Steamin' Hot - Lesson
With
James RaeJames Rae walks through 'Steamin' Hot', a bluesy piece in D major, covering the fermata, natural signs and the blue notes that give it its sound.
Copyright © 2023 Universal Edition (London) Ltd., All compositions by James Rae except where otherwise indicated.
What's in the course
26 lessons (0h 38m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Steaming Hot: A Music Lesson
Introduction
Steaming hot, as its title suggests, steams along in a hot style.
Musical Drive
"Dun dun, dun, dun, dun dun."
Lots of drive involved here.
Fermata
At the end of the piece, we have what's called a fermata or a pause.
- It looks like a little "I" above the last note.
- This means you hold the note longer than its written value.
Playing in a Band vs. Solo
- If you were playing in a band, for example, the conductor would dictate the length of that note.
- As a soloist, you can decide how long that note is, but it must be longer than the printed value of the note.
Accidentals
Fermata, or pause, is an essential element in music.
In "Steaming Hot," you will see some natural signs.
- They look a bit like sharps with their spikes knocked off.
- They cancel whatever sharp or flat is in operation at the time, restoring the pitch of the note to its natural pitch (e.g., a normal C as opposed to a C sharp).
Understanding Accidentals
- Flats, sharps, and naturals that appear during the course of pieces are called accidentals.
- You must play them very deliberately, in spite of their name.
Key Signature
In "Steaming Hot," we have two sharps at the beginning of the line, indicating a key of D major.
Bluesy Elements
However, because it's a bluesy piece, we have what are called blue notes:
- Flattened thirds, sevenths, and fifths occur in the scale to give it that bluesy sound.
The Origin of Blues
The word "blues," as used in music, has several meanings.
- The origin of the term in the context of a scale or piece of music is linked to the word "blue" meaning sad.
- If you flatten a third, fifth, or seventh of a scale, it creates a sad feel.
Major Scale Example
For example, you've got a major scale:
- If you just flatten the third,
- And we add the flattened fifth sound, it becomes very bluesy.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
James Rae was born on Tyneside in 1957. He studied clarinet, bass clarinet, piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1975 to 1979, under professors Yona Ettlinger, Stephen Trier, Meriel Jefferson and Patric Standford respectively. Since leaving the Guildhall, he has pursued a highly successful and varied career across three areas: performing, writing and teaching.
James Rae has worked in many West End and Royal National Theatre productions, including Sir Peter Hall's award-winning Oresteia with music by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and has received many freelance engagements with some of the country's leading orchestras and ensembles. He is the leader of the Phoenix Saxophone Quartet, who over the years have given many recitals and BBC broadcasts, and have recorded the complete works of Carey Blyton on two albums, 'The Return of Bulgy Gogo' and 'Sherlock Holmes meets Dr Who'.
As a composer, James Rae is one of Europe's most published writers of educational wind music, with over 250 publications to his credit, mainly published by Universal Edition. His music includes instrumental study books, sonatas, tutors, baroque, classical and jazz transcriptions, plus many volumes of duets, many of which feature on all the major wind examination syllabuses worldwide. He has also written four musicals for schools with Mike Cornick, and his larger commissions include The Turn of a Wheel, a major work for concert band that premiered in November 1999 for the North Tyneside Concert Band, of which he was a founder member as a boy, and the overture Moving On in 2012.
James Rae has worked extensively as a syllabus consultant and composer for both the Associated Board and Trinity College London, and has been highly involved in developing the woodwind sight-reading requirements for both exam boards. As a teacher, he has held many posts in both the state and independent sectors, and currently works at King's College School Wimbledon, where he directs the Wind Orchestra and Concert Band, and Shrewsbury House School in Surbiton, where he coaches three large bands and a chamber group. That teaching experience runs right through his saxophone series for MusicGurus, which takes you step by step from your very first notes to a confident, stylish player: First Notes, New Keys & Low Notes, Expanding Your Range, Scales & High Notes, Extended Range & Rhythm, and Polish & Style.
