Lesson 11/14/06
This week's lesson can really be summarized (in my opinion) with one word: creativity.
Primarily, we discussed how to play certain passages and what finger patterns produced the best quality or tone for the passage. Each area must be individually examined in a piece of music to decipher how it is best played, and there is always more than a single method. I have to have a close reading of sorts of the Passacaglia and figure out how best to finger the notes in order to maintain overall structure as well as continuity. To speak of it more artistically, the piece of music can only be brought to life if I make the effort to truly understand it.
The Passacaglia:
When I first examined it, I only thought of it in its strict definitive terms as described by the Grove Dictionary. Technically speaking, a passacaglia is a piece of music (traditionally a dance style often associated with the chaconne) that is closely related to the theme and variations style of composition. Structurally it contains tetrachords and suspensions (producing the dissonances often associated in the harmonic texture of the piece) in its melodic sections.
entry on "The Inner Game of Tennis" still to come.
Comments
Posted by: Dan
Posted on: November 27, 2006 09:28 PM
I like your summary of the lesson from the 14th, Jesse - it demonstrates your ownership of the material covered and the thought that you are putting into the piece. Using your judgment to choose what materials you will use to let music come to life is absolutely a creative endeavor - in this case, it is the fingerings (combined with the attendant strings used). BRAVO!
For the Passacaglia, remember that tetrachords are not four-note chords, but four note groupings, usually scalar (e.g., major scales are made up of two tetrachords).