Like diminished chords, the whole tone scale is not very widely used, but when you need that specific vibe, nothing else will do. Whole tone scales are easy to understand, because there are only two of them total. Whichever key you are in, there is a whole tone scale that includes the tonic, and another …
Tag Archives: classical music
Let’s analyze Alexander Scriabin incorrectly
I get academic articles in my email from various lists that I’m on, and this was an interesting one: “The Pedagogy of Early, Twentieth-Century Music: Ideas for a Classroom Discussion based on a Multi-Faceted Analysis of Scriabin’s Op. 31, No. 4.” by Michael Chikinda. Here’s the piece he’s talking about: I don’t know Scriabin’s music very …
Continue reading “Let’s analyze Alexander Scriabin incorrectly”
How guitarists learn music theory
This is me, rehearsing an Allman Brothers song with my stepbrother Kenny for my stepdad’s funeral last summer. If you are a music theory teacher interested in reaching guitarists, here’s some background on my own music learning that might be illuminating. My journey is a pretty typical one for a rock guitarist, except for the …
Nahre Sol introduces Billie Eilish to the classical canon
In this fascinating video, Nahre Sol composes accompaniment for an isolated Billie Eilish vocal in the styles of various canonical composers. The combination of Billie Eilish and Mozart is predictably weird, but not for any “musical” reason. There is not such a wide disconnect between Billie Eilish’s melody and classical music. The weirdness is due …
Continue reading “Nahre Sol introduces Billie Eilish to the classical canon”
The Well-Tempered (and not-so-well-tempered) Clavier
Bach wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier as a showcase for a new tuning system that could play in all twelve major and all twelve minor keys. Up until that point, the various European tuning systems only worked for some keys, not all of them. If you were in or near the key of C, you were …
Continue reading “The Well-Tempered (and not-so-well-tempered) Clavier”
The three diminished chords: blues, jazz and classical
Diminished seventh chords are strange creatures: a cliche for Dracula’s castle, but also a cornerstone of the blues. They are also difficult to understand. The good news is that in any given key, there are only three possible diminished seventh chords: the one whose root is the tonic of the key, the one whose root …
Continue reading “The three diminished chords: blues, jazz and classical”
The Kronos Quartet play Jimi Hendrix
I have mixed feelings about the Kronos Quartet arrangement of “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. On the one hand, it’s cool that they even attempted it. On the other hand, is the attempt successful? It’s great that they’re taking advantage of the violin’s pitch continuum to do all the blue notes and guitaristic bends and …
Pieces vs Songs vs Grooves
In preparation for making a bunch of new YouTube videos, I have been thinking about Anne Danielsen’s distinction between songs and grooves. It’s a useful scheme for thinking about pop, but it doesn’t cover everything in Western music. We need a third category for linear through-composed music. So here’s my proposal: all of the music …
Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor
A passacaglia is a Baroque dance that is a lot like the chaconne. One of Bach’s greatest hits is his Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. Like the Chaconne, the Passacaglia is a long series of variations on a short, simple dance form. Also like the Chaconne, it’s pretty awesome. Bach got the first half …
What if the Bach Chaconne was modal jazz?
As I struggle my way through the Bach Chaconne on guitar, I’m having to work around the fact that I am great at music theory but terrible at note reading. So before I could play the piece, I had to completely understand it and be able to feel it by ear. The only way I …
Continue reading “What if the Bach Chaconne was modal jazz?”