toni ( 4 5 a aor or 5 5 6, dpnding on t nod) Ty r olor" pis, ad supply h major nd minor avor o h musi (Mor bou h soo.) T supr oni nd lding on r oss modilly o h oni ( sp bov nd a hlf sp blow) ad h sm im r h mos disn dis n ha harm rmoilly oilly 8 8 9 ad 1 5 1 6 6 I is s iro ironi nilly lly ombin ombind d
72
IS MY MSIC TACH TD
hratstis i sa stps 2 ad 7 that somhow work tothr to rat th magtism that pulls th musi bak toward th toal tr I my olg thory book ths titls wr listd i sal ordr
I got th ida that th subdomiat was so amd baus it was udr th domiat I had o ida why th submdiat was ot udr th mdiat ad atualy thr stps highr But th at that ag you art xpt to kow vrythig Now if you pikd up this da from your tah tahr r you ma mayy ow ow saf safyy dispos dispo s of it It It s ompltly biodgradab ad wil dissolv aturally ito that rylabl stat whr all disrdd misoptios go wtg to b rsurrtd ad foistd o mor ususptig musi studts
<
Th soar systm aaogy lik th ootav sa is fi for thortia ostruts but ik th traditioa sal it shoud ot b ofi o fid d to a sigl st of pith pithss Th to toi i is ot a sigl pith pith but is simutaousy all of th otavs rlatig to a std pith ikwis ikw is th domi domiat at is aso ot a si sigl gl pith ad a a b foud at th sam rativ oatio oatio btw ay two two toi piths pith s a fi fift fthh abo abov v ad a fourth bow
L #7 Y N IS IRS SE
73
Al h ohr ohr s s ali ali pich pichs s in i n h h ky o f C r r sa sandin ndingg y in hir rspciv posiions wn any wo onics, waiing o go o work Tha may sm a i ovrwhlming, u i raly ndn . hr sil ar ar ony svn primy primy p pr rso sona nai ii is s o da wi, wi, v vnn hough hy chang hir uning according o whos in charg h ocav douings ar simply clons. Al svn mmrs r asracions and ar vry disinciv and rcogniza. Onc y ar sn and hard in hir rspciv funcional rols, on shoud hav il dicuy ling o idni hm.
o hp my sudns gin his procss, I dvlopd a coupl of arning aids Hr is a onocav scal drawn wih shaps ha chracriz h funcions of h svn scal sps.
h onic ( 1) is rprsnd y a simpl who no, connoing a sa of rs. h doinan sa doinan ( 5 and sudominan (4 r rprsnd y a rah rahrr srong srong symol a squa squar r who wh o no no o di dir rn nia ia hm fro from m h onic onic mdi mdian an ( 3 ) and sumdian (6 r ack ack no had hads s suggsing h hyy ar rsponsi fo forr co coo ori ring ng h h music (major and minor mods Th suponic is diamond shapd poining oh up and down, suggsing ha i wans o mov up or down o a mor rsfu sca sp. h ading on poins upwrd, aving no dou aou is ndncy o rlas is rsssnss y moving up o h onic.
4
LESS MY MUSC EACHER OD ME LE
Scae sep 4 no only has a squae shape denong s o as he subdomnan bu he squae conans a ange ponng downwd suggesng an addona ole. When appeang as he subdonan scae sep 4 as a unng alegance decly o he onc.
c frh
c h
rh
c h
frh
c h
When he domnan chod (G oo s soundng howeve scale sep 4 ( changes s pesonaly and becomes he 7h of ha chod. No only does s funcon change bu s unng s vasly dffeen Remembe ha he 6 : 7 neval (fh D o seve sevenh nh s smale han he 56 neval (hd B o ffh D. 5:6
B D
6 7
56
6 7
B D
B D
s seveth s seveh s seve seveth th rge secd rge secd rge secd
he dffeence n unng s faly easy o he (assumng you e emancpaed om empeed anng Play a C and sng e above . Move aound unl you hea loc ow play e G below and slde you down vey sowly unl you hea agee wh he G oo. Yes s moe dssonan han he C eaonshp bu s us as ceay n une" when sldes no focus focus..
75
L #7 Y NE S ST STEP
In this next gaphic, scae step 4 is shown in both of these distinct dist inct ole oless The Th e middle middle ine is is the ton tonic ic (no specif specific ic key key).). The no note te shapes ae the same ones I intoduced on the peious page Hee you can see how they function on the job The numbes beside e notes ae scae steps. The Roman numeas below e notes indicate the scae step that is functioning as the oot, o ndamental, fo at chod The numbe 7 by the V indicates that that this this is a fou-note fou-note cho chod, d, containg a oot thid h d seenh. t t
v7
Thee ae seea impoant featues I woud ike to point out in this gaphic Fist notice that the subominant chod (V is an appaent mio to the tonic chod t actually is not a pefect mio because the sizes of the thids (fom tonic up to mediant 3 and fom tonic down to submediant 6) e not the same (check it on the keyboad). This patten wil become een moe iniguing howee when we late examine the eationship between majo an mino mode mode Secondly note th that at a of the a act ctio ion n notes e in the do doina inant nt seenth chod (V) The magnetic dissonance in this chod is iy clea Scale step 7 in pneship with its haonic ly, scae step 4 impels the music towad tonic hamony Scale step 2, aso haing a estess natue, falls natualy towad tonic o unde some cicum stances, moes up to scale step 3. It may be helpful at this point to see what shows up when we tansate the simple hamonic atios that make up the mao mode into ea numbes epesenting ibations pe second. ets bi taiy pick 3 to epesent tonic then gue out what the ibation atios would be fo the othe scae membes The bold numbes
76
IESS MY SIC IE SI C TEACE TEACE TOD ME
he lef of he feuencies ae the scale seps in the onic and sub doinant chods The bod nubes on e right ae he scae steps in he doinnt seventh chod. (This gaphic is essenialy the sae as he pevio pevious us one ecep ha i is is ep epe esse ssedd in nubes instead of notes
] [ 2 t v7 } V � [[ 5 - 4 0 : 393 7 - 3 7 ; 33 � 300 � ,
o - 7
6 - 20 22 200
N
5
i
Notice di diff ffeence eence between scae sep 4 in its sub subdoi doinant nant tuning (200 up an ocave would be 400) copaed o scale sep 4 in is oe as seventh of he doinan chod (39375) Significan? Asouely! I igh be agued that the ao/ino syse incuding e disinctive chaa chaacer cerisics isics of is is scae seps sep s, wa wass deveoped siply siply as a esul of the usical convenions of the pas few centuries Pehaps oweve I thi hee is good eason o beieve that uch of wha was deveoped duing ha tie was not so uch invention as i was diov I bel believ ievee the idea idea of conc conceivin eivingg us usic ic in e es s of haonic eationships as i was developed in he seveneenth cenuy, was oe a ate of becoing artisticaly awae of he phys ph ysic ical al poperti poperties es of sou sound nd.. Pehaps if we are wlng to a ai i how pooy ou choi chois s sing si ng,, and acknowed acknowedge ge how how diff difficu icult lt i is to r rai ainn
E #7 #7 KEY NAME NAME S ST STE
77
he ers f ur ung musicins, we will e rve enugh recnsider ur unswerving devin emperedned scles
hpe i is cler nw wh singing mush whe nd hlf sep scles s f lie help in eing her hrmnic relinships. shuld ls e cler wh using he erd s sndrd fr rining is fuile. Musicl uning is dnmic, cnsn chnging prcess, nd erd, wih is fixed piches simpl cn' ccde i Ths wh develped he eching l, Nurl Er Tri Trining, ning, whch wh ch helps sud sudens ens her f fr hemselves hemselves hw piches on x x rele ne nher in on n er discussin f puse nd meer, wil explin hw phsic mvemen is essenil undersnding rhhmic w suspec h phscl invlvemen in prducing welluned piches is simrl essenil perceiving hrmnc renships lel, singing hem is he esies w fr humns genee nd feel piches, es unil we ge mre prcien rubbing ur hind egs geher
S, hw fr cn humn eings g in develping he li he nd prduce hese cusic pich relinships? hile perfec fifh nd mr hid e relivel es une, i es bi mre prcice une mjr secnd (whe sep) nd minr secnd (hlf sep heher i s pssle he nd reprduce e dierenc encee e ewee weenn n 8 8 9 whl whlee sep sep (scle se seps ps 1 -2) nd 9 1 whe sep (sce seps 2-3) is quesin h seems wrh nswering. An ps-grdue music sudens u here ing fr hesis? d nw frm prcic expeence, hwever, when singers e wiling frse heir empered-uning hbis nd rel isen hee nur h nur hmnic reinships beween piches piches,, he resul resul is qui quie e sundng N nl d chrds c s h he indvidu piches end disppe n e sn, bu meldies ls e n fresh blice h he ed cn nl drem bu.
78
LIES MY M Y MSIC TEACHER TEACHER TOLD TOLD ME
Some years ago he L.A. Jazz Choir was doing a son check on sage before a performance a he Los Angees Music Cener. The orchesra ha� goe for a break ad we were rning hrough a e chaenging Ear Brown arrangemen of Midnigh Sun a exremey chromaic composiion. Abou wo mines ino or a capplla rehearsal Peer Maz who was coducing a eeig wked ono he sage and wih a grin played he as chord wih he singers They were righ in he midde of he pich. We grinned oo. Sure hey were fine singers. B he poin is hey al had been pracicing acosic nig for seer years One migh hik a flexible ing would hae cased he onaliy o waer bu we foud js he opposi hed re. Somehow he sese of oic preaied in h hee sing si ngers ers'' me memo mories ries ee hough hough mos mo s of hem did did no hae pich recogiion. So wha does al his mean? Simpy ha wie nes may no carried in bases hey e o cried in scaes eiher a leas no in oes ha are emper empered eduned uned.. Hmans Hmans hae no apparen perc percep epa a mechanism for concepuaizing he inner workings of a scae oher han he harmonic reaioships of is compoens. Those of us who did deelop some accracy in organizing he scae seps probaby did so becase we perceied (consciosy or consciosly he physica rh of Pyhagorass sring. f you doub ha saemen js winess he frusraion of housands of music sdens srggling hopefy b ofe helpessy in a mdde of egg-shaped ad empereduned domi
Lie #8: e mino mode is e Aeolian mode ineited fom the Medieval curch modes. ut: The mino mode is a colo modication of e majo mode.
I seems ha our hisocal alegance o scale heory revened us from realzing ho revouionary Rameaus dea realy was Ahough Ahou gh he majo majorr scae er erss no resemlance o an anyy of he h e anc ancien ien church chu rch mod modes es he mino minorr scae (seccal (seccaly, y, he he na naur ural al verson of resemles he Aeolian mode Ths evdenly suggesed o musc educaors ha hey mus e one and he same NATR MINOR SCE IN C
D i/ G 'i
c
c
' "/ W HW W H W W ( ( / ( (
AEOLN MODE N A
W=whoe e Hh h se
80
ES Y Y USC US C TEACHE TEACHE TOD E
Mus al pate Musal pate and aoustal aoust al fats fats ague ague aganst suh a vew. he enomously mptant element n the musal bethough of the Baoqu omposes was the dsovey of the ole of he domnant seventh hod. We noted pevously that t ontans a unque hamon mte of ave ngedents that mpels the mus towad a spef spe f d det eton on he domnant seventh hod s e moto that makes the majo/mno system go."
