Many children who are exposed to piano learning will be stopped by the following seemingly obscure music theory terms.
rhythm: The basic factors that make up a musical are the height of the music, the time value of the movement (including rest), and the strength of the music. Manifested in terms of time and strength, that is, the regular prioritization of musical tones, called rhythm.
Texture texture: The density of melodic and harmonic factors, including main tuning textures, polyphonic textures, chord textures, etc.
Sequence Modulo: A repetition of melodic motifs on different pitches above or below it.
What the? Textures, compound textures? The piano is not a loom, is there still a silk thread hidden in a note?
But indeed, we can think of the music as a sweater, with thick lines, thin lines, tight, loose, flat, and some bumps and patterns.
Every handmade sweater is different, just as every piece of music has its own unique structure.
But what is more complicated than sweaters is that "weaving" a piece of music requires different "needles and threads".
A symphony orchestra will have dozens of instruments such as wind, strings, percussion, etc., and they will "crochet" at different times and play music with different emotions and structures.
How do you get children in their initiation to understand the music theory terms that require imagination?
A good way to take your kids live to watch the symphony band perform and see the roles of the individual instruments visually. See how the musicians are wonderfully and accurately conducted to accomplish this super powerful and super complex work.
How complicated is that? The conductor looked like he was just wielding a small stick, how could he be so tired and sweaty?
Come, casually open the orchestra score placed in front of a conductor.
Oh my God, this group of "little tadpoles" is completely different from the sheet music we usually see.
Because this is a "collection" of all instrumental parts, and the timing and duration of each part of the play is different.
Let's take a look at the animation of Jupiter in the Planetary Suite:
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The Planet Suite is an orchestral suite composed by the British composer Holst, completed between 1914 and 1916. Divided into seven movements, named after seven of the eight planets (except Earth).
The orchestra was also very large, using instruments such as the bass flute, bass oboe, bass clarinet, bass tuba, treble tuba (upper bass horn), as well as the organ and numerous percussion instruments, and a six-part female chorus (sometimes replaced by two solo flutes) in the last movement.
The combination of so many instruments produces a rich acoustic color, showing the momentum of the earth shaking.
Imagine that when a conductor swings his bat seemingly easily, his mind is running these "little tadpoles" precisely and at high speed, so that thousands of "little tadpoles" appear when they should appear and jump when they should jump.
A slight mistake is likely to make mistakes in other connected voices, and the audience will hear strange tones, and the performance standard will be greatly affected.
Orchestra conducting is indeed a very stressful job!
Speaking of music theory, these "little tadpoles", with the cooperation of conductors and performers, perform different rhythms of each voice at different times, and jointly weave a melodious symphony, concerto, round dance... Wait a minute.
Still sound a little hard to understand? Then let these "little tadpoles" flow
Let your child see the notes with their own eyes.
This is a visual note animation from Blue Danube.
Can you see which instrument these little people represent?
"Blue Danube" is a classic work of the famous Austrian composer Johann Strauss Jr., known as the "King of The Round Dance". The melody jumps, rises and falls, and advances layer by layer, and the mood is cheerful and lively.
In 1866, Austria suffered a crushing defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, and Vienna fell into a deep depression.
To cheer up, Johann Strauss Jr. was commissioned to write a round dance that symbolized the vitality of Viennese life.
The title and motivation for the song are derived from the german poet Karl Beck's poem dedicated to the city of Vienna, "Beside the Danube, ah, by the beautiful blue Danube".
Half a year later, the author adapted it into an orchestral piece, performed it at the Paris Universal Exposition, with great success, and was soon introduced to Britain, the United States and other countries, known as Austria's "second national anthem".
At the Vienna New Year's Concert 2022, this piece that has been circulating for more than 150 years still has a soothing vitality.
Compared with the live performance, can we clearly see the movement state of the notes? That's music theory.
Add a little knowledge: When three little people go in parallel, that is, when three instruments are played at the same time.
That is:
Chord chords: A combination of three or more musical notes that sound simultaneously.
