You’ve probably seen a lot of repeat signs in your music:
There is a mentality a lot of musicians have that these are optional – but are they really?
As a teacher, I would commonly be asked by students why repeat signs are used. The simple answer is to save paper! It really is that simple. Often it’s easier to utilize repeat signs then to write all the notes again. There are times when repeat signs are used in a piece in one edition, and in another edition, the notes are written out. You would probably never consider leaving out the written notes in this case. So why leave out the repeat in the other instance?
You should never go into a piece expecting repeat signs to be optional; they should be respected just as if the notes were written down in their entirety. There are times when I’ve heard musicians take extremely slow tempos in pieces and inevitably leave out the repeats. If repeats don’t seem to work, maybe your tempo is too slow.
So to answer the question, are repeat signs really important? Yes! Try playing the repeats in your music whenever there isn’t time constraints in your performance and you will be rewarded with the musical form as the composer intended.
This is a really interesting question. Sometimes you will see E sharps or C flats written in music and you might wonder why they just don’t write F or B instead – after all, an E sharp is an F and a C flat is a B on a piano. So why add this level of complexity?
Let’s start by exploring the foundations of Western Music. For most of us the music we are familiar with is founded upon the principles in Western Music. Everything from Rock to Pop to Symphonies utilizes the same aspects of being built upon scales.
What are scales exactly? Musical Scales are a series of whole steps and half steps that have all the notes (letter names) in order. For example, here is a C major scale:
When you see these string of notes together you should recognize that they are Diatonic, which means they are all built on the interval of a second. In other words, one letter to the next letter, line to space, space to line consecutively.
For more information on scales we have a series of in-depth videos on this topic:
So let’s get back to the topic at hand. Why is it a good idea to sometimes have E sharp instead of F or C flat instead of B written in your music?
Let’s say for example you had a piece in C-sharp major:
As you can see, it has all the same letters as a C major scale and we happen to have an E# in there as well instead of F. It would look pretty weird on paper if the notes were C# D# F F# G# A# B# C# wouldn’t it? In cases like the one above it is much easier to decipher the notes if they are written diatonically.
Let’s examine this same topic when it comes to chords. Chords are built on the interval of 3rds (for more information you can see our video: What is a Chord?). To put it in simple terms, chords are built upon the interval of a 3rd which are two letters apart – all lines or all spaces. So for example, here is a C major chord:
So if you had a C# major chord it would look like this:
And the same principle applies as the one above. It’s much easier to comprehend the chord written with an E# rather than an F. It makes more sense and is more digestible on the page. It is instantly recognizable as a chord.
Hopefully this clarifies the concept of why E sharps and C flats are (and other accidentals which are white keys) are easier to read than their enharmonic equivalent spellings.
Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us directly: info@LivingPianos.com or (949) 244-3729.
You may not have heard the term Minimalism but you have certainly heard the music. This is a recent evolution in music and it is featured in countless film scores. Today we are going to discuss aspects of minimalism and what separates it from different musical styles.
There have been a number of cycles throughout music history. Over time, musical forms become more complex and eventually reach a point where they collapse upon themselves. By the end of Johann Sebastian Bach’s lifetime, Baroque music had become so complex that it literally broke down and ushered in the Classical era of music with its well structured forms. This is not the only time this has occurred in history and sure enough this similar pattern is found throughout musical eras.
The Romantic period following the Classical period shared many forms. However, the structures were expanded as was the orchestra and the length of works. Harmonies and modulation of keys in the music of Wagner, Richard Strauss and others led to the breakdown of tonality with composers such as Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern abandoning tonality completely and ushering in the 12 tone system of composition which is not based upon major and minor scales at all!
Eventually in the 20th century we had another breakdown in music which ushered in minimalism. This form of music took incredibly complex music and broke it down into simple patterns and textures that interweave in new and complex ways. In the video provided with this article I play an excerpt from Orphee Suite for Piano by Phillip Glass to give you an idea of what minimalist music can sound like.
Many works in this period evolve very slowly with very small changes throughout and some will have overlapping textures with different length looping phrases on different instruments. It’s a fascinating style of music and it’s well worth exploring other works of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams and others. Thanks again for watching I’m Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
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.
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.
Singing might often be overlooked by most musicians but it’s an essential component in musical development and education. When it comes to piano, you can produce a tone without hearing it first. Singing is the absolute opposite of this – you must hear the notes first or you can’t possibly sing them.
Singing lends more to music than you might think. Like we talked about in our video this week, the breath and the cyclical nature of things weave its way into music. Understanding this relationship is extremely beneficial to a pianist and that’s why if you are a piano major at a music conservatory, you will have to either play an instrument in the orchestra or sing in the choir. Adversely, if you play an instrument or sing in the choir, you will need to learn to play the piano!
The tone the piano produces is a sharp attack, a quick decay, and a slow descending sustain. Music, on the other hand, is produced in round phrases – much like singing or breathing. That’s why it’s always a good idea to sing along with your music while you are learning it. It might sound silly but it’s an extremely helpful tool to get you to understand how the music should be played and heard.
In the video accompanying this article, I play the Chopin Prelude in E minor. I demonstrate the benefits of singing the melody while playing the chords. By singing your parts you will start to understand the structure of the music like you never have before; it’s enlightening.
I really can’t recommend this technique enough. It’s something that every pianist must do as it helps enhance your understanding of music and will greatly benefit your playing. There is no substitute for this technique so even if you cringe at the sound of your own voice you should do yourself a favor and sing along – I guarantee it will help!