Baoque omposes elebated ths new musal asset wth a kaledosop eploson of homat etement. By aangng e spef ntevals of the V7 hod, they ould shoot the tonal deton towad any destnaton that suted the fany
LIE #8 NR CMES RM AIAN
•
81
•
V7 ofB
0
Wa i a ake od o uique ad owefu? Ju e o faag ad yeou lie ieval i all of oal uia' wa! Te Medieva ad Goi ooe dd kow wa o do wi i o ey avoided ad alled i mucu dabolcu o e dei ui" Te Reaae ooe eig oe woldlywie ad daig oyed w i u o wiou oe auo ad ea a ou of gui Tey aeed o oe i aw" i u' aue ad aoogeialy aed e eul mucaca o fale u" Te ifoa ae of eege ile oueake i e oe o aed eaue i o of o ie i e a ae ae e eee woe e aa o e keyoad) eyoad) I i uque a a e oly f i i e ajo ajo ode a i o e efe fe " o oe wo wod d doe o ave a : : 3 ao. hree whole e
D
E
perec
F
A
D
not
a erect
82
ES MY MSC TEACER TOLD ME
The oher sde of his coi is ha bec becaus ausee hee hee is only one one pe ey any give ione belogs oly o one· one · ey (bu be careful, spellng and ung cous). Tae a loo a hs: The rioe FC F C belogs belo gs only o h hee ey ey of G ' s he onl onlyy ma mao o sca scale le ha has boh an F (s (scale cale sep sep ) a add a C (scale (sc ale sep 4) 4).. s subdoi subdoian an eghbo C mao, has o shrps o as ad herefoe coains a F aual s domian eghbo, D mao has wo shaps, oe of whichh is C (f we whic w e exeded hs relaioal pae o al alll he oh oher er ma o eys fa fahe he aw away ay,, we we wou would ld fnd ha none has has his specic rone nque o he ey of G
KEY OF KEY
7
GA
D E
G
KEY OF
to
7
GA
D E
tto
tto
tto MAJOR
F
tto
KEY OF C MAJOR 7 7
GA ro
D E
GA B
D E
tto
C D
MAJOR 7
G A trto
C D
7
G A trto
E 8 MNOR COMES ROM AEOA
83
f ak th C triton in h Ky of G and rpll it a G-C (h am am wo digital digital on th th kyo kyo d d i i no now w ong ong o th th k kyy of D h only major ky hat ha oth a G (al tp 4 and a C (al tp Of our th uning hang whn h ond podd y xil man
KY F MJR
tto
tto
ro
Wod yo njoy a littl Oh, wow"? Noti ha th dominant roo of th w wo ond-alik ond-alik r ri ion on D an and A a ao a triton apat dont think th aroq ompor took mh advantag of thi itt informational gm ut progriv jazz miian in or own ra fond hat on hord old itd for th othr in ihr ky produing a vry ool ff
7 0
trto
tto
to
84
IE MY MC EAR OD ME
he doinan ncional ione always and only occs on scale seps 4 and 7 o 7 and 4, if yo pefe Yo see, is e same size in ems of empeed ning keyboad inevals even when yo inve i n i pside down Is he same disance hee whole seps fom B p o F as i is fom B down o F. Anohe Oh, wow!"
D E
G A
D E
G A
D E
G A
rtone
trone
tone
tritone
titone
trtone
How abou a couple moe moe? he onic of he key of C mao, having havi ng no shap shapss and las, las , is a ione ione away fom he onic of F hap as well as fom s soundalike, G mao, mao, having ix hap which has ix a a.. A diffeence of six shaps o as is he mos possib pos sible, le, mking C and F as f f away away om om each oh ohe e as possib po ssible, le, boh hamoniclly and melodically ix half s seps. eps. Oh wow Yes, hee ae keys of seven shps C mao and seven as C� mao, b hey don con becase on he keyboad hey sound like D ma mao o five a as s and B ma mao o five shaps shaps e esp spec eci ive vely, ly, making hem clo o C mao Besides, boh of hese ae only a half sep away o om m C melod melodically ically Oh, wow wow!! When you ge ino he symmeical design of he maomino sysem, yo may be capivaed wih a mysical eveence fo msica numbes num bes pon close inspecion, inspecion, howeve howeve, , you you begin o o see a i i s al quie logical ad no moe myseios han he inne wokings of hiss co hi comp mpe e I I m pon pondin dingg on H on se secon condd houg hough h peaking of myseious, please don foge a hese keybod enhamonic spelling ansfomaions will be slighly mophed" as hey slide ino vaious onaliies Wellained eas will end o
#8: MNOR COMS FROM AOAN
85
hear hem i oe key or aoher s raher ke hose opia usios whih a geomer fgure firs appeas oe way ad he aoher e e whe whe pay payed ed o o a keyb keyboad oad,, our perep perepio io ak akes es he reaiy" ad rasforms i io a experee." Oe perso's aoher perso perso s A . Ad oe a a e e o ae aea ae e e em m m a be aoher a w So, his wid ad uruy reaure aed he roe was ay amed ad pu o work, doig he biddig of ouess omposers, from fro m he pa paa aes es of see seeee eehe heury ury Vee Ve e o he h e w we e e eh h eury srees of New Yorks T Pa Aey Composers used his deie,, ombiaio wi deie wihh a domi domia a roo, o sed he musi o any oay hey wished. Now heres he kiker The domia seeh hord is a esseia par of boh major ad mior musi. Aso, here is o domia seeh hord i he Aeoia mode Whe you spe a seeh hord o he fifh sep of he Aeoea sae you do fd a roe. No rioeo aio ON MOD N A
A
c
A
c
p h
Wha, he, is he ogia (ad aousa basis for he mior mode, if o he Aeoa sae? Auay, is prey simpe Wah wha happes whe you side he d of a major rad dow o e ex oked " posio The arge hird (4:5 ow ours bewee he hird ad ffh ad he sma hird (5:6) s ow bewee he oo ad he hrd Ths smpe moe rasforms he ajor riad io e mor rad
86
IES MY MUSIC TEACE TEACE TO
JOR TRID
L
h
L
h
th thiir root
OR TRID
h hd root
oicay hese wo conuraions o hese inerasa perec ih a lare hird and a small hirdare he ONY ONES POSSIBE. I suppose ha's so obvious ha you are woderi why I brouh i p. Well or wo reasons One is ha my eacher hrew hese riads in wih he diminished riad d aumened ad as i hey were us anoher way o make chords I hik ha blurs how imporan hey are o dersandig how music works. The oher reason is ha i demonsraes ha he ma maj or/mi or/minor nor conc concep ep appe appears ars o be a loicay lod y (a leas erms o is basic srucure. In oher words word s i co con nai ains ns relaion rela ionshi ships ps ha are sy symm mme eri rica cal lyy baanced and is pars inerac wih all o is oher pars in a loica and oranized way. oes ha ake a he mysery ou o i? No all Oen whe Ive discussed hese maers wih a class o eophye eophy e heoriss heoriss I hink Ive I ve leed more ha hann he heyy have abou abou he ascinain paes and possibiliies o his incredible i o nare.
LIE #8: INOR OES O AEOLIAN
87
The diff diffeene beween majo majo mod modee and mino mode i imply he po poion ionng ng of al alee ep 3 and 6 y eah eahe e all alled ed hee e modal dg dg of he ale Th wa one of he good hing he old me I wa he begnning of my undeanding ha ale ep have peal job o do. Thi i how he modal anfomaion wok If we ke he hod funion ha fom he peviou dion and mke he and IV hod mino inead of mo we have e mino mode.
4
6
7
1
Ye ha impe. We don wan o modify he V7 hod o we loe he one If we loe he one we loe he aion and end up bak n he iddle Age wih an Aeoan ale. Wha make make i no o imple ae he onvoluon we go hogh o we mu in em of ou adional yem of key ignaue. B u e'll e' ll dea deall wh ha lae lae. . To wap wap hi h i p p he ma majj o/m o/mino ino yem y em i a dua dua-f -fa ae eed ed phenomenon lik whie/lak ye/no in/ou lef/igh e If no ouigh oppoie a ea he majo and mino mode ae omple menay alenave alenave oexi oexiing ing in a uniq unique ue an andd wo wond nde el l
88
LS MY MUSC TEACHER TOLD ME
oganiaion o msial peepion. ow, wha Medieal mode me ha la
Lie #9: Thee ae thee mino scaes: natual, hamonic and meodic. Tuth: Thee is one mino mode, in which adjustments can be made accoding o hamonic context o accommodate the step-and-a-half between scale steps 6 and 7 As I t was ths usss f th th dfft n scals that causd t susct that y usc tachs w t cnctd t alty. k st csctus usc studnts, I pundd away n y atal hc ad ldc scals utl thy sld ff y fgs lk wat waxd ap. I culd hadly wa t fd s usc that actually usd ths ldc cnfguats I dd fd cnsdal lds that appad t us th atual" scal patt Ths was t supsg I thught caus t was dtca dtcall t t th Ala d. d. NATR NATR MINOR MINOR SCE SCE IN C
W HW W H W
0
LE MY MUC MU C TEACE TEACE TOLD ME
found a ot of melodies using what appeaed to be he melodi" fom. is was the one wee you aised ale steps 6 and 7 on the way up and loweed them (estoed them to e natual" poition on te way down. ME MELODC LODC MNO CAL CALE E N C
I
ut often found dcndng melodies with a aised 7 76 6 Well Well new te te teat atmen mentt o les that d ddn dn'' t seem to wo wo You sim simpy py said that ules wee made to be boen" and at was supposed to mae eveyting ight. But it didnt. his exeption happened oten enough to mae me suspet that this ule needed moe than apologet apol ogeti i exuse exuse me but. but... ." needed a basi ov ove ea aul ul
Raely did find a melody tat used te amon" patten. pon inquiy was told hat the moni mno sale applied moe to hamony than it did to meody. hat made some sense beause ee was a big melodi gap n it. MONC MONC MNO C CL LE N C
c
oj
c e d a hf
LE # 9 THREE MN MNOR OR SCALES SCALES
91
Bu , if Bu, i f i was mainy mai ny for for harm harmony, ony, why was I puverizing my fingers in daiy pracice o ea o pay i meodicay? Somehing was definiey wrong here I wasn having spen ha pracice on someing pracic ha ohered me I was ha my eacher didn seem o know wha was going on! And ha wha go me hining aou a of his We here w e re mo more re han han four four decades ae aer, r, s o you kow Ive been hinki hinking ng aou i And here here s wha I hink Firs of a, we can knock off he daiy driing of honic minor scaes Secondy, we can ui ying aou raising on he way up" and owering on he way down down " Thirdy, Thirdy , we can ke ke ano anoher her ook a his whoe business of minor scaes"
So e ess ge down o i In I n he he maor scae, as we noed eier, he seps are eiher whoe seps or haf seps, aowing for nice gracefu meodic moion When we use minor chords on he onic and su-dominan scae seps 3 and 6 are owered This causes no meodic probem near scae sep 3 where i simpy moves he haf sepp from se from 34 3 4 o 2 3 and, reciproca reciprocay, y, h hee who whoe e sep from 23 2 3 o 3 -4 However, owering scae sep 6 no ony makes a haf sep beween 5 and 66 i creaes a sep-and-a-haf eween 6 and 7 puing a sor of pohoe in he meodic road (Pease undersand ha his discussion has nohing o do wi he charmin charmingg ehnic sep-and-a-haf sep-and- a-haf in Savic S avic and and Gy Gyps psyy music Those inervas re here on purpose We are aking here abou minor scaes as empoyed in mainsream European music)
Repairing he meodic surface beween 6 and 7 is very easiy accompished Composers did i wih ease was e music heoriss and educaors, wih heir absurd scaes who creaed he confusion The souion is as simpe as a passing one. The choice of which passing one o use is a maer of harmonic cone
92
LES MY MUSC TEACER TOLD ME
Wh oma hamoy oug h ag o (ca p ) al bu h low ubma � 6) o Thfo, o movg hough h aa wl u a a" ubma (aual 6 a a pa pa g g o bw bw 5 a a lmag h paahalf gap. A T DOESN'T MATR WETER TE MELODY S GONG UP OR DOWN 5
67
76
5
v Wh oc o uboma hamoy oug h lag o o a u h mo avo is So mlo movg hough h aa ca u a low cal p (cal a uboc a of a ag o u h ccumac a a pag o bw 6 a oc. Pohol fx. Aga T DOESN'T MATTER MAT TER WC WAY TE MELODY MELODY S S GONG. GO NG. 5
i
� 6 7
7 �6
5
# 9: TR MI MINO NOR R SA S AS S 5
6 7
1 1
93
�7 �
5
iv
To lusra how hs works praccaly, hr s a smpl u h ma majo jorr mod mod..
6
7
6
V
2
6
7
7
6
2
i
7
6
7
Now hr s s h sam un un n h mor mod Noc wch sps rqur r qur modfcao modfcao ad udr wha harmonc harmonc crcumsancs crcumsanc s
LES MY MUSC TEACER TOD ME
94 5
5
5
iv 2
5
2
So, why do we need hee cavedin-anie scales o explain his spe pocedue? Acually, as you know no ha cazy aou scales in eneal Bu hen ih be oveeacin So would you e kind enouh o join e in y suspicion eadin he ae of ee no scaes? Thank you vey uch
Lie #10: e key signatue of a mino key is te same as tat of its elative mao. ut: e signatue of a mino key as one moe at (o one less sap) tan it eally needs.
A key ig igatu ature re i a ha had dyy thig thig t colle collect ct all the at or harp ormally ued i a piece of muic ad put them at the egiig. You imply rememer rememer which oe they are ad adju adjutt thoe pitche appropriat approp riatey ey wheever they how up. o eed to write them i every time Thi work great the major mode Wheever you ee a accdetal (a harp, at or cacel g) the muic, you kow that ote doet elog to the prevailig toaity The melody elow i i the key o The raied cale tep our E atural o e ecod yllale o early") how that the toality ha temporiy moved to the the key o o , whch ha a ut ot ot a a E
O
say a a y y
seee y he daw's ea se ea ly lg
A key igature doet tell you for ure what the toality however, ice dieret mode ue e ame igare or dieret toic A ig toic igature ature havg o a at t uu uual ally ly idc idcate ate either ma major jor
96
IS MY MSIC TACH TOD M
or G mor, b o be C Dor. Dor . ou hve o ook he wy e msi s pu ogeher orer o e. I he expe boe he FD B opeg elo phes rge rge for B m m jor jor.. (Bu (Bu is he here re b wy? I he mor moe, however iels i he msi o ee e ess ssrily rily me me h you hve lef lef he he home key key.. Mi Mior ormo moee ms hs rise 7 se seps l over i I mkes i ook lke h oe oes belog o he prevlg olybu i oes Ths meloy s eirey he key of C mior.
