Tag Archives: music lessons

When Was Music First Written Down?

This is a really interesting question. We have music from centuries ago so it might be easy to think that we pretty much have all the music there must have been created in human civilization (or at least close to it) but this is far from the truth.

For most of history music was not written down. We really have no idea what people played in antiquity – which is really a shame to never be able to know what songs they sang or what beats they played.

Music was actually written down as far back as the 6th Century B.C. in ancient Greece and Rome. The writing in this time was a bit more of a reminder on how to sing the songs rather than precise notation but it was certainly the beginning of writing down music in a digestible form.

The modern system of music notation had its roots in the 11th Century which grew from Gregorian Chants or Plainsong in the church. This is a process of taking liturgical text and singing it. To remind people of how the song is supposed to be sung – the sections where it goes up or down or certain embellishes – there would be squiggly lines and other ornamentations added to the text to direct the singers.

Eventually Guido d’Arezzo decided to draw a single line to make a reference for pitch. Notes would be drawn above and below the line to designate higher or lower pitches. This system was eventually refined and evolved into a more modern system which contained four lines.

If you have the chance you should really check out what notation for Gregorian Chants looks like. It’s very evocative of modern notation but not quite there; there are no bar lines or rhythmic accuracy like we have in today’s notation.

It wasn’t until the end of the 17th century that modern notation began to flourish.

So yes, music was written down thousands of years ago but it really never becomes the modern notation we know today until late into the 17th century. If you have the chance to look at some early notation it’s very fascinating and offers insight into what would eventually become modern music writing. Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

What is a Musical Slur? Music Lessons with Robert Estrin

You may find the accompanying video helpful. My wife Florence Estrin demonstrates how to play a slur on the flute as it’s much more complicated to demonstrate on the piano. If you are only able to read the text, I will give you good information about what a slur is.

Slurs are curved lines connecting 2 or more notes:

Note: A curved line that connects 2 notes that are the same is not a slur but a tie which makes the 2 notes into one long note.

Slurs indicate to a wind player when to use the tongue to delineate the beginning of notes and when to connect the notes on the breath. To put this simply, the tonguing will be on the first note and everything else that follows will be on the breath. Florence provides a great example of this in the video above. She also provides some examples of what it sounds like to play the musical line without slurs – tonguing the beginning of each note as well as providing examples of different phrasing.

When it comes to the piano, the difference between a slur and a non-slurred note is much harder to determine. A true slur as in singing is actually a quick glide between notes. Since this isn’t possible on the piano, overlapping notes slightly is the closest approximation of a slur possible. This is technically not a slur but it’s impossible to play a true slur on the piano; like many things when it comes to this instrument, it’s an illusion. If a phrase is not slurred, you can delineate notes by putting a slight space between each of the notes.

There are many different types of phrasing and shadings within slurs and non-slurs we can explore in future videos. I hope this information is useful to you. If you have any more questions please contact me:

 

Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Does Atonality Go Against Nature? The Overtone Series – Atonality Part 2

This week we are presenting Part 2 in our series on Atonality. In Part 1, we gave a Brief Overview of Atonality. Today we are going to go into a bit more depth. The question of whether or not atonality goes against nature is a difficult one which may elicit a strong response in many viewers – both negative and positive. I would love all of your input on this subject and really appreciate any comments or suggestions you have.

Western music is built upon the Overtone Series – which is a fact of nature: all vibrating objects contain color tones. So when you hear a fundamental pitch it actually contains other notes above it. Any vibrating object that produces a pitched sound elicits these overtones – so a string instrument will produce the same series of notes as blowing through a French horn or even a garden hose! It is all the same series of tones. Here is the overtone series:

The intervals start out very large and then get smaller. These intervals are based upon simple relationships. For example, an octave (the first overtone) is just a 2 to 1 relationship. All sound is based upon vibrations so if you play A above middle C on a piano it has 440 vibrations per second. (This is why people speak of tuning to A 440.). Technically your eardrum is vibrating back and forth 440 times per second and it produces the sound of the note A. If you play A an octave higher you produce 880 vibrations per second, exactly twice the number of vibrations per second. That’s why it sounds like the same note. A perfect 5th (the second overtone) forms a 3 to 2 relationship.

A minor second is a very dissonant interval with a 16 to 15 relationship. The more distant the mathematical relationship of notes, the more dissonant they sound. Why is this? Because the human brain has trouble making mathematical sense out of more distant relationships of tones. So this is why some intervals of notes are harder to figure out than others. Clashing notes are referred to as sounding dissonant. Here is a chart of the mathematical relationship of musical intervals:

Unison (2 of the same note)              1/1

Octave                                                           2/1

Perfect 5th                                                  3/2

Perfect 4th                                                  4/3

Major 3rd                                                    5/4

Major 6th                                                    5/3

Major 7th                                                   15/8

Minor 7th                                                   9/5

Major 2nd                                                   9/8

Minor 2nd                                                  16/15

Tri-tone                                                        135/128

So, to some extent atonality going against nature and and is hard for the brain to digest. If you consider that the universe is constructed in an orderly manner – that there are inherent relationships between everything living and nonliving that can be organized down to a molecular level – than atonality goes against nature as it does not have tight formal relationships the way tonal music does. On the other hand, if you believe that the universe is chaotic and that many things are related only by random chance encounters which we seek to find order in, then atonality is simply an expression of the universe.

