Playing the Entire Piece

During piano instruction, there should be no stopping to correct mistakes at the piano. The playing of the piece should proceed from the beginning of the song to the end. If a mistake is made at the piano, or the student loses his place in the song, the pupil must find the place and continue to the finish. This matter is very important, because the habit of stopping and stammering at the keyboard is easily acquired and very hard to break. The child who makes a mistake must be made to realize that he has a definite task before him of practicing the troublesome phrase or figure until he has mastered it. This practice means that the child is taking a disproportionate amount of time. It should be at his home. When the child feels that he can play correctly the passage on which he stumbled, the teacher should permit him to do so, and if satisfactorily done, the piano teacher should praise his efforts in overcoming the difficulty.

Home Practice. Students should be encouraged to practice the music of the course at home until they can perform it correctly, smoothly, and with musical expression. They should also play freely for their parents and other interested listeners.

Students should be encouraged to practice playing songs in different keys in as many transpositions as possible, such as in C, G and F positions using the same fingering. They may also frequently transpose their songs from major to parallel minor, and vice versa.

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Construction of Simple Themes - Pt. II

Consquent of the Period. The consequent is a modified repetition of the antecedent. If the period is a complete piece (e.g. children's songs) it must end on I (usually with a perfect cadenc). If it is part of a larger form, it may end on I, V or III (major or minor).

An unchanged and complete repetition is very rare. Even in the simplest cases, at least the last measure is modified. Usually, the introduction of a full cadence requires earlier changes.

Variation of the harmony can start as early as the first measure of the consequent. The consequent may even begin on a different degree.

Melodic Considerations. To exercise the function of a cadence, the meoldy has certain characteristics, producing a special cadence contour, which usually contrasts with what prcedes it. The melody parallels the changes in the harmony, bu using longer notes like a ritardando or smaller notes like an accelerando. An increase of small note values is more frequent in cadences than a decrease.

The melody in the cadence commonly reduces characteristic features, such as typical intervals, to uncharacteristic ones, or the intervals might be abanodoned or combined in a different order. If there is a climax the melody is likely to recede from it, returning to the middle register.

Rhythmic Considerations. Since the consequent is a varied repetition of the antecedent, and since variation does not change all the features but preserves some of them, distantly related motive-forms might sound incoherent. Therefore, the preservation of the rhythm allows extensive changes in the melodic contour. Rhythmic unification permits far-reaching changes of the melodic contour.

In some cases of Romantic compositions, the pedal point is used not only for expression but for construction. It might be found at the end of a transition, emphasizing the end of a previous modulation and preparing for the reintroduction of the tonic. In this case the pedal retards: it holds back the forward progress of the harmony. Or, the retardation of the harmonic movement functions to balance remote motival variation. On the other hand, a moving, melodic bass line might offer greater rhythmic cohesion.

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Construction of Simple Themes

How can we most easily organize the construction of classical music when teaching theory in piano classes NJ? A complete musical idea or theme is typically articulated as a period or a sentence. These usually appear in classical music as parts of larger forms (e.g. as A in the ABA form), but at times are independent (e.g. in strophic songs). All, however, center around a tonic and they have a definite ending.

In the simplest cases themes consist of an even number of measures, usually eight or a multiple of eight (i.e. 16 or, in very rapid tempos, even 32, where two or four measures are equal to the content of one). The distinction between the sentence and period lies in the treatment of the second phrase, and in the continuation after it.

Beginning of the Sentence. The construction of the beginning lays the groundwork for the construction of what follows. In its opening, a theme should clearly present (in addition to tonality, tempo and metre) its basic motive. An immediate repetition is simplest and is characteristic of the sentence structure.

If the beginning is a two-measure phrase, the continuation (m. 3 and 4) can be either an unvaried or a transposed repetition. Slight changes in melody or harmony can be made without obscuring the repetition.

Dominant Form: Repetition. A relationship between the first and second phrase can include tonic and dominant forms of repetition. In the repetition, the rhythm and melody are retained. A bit of contrast is introduced through the changed harmony and adaptation of the melody.

The tonic form can be based on I, I-V, I-V-I, I-IV or possibly I-II. In these cases the dominant form will contrast with the tonic form, as in V, V-I, V-I-V, V-I, V-I. An example of scheme I-V (tonic), V-I (dominant) can be found in Beethoven's works, the Piano Sonata, Op. 31/2-III (fou-measure phrases). The melody is modified only enough to conform with the harmony.

I will write more about the construction of simple themes in future blogs.

For more information about piano lessons NJ, contact Barbara Ehrlich Piano Studio.