(There mu be beer wy We o rely hve sysem of key sigres h fs he morr moe mo moe.. Ise, Ise , we borrow h hee m m or sg sgre h h is mos ke whever mor sle we w o ommoe. For exmple C mor hvig lowere lowere mei sbmei sbmei hs �
�-
C D
F G
B C
The mos mos smilr smilr m mjor sle is � : h hv vg g B , , A� .
F G
C D
# 10 MNOR KEY SGNA
97
ts sgature shows 3 ats
e do do t wa att the the (ex (excep ceptt whe we we use t as a passig toe to fx the melodic pothole t really ist a aturabo member of the key of C mor because the domiat seveth chord, whch a bood relativ relative e has ad a d nd a B atural leadg toe order to do its job Wthout the B atural were right back the Mddle Ages with the Aeola mode No thas radtio uses the threeat sig radtio sigatur aturee ad cac cacels els the e musc where eeded
What a drag How aout ths sgature for
C
mor?
t shows the scale members of the al atural" mor. Ad o accideta is eeded for scale step 7 . S o , here here ar are our optio optioss
1 ) We ca devse a whoe ew set of sigatures for ior keys. e we woud kow right u frot whether a key sigature was dicatig a maor or mior key We would the preset sets of key sigatures for our esme musc studets to memorie O secod thought, thought, this s s tt very very appea appeaig ig
98
LES MY MSC TEACHER TOLD ME
2) We can ive wth he presen syste. I guess it doesnt ke uch sense to fght City Ha uness you have a decn chance of wnnng. A y age ve learned to ive wth quie a nuber of pe perf rfec ec syste systess gove govern rnen en.. . a arr rra age ge. . . y gof swng. sure can anage one ore. (Okay so there i a beter way bu i probably sn' pracical o pursue t.) So dear coleague a favor. Pease nfor your sudents tha lativ min and lativ ma refers to he recprocal reation ship beween a ajor and a nor key hat share the sae key signaure bu nt the exact sae scale steps. And lkewse please nfor the ha paalll min and paalll ma refers to nor and ajor keys tha share he sae tonaty as wel as al the sae scale steps cpt and Thaks.
"
Lie #11: The st two notes of My Bonnie Lies Ove the Ocean is a good sound mode fo the majo sixth on scae steps 1 to 6 Tuth: The st two notes of My Bonnie do not occu on scae steps 1 and 6
m a frm belever n the vaue of sound modes or crutches as they re sometmes called), or tranng the ers of student muscans dentfyng ontheob consrcts s the best way to le how musc works and thn to attach labes Oh, say can you see" s a very we known phrase contanng the members of the tonc rad. 5
O
3
y
3
5
cn
you
hree b bnd nd mce mce can help a student hear hear ma maor or scale step stepss 3 2 1 . nd the fa famous mous Here comes the brde br de"" s th thee t tme me fav favor ort tee for the the asce a scend ndng ng perfect fourt ourthh althoug althoughh have have frequen requently tly her herdd or auld acuantance" dong the same ob
100
ES MY M Y MUS TEAHER TOD ME
A prblem rse rses, s, hwever, whe a ep label s aahed he wrg b The mar sxh ha pes he meldy f My Be s s e e e eva vall fr frm m sale sal e s seps eps 5 up 3. 3. 5
My
2
bon - ne les
2
6
ov e th thee
5
o cean
Ths ue s saly used as a sud mdel fr he majr sxh, eve exbs, withut he frma ha urs here sale seps 5 up 3. Sudes are alwed, ay euraged, assume ha hs sud mdel represes sale seps 1 up 6. e hs meldy falls he he wrd wrd le l ess , he frs w wrd, rd, my. am a rusade samp u hs erreus ad debl ag eahg prae. Whe apprpae, 've made a p (durg he aud f a sger fr h hee .A .A Ja hr, h r, fr example) as wha he he s sle le seps are he peg f My Be, ad alms wu exep exep he asw aswer er s, Oh ha ha s a ma mar r sxh. s xh. Oe Oe,, sx s x And hese are EDUATED MUSAS. h h hs le s a bypr byprdu du f f h hg g erms erms f a f frr s e f he sale suggess ha meldes sar he e, a ave dea ha subbrly persss. ame up regularly my begg hery lasses. Sadly, persss he vsera f may mus eahers wh w ha uless meldes d sar , bu wh everheless ue eah sudes a he phrase Here mes he brde s example f sale seps 1-4 sead f 51. These are prbably he same eahers wh ever ugrew he ep ha all ervals ar aree measured up m .. Fr Fr hse f yu wh dd ge hs far yur hery lesss, le me gve yu sme bagrud
LIE LI E #1 1 MY BONNIE BONNIE IS ONE ONE O SI
101
We were aught If the upper oe of a erv s he major key of he lowe lowerr ot otee he ite iteral ral s ma majo jorr or or perf perfe e ma major jor f i i s a d 3rd 6th or 7th perfet if it s a 4th or 5th" No proem
' .u, U J !
ajor snd L
ajor h hiird _ peect forth h
maor sxth ajor evenh pec ocave
o ote ote A mior iter iterval val is a haf step smaler sma ler tha a ma major jor oe a dmiished iterval s a half step smaler tha a mor or perfe one ad a augmeted erval is a half sep larger ha a major or perfe one Again this is a logia ad orret way o gure the size of every terval i msi Bu wha i doest do is demonsrae how iervals work together in a key d more importly what hey sound lke wie at work work.. What What s wors worse e it it suggests suggests ha he he oto otom m oe oe of an e erv rv is always he oi or roo Pau Hidemh he well-kow twetiehetury omposer presed a very ogial ad pratal heory of itervals i hs book Th Cra Muial Cmpii He shows the perfet fh wi is root o the boom ad its versio the perfet fourth wth ts roo o op. He eas e res of the iters similarly Hs view of intervals makes perfet sense oth aostialy ad praaly Ufortuately hs ideas ever made e trp om gradate semars
IES MY MSIC TEACHER TOD ME
02
o pedagogical pacice pacice Too bad S o i hoo of M Hi Hid dem emi ih h les e a ook a ievals as hey acally pefom h fucios i he maomio sysem e s see wha ievas e ievas appea whe wheee i he oic iad.
perfec perfe c h h peect fo orh rh major hird
minor sixth
ior third
or or xh
Now we ca see he mao 6h i My Boie" (scale seps 5-3) add he a he pe pefe fec c 4h o f He Heee com comes" es" (5 (5 1 i hei hei mos comm commo o oa coex ad whas moe we ca ha hem i ha coex Of couse meodies ae hmoized by moe chods a oic so les ook a he ievals coaied i he ohe wo pimy chods i e majo mode is he subdomia chod (IV)
ff
oo d f
oo
pee pe ect ct for orh h p h h jor third ino xth jo jorr ixt ino thrd
Sice his is simpy ohe majo iad of he same ievs e hee. They us appea i diffee paces i he scale
L # 1 1 MY BON B ONN NE ONE ONE O X X
103
Now, the doat sevet chod V7
3
5h 7h 3
peect h ao orr tid
5h
7h
pect for
no sixt
nor tird
ajo a jorr sixt
sa " nor" seve sa sevet t
argee arg aaor sond
sal ior" t tir ird d
lrge aa or sxt
s sed ed tito titone) ne)
ageted age ted fo ot t t titone) itone)
hee e may moe ievals hee he same oes a occued i he he toic toic ad subdomiat subd omiat t tii ad adss ae also al so he hee e but wit withh te te additio o the chod 7h scae step 4 we get e bl ue" soudig 7th ad 2d a smalle mio 3d ad ge majo 6th, as wel as e wo oes wat to talk moe abou these additioal ieals, but let'' s sta let stayy with with he si simp mpe e oes oes a bi oge oge
I
I
hik ou sese of oic pays a mao pat i ideiyig itevals a wok o exampe, the 35 we'e takig scale steps hee o th thdd sou souds ds a bi di dieet eet o me ha the 6 6 1 o o thid he he fome soudig i the cotext of the toic tad and hee latte soudig h soudi g i th thee cotext of h hee subdomia subdomiat t tia tiad. d. ue ue,, boh iads ae majo chods ad both o hese mio thids ctioig as 3d5th o he espece hmoies But, to me te iuece o he toic pitch soudig as he fith o the subdomia chod adds a sigificatly diffee avo lay ad sig What do you ?
104
LIES MY MUSI TEAHER TOLD ME
The 6 The 6 io io hi hidd a a also e uned uned as a 1 3 1 6 a ao, as i i e e oe of a oi oo, u his eaionship is poaly oo osue o e peeiv peeivd d y a egie The 6 6 1 mino mino hid is uh easie o he i he oe of sudoian haony i is siple 56 aio Whe A ad ae sounded wihou oe hee is a vey song edey, ede y, eve y ovie oviess o iagine a F oo This is au aused sed y he aousia sipiiy of a ao iad in whih 56 is he aio eween he hid and fih of ha hod a phenoeo soeies cmbinati inatin n tne ne.. efeed o as heaing he cmb The 1 3 io hid is poaly peeived quie diffeeny h he 35 ino hid Even hough he aousia aio is osesiy56 i oh ases he inuee of he sense of oo eaed y e pesee pese e of he fih fi h , " as wel as he av avo o of he ino ia iadd as a whoe, who e, akes akes hese h ese wo io i o hid hidss soud quie diff diffee
mir r
minor tir
A gea aining dil fo oe advaed eas is o play a io hidd and aea hi aeaely ely shif shif he fou ouss fo fo 3 - 5 o 1 3 y iag iagii iig g he issig" pih ha woud opee he hod Fo eaple, play E ad G while iagiig ao hod), he iagiig B (E ino ino hod) hod) The uning uning ay o o hange, hange, u he he favo" favo" su suee does Les ge ak o ievals easued up fo oi If a io seond is hough of as a haf sep sale ha a ao seod," he i folows (i he ind ind of soe sudes) o ep epes esss i i as 1 2 Now, wha does 2 have o do do wi wi a a ao o o mio key key?? Nohi Nohig g!!
105
E 1 1 : Y BONNE BONNE ONE ONE TO TO X
Do sn'' i mak mor pra Dosn praa a s sns ns o sysma sysmaz z bas bas nrva hory n h onx o h sysm isl? W know a mao ma orr inrvas o our ur o om m on up o sa sa s sp pss 2, 3 3 6 an andd 7 . Did you vr no ha nor inrs our on hos sam sa sps whn masurd dwn ro rom m oni? oni? nsad nsad o adj adj u si sing ng"" or mn mnor or inrvas w hav a sysm ha dniis m within h onx o h major mod
peect ctve ir eveth ir ixh
r nd
peect h pe furh ir thid ir ecd
rr hird peect furh perfect h
jr ixh jr eveh perfect ctve
No on vr pond ha ou o m jus noid on qu aoon whn had nohing br o do han hnk abou nrals m m su sur r m m no no h h irs irs o s his bu ' v nv nvrr sn i n a mu musi si hory book av you?
106
LIES MY MUSC TEACHER TOLD
We don't have to change of our interval identification" test questions ques tions We si sipy py teach teach students to notice whi which ch note is in e key of the other
minor d
c
ajo 6h
no 6h
d.
majo nd
mno nd
Ite a Ite a - The lower note B is in the key of the the upp upper er note D therefore this is a inor third Another way is to try a third as 1-3 and as 61 and see which one works Aso, an experienced usician can see andor hear this interval as the upper third of a G ajor ad, where it falls naturaly in the overone series and identify the interv that way Ite b The upper note B) B) is in the key of the lower note D) and is theref therefor oree a ajor ajor sixth Again, an experienced usician usici an can see andor hear ths interval as 53 in the key of G. Reeber My Bonnie? Ite It e c Th Thee ower ower no note te A) is ste stepp 3 of the upper note F) Ite It e d The uppe upperr note () is step 2 of th thee lower not notee E) E) Ite It e e G is the eading tone tone of A Perfect fourhs and fifths are easily identified because both notes are in each others keys That's why theyre perfect" Did your teacher ever tel you that? Mine didnt
a
c
peect 5th
eect 4
peect 5
d
peec 8ve
e. ec 4h
LE # 1 1 M BONNE S ONE TO SX
07
te a G is in th the ke key o D and D is in th the ke key o G te t e - F is in i n th the key key o B , and and m is in the the key o F tes te s c c thr throu ough gh e Di Ditt ttoo Dii nishedd and augen Diinishe augented ted intervals can e handled in the traditional anner y copring the to the nearest nearest ajo ajor, r, inor or perect interv
a ug
rd
dim. 5th
e.
d
dm. 7th
ug.
t
ug.
