Balance

Welcome, dear readers!

Spring-like weather is tentatively continuing here in Denver...I am attempting to remain skeptical, but all these sunny days have my hopes running sky-high for real spring!  My journey to Phoenix later this week will probably only make it harder to keep my spring fever at bay, since they're expecting high 70's and 80's.  I plan to bask unapologetically the entire time I'm there -- will any of you be joining the big OAKE party?  If so, let me know, and let's catch up!

Thinking about the weather is an extremely pleasant distraction from the rigors of degree-finishing and future-forging that occupy most of my head-space at the moment.  It's an interesting time, and my hopes are high -- I'm lucky to have good support from my faculty, and I believe that good things are on their way, employment-wise.  Keeping the sense of urgency at bay is hard, sometimes too hard, and panic kicks me around the schoolyard and steals my sleep (like so much lunch money) and makes me feel like I'd better get my hands on a refrigerator box ASAP.  And then, I'm lucky again...my dear friends help me piece my sense of well-being back together and remind me that sometimes I just need a good night's sleep and maybe an afternoon off...and having those things will not prevent me from getting everything done.

I'm sure I am not at all alone in this.  The middle path is difficult to keep track of, and I'm not really sure why.  It's just too easy to run to extremes -- enough somehow usually doesn't seem like enough.  It's too big an issue for one little blog, really.  But, a funny thing I caught myself doing two times today is sort of the inspiration for this week's assignment.  Immediately upon both church services finishing, I made for the out-of-doors and immediately did something extremely silly -- skipping in my choir robe, quoting this movie, maniacal giggling, you get the idea.  Why?  Not because I disliked the services (I actually like the services and the music quite a bit), but because I had to behave myself just so for a certain period of time, causing a backlog of silliness that demanded to be set free the moment such a thing became possible.  It felt good (like the proper resolution of a V7 or a 4-3 suspension), no one seemed to be the worse for wear, and balance was restored to my little corner of the universe.  So, in that vein...

Rising Level 2's


Here's a little gem for you:

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/5/53/Praetorius_-_Wie_schoen_leuchtet.pdf

We've dealt with this tune before, so hopefully it sounds a little familiar to you, though the rhythmic language of this setting is a bit more complex than what we've worked on before.

Therefore, start with the lowest line (extra points if you can tell me a little something about what "Bassus generalis pro organo si placet" means), just so you're not distracted by melodic material.  Determine what meter you're actually in (hint: the top number in the time signature is NOT an 8, and neither should you count in 8), then tap or clap your way through.  Once that feels comfortable enough, sing that bottom line (note the clef changes -- you may choose whatever octave you want to sing in).

Now, go do something silly for five minutes.

At your next practice session, look at the top line and clap/tap your way through.  Try tapping the rhythm with one hand while you conduct with the other.

Now, go do something silly for five minutes.

Next time, sing through that top line.  Note that the B-naturals are just a little chromatic inflection that you will call "fi" -- they shouldn't pose much of a problem.

Guess what?  Go do something silly for five minutes.

Now, tackle the rhythm of the middle line....it's probably the most rhythmically challenging, and conducting along with your tapping is a good idea.

Done?  Good...time for your five-minute break!

Try singing the middle line...like the top line, it has a "fi" here and there, but no worries.

And one more five-minute break!

If you can, find a friend or two to sing through this with....it'll be fun, and then you can take your silly breaks together!

Rising Level 3's


And here's a piece for you:

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/scar-exr.pdf

Note that there's a rhythmic error in the next-to-last measure in the alto part -- that last C-sharp should be a whole note, not a half note.

You're going to follow the same general practice-break scheme as the 2's, but your learning procedure will be a little different.

First, look over the piece up to m. 45 and find what material Mr. Scarlatti used imitatively -- basically, you're hunting for motives or themes.  The first one is easy: the opening of the soprano part, which I think you might call Theme A.  Does it happen in other parts?  Is it transposed?  Find and label any repetitions.  Then, find a few more themes like that in between the beginning of the piece and m. 45.

