Classical Form Continued

CRITIQUING:

Pretty good job on the “Theme and Variations”. Some of you tried to analyze the whole piece instead of your favorite variation. A lot of you need to start using more music terms (like “piano” instead of quiet). Also try not to say things like “there are a lot of notes there” or “it has dynamics”. That kind of goes without saying. Use specifics, like “the density of chords is thickest in the last three measures” or “it starts a crescendo at measure 4 and hits a fortissimo at measure 8”. I am going to start grading a little harder here. If you need to brush up on music terminology, DO IT. I am always here to help if you need it.


A NEW FORM (BTW there may be a test on this in the near future so you might want to read thoroughly...)
Now we don’t always get to play with the same theme over and over. Sometimes music has more than one theme. These are usually related but they have a kind of A B form (like a verse/chorus). They compare and contrast with each other to make themselves all the more awesome – like a question and an answer.

One of the most well known forms in music is the sonata form (that’s right Dominic – your favorite). This is a three part structure that you hear in symphonies, solos, ensembles and more. It’s a lot like our five paragraph essays. It goes something like this:

A: The Exposition

a) This is two or more themes laid out very clearly.

b) Like the 5-paragraph essay, the exposition is the opening paragraph laying out its case.

c) The Exposition usually repeats.

d) It is all in the TONIC (meaning in the key of the actual key signature).

B: The Development:

a) This plays with the themes from the exposition – like theme variations - only the variations and development can be so tricky to hear (like playing a theme backwards or upside down) that it is sometimes hard to follow (this is where you often start drifting, feel lost or just plain sleepy). It takes a good ear to be able to follow the hidden themes.

b) Like the 5-paragraph essay, this is where all the points are developed and the whole case laid out.

c) It is in many different keys but especially in the key of the DOMINANT (meaning it modulated to the key of V or sol).

A: The Recapitulation:

a) This comes back to the themes and tries to repeat them almost exactly as before.

b) Like the 5-paragraph essay, we are wrapping up our points by repeating them once more.

c) It is back in the TONIC.
Here is the very famous Mozart Sonata in C. See if you can follow the sonata form. Tell me at what time you think the Exposition, Development and Recapitulation start and end (give me a time such as 2:13). Describe a couple of ways the themes were played with in the Development. USE MUSIC TERMS!!!

Mozart Sonata in C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcUh-ggBfzI

Theme and Variations

Amazing comments from last week.  I was very impressed by many of your excellent points and well-thought reasoning.  I sure have an awesome collection of students.  Wow!

Moving on... Many of you have a very healthy respect for “Classical Music” but how well do you really understand it? I would like to start a series of blogs exploring this genre beyond the surface level. I want you to understand at least two things when we are finished: 1) The distinct periods of music and how they influence us today and 2) How to follow classical music or understand it’s form.


First, let’s see if we can start grasping the mechanics behind a classical piece. If you know what is happening, you may be less likely to fall asleep at Philharmonic concerts!

You already know what musical form is. You hear it all the time in contemporary music:
Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus, Ending

If you were to put some sort of music terminology you could say it is something like this:
Intro A B A B C B B Coda

Well, Classical Music has forms too. It has themes that repeat, develop and play with variations.

Check out the variations Mozart wrote on “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. It’s the same song 12 times in 12 different ways. See if you can still hear the basic melody in each variation. Pick a favorite variation and tell me why you like it. Describe ALL of the following: the rhythm, tempo, meter, density (lots of notes or few), dynamics (fortes and pianos), whether you hear more chords or scales, where you hear the melody (bass, middle or high?), what key it is in (name of the key and is it major or minor) and special techniques in playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO-ecxHEPqI&feature=related

P.S. For Recording Students and OSSAA soloists' sake, I will give you ALL two weeks to accomplish this blog. DO NOT wait until the end of the second week to try to finish this.  You may want to split the work into two sessions instead of one as this is a rather long assignment if you do it correctly.

"To The Cloud!"