Such visual animations can be used to understand the composition of different styles of music. For example, the "hot single" "Carmen Overture" during the Spring Festival.
Two little people you chase me, the melody rhythm is cheerful and tight. This makes the whole piece vibrant and vibrant, showing the heroic image of the matador in the story of "Carmen" and the exciting and active atmosphere in the bullring.
The opera Carmen is based on Merimé's novel of the same name. It tells the story of Don Horsé, a junior officer from a peasant family, who fell in love with the gypsy woman Carmen. Later, Carmen fell in love with the matador Escamiro. Horsé's jealousy annoys Carmen, who interferes with her freedom of love, and she is enraged by this interference, so she breaks off her friendship with him.
Amid a crowd cheer for Escamiro's victory over bullfighting, an angry and jealous Hawthorne assassinates Carmen. The play has a strong dramatic and Spanish style.
The Carmen Overture, also known as the "Matador March". At the beginning, the band played a brilliant and vigorous march-style theme with a strong tone, which brought us into a spectacular bullfighting scene, as if we saw the heroic bullfighters and heard the cheers of the crowd.
After the theme was repeated several times, the music shifted from A major to F major, and the orchestra gently played the chorus of the Matador Song, which would appear in the second part of the opera. The overture ends with a strong dissonant chord ( minus seven chords ) , reinforcing the tragic suspense that this piece of music brings to us and foreshadowing Carmen's tragic ending.
With a live performance of the Carmen Overture and a reference to the visual animation, is it better to understand the inner structure of the piece?
There are many kinds of visual animations that intuitively see the music, such as the classic polyphonic texture work "Cannon".
The word Cannon is not a song name like "Blue Danube" and "Matador March", but a genre of polyphonic music.
Try to understand the following languages with the above animations:
Polyphony, consisting of two or more simultaneous, related but distinct parts of the voice, which are independent but harmoniously unified into a whole, forming a harmonic relationship with each other, with the counterpoint method as the main creative technique.
The simultaneous combination of different melodies is called contrasting polyphony, and the successive imitation of the same melody separated by a certain time is called imitation polyphony. The use of polyphonic techniques can enrich the musical image, strengthen the momentum of musical development and the independence of the voice parts, resulting in the effect of echoing before and after, and rising and falling.
The genres of polyphonic music include: cannon, creative, fugue, verse song, polyphonic shangsong, canzona, etc.
The "small square" in the back follows the movement trajectory of the small square in front, forming a multi-voice repetition, making people feel relaxed and relaxed, which is the charm of the polyphonic texture.
Under the guidance of vision, we can feel the texture and language of music on a more hierarchical level.
This is also the charm of classical music (complex and exquisite structure, deep and rich emotions).
Here are a few different styles of musical visualizations:
Japan's NHK television visualized Manuel Cardoso's classical music Requiem. The song was selected for the 2019 Gramophone Top Ten Winning Record Awards.
In this visualization, we see the chanting in the depths of the artist's soul like a tree that spreads and stretches, pain and excitement piercing into the air, tranquility and calm like a wave at the bottom, endlessly narrating fate, and in the gradually gathering emotions, we vaguely see liberation.
Not only can the notes be visualized, but so can the emotions.
Music and fine arts are the common language of the human soul. The melody of classical music is skillfully combined with the vivid language of art, and the imagination can extend each other in both visual and auditory dimensions.
For example, this visual musical work, "Habanera Dance", is also from Bizet's "Carmen".
Gorgeous, compact and engaging music accompanied by colorful, abstract visual representations. Let people feel that Carmen's passionate soul is like a beautiful note, floating in the dance music, let us intuitively see this brilliant burning passion.
Classical music can be heard not only with the ear, but also with the eyes. The most important thing is to feel with your heart the sincere emotions and life values that have been "sealed" in the music that have been passed down for thousands of years.
Finally, let's end with Beethoven's Symphony of Destiny. Tuanzi wishes children a better understanding of music theory, enter the wonderful world of classical music, and make progress in the New Year!