title slide rhythm, pitch, harmony and the guitarist’ s ear · the basics of harmony notes –...
TRANSCRIPT
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Title Slide
"Rhythm, pitch, harmony and the guitarist’ s ear"
RGT ‘ 99 teachers conference
by
Les Hatton
V ersion 1.0: 04/S ep t/1999
© C op yright, L.Hatton, 1999
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 2) © OC Copy right , 1999
Overview
❖ Examination performance❖ Rhythm❖ Pitch, harmony and voice leading❖ Specific learning difficulties❖ Pulling it all together
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 3) © OC Copy right , 1999
RGT exam performance 96-99 (examined by LH)
Relat iv e examinat ion perf ormance
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1.00S
cale
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arp
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Ch
ord
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Rh
yth
m
Lea
d
Sp
oke
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Aur
al
Sp
ecia
lism
Ex am cat egory
Pe
rfo
rma
nce
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 4) © OC Copy right , 1999
Aural examination
❖ This consists of a combination of:- – Repeating a rhythm by clapping– Clapping along with a melody– Repeating a phrase on the guitar– Recognising intervals and cadences– Recognising chord types
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 5) © OC Copy right , 1999
Overview
❖ Examination performance❖ Rhythm❖ Pitch, harmony and voice leading❖ Specific learning difficulties❖ Pulling it all together
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 6) © OC Copy right , 1999
Teaching rhythm
❖ Fundamentals:-– Dance, movement, clapping– Coordinating multiple rhythms– Ideas from drum tutoring– Triplets
❖ Rhythmic difficulties– Very common not just in people with recognised
difficulties such as dysphasic conditions.– Very few guitarists managed to clap a rhythm
correctly in exams.
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 7) © OC Copy right , 1999
Overview
❖ Examination performance❖ Rhythm❖ Pitch, harmony and voice leading❖ Specific learning difficulties ❖ Pulling it all together
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 8) © OC Copy right , 1999
The fundamentals of pitch
❖ Development of intervals– Unison and octave 1:1 and 2:1– Dominant 3:2– Major third 4:3– More complex intervals
❖ Pitch difficulties– Again very common not just in people with
recognised difficulties.– Guitarists often say wrong interval in exams.
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 9) © OC Copy right , 1999
Part of the problem ?
Improvisation
Harmonisation
Chords Melody
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 10) © OC Copy right , 1999
Improving pitch awareness
❖ Singing– Riffs after then before– Scales after then before– Arpeggios after then before, (ideally you should be able to sing
everything you play, within range).– Sight singing
❖ Pitch difficulties– Singing and levels, (phase locking)– Males are usually too embarrassed.– The ear and the voice are tightly coupled
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 11) © OC Copy right , 1999
The basics of harmony
❖ Notes– The structure of chords– Voicing and the voice
❖ Harmony difficulties– The plectrum, (a blunt instrument)– The guitar is a lousy instrument to learn harmony– Guitarists understand very little of fundamental harmony, (for
example naming the notes of a scale).
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 12) © OC Copy right , 1999
The structure of chords
❖ Basics– Three kinds of chord, major, minor and dominant.– They are built from Major 3rds and Minor 3rds.
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 13) © OC Copy right , 1999
Triads
❖ Three notes, therefore two intervals– There are 2x2 possible ways of arranging two intervals from
M3 and m3:-◆ Major = M3+m3
◆ Minor = m3 + M3
◆ Diminished = m3 + m3 (naturally occurs in major and
minor scales)
◆ Augmented = M3 + M3 (naturally occurs only in
minor scale)
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 14) © OC Copy right , 1999
Triads
Se
mit
on
es
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Maj
or
Min
or
Dim
inis
hed
Aug
men
ted
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 15) © OC Copy right , 1999
4-note chords
❖ four notes, therefore three intervals– There are 2x2x2 possible ways of arranging three intervals
from M3 and m3, (using C as an example):-◆ C 7 = M3+m3+m3
◆ Cm7 = m3+M3+m3
◆ Cmaj7 = M3+m3+M3
◆ Cm maj7 = m3+M3+M3
◆ Cdim7 = m3+m3+m3
◆ C+7 = M3+M3+M3
◆ Cm7 b5 = m3+m3+M3
◆ Cm7+5 = M3+M3+m3
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 16) © OC Copy right , 1999
Se
mit
on
es
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Do
m 7
min
or
7
Maj
or
7
m M
ajo
r 7
Dim
inis
hed
7
Aug
men
ted
7
m7
fla
t 5
m7
aug
5
4-note chords
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 17) © OC Copy right , 1999
Progressions and voices
I - II - V - I
for example, I - IIm7 - V7 - I
(e.g. Bach prelude #1 in C)
Voice 1: C-C-B-CVoice 2: E-F-F-EVoice 3: G-A-G-G
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 18) © OC Copy right , 1999
String singing
I - II - V - I
Now play on the guitar
C-Dm7-G7-C
Voice 1: C-C-B-CVoice 2: E-F-F-EVoice 3: G-A-G-G
(Each voice is a string)
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 19) © OC Copy right , 1999
Teaching the ear
❖ String singing– Guitarists often have difficulties hearing when a note is
missing in a chord– Guitarists often cannot hear the notes which are present
❖ Remedy– Play sequence– Choose a string and sing it playing the sequence– Immediately play the sequence again and you will hear the
note clearly.
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 20) © OC Copy right , 1999
A bit more jazzy - rhythm changes
I - VI-II - V - I
Now play on the guitar
Cmaj7-Am9-Dm11-G13-Cmaj7
Voice 1: B-C-D-D-BVoice 2: E-E-G-F-EVoice 3: G-A-A-G-GVoice 4: B-G-F-B-C
Altogether now ...
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 21) © OC Copy right , 1999
Useful things for every musician to know
❖ TTSTTTS (Major scale separations)❖ M,m,m,M,M,m,d (diatonic triads in major scale)❖ M7,m7,m7,M7,D7,m7,dm7b5 (diatonic 4-note chords in
major scale)❖ m,d,a,m,M,M,d (diatonic triads in harmonic minor)
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 22) © OC Copy right , 1999
Overview
❖ Examination performance❖ Rhythm❖ Pitch, harmony and voice leading❖ Specific learning difficulties ❖ Pulling it all together
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 23) © OC Copy right , 1999
Specific learning difficulties to watch for
❖ Dyslexia– Often confuse scales.– Does not appear to affect pitch or rhythm in general– Unusually common– Important to distinguish from idleness
❖ Dysphasia– Both pitch and rhythm prove difficult for dysphasics. (Speech
may be slightly impaired).
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 24) © OC Copy right , 1999
Useful teaching techniques
❖ Dyslexia– Use other ways of encoding. E.g. vocal cues for left hand
strings; E = 3,5,4 and so on.❖ Dysphasia
– Verbal cues often useful especially for maintaining rhythm. Just slog away - every bit of progress is worth it for the effects on the pupil.
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 25) © OC Copy right , 1999
Overview
❖ Examination performance❖ Rhythm❖ Pitch, harmony and voice leading❖ Specific learning difficulties ❖ Pulling it all together
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RGT’ 99: v. 1.0, 04/Sept/1999, (slide 26) © OC Copy right , 1999
Things we could improve
❖ Much more attention paid to the ear and not the fingers❖ Don’ t assume people have natural rhythm❖ Pitch and rhythm can both be taught unless there are
specific medical reasons why not❖ We should teach the basics of music, e.g. key
signatures and diatonic triads❖ The RGT exams could usefully include a harmonisation
section - examiner plays a melody and examinee plays chords after listening a couple of times