So the question of whether or not atonality goes against nature is related to how you see the universe itself. Is the universe ordered or chaotic? This is something that man has been grappling with since we first appeared on this earth and no definitive answer is possible. Ultimately we must find order out of chaos to survive in this world and that’s why tonality is so refreshing and easy to digest. Atonality is something that is hard to digest and challenging, yet some people find order within the chaos. The challenge of finding structure amidst the randomness that surrounds our everyday lives is what keeps us engaged in both art and life itself.

So the appreciation of atonal music ultimately comes down to your intellectual capacity of making order out of chaos. Some people prefer things to be more coherent while others enjoy the challenge of dealing with more randomness. What type of person you are will determine whether or not you enjoy or abhor atonal music. It also comes down to the level of sophistication of the listener because music is a language that must be learned.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com. I would love to hear from all of you and get your thoughts on this subject.

What is Atonality? Atonality Part 1

You have undoubtedly heard atonality in spooky movies and other places where notes clash and you hear strange dissonances. Unlike most melodic music which you can sing along, atonal music can be much more challenging to comprehend.

Western music is based upon major and minor scales that form tonal music which is relatively easy to comprehend. Atonal music is based upon tone rows, where all twelve chromatic notes available are arranged in a random pattern, and the entire piece is built upon that.

If you explore this, you will discover all sorts of unusual sounds and clashing harmonies. We will go into more depth on atonality in future videos and I certainly welcome your comments and suggestions on this subject.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

3 Reasons You Should Use a Metronome When You Practice Music

The metronome is much maligned by many musicians for its incessant ticking which can be like a form of Chinese water torture! Many teachers are insistent upon using the metronome and students have questioned whether or not they need this ticking box.

The metronome really is one of the two most important tools at your disposal (the other being an audio recorder) and you should be practicing with it regularly – whatever your skill level. Today we are going to discuss three reasons why the metronome is so important as well as some great applications on how to use it.

The first reason why you need the metronome is that nobody has a perfect clock in their brain. When you start to learn a piece of music and you encounter tough sections, you will naturally slow down a bit to compensate for the difficulty. You might think that once you work them out and get things up to speed, there should be no problem. But you may overcompensate and actually play these sections even faster! The only way to be sure is to play with the metronome.

Don’t make the mistake my mother used to make by putting the metronome too fast and trying to keep up with it. She would drive herself crazy with frustration trying to match an impossibly fast speed of the metronome. Find a speed you are comfortable with and work your way up to an appropriate tempo.

The second reason you want to use a metronome is that it provides an essential practice tool for difficult sections of music. Start by playing at a slow speed accurately with comfort. Then, incrementally increase the speed notch by notch gaining confidence at each new tempo until you get the passage mastered up to tempo. This is an indispensable tool for developing a refined technique on your instrument.

The key is to use this technique by zeroing in on specific sections of your music – not the whole piece. It will not take as much time as you think and you will master tough sections of your music much more quickly.

The third reason you want to use a metronome is because it will help you improve as a musician. The pulse is one of the most important aspects of music and developing a consistent beat will make you a better musician. This aids in playing with other musicians with a tight ensemble.

These are three great reasons to use the metronome and I’m sure many of you have more suggestions as well. Please leave us some comments or email me directly Robert@LivingPianos.com

Learning Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier on The Piano

You might be familiar with The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach. It really is an amazing body of work. These works are definitely worth exploring.

To understand The Well-Tempered Clavier we must understand what Bach means by “Well-Tempered”. A long time ago keyboard instruments were actually tuned to sound pure in different keys depending upon the key of the piece you played. If you were playing a piece in G major, the instrument would be tuned to sound in tune in G major. The piece would sound great but if you tried to play in some other keys it could sound horrendous! As time went on tuning became more flexible so that it was possible to play in a great variety of keys with the same tuning. While the system of tuning available at Bach’s time favored some keys more than others, it was a vast improvement in offering the flexibility to play in all keys without the need for returning.

Today we have what is referred to as “Equal Tempered Tuning”. All keys are equally in tune, or more accurately equally out of tune. I have another blog; Why a Piano is Never in Tune that deals with this subject in more depth.

The Well-Tempered Clavier is a series of Preludes and Fugues in all the major and minor keys, 12 major keys, and 12 minor keys for a total of 24 Prelude and Fugues. However, there is not just one book but two books of Preludes and Fugues for a grand total of 48 Preludes and Fugues! These are incredible works worth getting to know.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729