6t
te a - There is a C in the the key o A� ; C C akes the in inte terv rva a a ha ha st ste e larger thereo thereore re augente augente Or, th there ere is a C in the ke keyy o A; A� ke kess the inteal inteal a hastep hastep larg larger er ereo ereore re augented te - There is is a B in the the key o o E, the there reo ore re this this is di diin in ished An experienced usician iediately sees this as 74 in e key o F Reeer, the E-B E-B�� occ occurs urs as a nctional nctional trito tritone ne only as 74 in the the key key o F ajor ajor te c F up to B would e inor; akes it saler, te thereore diinished Or, up to E would would e inor; inor; B es it saller thereore diminished te d The only whiten whitenote ote augent augented ed ourt ourth h Ei Eithe therr a B� or an H would ake it i t per perect ect)) te e es, E not F thought would entio te entionn this in cas casee you didn't know that white notes can e sharps or ats you spelled it GF it would e a inor seven not an augented sixth Again, spelling counts
108
LIES MY MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
hoe your teacher didn't have you identifying intervals by couning hal halff steps ! Wha Whatt a im imee consuming, consumi ng, miseadin miseading, g, and ultimately useless practice This is even more disturbing than e every goo boy does fine" gimmick commony used for teaching ines and saces Perhas he later might be ustied for teaching young children, ust o ge them sarted (although I would discourage i) But adult huld u nithr It simy osones eing e truth" and inhibis fas thinking Please to discard any residual endencies you may have at emt you to thik this way I susect these pastic concepts may not be biodegradabe and are likely to ersist in the mena recesses of the onceinfected, like a virs lurking on a hard drive I don't know how my half steps there re n a erfec h, and I don't ever wan o know Le's get back now to the addiional interals ha occur in e dominant sventh chord Since i is basicaly a maor chord, i has e 4:5 maor hird, he 5:6 mnor hird, and the 2:3 erfect fih nd their inversion inver sionss ut wi wihh the the additio additionn of hat ne nex x higher ou ou of tun t unee " artial, i conains the 4:7 minor 7th (and its inversion, the 7:8 maor" ma or" 2nd), he 6 : 7 minor 3rd (a (and nd 7 2 minor" 6t 6th) h) d thee wild th wi ld and wooly wool y 5: 5 : 7 (and ( and 7: 7 : 0) tritone Her Here, e, th thee dif difffer eren ence ce between tempered and and acoustic uning is oo signif sign ificant icant to to toss of offf as as imercetible" I is aout ieson iesonsible sible t o each hat he trit t ritone one"" be bew wee eenn scale stes 1 and 4 is the same interval as beween 7 and 4 When he melodic trione aears in is natural habita as 47 or 74, it is normaly funcioning and tuning as a type of dominant harmony When i aears elsewhere, i has another urose Is tuning depend on its hmonic context, and wil not be hed (or conceived) as the ncional dominanthony ione
I'm amused when I he a teacher of e aining laenting a he or she can' find many good soundmodel meloes at st ou with a trione This is because melodies sedom sart with a functiona 74 or 47 trione They usualy start with iches at
109
LE # Y BONNE S ONE O SX
establish toni harmony (een when oinant hmony is se as a pikp hor). m not ase howeer when see a son moe o o the ti titon tonee that begins with a skip om sae steps 1 to 4 4
1
1
1 5
1
5
6
5
6
just kssed a girl nae Ma
Ma - ri a. I
he sppoting hamoni bakgon o the opening o this prase is a toni ho theeoe the stral eoi inteal hee is the peret 5 15 he 4 is simply a homati appoggiara (a type o nonh nonhor or ton tone) e) tha thatt e eat atee s to to 5 aia se sees es ab soltey no ppose as a son moel or a ntiona titone n at, i presente as exampe o a itone, this meloy is ataly ying to the stent A ntional ritone oesnt son like this ore speialy it oesnt ne lke this. ne some imstanes een the meloi sale steps 47 might nt be a ominant 57 o 7 10 tritone
7
7
7
7
I'm wild wild a gai gain n Be Be g giied ed a ga gain in.. A sipe sipering ring,, whim whimpering pering
Here, the 47 meoi inteal is not a ntiona tone he 7 is embelishment ment to it happens or times hee), wle 4 is simply embelish perorming a ubdminant ntion in a hromati saewise ne whi ontines pw to 4 5 5 et he nerying harmony that point is a ii7 ho a sbominant amily member. yore going to se son moes to e ntera reognition make sre that the moel epeent the cncept
110
LIES MY MUSIC TEACHER TLD ME
ii
Dos it ra mattr that a thortial" iffr xists som of ths itrvals? Ar ths iffrs ral imporat privig a prformig msi? B o ou kno m positio o ths qsios so I ot bor o ith aitioal argmts You '1 simpl hav to xpimt for ouslf a s hthr or ot aousti tig" pts a sparkl i or msial prfoa a it i or prptios I guat it il. I'v b thr
Hrs a xris I'v us sssful i m stts iorporat ito atural Ear Traiig Pik a k Loat appropriat toi omiat a subomiat roots o a kboar (prfrabl a sustaiig o ik a orga or sthsizr). As o pa a root sig th hor tos o that root Wh ou shi to aothr root sig thos hor tos skippig from o to th othr Go slol sig ith a straight vibratolss to a list ll to th aostial rlatioship bt or voi a th kboar o sig th sam itrvals i iffrt otxts List to otxt a ot th avor" of th itrvas ou ar sigig Wh o bgi to rogiz th iffrs that our h itrvals appar i iffrt otxts ou'r i thr."
Le #12: e majo scae s one of seveal scales (o modes) tat ave been used by composes tougout istoy. ut: e majo/mino system s te most unque pactca exctng and natual musical constuct tat as been devised in te stoy of music.
If that tuth sounds a it ike a ig finish to you, youe ight. In this disussion I wil summaize the peeding ideas and pu them togethe into an oeal pespetie. The majo/mino system is not just anothe sale. It its ight into Pythagoass desiption of how pithes natuay and peeptualy elate to one anothe. It is a logial extension of his disussion o patias and oetones. I sheds light on the mystey of the titone, the diminished fih that ealy huh omposes dued muicu diablicu It demonstates that hamoni oots, as we as single pithes hae natual aoustia elationships within a tonal system To think of the majo/mino system as just anothe sale is to mss its whole impot in the poess of disoeing musia tuth When this new system was pesented o the wold it shoud hae enhaned and expanded skis in aousti tuning. Instead, it eme the majo ause o aoustial neglet. The exiting thing aout the majo/mino system was that it explained how to modulate feely o any othe key. Composes went wild with this new toy. But thee was one ig polem. While the stings, winds, and singes had no oue adjusting thei uning in distanty elated keys, the keyoads ouldnt do it. Thei mehanial pthes wee loed in whatee key they wee tuned to Thee wee some keyoads uilt with exa stings tuned to losely eated keys, ut they wee umesome and
112
LIES Y USI EAHER OLD E
mpactcal hen came the bg beakthoghtempeed tnng! Bach was so excted abot t he composed two boks of peldes and ges evey key enttled Th WllTmprd Clair It appeas that mscal mnds snce that tme have been ds tacted fom Pythagoean theoy becase of ths geat new tnng system I gess t became od fashoned and antpogesve to tk abot the nata acostcs of sond an had nvented somethng bette Yo wold thnk that the blant hamones of Wagne, cha kovsky Debssy and othe nneteenth centy Romantcs wod have evved an appecaton fo pe acostca tnng O ctatons fom f om Heh Hehotz otz ndcate that t ddn ddn t happen happ en Bt Bt by the tme we we get to the twenteth centy we see a cnciu ntent by Schoenbeg and hs dscpes to negate tonalty. I sppose f yo have n nstment tat's aeady dong a good ob of oblteatng hma tonal senstvtes yo mght as we fnsh the ob by wtng msc fo t. Inteestngly Hndemth neve boght the dea of atonal msc Lke Bac e composed a set of keybod peces n evey key caled Ludu Tnali bt he constcted them neocasscally wth caty balance and haonc elatonshps By the way I do enoy atonal msc. Aso I am ntged by electonc msc aleatoy choa msc, and othe avategde sond exploatons that ae not confned to the mts of hman pecepton of hamoncs n smallnmbe atos hat s nt what ths book s abot What I am sggestng s that when we expeence tonal msc t wold be wondefl to hea t as accately as possble n e smple tona envonment that nate povded Ioncaly, the nventon that was spposed to have enhanced the exctement of fee modaton actaly dled t. ost snges today who otney le the notes fom a keybod seldom th to a
13
LE L E #1 # 1 2 : UST ANOT ANOTHER HER SCE SCE
welte chromatic eaig toe as it propes the msic ito a distat toa galaxy They sig each ote as every other ote, like a keyboard, iocetly aware that they have bee deaeed to a potetial keidoscope o haoic brlliace This happes, saly, becase msic theory a eartrg classes today ocs more o otatio a scaes than o the physical atre o sod. This is very ortate, pariclarly sice e maor/mior system o msic makes so mch sese whe aalyze i terms o its ogic, symmetry ad basis i simpe physics Memorizig scales ad sigig them o d mi id ot rovide me with a perceptal derstadig o how msic works, d do't believe it does or toay's stets either
re
As ergraate msic maor, I got my A's i msic theory ad history, gradate maga cm lade, a wet o to ea a master's egree i msic theory a a octorate i msic edcatio. At o time rig these years i I rea aythig or hear a lectrer say aythig that iicate that the maor scaleor more recisely, the maor/ior systemwas a icredible breakthrgh at t he physical acostic acts o the atre o sod better tha ay previos system. Sre, we were told abot Ramea' s great seveteethcetry treatise o harmoy; however, it was preseted as a escriptio o commo practice," that is, a observatio a systematizatio o what comosers o that perio ha writte. Sice e, may brilliat theorists have expade po Ramea's work, ad have wte articles a textbooks ba base se o hi hiss cocepts o ctio ctioal al harmoy." Scores o msicias, composers a stets have beeted rom this scholarship Bt nthing has emerge abot practical acostics or the hma perceptio o atral harmoic trth As a reslt, early everyoe has bee batized" ito the iversal gospel" o tempere tig
14
LIES MY MUSI TEAHER TOLD
Please understand I have no problem with tempered tuning tsef (at east for keyboards), or wih e marvelous work at's been done in regard to escribng musical common prac practic tice e My concern is wih what h a n t be been en done regardn regardngg h hee preservation an andd development of human aura perception and the physica nare of muscal sound
i
What I see today e music educators peetuating the eggs row" concep of ear traning by havng beginning students practce heir d-emi in scalewse meodies Dscerning the difference between whole and half steps is very dicult for beginers to do and s usualy one of the lat sklls my students mastered ombine at with te fact hat ely pracice is almost always done with te aid of a tempered keyboard and you have the perfect pedagogical foula for frusraion and falure.
Le's imagine a word in which youngsters have he tools and toys tha provid providee them them with with early expe expere rences nces of pure pure and simp simpe e sound relationships These same youngsters then have the self confidence tha foows success, and enoy geting nvolved makng musc ha und great Every baske s filled to the brim with tunes Every rendition of Happy Birthday" in eve restaurant from here o heaven glows with sparkling harmonies. Those who choose o formaie heir musical educaon are taught ogic, practical ideas and systems at reect the physica natre of sound, as well as he notaonal and syisc raditions of the pas Keyboards are used wih he full understanding that heir unng is compromsed. Dreaming I don't know What do you hik
i
Part Two
RHYTHM, METER AND OTHER IDEAS YOU CAN COUNT ON
thnk I was a faly dnt stdnt hn t m o pfom hyhms B a dvod Cot Bas fan thoh I had a sold da of what a bat was And bn a adm of Batok ad Bbk old ably handl som faily fany m pats Lik most stdns who w p aod ms I smd to hav n nttv abty to ndstand hythm Bt whn I td o xpss my ndstand fomaly n my dotoa dsstaon Cncptual Apct f Rhythm I ban o al how hay my onpts aaly w As a sl I ndook a systmat analyss of how hyhm woks As wth th sss of pth dsssd al th ls I fond ad hythm w aly a sl of popaatn ls and noaona sysms ath ha dal wth bas pptal and onptal alty Aso as wth pth fond that ths w fqnly avaiab n th h soal lat bt w w aly nod b y tahs ad xbooks H a th ls abot hyhm and m bliv
6
LIES M SIC ECHER OLD ME
he mos mostt lmting, alo along ng with with the truths" truth s" I ound to be the most most beratng.
Lie #13: quarter note represents one beat. Truth: ny note vaue can represent one beat.