Now, what changes at m. 46 (hint: think texture)?  How are you going to deal with the chromaticism you encounter?  Go back through the whole piece and locate any places you suspect you may need to change keys.

Now, just tackle one vocal line per day.  If you whip through that easily, do a solfa chord analysis of m. 46-end.  Again, singing through the piece with friends could be a lot of fun....

Rising Level 4's


For you guys, something very Lenten and fun:

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/f/fe/Battishill_o_lord_look_down.pdf

You're also on the alternation-of-work-and-fun plan, like the 2's, and your learning process is going to be rather similar to the 3's.

Begin by looking over the whole piece, noting any divisi and marking any homophonic sections.  Do a cursory examination of the accidentals you encounter, and decide where you might want to change keys.

Now, look over the text and see if you can associate particular themes or motives with textual sections.  Label these motives if you discover them.

Sing through the lines one at a time, paying special attention to intonation in any minor seconds or augmented seconds you encounter.

For fun, using the keyboard score (which is essentially a simplified reduction of the vocal lines), do a Roman numeral analysis of this piece.  Or, if you don't have time for the whole piece, focus on these spots:

mm. 71-86 (in C minor)
m. 107-end (trust the key signature)

Enjoy!

Dear March, come in!

Welcome, solfeggists!

As I look out my window today, I could easily be hoodwinked into believing that spring has arrived in Denver -- but, I've lived here long enough to know this is almost certainly just a tease.  I grew up on the west coast, and by now, we'd be at the end of crocus season and the daffodils would be raring to take over with tulips close on their heels, but here....not so much.  However, the 60-degree weather is a welcome change, though I know it's only for the next few days (for you non-Coloradans out there, I like to think of Denver as the only place I know where people could reasonably dream of a White Easter and probably eat their Thanksgiving Dinner on their outdoor picnic table later the same year...it's a weird place)....I have to make the most of bits of spring as they come here, since there's often just a stark segue from the last April or May blizzard directly into summer.

So, let's find some springtime music to enjoy!

Rising Level 2's


Here's a recording to listen to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf6P2K_uXH8

(There are plenty of other recordings of this piece on YouTube, and feel free to choose another one if you like it better)

Try to figure out the rhythmic pattern you're hearing before you look at the score below - note that the meter isn't constant and that the pattern seems to be anacrusic.  Speak the rhythmic pattern in tas and ta-tis, then transcribe it.

Check your transcribed rhythm against the score here:


http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/7/74/Lejeune_Revecy.pdf

What metric decisions did you make aurally?  Do they differ from the notation here?  How?

Now, sing through the various parts in solfa -- nothing too difficult, yes?  Almost completely diatonic (the odd fi and di pop up, but nothing earth-shattering), and lots of stepwise motion. What do you notice about the texture throughout the piece.

Finally, read this little Wikipedia write-up on the genre this piece is frequently used to exemplify in music history classes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_mesurée

So yeah, it's a piece about spring, but evidently it was also one more weapon in the arsenal of a bunch of French guys looking to save the world through music.  Some commentators have also said that the  rhythmic pattern of this little ditty (though the same pattern is also found in Latin American dances) was actually Bernstein's inspiration for writing this piece...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjy9acXwovE

Rising Level 3's


Listen to this lovely tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjJzPok_qmE

After one time through the whole recording, I bet you'll be able to derive the form of each strophe -- what is the form?  What is the meter?  How long does each phrase last?

Now that you have that information, listen a few more times and put each line into solfa.  Which line has the chromatic bit?  What interval does the chromatic syllable create with the note it is approached by?  How does the singer in the recording treat the chromatic note?

Memorize the melody.  Transcribe it in a key comfortable for your voice.

Now, look at this score:

(higher voices)
http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/c/c0/IMSLP46772-PMLP99648-Mozart_-_Sehnsucht_nach_dem_Fr__hlinge__K_596.pdf

(lower voices)
http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/0/0e/IMSLP115749-PMLP99648-Mozart_-_Sehnsucht_MV_rsl.pdf

Does your solfa line up with what you see here?