In our blog on virtual reality (Blog 3) I asked “how real are you?” Torta’s response: “I don’t feel like I understand the true definition of being real”. Sylas even said “calling it ‘real’ is a bad name for it”. Jakob says “Virtual existence IS Reality”. In the truest sense of the word he is right – virtual existence exists and that makes it part of our reality. But is that the “reality” to which I was referring? What does it mean to be “real”?


Mary Beth had a great explanation when she commented on the virtual choir: “It sounds perfect – almost too perfect… you start wondering what’s real and what’s fake. Makes you wonder what all else music you think is real isn’t.” Christian admitted the song was beautiful but also says: “We need to remember that the credit for the song goes to the voice scrubbers, mix masters… not necessarily to the voice that sang them.”

Ever seen that commercial for Windows where the mom is trying to get the perfect family picture but they are all acting crazy? She says “to the Cloud” and, working with a photo editing program (virtual reality), she creates a perfect family picture. Then she says “Window’s gives me the family nature never could.” What if we did that to the Band Room? Took all the craziness, all our racket, all our mistakes, all our humanness and went “to the Cloud”? We could make ourselves something we really aren’t – something everyone else wants to see.

But would that, as Katlyn commented, take away from “the purpose of music – the reality of it”? What is the purpose of music? What is the reality of it?

Several of you (Dominic, Rachel, knowingly or unknowingly, used words to describe “real”: vibrations, feeling, closeness, huggly, touch, natural… Things that can’t be found in a virtual world. A “real” choir, by these descriptions, rubs shoulders, makes mistakes, speeds up, slows down, has issues with pitch and blend and shows individual personalities – for good or for bad. A virtual choir is polished, blended, perfect and erases individual quirks. All our studio recorded music is virtual or “canned”. Thanks to the “mix masters”, it really is beautiful. You don’t listen to it hoping it the performers “get it right”. You can just relax and enjoy.

Was the family of the “to-the-Cloud” lady beautiful just the way they were? Is our music from the Band Room beautiful compared to all the “cool” music from the virtual world? What is the point of doing it if it isn’t? What is “real” and why is it important?

Andrew talked about the competition of the virtual world – everyone trying to outdo each other in virtual creativity. At this point we are not only trying to look or sound like something we are not, we are trying to be cooler than other virtual families or bands. Everyone can be what they make themselves to be. You have to not only be virtual, you have to be cool virtual. What happens when you want to just be real? Does it make you doubly “uncool”? Jacob described a legitimate concern when he said he was “worried that no one would listen [to him on his simple acoustic guitar] because they will be too busy with… all the neat little gadgets [of virtual reality]”. He has a good point. Who wants reality when they can have virtual reality?

Is being real too embarrassing? Is it too hard? Is it too vulnerable? If we all just went “To the Cloud” we could look pretty, sound pretty and really believe we are pretty. We can even compete on who is the prettiest. Why be real when you can have “the Cloud”?

Now I am not saying technology is bad or good. I agree with many of you who showed that technology is something that can be used either way. A tool is only as moral (good or bad) as the human controlling it. I have “fixed” my family picture in Photoshop and the Band Room is currently “canning” hit songs for Cleopatra Records. None of this is bad. That is not the argument. The question was –and is: “how real are you”? How in touch to real life, real relationships, real music, real you, real God are you?

Here is my definition of “real” (I would like to hear your definition). To be real is to live on purpose, not reactively. To be real is to value our family and friend relationships – not just for what you can get out of them but for what you can give. Real musicians don’t just play what’s on the page – they make it come alive. Real people are not afraid to find out who they are and live up to the potential God gave them. Like Pinocchio, we don’t become “a real boy” until we are willing to be true to what our Father/Creator made us to be. And speaking of God, to be real is to know the ultimate Reality – and that is God Himself. That is my reality. It hurts, it’s embarrassing, it’s full of life, it’s fun, it’s scary, it’s can be really hard but it’s extremely simple. It is the only place I want to be.

Copy three points made and respond to them. Yep! That’s right – no listening – just commenting.