Music Lesson: Exploring Harmony and Melody

Let's move on now to the second page,

Demisemiquavers and Chordal Voicing in Bar 24

• Beautiful Idea: We have this beautiful idea of demisemiquavers and chordal voicing in bar 24.
• Wonderful Harmony: You could bring out the bass line or even the middle parts this time.

Classical Melody and Accompaniment

• Alberti Bass:

  • The accompaniment now features an Alberti bass.
  • An Alberti bass is literally a chord that is repeated in an arpeggiated fashion to keep the harmony going.

• Historical Context:

  • On the early style pianos, we weren't able to hold down the harmony with pedal or with resonance.
  • This was the composer's way of keeping the harmony flowing.

• Playing Technique:

  • Notice that my weight is on the first beat and less on the other notes.
  • We certainly don't want to hear the other notes because it's not pretty and it's not stylistic.
  • We want this beautiful buoyant texture bubbling away underneath so that the melody can just serenely move over the top.

Bar 28: The Appoggiatura

• Leaning Note:

  • I just want to mention a little bit about bar 28, that beautiful written out appoggiatura, which is a leaning note.
  • That's a really nice moment, so I wouldn't gloss over that.

• Ornamentation:

  • Then we have a little ornament.
  • Don't make too much of that either;
    • it's just a little flick, a bit ornate, a bit of decoration.

Bar 31: The Turn

• Difficulty Note:

  • The turn at bar 31 is quite a difficult one.
  • It's actually written out for you, so I don't think you need to worry too much about it.

• Placement:

  • Just notice that it occurs on the fourth semiquaver of the left hand, so it works organically and very neatly.

Bars 32 and 33: Keeping it Light

• Tricky Passage:

  • Let's have a look at bars 32 and 33.
  • This is quite tricky because we want to keep the thumb light.

• Embellishment:

  • All it is, though, is a sort of embellishment on this fifth.
  • You have this alto part, so you want to keep the melody in that thumb very light and with direction.

Understanding Demisemiquavers

• Structure:

  • Now, try not to worry about those demisemiquavers; there's always a structure behind those complex passages.
  • The structure is in the left hand, so those demisemiquavers will equal nicely and perfectly with the left hand.

• Practice Tips:

  • If we did it slowly, you could even take away the top note and practice that a few times.
  • Then just add in the top part as if it were a bit of decoration.

Continuing the Theme

• Repeating Theme:

  • We then carry on with the repeated theme.
  • You might like to put in a few more little colors, a little bit of ebb and flow, and a little bit of conversation between the left hand and the right hand.

• Masculine and Feminine:

  • Perhaps the left hand could be more masculine and the right hand more feminine, or maybe it can be the other way around.
  • Either way, add a little bit more color and a little bit of differentiation between the first time.