John Reading john@rudedogprop.com Balance and Swing - http://bas.gvorch.com Stellar Days & Nights Feb 2017
That all there is to it! Questions?
2300 years of history in 10 minutes Written music notation or what are all those dots and squiggles and why are they there?? I like to call it Numberology, not math. Intervals Chords Mind & Body Modes Your questions. Interrupt any time.
Oldest keyed instrument The Hydraulis 3 rd century BC Water driven pipe organ Keys let water flow to push air through pipes
The hydraulis is the name of a Greek instrument created by Ctesibius of Alexandria. The hydraulis has a reservoir of air which is inserted into a cistern of water. The air is pushed into the reservoir with hand pumps, and exits the reservoir as pressurized air to blow through the pipes. The reservoir is open on the bottom, allowing water to maintain the pressure on the air as the air supply fluctuates from either the pumps pushing more air in, or the pipes letting air out.
The Church, Gregorian Chants, Well Tempered Clavier (1722) The church said only unison, octaves and 5ths were pure 3rds are third class citizens! 1800 s Standardization of A440, GMT John Harrison: the H-4 marine clock Why are the French special? Maintained standard on A435 until 1859 Used own prime meridian until 1911 British move to A440 in 1896 Greenwich meridian adopted 1884
What is it? A Programming Language for the Eyes Defines a way to communicate EXACTLY what is to be played or can provide a general guideline. What about if you re blind or nearly so? (Shameless plug for Blind Man s Ears workshop) The Ears have it! Ears are the mouth to your soul. Sound feeds the rest of your body and soul. Are you addicted to dots? Join a 12 tone program and wean yourself off! Let s take a look
Treble Defines G above middle C (a 5 th ) Alto/Tenor - Defines middle C Bass - Defines F below middle C (a 5 th ) Bracket Who uses the Alto/Tenor Clef and why? Viola, Cello, Trombone, English Horn, Bassoon No need to read ledger lines
Nine? But Wait there s more Octave Treble, Neutral, Tablature
Enough of this. Let s move on.
The C Major Scale (start here because ) It s major No flats or sharps All white keys on the piano Most traditional tunes are in C, G, D, A and relative minors (A-, E-, B-, F#-) What s a relative minor? For that matter, what makes anything minor? If you start on a C scale and go UP a 5 th to G, the G scale will need one to maintain the same scale relationships If you start on a C scale and DOWN a 5 th to F, the F scale will need one to maintain the same scale relationships
Piano keys and note numbers (always count UP) Frequencies Tuning (concert 440 vs continental pitch 435) 12 notes in the chromatic scale 7 note diatonic scale 5 note pentatonic scale ½ steps and whole steps (two ½ steps) Tri-tones Chord progressions like 1,4,5,1 or 3,6,2,5,1 Time signatures, 16 bar phrases, etc, etc, etc.
Always count UP Normal scales have 7 notes Unisons, octaves Understanding inversions (raise or lower a note by 8va) 5ths, 4ths 3rds, 6ths 2nds, 7ths Inversions or a 4 th is a 5 th is a 4 th Extensions 9 th is a 2 nd transposed one octave up 11 th is a 4 th 13 th is a 6 th Dominant 7 th is a special case due to inversion
An interval is the distance between two notes A chord is more than two notes played at the same time from notes within the scale Triads: 3 major, 3 minors and a diminished. Chord can have 3,4,5,6,7 notes Think within the scale for chord tones How do you build them? How do you know? My Favorite Chord: Db7 9 #11 13
Yup forget all of the previous Your ears already know All you have to do is listen and pay attention Listen to others, recordings, yourself and your inner being Relax Have fun Skills can be developed, muscles can be trained Talent is a gift of varying degrees
In Descending Order Physical Ears Hands Feet Arms The whole body Spiritual Soul Emotions Mind
Mode Tonic relative to major scale Steps (W)hole (h)alf Notes of the scale Common Name in Key Sig of C Ionian (Major) 1 st WW h WWW h C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C C Major Dorian 2 nd W h WWW h W D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D D Dorian Phrygian 3 rd h WWW h WW E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E E Phrygian Lydian 4 th WWW h WWh F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F F Lydian Mixolydian 5 th WW h WW h W G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G G Mix (olydian) Aeolian (Minor) 6 th W h WW h WW A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A A Minor Locrian 7 th h WW h WWW B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B B Locrian Oh yeah, what does it sound like? A modal tune: Campbells Farewell
That s it, ain t no mo no mo no mo