Aerican usic students invariably begin their usic readng lessons wi eters in which the quarter note is the priary beat t, and subsequently learn to peror ost usic in these eters The proble is that any people discontinue their usic studies believing that t hat a qua quart rter er note alway gets one beat Now kno that uch usic can be successully ade with this incoplete inoration and soe olks get along or years dependng on the postulate that a quarter note gets one beat" Their teachers who knew hopeully that other notes could be assignd to the beat unit and had planned to eplain this subsequent lessons never got to share that inoration with their early dropouts The lie" in this case is the teachers ailure to a with a ore universal truth
118
LIES MY MUSI TEAHER TLD ME
Too oen den ae aked o memoze em wod and le when he have no dea wha he mea n exam he o o he wod back o he eache who ame he have leaed he maeal" A bee lan when eachng mee o f how den ha i i and dc qae noe lae The need o be comfoable wh he conce of wone" and heene" and how hee can be combned n mec ce Good eachng hold ho ld beg begn n b hel helng ng den exeence wha o be le leed ed and hen ellng hem wha o call B eachng noaonal vocabla and le befoe bac eceal conce e ece we end wh a geneaon of confed and a o wll ee lae dangeu mcan I enconeed man ch den n m college clae The one wen omehng like h I began wh a dcon of bac conce of mee and hen aed abo andad hhmic noaon n whch each noe ve dvde evenl no wo of he nex male vae
0
1 whole noe Eqal 2 half noe Eqal 4 qae noe Eqal 8 eghh noe Eqal 16 xeenh noe
}}}}
he on hee ha he em a elainal one and no gven noee ee no eeen en a fxe xedd daon daon of me n em em of he clock clock I no concdence ha he langage of facon ed nce noe vale fll a gven ace mch lke facon do he gven ace" oh em of coe deemned b ohe cae
i
LIE # 1 3 : QU QUAR ARTE TER R OTE GE GETS TS OE BEAT
11
a
I hen h en poine ou h h o hese noe vues n be esigne o epesen one be ow h's iy simple onep woun' you sy Howeve uking in he subonsious in mny o my suens' mins ws he enenhe belie in he pimy o e que qu e noe m mmin mingg he eewy eewyss o e hogh The new wos h ene enee e he on on mp mp"" o he hei i ms ms bu he he s h " wi wih h he ol onep h ye o ou Le when peoming pie iem in 22 mee wo hl noe bes pe mesue sen wol see mesue hving o que noes n when ske ow mny bes h mese" he o she wou sy o" When I poine ou hee wee wo bes in h mese he sen inviby si Bu I hough que noe ges one be." I hen psee wei smile on my e n shook my he slowy om sie o sie.
Msi publishes who sel o he mss-mke onsume know h musi hving que noe be ses moe opies hn musi wih ohe be-ni esignions hh hoi ieos know h hei singes n equeny ey hemseves eel moe omobe wih que noe be Mny publi shool msi ehes e no l h emnipe om he ominion o que noes eihe n he meu popmsi evoee who knows bo non-que-noe be us is inee e eue I suspe h some ees e sying ome on ge ou o you ivoy oe A les we hve soes o people mng musi ih some kin o be uni Who es i we use qe noe moe hn ohes!"
To some exen I suppose I gee. Bu wh bohes me is he limie sess oe by his eoneous onep ens o sho iui he nee o ening bou he bsi peepul n sysemi ne o mee n ees onusion when nonqe noebsed mees e enounee.
12
LIES Y USIC TEACHER TOLD E
It is nt ny th stnt msiian r th amatr sinr/ayr wh sffrs frm artrntitis" Sm rfssina msiians ha as bn inftd A artiary trbsm xm hand n th sta f th Hywd Bw n atn many smmrs a Th LA Jazz Chir was rharsin fr a shw that was t n that nin with Rsmary Cny iha Finstin and th LA hiharmni In rr t nsr sa tim an mny it was ard that w wd s th sam instrmnta bak tri that was bk fr th thr ats I ha faith that anyn wh wd b hir t ay with ths iants f msi w b fy mtnt t rfrm r harts with as It bin an a-Grshwin shw I ha arran th tn Liza" and azz it with with sm intrstin intrstin (an msia I th th h ht t hanin han in mt mtrs rs I ma sr a th mtr han hans s wr r ryy mrk Fr xam whn ¢(sam as 2/2 am 3/2 (t rat a ti masr and t th ant an a was ri Whn th ¢ han t a Latin / a j was shwn (If this is Grk dnt wrry at it nw Th arranmnt had bn rfrm by thr instrmntaists at aris LAJC rrmans Thr was n rasn t xt a rbm
Whn it was r t t rhars w t th sinrs in a an ass t th harts t th instrmnta tri Sin w ny ha abt twnty mints t rhars thr tns I n t tak thrh th Liza" hart with th msiians t m sr rytin was r It was iky idnt that th hart was n o t ar t rmmr Aftr a fw whaaya-man-hr's" h ban trin m n th rrt way t ntat msi I ity i t xain what I ray did man bt t n a aai ai H rw inrasiny inrasiny blrnt blrnt nti h finay strmd ff th sta rfsin t ay th hart
LIE # 1 3 : QUART QUARTER ER OTE GET GETSS OE BEAT
2
his ie os of our rehearsal period was spen and e singers were sil unrehearsed The producer Allan Sdo wondered wha was gong on, whle I sood here in shock Bu Al is one of he cooles of coo gus. Dressed in a business sui and geaing whie snekers he iediae ook coand Wih he cales demeanor I hae eer seen n such a ense siua cales siua on, on, A arranged for anoher druer who we knew coud sighread he char The show wen on and was a grea success The druer who ref refused used o pa he h e Lza" L za" cha char r was a respeced sudio usician wih decades of experiencean old pro I sure he knew ha soring off he sage like ha was exree unprofessional een if I al he colorfu hings he caled e as he lef. In case oure wondering wha hs nae was I cnscious ade a poin o orgeing i.
a
As I hough abou i laer he onl explanaion ha ade an sense is ha he realized he couldn pla he c as was wrien He had o walk o sage His lecure I reebered cenered around he idea ha he quarer noe shoud alwas be he bea uni and m char i wasn
i
I doess surprise e ha he could operae successu in e sudios for so an ears Mos of he comercial chars sudio usicians are asked o pla are wren wih wha else) a qurer noe bea Music heor exbooks haen helped uch o alleiae he robe Rare is here an earl discusson of wha he concep of eer is and how noe alues reae o i. Inariabl, he rs ilusraions of eer are proided wih ly quarer noes as he ra bea Soeies in a quie oen I wonder if rs usic eacher reall did know ha a quaer noe doesn alwas ge one bea Or
122
IES MY MUSIC TEACHER TOD ME
maybe he felt I want mature enough to hanle th avance normaton I gue I'll never now for ure
Lie 14: e op numbe ells ow many beas ae in eac measue. u: e op numbe ells ow many o a specied noe value ae in eac measue. he numbe of beas is deemined by oe consideaions
at we are taking abot here is the mt ignatu. hats e two nbers, one above the other, that yo see at the beginning of a iece of sc tels the eader wha he nderying etrc strcre is n that iece s soees called e tim ignatur, bt tha th a na nae e isis vag vage e an andd isea iseadin ding g i i e" con connote notess the the wh whol olee teoral asec of sic, incling eo and other secific asects t aso eoneosly sggests tha clock te" is soehow nvolved Meter" is righ to the oin
Lke the revios lie, this one is soeties tre, bt is very oen reced, rece d, eoize eoized, d, and and as asssed on f fo o geneation geneation to gen generat eraton on wiho he knowledge hat ner soe circsances he o
12
LES MY MUSIC TEACR TOLD ME
number s nt the number of bets per mesure The confuson I beeve, comes from mbguous conceps n pplcons of the erms bet" n ccent," n no relzng t meter consss of r hn one puse seres. or exmple he tune Seventy Sx Trombones" hs two primry bes per mesre, ye he top number of s meer sgnture s 6. In ths cse the op number oesn' refer to he prmry be bu rher o he pts, or vsons, of the prmy bet
Se e 4 5 6 2 ha meae
ix om om - boe boe e edd h hee 23 45 4566 1 23 45 6 1 2 2 meaue
meae
big aade 2 3 456 1 2 meaue
So," you my be hnkng f there re wo bes per mesure n Seventy Sx Trombones," why not use 2 s the top number? The nswer s ht he noe seecte s he be unt mus ve nto three equl prts So ve nto three prts, hen," you sy Wht's the bg problem?" The probem s tht n our notton system gven note won't ve nto three equ, smler noes. or exmple f you ve crcle cr cle nto thr three ee equ prt prtss , you wou cll ech p pr r th thr r " tt my work for crces but t oesn't work for noes We on' hve hrnotes" n our sysem Smlrly, f you ve qurer of crce nto three equ prts, you c ech prt wefth." But we onn ' hve w o welf elfhnotes" hnotes" n our our sysem. Why W hy no no?" ?" you sk. If we wnt n nee hr noes n twelh noes, why not nvent em?
IE I E # 1 4 O OP P NUBER NUBER E E BEA BEA
12
i
l frst of w woldt b th first to it. siias th Gothi priod (. (. 1 1 - 14 14 dlop dlopd d a sop sophi histi stia atd td ss sstm tm of rhthmi otatio that ildd both dpl ad i diisios of bat Ad sod of al it dost work wl. W aal it workd fi for th Gothis as log as th didt x too ma d ad tri lmts i th sam msi. Bt mixig ighth ots qr ots ad haf ots with thrd ots ad twlfth ots wold ad to som r ompliatd otatio A bttr wa was fod. or abot that atr Althogh w didt adopt th Gothis otatioal sstm it wl hl to look at tir basi ot of mtr. h Gothis big r rligios ad r Christia ad tripl lmts pfcum (as th Hol riit) ad d lmts impfum (as i a two lggd lg gd hma doig a two-bat da da)) Whil som of s ma o ott appriat th basis of thir trms w a al apriat thir r logia ad arat dsriptio of th basi rptal atr of mtr
i
hir sstm was basd o th ida (ad praial obsratio) that a gi ps sris a b goupd i rglar sts of twos or thrs ad a also b dividd to sts of twos or thrs. hs two ratioships (gropigs ad diisos) a b ombid i for was ratig for basi mltill mtri strtrs. k mior mod th basi opt of mtr is qit simpl bt it gts ofsigg wh w attmpt to writ it dow i trad ofsi traditioal itioal msi otatio o lts start with a dfiito of th basi igrdit of mtr ba (ad its om puls). Beat: a sris of rgarl rrrt ts that r
oid ad/or prid as ra or imagiar kisthti ts.
126
LS MY MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
That may sound sou nd a bit academi acad emic, c, but evey wod was c celly elly chosen Let me tell you why each wod is vital to a ce denition and undestanding of beat and mete. The wod seies" is imotant because a singe even doesnt ceae any ow I akes at east two events to know what the me inteal is in he seies Once established howeve e tie intev is edictable and the seies can be maintained with a modes aount of hought o effo With a litle actie, i can be laced on automai," eaving he conscious atention fee o atend to moe inteesting asets of he music. The wods egulaly euent" ae vital If the events ae not eeived as equaly saced he seies is not a ue ulse o exame the eading of ose is no ikey to suggest a ulse seies in ha he ime intevas between he events (sylables aens, et) ae not symetical and ediable. The eading may contain some hythmic eleents (a sense of ow fo examle) but usually not a use. One igh hink hat tp rubat, he actice of sighly sowing o huying the bea as one would do in a vey exessive ass sag a sagee of Romanti mu musi sic c would ague ague against against this de deni nitio tion. n. Atually it oves the oint. Rubato is simly combining oncets eguaity of ecuent beats" and egulaiy in e rat of slowing o huying" If he ubato is jeky o sudden the ow is destoyed. Again no egulaityno beat The wod events" was selected instead of sounds" liks" tas" o ohe musial" es beause ulse an aso be eeived in edia othe than sound (ight ashes bouncing blls back sc scat athing hing swinging et o simy iagind without a hysial countet.
LIE #14 OP BER TELLS BEAS
127
i
he wrd kinesheic" is included fr a ve imran reasn. In he 920s and 30s, music sychlgiss were ineresed discvering wha causes humans devel a sese f ulse hey cnduced exerimes wih wih hearbea hearbea s , brain brai n wav waves es and a ay yhng hng ese ha aeared regularly ccur. Wha hey discvered is a humans seem learn a sese f ulse hrugh hysica mveme, such as walking. A a fairly early age, we lea ha if we dn ge ur f u in frn a exacly he righ ime, we sumble and skin ur knees. Ahugh we didn knw i a he me we were acaly havig ur firs music les less sss while we were leaing wa walk. lk. h hee facy e fr muscle mvemen is kinsthti hus is inclsin ur deniin
he erms cnceived" and erceived" aly f curse, he cmser and his rereseaive, he erfrmer ad he isener, resecively. Remember, we are alkng cmmunicain here, are we n? u may wan g back ad reread he whle defiii nw and see if i al makes sese If i sil seems a bi clea, read and we see if we can clarify frher. es ge back he Ghics cnce f meer hey were very aware f e asec f he aure f meer ha curen hery exbks frequeny ignrehe fac ha a meer is acually a cmsie f relaed ulses.