Now, notice how simple the accompaniment is...you probably discerned that from the recording (although the pianist there added some fancy stuff), and maybe you even saw this phase of the assignment coming...

Do a quick Roman numeral analysis of the accompaniment, including figured bass.

Now, either working from your figured bass (which might prove to be easier) or from the score, accompany yourself as you sing the memorized melody in solfa.  If that's easy, transpose to a new key.

Rising Level 4's


Listen to this piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhxgM84Th8&feature=related

Listen to the whole thing the first time to get a sense of what happens in the piece.  Then, focus on the first statement of the melody by the sopranos and altos.  What is the metric structure of this theme -- is there one meter throughout, or are there several (hint: watch the conductor...he's extremely clear!)?  What is the tonal language being used?

The words (drawn from the Song of Solomon in the Bible) are:

Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south;
Blow upon my garden
That the spices may flow out
That the spices flow out
Let my beloved come into his garden
And eat his pleasant fruits.


Memorize the theme (upper part when it splits briefly) with the words.  Notice that it is treated imitatively later in the piece -- what do you think this depicts?

Now for the tricky part -- try to solmize this.  It won't be easy, but I bet you can do it.  You have my permission to use piano to help yourself if you get reeeeeeeeally stuck, but try to go without it as much as possible.  Here are my hints:

You will probably be tempted to call the first leap in the melody mi-la.  You can do that, but it'll mean you'll need to use fi several times later on.  However, the good news is that that's the only chromatic syllable you'll need at all -- and you won't even need that if you call the first leap la-re.

The first note and last note of the tune are the same.

The highest note in the piece is an octave and a fifth above the starting note.

If you successfully solmize the whole theme, you should transcribe it and send it to me and I will tell you that you're wonderful and send you a prize.  No, seriously, I will.

Good luck, all, and have a fantastic week!

Holding steady

Hello, stalwart solfeggists!

It's been a crazy week in my world, and the weekend has left me with very little room to breathe.  So, this week's installment will be short, but (hopefully) pithy.

In your Ottman book, chapter 18 is all about forbidding-looking rhythms, specifically, those that use very small divisions of the beat.  Recently, I've been teaching some rhythmically challenging pieces in choral contexts, and it's once again come to my attention that many folks use a repetitive physical gesture (foot or hand-tapping, usually) when they encounter any sort of rhythmic difficulty, and they usually try to tap to a pretty small rhythmic value.  I understand the inclination to do this, but I'm quite opposed to it.  Why?

-We tend to be taught as children that our western rhythmic system is based on mathematical operations, and that's not really true (I mean, it's factual in a way to say that rhythm is mathematical, but math is not nearly as influential on our experience of rhythm as we think it is).  Our rhythmic system is extremely influenced by hierarchy, and it is hierarchy that makes a rhythmic pattern feel how it feels to us.  Therefore, if we don't reflect hierarchy in any aid we use to read a rhythm, we're sabotaging ourselves.

-Tapping a small rhythmic value as your "beat" the same way over and over (without any kind of hierarchy) is a recipe for getting lost.  Your brain barely has a fighting chance of keeping track of all that repetitive motion, despite what your sense of security might be trying to tell you.  We tend to feel like we're being more accurate because we're doing something, but the something we're doing in this case is likely to just distract us from inaccuracies.

-Rhythmic patterns aren't made difficult by speed, they're made difficult by unpredictability or unfamiliarity.  So, slowing something far past the point of its intended tempo is probably less useful than we think -- the composer heard it inside her/his head as a pattern that made sense at a given tempo, and if we get too far away from that tempo, the pattern doesn't feel the same way anymore.

-Our brains aren't wired to perceive quick notes as isolated incidents, but rather as elements of a pattern that has a specific interplay within an established hierarchy.

