Welcome to our class blog. I'll try to summarize what happens in each class, so if you miss you'll be able to catch up. Also, I'll keep future items at the bottom of the page.

Class 11: June 4

Class turned out to be a one-on-one session with Abie! We went over the Schubert song diagram and then started talking about non-chord tones.

Homework is to read my Non Chord Tones handout. Read the opening blather about "what is a harmony" etc., but don't worry about it too much. But do make sure you understand the definitions of passing tone, neighbor, and appoggiatura on page 3.

Then, take a look at this somewhat odd arrangement of a piece by Mozart.

Class 10: May 28

In this class it turned out that nobody had made much progress on the Schubert "Standchen," so we rolled up our sleeves and got busy. Homework was to complete a formal diagram of the piece.

Class 9: May 21

We'll start by reviewing our progressions flowchart, going over the Papageno "Lock" Aria, and reviewing our cadence types.

Then we'll talk about modulations. Hopefully we will look at a Bach Chorale and then do a Schubert song for homework.

Here are your links to recordings:

Bach Cantata No. 78

Bach: Cantatas Vol 25 (Masaaki Suzuki, conducting, Bach Collegium Japan) [BIS]

cantatas25 (22K)

iTunes eMusic mtraks Amazon MP3

Schubert's Schwanengesang cycle

Jan Kobow, tenor [ATMA Classique]

schwanengesang (47K)

iTunes mtraks Amazon MP3 eMusic

Class 8: May 14

We began by quickly summarizing some "cadence" types - the PAC, IAC, HC, and Plagal, and we did some "phrase analysis" of our folk tunes. Here's a pdf of the tunes and the answers, done up all nice.

We also went over our Haydn Minuet, which included marking the cadences as well. (Here's an answer sheet for that.)

Homework is to read through the "Progressions and Cadences" handout in detail, including the new pages I gave out, and then tackle Papageno's "Lock" Aria.

Online shopper's guide for The Magic Flute:

This would be a budget-friendly option for downloading - Roger Norrington conducting. (This week's piece is track 12.)

norringtonmagicflute (12K)
iTunes Amazon MP3

Or if you are using eMusic, you could download from the Naxos version. (This week's piece is track 6.)

naxosflote (22K)
eMusic

BPL has a "historical" recording and two DVDs of it. [one] [two]

Class 7: May 7

We began by reviewing our inversion symbols and looking at Schumann's "Soldier's March."

Then we moved on to a discussion of harmonic progressions. I handed out a packet on progressions and cadences, and blathered on at length about I, IV, and V.

Homework is to analyze a short passage from Haydn String Quartet in G Major, Op. 64 No. 4, second movement, as well as a handful of familiar folk songs.

In case anyone is looking for a recording of the Haydn, here is your "shopper's guide."

Haydn String Quartet in G Major, Op. 64, No. 4

Haydn: String Quartets Op 64 No 4, 5 & 6 / The Lindsays [ASV] lindsays (44K)

Amazon MP3 eMusic Archivmusik

Surprisingly, that recording's not on iTunes, so maybe you'd go with this one?

Class 7: April 30 - CANCELLED

I got word that both Eric and Abie would not be able to make this class, so I cancelled. Maybe we'll be able to make it up in the future. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you next week!

Class 6: April 16

We talked out chord inversions and the "figured bass" symbols you use to indicate them.

Handout: Chord Inversions

Homework was Worksheet: Schumann, "Soldiers' March," from Album for the Young, Op. 68

Here is a MIDI and an Mp3 rendering of the Soldier's March.

Class 5: April 9

We went over the Worksheet on Diatonic Sevenths, which unfortunately took a little extra time because I messed up the page. (see April 2 for explanation)

Then, I pulled out a new piece to look at, the Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in F Major ("Spring"), second movement. We analyzed the harmonies for the first 10 measures or so, and then went through and circled all the non-chord tones in the piano melody.

Beethoven "Spring" Sonata shopper's guide -- (See also my page on the world of online music.)

For a good recording of this, I'd pick Ovation - Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas / Perlman, Ashkenazy [Decca]
perlman (5K)

iTunes Amazon MP3 Archivmusik

or a more budget-conscious (yet good) option would be Beethoven: Complete Violin Sonatas / Rosand, Fissler [Vox]
rosand (25K)
eMusic Archivmusik

In addition, Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza seems to have two recordings

Homework is to look at the Chopin Prelude No. 9 in A Major

Some recommended recordings of the Chopin Preludes.

Chopin: Préludes Op.28 (Alexandre Tharaud) [harmonia mundi]
chopintharaud (3K)

iTunes Amazon MP3 Amazon CD eMusic

or this one is considered classic:

Chopin: Twenty Four Préludes Op.28 (Maurizio Pollini) [Deutsche Grammophon]
chopinpollini (4K)
DG Downloads iTunes Amazon MP3 Amazon CD

BPL Central Library seems to have two recordings.

Class 4: April 2

We quickly went over the worksheet on Schumann's "Wild Rider" and then started talking about the structure of seventh chords. (Those are outlined in your Handout on Diatonic Triads and Sevenths.)

Homework is the Worksheet on Diatonic Sevenths. It turns out the version I handed out in class is kind of messed up. The music at the bottom of the page that is supposed to be in major keys is really in minor, and vice versa. The copy I'm linking here is corrected.

Class 3: Mar 26

Most of the class was devoted to review. We talked about those pesky minor scales and the "roman numerals" that appear in them, and we looked at a few snippets of "real music."

Homework is a worksheet on Schumann's "Wild Rider" (from Album for the Young, Op. 68).

If you cannot play the piece by yourself, here is a MIDI version for you (from Pierre Schwob's excellent Classical Music Archives, check it out), and here's an MP3 rendering of the MIDI.

Class 2: Mar 19

We reviewed our scales and key signatures. I gave out a packet on Scales and Key Sigs and also a Circle of Fifths Worksheet to fill in.

We managed to get into some new material:

Minor scales
The "relative major / relative minor" relationship
Diatonic triads for minor scales (see the Diatonic Triads and Seventh Chords Handout for info on that.)

Homework is the worksheet on Diatonic Triads in Minor Keys.

Class 2: Mar 12 CANCELLED

Hi guys. Unfortunately I have to cancel tonight. If you want something to do this week, you can rummage through the "future stuff" entry at the bottom of the screen. See you next week!

Class 1: Mar 5

So, we had a suprisingly big turnout for the first class! It was a nice start, I think. Some folks needed a little more help with scales and stuff than I anticipated. Well see what we can do about that as the class goes on.

We quickly ran through:

major scales
circle of fifths (the top half, anyway)
triads (major, minor, and diminished)

And then finally got to where I wanted to be, on Roman Numerals (aka "diatonic triads.")

I gave out the Handout on Diatonic Triads and Seventh Chords, and homework is a worksheet on Diatonic Triads in Major Keys.

One important thing you can do to improve on all of this is to practice with a computer program. In particular, I recommend:

emusictheory.com - a bunch of java-based apps which anyone with an internet connection can use.
My Rudiments Quizzer for PC.
And here's a few more useful links.

I'll have to cook up some new stuff on scales and the circle of fifths for next week. In the meantime, here's my circle of fifths worksheet: treble clef version bass clef version.

Future Stuff

Here's some more stuff we'll be doing soon:

No future items available at this time. Gotta get back to work!

Intro to Musical Analysis