A singe ulse series by iself is a sime and evenaly brig aair
pulse
I I I I I I I I I I
he Ghics discvered ha by cmbiig and crdinaig a given ulse wih aher se ha is exacly w r hree imes swer, a mre ineresing w is achieved.
28
IE MY MIC EACHER OD ME
GROUPNG N O given pulse 2x's slower
GROPNG N HREE given pulse 3x's slo slow we
o gt th o hs ow ty ang a gvn ls wth yo hand (abot wakng sd and tang yo foot on vy thd hand ta Not tha th foot s also kng a s havng ts own gla tm nva Sto yo hand ta whl ontnng foot a bt k iagining th hand a Now sto th oo a and ontn both lss n yo magnaton Now y th sam thng wth a two to on ao; tha s ta yo foo on vy scond hand ta Agn sto tang and ontn ombnd lss n yo magnaon. Dd yo not that as th att owd s quaniaiv ast bgan o b lad by a qualiaiv on? hat s yo no long had o coun h bas. In yo twooon oman yo smy mantand a fng low k a wndshld wbakfobak foth Lf s lld wth xamls of qtav ont of two
2
IE #4 OP NUBER E BEA
ness" spil (updown inout left-righ) logil (igh-wrong good-bd yesno), tempor (past-fure) e Emples of he qu quit iti ive ve onep of hree hreen nee s s " re not so pentifu. After ringle" Hegelin dialeti" nd ttempts o inlude the eusive presen they peter out prety fs. Never eess i is quie er h peope can develop ineshei feel for hree-ness Is lite hrder o rete nd minin thn wo-ness bu then no one sid life ws esy When my sudents hd hrd ime identifying triple meri pes I od em tht if it didn't fee lie windshield wiper i must be that other one." As ws menioned erlier the Gois regrded he number three s hving religious signifine so meers hving riple rtio wee lled tmps prfctm hey indited this metri ow wih a perfe" irle. eters having duple rtio were ed tmps imprfctm nd were indied by hf ire Our mode erms for these ptes re trip mtr nd dp mtr
c empus perectum (pe meter)
emp us mpe empus mpeecum (upe mee)
A ii e e la lae err we we'' loo h hee Gohis Gohi s o on nept ept of be divisins whih wil help lrify our meer-signture problem with eveny i ombones." But first we need o deal wih noher lie" h inerferes wih he developmen of ler onept of meter
30
LIES MY MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
Lie #15: Note that fall on trong metric beat hould be treed becaue they are more important than note on weaker beat. Truth: Metric accent i ilent and therefore doe not necearily affect audible performance detail
A few decades ago I was in San Francisco o offer exe esimony in a court case nvoving John Fogery and Fanasy Records Fanasy was contending hat Fogery had ased his new song Old Man Down he Road on his revious song Run hrough he Jungle" Run was writen for and recorded y Creedence Clearwaer Revival and is owned y Fantasy Records Fanasys lawyer was farly nowedgeale aout music and his questions during his crossexamination of my testimony were evidence of ha One of his goas was to nduce me to agree hat n / meer the music on the frs ea of each measure was accened and therefore more imortant" han he other eats and at music on the hd eat was next most imortant ecause i had a secondy accent My resonse was o necessariy" He was not leased
32
LES MY M Y MUSC TEACHER TOLD ME
He was r ryin yingg o sugges ha he pickup pickup noes noes in O Od d M an " were we re e ess ss ipo iporan ran han h hee noes noes on he sr s ron ong" g" b bas as which (he fe woud e he wo songs ore aike
Run Through he unge
Od Man Down he Road
pckps
Laer in he poceedings poceedings ohn Foger Fogery y perfor perfored ed Mack e Knife" wihou pickup noes f you know he song you know a is os significan eodic noes he pickup noes Tha prey uch seed he aer of he iporance of pickup noes The issue of how accens" reae o eer was seled in cour however Afer John's perforance i didn see paricuary ciica o e case
are
However he awyer's noion abou accens on firs and hird beas is a very popuar one and is carificaion is os criica o undersanding eer This i e " is incuded in aos ev ever eryy basic eory exbook ad I lieve i causes considerabe confusion The probe hink has o do wih uncear conceps of wha a usica accen i So es se aside our preconcepions and begin his discussion wih a sipe usica definiion Accent a feaure ha sands ou fro is surroundings
LI# 15: ACCENT TRONG BEAT
133
Th ofuso oms from ot rlzg tht thr r drn ks of ts mus. Ats rt y loudnss r th typ most popl thk of wh th wor s s Its th oly typ of t th tht t h hss ot otto to sg (> so tt s sy sy to to ssum t t s olyy o ol o thr s Wh ths s sg g s ot otr r th th prformr prformr s g strt to mk tht ot lour th th surroug ots so t wl st out. Th mot of otrst s p to th prformr s h or sh sss th hrtr of th prs.
> Oh ha f i i o id idee a oe hoe o e eigh Hey (Ne ha h acc h cae nt ba 1 .
Tht typ of t s ll dynai t. Hrs othr typ Not how ts r rt ths srs of ots
Th ogr ots r hr s ts y vrt of thr otrst to h shortr ots. Ths typ of t s l agogi ot tht t stll works v wh yo str wth th shor ots
134
LIES MY MSIC EACER OLD ME
Anther tye f ccent cn be creted by tch ttes In the fl lw wng ng emle emle ccent ttes e creted even tgh th thee nt ntee drtns are even nd reglr We cn cll ese di ccents
Becuse the tches tht e dfferent frm the repeted tch hpen n evey thrd nte, feelng f le meter s felt, r s the Gthcs wd sy, tems erfectum
In ths cse, the meldc ccents re rtly rnib fr suggestng mec tte becse they ae regu nd redctble. Bt the metrc ccent tself s smethng ther thn the audib events n the musc. D y y remember remember when we were tng tng hds hds nd feet feet t c c dle nd le rts between gven lse nd relted lse tw r ee tmes swer? Remember ls ht we were ble t mntn these meters n ur mgnn wut ctuly erfrmng hem? ht sent w f relted uses we clled meter, therefre the cc ccen ents ts"" tht we eeence wle mntn mntnng ng meter meter r ree called ri ccents In ther wrds we dnt har metrc ccents, we hink them Or mre recsely, we f hem Metrc ccents ccr when plses t dfferent evels ccr smltnesly shw hw ths wrks, lets dd few mre relted se seres t ur meter In ddtn t ur gven se nd r grng lse lets dd ne twce s fst dvdng ech gven
135
L # 1 5 ACCN ACCN S SRO RONG NG BA BASS
ulse int tw equl ulses) Nw lets dd nther ne twice s slw s ur gruing ulse We nw he grhc resenttin the lwye lwye s mesu mesure re, , the cncet cn cet tht ws under under cnside cnsider rti tin n e Fgerty mtter
divi di visi sio o give puse grou gr oupi pig g 2d gr'pig -
1111111111111111 I I I I I I I I I
wyers mesure 1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
Ntice tht bet number ne the lwyes mesure ccurs simultneusly in a j j u r ulse leels which in effect mkes tht eent ee strngerr ccentedin cntrst t the ther bets Ntice ls ls tht be bet t thre threee is similry reinf reinfrced rced,, but b ut nly nl y by thr ulse leels leel s , ceting ceting the the lwye lwye s secnd secnd yy ccent Nw heres whts imrtnt but mec ccents hey ae nt luder thn ther bets hey cnt be, since they eist nly in the i nt nt a ant nt that tha t xit ny by irt irtu u f th th imgintin. hey re i binatin f pu v wing in th iaginatin They my nd requently d ccur in sync with the udible ccents in the music but they re nt the sme thing. be sure, cmser usuly sulies listeners with udible nd r rite ite m mh hh h m mh h t get em sta stae ed, d, but the resnsibility fr mintining the kinesthetic metric cntinuity is then lrgely eft t the listener, esecily
36
LES MY MSC EACER OLD ME
shstcted rt musc Once metrc tte s estblshed, the cms cm ser er cn ether use udble ccent ccen t ttes tht bsclly g gre reee wh h he esbl es blsh shed ed meter, r cn cre crete te cntrstng ttes ttes tt cnct wth the cntnung sense f metric w. A cmser uses mny ccent tyes erhs mre inttvey thn nytclly t crete muscl hrses n mny styles nd mds When the vrus ccen yes ccur smultneusly e effect s usuly smth nd ecefu ere the medc, ggc dynmic nd metrc ccents e l n sync
When ne tye f ccent cnctswth nther sme nterestng rhythmc tes re creed We cll these rhythms sncopations n the flwng hrse, meldc nd ggc ccents cnlct wth the metc ccents *
1 p
*
*
2
4
3
4
s
s * m moic oic n agogc agogc ac acc cnt ntss mic accns P s scon scona a tc tc acc accts ts
1 p
p
2
3
*
1 p
2
3
4
s
t s ssumed ss umed n the recedng llustr llustrn n th the the fee feen ng" g" f / ws revusy estbshed fr the lstener he udble ccents here whch wuld t ncely n 3/ meer cree cnct w e here revng / meter
LIE LI E # 1 ACCET ACCET STR STROG OG BEA BEATS TS
137
In the foowing foowing ius i usa ati tion on the meodic and dynam dynamic ic accents vie for supremacy over the metric and agogic accents. *
*
*
+
+
+
+
* melodic and dynic ac acen ents ts + - met metr r and agog agog acents acents
In this popuar Scot S cottt Jopin ragtime tune tune syncoation is cre create atedd by the inter interpay pay of o f meodic agogic and metc accents accents M
Mt
M
M
Mt
Mt
M me meod odcac caccen cents ts A agog accents Mt me lod acce accents nts
Like so many eperiences in ife musica rhythm is a bit more compe than one might reaize Wen we were very young we organied our eeriences in broad genera conceptscar conceptscar g o bye-bye daddy As we matured we became auto mechaics toured Europe and our parents became ordinary umans with both good and notsogood characteristics. Perhaps thats why a Beethoven Beethov en sympho symphony ny is heard heard by a youngst youngster er as nic n icee music an andd by a veteran istener as profound In any case I sincerey hope you wont toss the word accent around careessy Remember metric accent is a sint ev event ent crea created ted by by the sim simut utane aneous ous
138
LIES MY MSIC EACER OLD ME
ccrrences f ses wthn system f meclly n rts f tw nd/r nd/ r three) three) relted relted sere seress
Lie #6: There is a wide variety o meters. Truth: There are four basic metric strucures
Sme my thery stdents hd the de tht y cn cmbne nyy w n w nmbers nd cme wh me mete terr sgnre. s gnre. s ernes nn csed them t swm n se endess ssbtes he tth s there e ny ur wys t cmbne e crs 2 nd 3 n hree eves reed ses. Lets ke nher k t the Gthcs cncet meter We nted erer n ge 28) th when hey cmbned gven se wth swer ne n rt w r three they ced tpu iprtu nd tpu hs s n eect eect rupd the gven ses nt prjctu, esecvey h de r re meers When they diidd the bet nt w thee rts they ced c ed t pratiu htsm iprtu nd prati pratiu u p prrt tu u
140
LES M M MSC EACHER OLD ME
DIVISION "N WO
I I I I I I I I I I I I given pulse 1 1 1 1 2 x' s taser
-
DIVI DI VISION SION " THREE THREE 3x ' s aster
given pulse
-
-
I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I
I
I
S the Gthcs vewe meter s hvng tw metrc retnshs ctuy ctu y three three but et et s kee t sme sme ( ) the r rt t be bew wee eenn g gve venn use n ts grung (tmpus) n 2 the rti between gven use n ts ivisin (roatium). Heres hw they cmbne these fctr fc trss int the ther r bsc met meter er tyes tyes.. Remember tht in the Gthics system the fu circe met tmpuss p tmpu p rj tu tum m three bets n gru r tre meter n the hf crce met tm tmp pus impr rf f tu tum m tw bets n gru, r ue meter her meth f nctng proatium prtum ws t ce t n the circe r hf crce n shw n t in the circe r hf circe t ncte pro at atiu ium m im imp prrf tu tum m
praum perfectum (ple dv) tempus pefecum (rple g.)
platum mpefectm (dupe dv) tempus perfectm (pe g)
platum perfectum (pe dv.) tempus tem pus mp mpefe efectu ctum m (duple (dup le g
platum mpefecum (uple dv) empu mpefectum (dupe g)
L # 1 6 : MANY ME METE TERS RS
141
These r metric cmbintins re wht we c gicy csed system" Tht is there re n mre thn these r wys t cmbie grings (tpus) tws nd threes with divisins (olatiu) tws nd thees S y see the bsic ntre meter is cty qite sime
I think the cnsin strted when we went t n ecsivey de system nttin Lets review Seventy Si Trmbnes" nd its retinshi t the trbesme sttemet The t nmber tes hw mny bets re i ech mesre" Remember tht the rbem ccrs bec becse se rr nttin nttin system syst em is de d e ne ne nd ere is n arent wy t divide singe nte int thee arts
i
One wy the r rbe bem m hs hs been sved sve d is t se tiets This is hndy device msicins deveed t imse three nte ves ce tw the sme denmintin Fr eame qter nte nrmy divides int to eighth ntes bt by pcing nmer 3 ver bet e is emitted t divide tht qarter nte bet int t eighthntes Mthemtic heresy y sy I sse s bt it wrks
i b bi Hwever i ne hs n etended cmsitin with mny ie divisins the bet it wd be wkward nd cmbersme t ce 3 · ver mst the bets The Gthics wd hve sved the rbem with esesimy indicte tht Sevety Si Trmbnes" pola lati tiu u p pct ctu u,, by tting hs tpus ipjctu nd po dtted hcirce t the beginnig the msic
42
LIES MY MSIC M SIC EACE OLD OLD ME
Our mde sutin ws ceve s sme s he e cli, nd equy equ y s usefu. Fw this cs c se ey y IF IF A SIG SIGLE LE OE OE DIVIDES IO WO PARS A NOE AD A ALF WILL DIVIDE INTO RE REE E PARS. -d -d ! ! h h s it it Cmses Cmses simy ced ce d d dtt f fer er n nyy ne they they wnted wnted t t incese by hf its vue nd he te divisin ws mde ssibe.