Now, these rules start to fall apart if you start working with some types of early music or 20th/21st-century serialized rhythms or rhythms chosen through chance operations, etc., but the Ottman examples we're dealing with here definitely play by these rules.  So, I'm going to insist on a few things:

1. Conduct.  This doesn't necessarily have to be a traditional hand/arm pattern, but you have to do something with your body that shows the beats of the measure in distinct places AND gives a sense of which beats are strong in the hierarchy of the meter and which are not.  For example, if you were to use your foot in a 2/4 meter, you could decide that your heel touching the ground would be beat 1 and your toe touching the ground would be beat 2.

2. Don't stray too far from the notated tempo.  A conservative tempo is one thing, but if you're thinking in 32nd notes, the rhythm you think you're performing has nothing to do with the actual piece of music the composer wrote (unless it's in 3/32 or some such craziness).

3. If you're struggling with notes and rhythms together, isolate the rhythm.

4. Think in groupings and phrases, not in isolated note values.  Start to see that the last sixteenth note of a beat will feel like a pickup to (or a decoration of) the beat that follows, etc.  Just like in the world of pitches, the magic of rhythmic patterns has everything to do with the relationships being expressed.

5. Trust your body.  Before you begin reading each example, take the time to really ground yourself in the the meter by moving (see item 1).  Once you've started reading, if something seems wrong, see if you can figure out a reason -- it might just be a mistake, or it might be a misplaced metric accent, or an unusual phrase length, etc.  Trust that your body knows how a good, solid 4/4 ought to feel, even if it's slow, and if something happens to upset your expectations, be a good detective and figure out why.

Rising Level 2's

Try your hands/feet/voices at these...ignore any grace notes:

18.1 & 18.2
18.12 & 18.13
18.16
18.17 (make sure you look carefully at the key)
18.22
18.29

Rising Level 3's


Give these your best shot:

18.18
18.19
18.21
18.23
18.25 (don't let the sixteenth rests freak you out)
18.26

Rising Level 4's


Your examples are longer and more complex, so you can spread them out over multiple days as you see fit:


18.30
18.31
18.32
18.34

So, hold steady and don't let the little notes scare you -- they're just a decorative part of the whole, and if you approach them calmly, they'll fall into place.

PS: It looks like I lied about this post being short...sometimes that happens when we get going, I guess...my apologies!

Perpetual Motion

Greetings, dear ones!

No doubt some of you noticed I had a little blog lapse last weekend. Originally, that wasn’t my intention, but things got a little crazy in the midst of CU’s spring break (no, not that kind of crazy...), so before I knew it, it was Thursday, and I decided I may as well wait until the weekend. So, apologies to anyone who may have felt deprived of their weekly dose of solfa...

Like I said, things have been busy -- good busy, though, and while I join with many in wishing spring break could magically repeat itself, I think we’ll all make it to the end of the school year in style. This final spring-break stretch, with its parade of concerts, dress rehearsals, holy days, musicals, etc., always scares me a little. The knowledge that it’s going to be a run to the finish line can be a bit daunting. However, hopefully this is also a time to start reaping the benefits of long months of preparation, the time when you get to find out if the steps you took were the steps you needed to take. So hopefully, for better or for worse, this will be a time of intense learning, and even if things get hairy, you’ll know better for the next time around.

With that in mind, I offer these rhythmically active examples for your enjoyment, your preparation, and your diversion:

Rising Level 2's

Take a look at the following from Ottman:

12.1, 12.2, 12.4, 12.13, 12.24, 12.27

First, SCAN your way through each example. Look for patterns (scales, triads, rhythmic cells, melodic sequences) to act as guideposts.

Second, decide on your approach to any passages that look particularly thorny. Decide where audiation of a particular scale degree or harmonic underpinning might make your life a lot easier.

Third, pick a reasonable tempo (but hopefully not too slow!), sing the example through, and try not to stop. Once you get through it once, take care of any little boo-boos through smart practicing and go through it again.