S by using dted nte t eresent the bet we cn Seveny Si rmbnes" withu wiing ties hrughut the mnuscri.
Sev Se v en ty
sx s x
tm - bnes le the
bg aae
w et w et s write write mete si sign gntu tuee in fn fn f the the music s nyne wh reds i wi knw which f the f bsic mec sructes we ee s sin ing. g. Si Sinc ncee the the dted hfcirce is bit t t f de th thtt bb bbyy wn wn d. S e e s the stnda stndard rd e h hee number es hw mny bets in mesue." Since the guing (pu) in rmbnes" is in w we wi use 2 s the t nmber f u signture. w we need sy the btm nmber f the si signt gntee . he ditin re is ht he btm numbe tes wh kind f nte reresens ne bet." S we wte the number eesents dted qrer nte. Wi minute Wht i he numbe eesents dted que nte? Is there ne?
We must fist k t btm nmbers tht dn' need t divide he be in hirds. In metes with bes tht divide in tw ts
# 6
ERS
43
rlaiu iprcu) ths s esly one by sng n 8 to ncte
egh notes 4 to ncte qrer noes 2 to ncte hlf notes etc hs Ynkee Doole" c be wrtten n ny of these meters.
Yn kee
- le
wen
t
twn
Yn kee
- e
wen
t
twn
doo
wen
wn
n - ee
de
(N! The tp ne s o ott fser than the thes!)
ht seems smple enogh In fct ths type of meter rlaiu iprcu) s trtonlly clled sipl r st count e nmber of bets n group two or three n the bets wl ve nto two of the net smlest denomnton whenever reqre by the msc. o problem In the cs c see of rombo r ombone ness " how however ever we we nee nmber nmber tht wll ve nto tee equ prts. So wht nmber sh we use s the bottom nmber of the meter sgntre? Snce e note vlue we sed bove ws otte qurter how bout 4 2?
144
LIES MY MUSIC EACER OLD ME
Sv - - y
sx
m
s
o I guess no. It looks bit st stnge. nge. mm. . .le's see. Since te o equls lf te vlue of te noe i foows ow bout 4/8
Sv - y
sx
m
s
o u Wel sup o s uppo pose se we be bek k wit t t iti ition on n inste of using numbe to epesent te be unit use te dottd not its
Sv y
s
m
Pety cleve e (o Im not Cnin but I i gow up in Deoi.) I's simple n esy o unestn. I oes ecty w mete signtue is suppose o oit sys tee e two ote qute notes (o e equivlent) e mesue. An bes of it gives us ogic wy to inice o oat atium ium jct ctum um (tiple ivision).
l
Befoe you ge too ecite I obby soul te you tt Gemnn compose Gem compose C Cll O Off ( 1 89 - 1 98 98 ) le ley y into intouce uce tis ie. oweve it nt ctc on. oo b! e use is ie consistenty, employing it in simpe mete s well. In Off tes te fou bsic Gotic metes woul be witen lke tis:
LIE # 1 6 Y E ERS RS
8 0 c
145 3
j_
or
3
or
or
or
j J
or
3
or
or
o
.
3
� 3
ec etc etc
etc
It seems shm shmee tht Or Orff ff s sgn sgnt trre s n n t becme e stnr meth f inctng meters It s s smle n lgicl I fer trtin s still strnger frce n the wrl thn lgc n slicity It ws, n fct, Orffs lck f sccess with ths gret e ht me me relze tht I rbbly wlnt get very fr wth my better" ie fr mnr key sgntres Oh well t lest Im n g cmny) S hw we wrte meter sgntre tht w ncte tw bets er mesr mesre, e, ech e ch bet bet vng nt nt thr three ee r rts ts?? Sm Sme e We cnt the pats nste f the bets Well, ctlly nt simle" n e sense we se t bves in simle meter" Its ritinly clle cmpun meter hs s hw t wrks If y cmbne nmber f smle/tle esres n the pats nste f the bets y get meter sgn s gntre tre tht cn be eres eresse se in in tw tw whle whl e nmbers nmber s, the t t ne telling hw mny" n the bttm ne telling hw mny hats"
LES MY MSC EACHER OLD ME
46 3 a
6 ar
3 ar
�r
r·
r
-
1 bea
1 bea
3 ar
r 1 bea
2 bea
3 a
3 a
r·
9 a
-
mmm
1 ea
ea
r
r
3 ea
retty net hu retty huh? h? I the bet seected s dtted hl nt ntee , e rts" t be cunted wuld be te qurter ntes
3 a
3 a
JJJ r·
r
1 bea
6 a
r
1 bea
2 bea
Why," yu sk, d we need t g thrugh l ths d cmundng the musc cn be wrtten n smle tre? he nswer s, We d n t hve t t " Fr em emle, le, the wlt wlt s trdtnlly wtt tr wtten en n 3/4 3/ 4 mete meterr even even thugh thugh t h hss dule grung mn mn bets. bets .
tice tht e bdy eel, r knesthetc w, wlt lces metc ccent n tet tetee mesure mesure s , cretng cretng tpus iprjctu
LIE LI E # 16 1 6 : M ME MEE ERS RS
47
(dule meter I would mke erfect sense to write the wltz comound com ound du dule le meer meer Wel We l combine combine two two 3/4 3/4ss into ses of 6/ 6/44 s
2 Or it could be wri writte ttenn in he more oular 6/8 6/ 8
2
2
2
2
he dvnge of writing music hving trile division comound meter is th it shows the number of bets in mesurewo bets or three bets A 3/8 meter simle ile doesnt show how mny bes mesures re in grouing
ee we
I
'n
thee th
e
g 'n
the
l e e
g
I
I
bsh
6/8 meter does
ee we
I
2
I
bsh
2
48
LIES MY M Y MSIC EA EACH CHER ER OLD ME Nce tht the mec sucte s the sme n ethe cse here he re we g rou
dvsn gven be bett gg
he mu mu e err- ry ush
� r
Agn, 3/8 desnt shw the metrc grng f bets n ths sng
Beau - t ful
rea e, 1
I
wake u - I
Bt 9/8 des
Beu - t - ful ful e eam am e
2
wakee wak
u - u
e 2
I
3
nd gn, n ether cse the mec structure s e sme eut-- ful em eut em
e
wkee u wk u me
t .
dv
bet
2
1
2
LIE # 1 6 : MY ER ERSS
149
Whether t cmun r nt t cmuntht is the ques tin. Acty its mtter f tritin. Beethven wreste with this rbem rb em when he wrt wrtee th thee sch scherz erz f his inth Sym Symh hny. ny. nerstn his sitin itte bckgrn wu he. Dring the te eighteenth century when yng Lwig ws writing his First Firs t Symhn Sym hny y it w wss the custm t wri write te mi minu nuet et s the thir mvement. he minet reecessr f the waltz ws te meter nce. Ahgh Beethven's tem ws bit fst fr minet it sti h tps prft in tht the min bets we grue in threes
By the time Beethven wrte his inth Symhny sme rfn chnges h tken cebth in the wr n Beethven Frnce ws becming rebic were wigs were ut n gut-wrenching emtin ws in. he cssc inuet ws by then fshine n wu serve n rtistic urse in the thrughy rmntic inth. inth.
But even revtinry ike Beethven c nt cmetey ignre tritin. e h in erier symhnies trnsfrme e thirmvement tps-prft minet int prati prft scherz by seeing u the tem. Even thugh the fster tem cu cuse se the tr tri ie e meter meter t be be fe fett in ne ne"" even fster han han the wtz) he cunt bring himsef t use cmn meter. ritin ri tin wu wu n ntt her her f it. n he he inth e e tem f the scherz ws bzingy bz ingy fst. he 3/4 mesures ew st the yers' eyes s fst they were in nger f getting st in the br f qurter ntes. But Beethvens egance t tritn w wu u nt be be brken brken.. n nste ste f f gi givin vingg in in t
LIES MY MUSIC EACHER OLD ME
50
cmndng he ged the meses nt pus iprfcu by nmbeng them
4
4
i
It wk wkee d w the the lyes cld see nd fee the mec w w tht Fntsys lwye wld descbe n ct mny yes lte ths cse wth prolaiu prfcu (tile dsn) triple division given pulse duple grouping dupe 2nd grp.
111111111111111111111111 I I I I I I I I I I I 1
3 4 1 2 3 4 qdle meses
2
he digm shws tht hd Beethen been less f d tnlst t nlst he ght he w wtte ttenn hs hs schez n cmnd mete If he wnted t be ft thfl hfl t t hs qd qdle le gn g ng g he he mght h hee selected 12/4 mete
4
4
L # 6 M M R
5
O 2/8 which is visully clee becuse eighth ntes cn be bemed tgethe tgethe by bets bets
2
1
3
1
2
3
4
As the digm ls shws he cud hve chsen 6/4 6/8 since these e bsed n the sme mec stuctue s 2/4 nd 2/8 F sme esn tht tht is uncle uncle me m e ditin ditin hs hs fved fved using 6/8 f fste tems nd 2/8 f swe tems Lgic wd gue f juss t the ju si site te since s ince fste fste tems wu wuld ld lw f f st stn nge ge kinesthetic feel feel f the qudme qudmesue sue bl bline ine n ndd slwe slwe tem ems s wuld sed hem fhe . Pehs the tditin etes bck t the Bqe dnce cled gigue the me ecent 6/8 mch bth f wich e fst in tem nd e tditinlly wien in cmnd dule mete Bach Ba ch - Brandenbu Brandenburg rg Concerto Concerto #2 #2
1
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
1
Sousa Libe Liberty rty Bel Mar March ch
1
2
2
2
12
LIES MY M Y MSIC EACR EACR OLD ME
C e t thik Ce thik f it even e ven ma mac chh simle de is ditiny witten in 2/4 when it is in de tem nd 4/4 when it is in the slwe ces inl style. Sousa Sou sa Sta Stars rs and and Stripes Stripes Fore Forever ver
2
1
2
2
2
Bizet Bi zet To Torea reador dor Song
2
3
4
2
3
4
Oh well I gess ne shdn't eect t ndestnd evey thing th ing.. Esecil Es ecilly ly d dit itin in S hee's the bttm ine hee e ny ju bsic metic stct st ctes es he esn thee e ess t be sch sch ve f metes metes is tht cmse cn chse fm nmbe f tins when nt ntti ting ng msic ide. If n tile lse ti is esent the cmse can se ny nte vle f the given bet nd simly cnt the nmbe f thse th se bets in ech ech gp Wh When en t tie ie ti ti is inc inclde ldedd in the metic met ic stcte de decis cisin in hs hs t t be mde md e One c cnn s ssi sign gn nte nte vle t t the le p ps see level nd wte it in simle ipe ipe even if th thtt nte vle is nt the min bet O ne cn g the tile lses int sets nd se cmpnd mete. In bth cses thee is ls the tin t dble the nmbe f f ses in ech mese. desn't ffect the dible chcte f the msic in ny wy
Oh?? Y thin Oh think k it des? des ? Red n my iend iend
Lie #17: Quadruple meter has a different fee from duple meter, therefore one is some times more appropriate than the other for certain music Truth: Combining measures for notational convenience has no effect on the fee of the music
I hve he sphstcte msicns scss the sbtle feences between ple n qple mete bt sy e mbibng sbstntil mnts bcnt") If y e sffeng fm this ilgic cncept pehps this scssn wi hep Lets tke tw ttnl melies tht t me, hve the sme mscl ms cl fee" fee" O Ol l McDnl" n n Ynke Ynkeee Dle Dle " Hv Hve y ntice th tht t mst pblishe vesins vesi ns f O O M McD cDn nl l"" ae pbshe in 4/4 whle mst pblshe vesns f Ynkee Dle" e in 2/4?
Od Mac Mac Don a add had a fa
Ee
i
ee -
Yank nk-e -eee Do(d Do(dl l wnt to ow ownn a - rid- in ingg on a
h
po - y.
154
LIES MY MUSIC EACER OLD ME Why nt e ther wy rnd?
Oldd Mac Ol Mac D Dnn a add
had a f
Ee i
-
ee e h
Y Dod wnt to own dng dng on
po - ny.
Remember me meer er s s slen lentt nd mgnay mgnay cmbntn f flt ls lsee seres ser es relted n tws nd/r hr hree e s Fr s smly n nt t tnl cmndng f w sets f w. eres the lwyers mesre" we w e lked lked t ealer div di vis isio ion ngiven pulse grou gr oupi ping ng 2nd gr' ping
111111111 I I I I I I 1
2
3
2
4 2 3 qdrule meter 2 1 2 dle meter
4 2
Eve ry se Every sec cnd nd me mesre sre f f dle met meter er s st stll ll felt felt s mec mec sress s D y sre y stll thnk here here s msc ms cll dff dfference erence betwee betweenn 2/4 nd 4/4? If s y ae rbbly stll cnsng dynmc ccents w metrc ccents If y hnk Old McDnld" s better served by 4/4 becse ech qrter nte s mre evely stressed thn n he 4/4
LIE #7 FOUR AND WO ARE DIFFEREN
55
verson of Ynkee Doodle yo jst proved my pont Yor rgment hs to do wth rfrnc vles rther thn mec vles In other words the dynmcs lodness contrsts of the phrse sggested to yo tht for ws more pproprite thn two Bt dont desprthe gret Beethoven ws hng p by dtionl concepts, conce pts, to tooo .
I
So let's orgnize ths dscsson n wy tht wll be sefl ctl prctice e cn epess the Gothcs for bsc mec ptterns n todys nottion by sng these for top nmbers" 2, 3, 6 nd 9 Smple Dple
c
X > X > I 1 1 1 1 6X > 1\9X >
Simple Sim ple r rple ple
3
Compond Dple
(
Compond rple
) mn plse
5
LES M MSC EACHER OLD ME
All ther me meter sgntures re smply cmbntns f these fur bsc systems (N ths sn't lgebr e stnds fr ny nte e Well, guess ts srt f lke lgebr.)
2+2 X X X 5X X2 + X X + X2 = 2 2 2 2 2 2 + + + + + + X X X X X X � X X X X2 - X + X X5 = X + X X + X 5 4
r
7
r
r
9 r 9
Meters hng Meters h ng me proatiu r sn f 7 sme 9s etc, re ls bsed n the fur bsc systems Hweer, when mng tws nd threes t the sn leel whle mntnng regulrty f tht pulse the nrml gen" pulse s n lnger e pulse n tht the eents ae nt eqully spce n tme
I1111111111 pseudo puse I I I I I I real pulse I I I measure measure measure real puse
2
1
2
1
2
he sgnture n such meters s lke cmpund meters n t te tp number cunts the prts, nt e bets
4
r r
8
1 6
etc .
LIE # FOUR AD WO ARE DFFERE
57
he cnductr cnductr w bet the seud use us e even thugh t s nt even scng f events he cnductr nd the errmers e cntr cntr ng ng th w w f he he musi musicc by cnc c ncenr enrng ng n n th thee dvisn dvisn eve use keeng i even nd hnking in tes f eting sets f te tws nd threes
I
It shud be cer by nw tht cmser hs cnsderbe ttude n decding wht mete sgnure w best cmmuncte e ntent f the musc If he metrc w cnns n rie ris in her wd wds s si sim mee due t numbe numbe f 2 r r 4 ve ny sim sime e nte vaue wi see vey we
-
Ynk
ee
e
wen
wn
Ynk
ee
le
wen
wn
Ynk
ee
le
wen
wn
ee
le
wen
wn
f curse f yu wn t t ll yu musc yu rbby shud use que nte bet
LS MY M Y MSIC EAC EACHER HER OLD OLD ME
58
If yo mscal dea contans a leas one le lse ao, yo choces ms be made moe caelly If t s only te gong at ceaes te le ato sme e wll be a actcal choce
c
- -
ee
f
ee
i
f
ee
Howeve, f yo want the feelng of accent on evey on mease to be evdent n the wten msc, yo mght consde a comond de, even n sow emo whee the ats" ae felt as the man beat
M
cn
-
ee
ee
f
ee
I know tha ot oton on s athe athe we wed d bt some eole do choos choosee t wel w elve ve s als alsoo a logca ossb bt, bt, ha hally, lly, t's t 's sel seldo dom m sed
LIE #17 FOUR AND WO ARE DIFFEREN
15
If yr msic hs w min bets t the grp ech dividing int tree pars, cmpnd dple is he prctic chice
Here
we
the
m - ber -
the
mu ber -
bsh.
go 'roud
Here we
go rond
Here we
the
go roud
mu - ber -
bush
bsh
Simple pe is nt t f e qestin wever Remember e wal?
Here we go
'r'rou oud d
the
m- ber -
bush
B if yr msic hs tw djining ple levels y rely ve lite prcticl chice ther thn cmpnd triple
Bea
fu
dream - er,
Beaa - - f dream - er Be
wake n - to me
we un - to me
60
LIES MY MSIC TEACHER TOLD
Smemes muscl de cnns bh dupe nd pe dvisn f he be. In such cses use he meer needs he es numbe f es r duples.
ta! Ju Juan an -
- ta!
sk thy sul f
ta Jan ta
sk thy suL f
shl
art
sh art
Cley, he 34 meer s ess cmpliced. Heres n neesing prbem Suppse yu nme is Muice Rvel nd yu hve ge rhyhmic de fr bler ges e hs
Wh mee wud yu use? Yur chice shud me he mec w clea he perfer. S es see hw he hyhmic pe is rgned. If we ssume he be uni be he ded que ne he music seems gup n ws.
LIE #17 FOR AD WO ARE DIFFERE
161
e gpng te meses weve seems t be n tees becse te ytms n mesues ne nd tw e epeted mesues nd ve S d we ppy eetven tck nd smpy num numbe be te meses? meses?
1 1 1 1
e e Mce Rve sved te pblem ts wy Snce te stng sen sense se sw sw tpe tpe gupng gupng ws pp pppt ptee t te te me medy dy e pted smple tple wtng ut te tplets n te secnd dvsn eve
3
3
3
3 3
e ptten gps ut lke ts I tew n 6/8 ptten cmpsn) second division division main pulse gr ping
1111111111111111111111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1� I I I I 1
2 mese
3
1
2 mese
3
162
LIES MY M Y MSIC EACER OLD ME
e cld hve written it in 6/ Wld th hve chnged the feel? N even lile bi At lest n mre s hn Beehvens scherz frm /4 12/ If y y hve sered sered even shdw s wr wrth, th, m the the ntin ntin tt the chice f ne meer ignture r nther ffecs msicl feel, I he he bve discussin hs heled yu esce his illgic ide Remember h meter is iln mter I is e dible erfnce chrc ch rcter terisic isic s sch s dyn dynmics mics,, ccents nd h hrrs siing ng ht rvide the feeling th ects the listener
MEER SMMARY
S, where d these trths" eave s? Heflly they have eled e led nt a clear and a nd smle cncet cnc et f what meter meter s and hw t reates t ntatn Bt st t nal t dwn secrey ets reca e man ints in recse terms 1 Meter is a cmbnatn f three r mre reated se series n rats f tw-t-ne andr threetne It fnctns as magnary as sed t adtry knesthetc w rvdng a temra matr by whch ne can measre relatively the rhythmic events n a mscal wrk. 2 Strctres havng three rmary lses n a gr are cled rl r, and sctres havng tw rmy ses n a gr caed du dul l r r 3 Strctres n which a rmary beat dvides nt tw arts ae called l r and thse n whch a rmay beat dvdes nt three s are caled u und nd r.
164
LIES MY MSC EACER OLD OLD ME 4. here re fr bsc meric scres: ) grping prmry plse seres n n ws, ech pse dvdng n w pas. b) grping prmry plse seres n hrees, ech plse dividng n w ps. c) grping prmry plse series n ws, ech pse dvdng n hree prs. d) grping prmry pse series n hrees, ech pse p se dvdng n hre hreee pr prs. s.
5 Becse r sysem f rhyhmc nin s dple ne, nly simpe meers cn be epressed by cning he nmber f prmry bes p nmber) nd ssgning he prmry be any simple ne ve bm nmber) herefre, p nmber f 2 r 3 ndces simple meer 6. Cmpnd meers ms hve ded ne ssigned he prmry be n rder dvde i in hree eql prs), nd heref he refre, re, becse bec se ded ne ve cnn be epres epresse sedd s smple nmber, cnn be sed in he sgnre s he bm nmber. wever he cllecve pats f he be bes, s, snce h hey ey e smpe nes cn be cned nd sed in he sgnre herefre, p nmber f 6 r 9 ndices cmpnd meer. 7. A he pin f he cmpser dple r iple mesres cn be cmbined symmecly n ger mesres, sch s qdruple d seple mesres, mesres , indced by meer meer sgnre sgnress hving p nmbers f 4 6 12, nd lgclly, b hnkfly rrey) 18 hs des n chnge he bsic merc srucure f he m ms sc, c, s i i s prey me merr f nin pr prefe eference rence.. 8. Asymmericlly cmbned pes sch s qnpe nd sepple meers) wil cnn psed pse nn reglr) sme eve e ve,, nd emp regry regry is depend dependen en n her reglr) reglr) plse evels, eve ls, s sy y he ne ne fs fse err hn hn he psed pls p lse e
MEER SMMRY
65
9. Metc ccents ae cused by smultneus pulses t derent levels wtn metc sucture ese e ilnt knestetc p ptt ttes es nt t be cnfused wt udry ccents tt ccur n te ctu muscl sunds 0 Wen udtry ccents cnct wt metrc ccents te resultn resu ltntt rytms e clled clle d ynopation w I pe pe tht rec recpp wsn wsn t t c cde demc mc nd stuf stufffy I w wnt nted ed t get everytng n tt ws essentl nd yet use te wrds ecnmclly Wts mst mprtnt tug s t relze t understndng meter lke undestndng ptc reltns depends n fcusng n th thing it fcusng n te nttn used t represent t
166
LIES MY MSIC EACHER OLD ME
It hs been extremely grtfyng ver the st ten yes t reve scres f ems, leters nd hne clls frm reders f the rst edtn f Li wh fund t f vue. Wrds lke nfrmtve nsghtful nd even ehny were used Li frst edtn hss been rernted h rernted fve tm tmee s nd w wth th the excellent he f ur dstrbutr Indeendent ublshers Gru mny thusnds f ces hve been urchsed In ddtn number f cllege rfessrs hve dted Li s n ancll textbk lthugh ht ws nt ts ntended urse I m rtculrly deghted tht Li hs been ubshed n Snsh Sn sh nd wll sn be ublshed n n Chnese Mquel Mqu el Bed Bed n ndd H-Fn Lee bth reders f Li cntcted ublshers n ther resectve cuntres ntted negttns nd ersnlly vded the trnsltns I wll be nterested t see hw the bk els t fks n thse arts f the wrd he success f Li encurged me t wte Sun f Mui: Prtin an Ntatin systemtc textbk tht rvdes ste byste gude t hw musc wrks Lke Li e new bk was receved enthusstclly Revews were vey gtfyng nd he ws hgh tht mny cllege dtns wuld fllw But sdly tht hs nt hened In fct, ne techer wh hd dted Sun ws tld by her derment hed tht he wuld nt rve ts cntnued use Aenty he felt tht Sun s ut f sync wt wthh th thee curent curent thnk thnkng ng I cul culdd hve hve tld tld hm tht tht In nther cse thery techer ved the bk but hnestly dmted dm ted th thtt he ddn ddn t see hw he cul culdd use us e t wthn the the system s ystem
68
LIES M MUSC TEACHER TOLD ME
So hee's the situation Scoes o individuals appeciate an ae enthusiastic about these ieas, but the music eucati estabishment has all but jecte them I suppse I shoulnt be supise Copeicus an his ieas wee not ebace by e estabishment o his ay athough oubt these suggestions ae as seious a eat to thee status quo th quo as his wee (Wel on th thee oth othe e han ) wil leave it thee ea eae The utue wil in time, tel whethe these eots inuence usic eucation towa a moe eaistic an honest appoach to heping young musicians pactice thei at In any event sinceey hope Lis has been benecial to you I wish you well Gea Eskein
Noes
Noes