Fourth, use what you learn each day about the troublesome parts of that day’s example to guide your practice for the next day’s example. See if you can come up with a list of the strategies that worked best for you. If you like, shoot me an email about what you discover, or call up a friend and discuss your pedagogical discoveries.

Rising Level 3’s

Take a look at these Ottman ditties:

12.40, 12.42, 12.48, 12.52, 13.7, 13.26

Follow the steps outlined above.

Rising Level 4’s

For you, a special treat!

http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/images/1/1d/Barhu_-_salomone_rossi.pdf

We’ll modify the steps above in the following ways:

Take two days on each voice part, and go through steps 1 and 2 the first day, steps 3 and 4 the second day. Note that the key signature depicted may not necessarily dictate the best solfa choice (especially given the time of the piece's origin)

If you’re feeling particularly frisky at the end of the week, round up a group to sing through multiple parts together.

Definitely do yourself a favor and listen to the whole piece here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHsXu2WwbNY

Enjoy, my friends, and may you stay in motion!

We wait...

Hello, patient solfeggists!

Being performers, I'm sure you all know something about post-concert let-down. The glut of adrenaline left behind in your system from working way too hard begins to process out, the noise and activity dies down, and there you are....just you. No more concert. It happened. You did the work. It's over.

And then, thump! That's the sound of you dropping back into reality.

It's been that week in my world, although not completely. The Colorado Conductors' Chorus had their first winter concert last night, and they have their second this evening, and then next weekend is a University Singers' concert/mini-retreat to Winter Park, and the following weekend is the Denver Gay Men's Chorus retreat. So, it's necessary to keep up some level of adrenaline, but it's hard to keep the level of adrenaline compatible with the level of activity required. It reminds me of counting rests or taking 2-part dictation -- you have to be just present enough with both your own task and the sound world that's going on around you. If you lose track of either, you'll blow the entrance or miss what happens to the other voice. Rushing is just as bad as dragging. It's the art of being present, which has a lot to do with waiting....and I don't mind confessing to you, my dear readers, that I suck at waiting. I guess that means it's time to practice...and as usual, I'll drag you poor, hapless people into it, too.

Rising Level 2's

Let's have some fun with Ottman rhythms, shall we?

pp. 250-251 (15.1-15.19) is your realm, with these stipulations:

-You must set up the meter and tempo AND conduct throughout.

-Use a metronome (nooooooooo!!!) for at least five of the exercises you do.

-Choose tempi that make the syncopations feel convincing.

-If there are articulation marks, you must follow them.

Rising Level 3's

I think you all might find this tricky, but knowing you guys, you'll relish the challenge...

Ottman pp. 252-253 (15.27-15.38)

-You must set up the meter and tempo.

-To make things easier and more interesting, use one timbre for one voice and a different one for the other (meaning voice/hand or two hands on two different surfaces, i.e. right hand taps on a table and left hand taps your knee).

-Use a metronome (noooooooooo!!!) for at least three of the exercises you do.

-Choose tempi that make the syncopations feel convincing (meaning don't automatically choose a slower tactus for 6/4 vs. 6/8 unless it makes musical sense to do so).

Rising Level 4's

Since y'all are such hot stuff...

Ottman: 15.107, 15.112, and 15.114

Step 1: Treat each example as a 2-part rhythmic exercise (follow procedure above)

Step 2: Treat the top voice of each example as a melodic exercise (but be sure to conduct!)

Step 3: Tap the lower voice as you sing the upper voice

(Optional Step 4: Play the lower voice on piano as you sing the upper voice)

As always, feel free to choose an easier or harder assignment depending on how you're feeling this week.

And, if you're interested, here's my new waiting soundtrack...

Bernstein: Mass (Marin Alsop, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jubilant Sykes)

Track 23: Epistle "The Word of the Lord"

At the risk of sounding hopelessly subversive, here's my favorite line from the piece:

So we wait in silent treason until reason is restored....

We wait.