ABSTRACT



A NEW THEORY OF ADULT MUSIC LEARNING OF MUSIC FOCUSING(??OK??) ONESPECIALLY OF THE PIANO

PLAYING

Toshio IRITANI

CHÔFU WOMEN’S COLLEGE

Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken

Japan 215-8542

1. Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to argue that there is a different method for adults’ learninging of music (especially for piano playing) ,which is a practical, much faster method and more practical way for of getting acquainted with piano playing. In the fFormal piano education of piano playing, music teachersnormally starts with the lessons of for learning simple melodies,. Then students and gradually go on to learning more complex melodies, using such traditional textbooks as the “Beyer” which is written for early beginners.

In the case of adult, however, such aThis method of learning is not necessary for adults and this author would like to proposes a more economical, practical, and efficient and method of learning music,. This is especially true with respect to piano playing.

The structure of music is very similar to the structure of a sentences written in a foreign language. An aAdults who has have an experienced of learning a foreign languages, or get are acquainted with different kinds of languages, he can probably learn faster to learn the scores written in the stave of musical notation faster. Just as a lWritten and spoken languages consists of sounds, rules for word combinations and its word order (grammar), stops, phrases, and articulation, paragraphs, and chapters,. so aIn the same way music consists of musical sounds (87(??8??) octaves) going that go up or down in steps from lower to higher pitches and vice vice versa,. how Music each sound is combined combines and transformed transforms sounds in harmony, forming a parts or aand phrases. In addition, in quite contrast with young children, adults have a wide experienced experience and knowledge of a good number of good melodies. Adults and have memorized them these melodies and can even sing them those melodies when anas old memory memories can reactivate the melodies in their brains. The problem is, how to read the notes composed by composers in order to transform these good melodies into musical notation in by pressing playing on the piano keyboard, through reading the notes composed by a composer. Even in that casewhen adults know the melodies, an adult player they still must know the basic rules of musical notation, and how it is expressed and understood,. This is the same as how just a children or aand matured adults knows consciously or and unconsciously know the rules of grammar and how a sentences or aand phrases is are composed before they starting to speak.

To tell mMy own experience, is based on I started starting to play the piano after passing the age of sixty,. and have an experience ofI learning learned to play the piano it infor five years, and still having have a piano teacher,. but I have now reached the stage of playing Beethoven’s Opus 57 (the so-called “Appassionata”) , especiallyincluding (??OK??) for itsthe first and the second movements. In the past I had an experience of opening ahave successfully played in recitals for a small groups after learning some easy classical music, such as Morzart’s andante Andante cantabile Cantabile (Opus 545), Schumann’s Träumelei, Chopin’s Nocturn Opus 9- No.2 Etudes Opus 25-18 (the so-called Pprelude of “Rrain-drops”), and Grande Valse Brilliante Opus 18 with a great applause with a great applause. Let meI would like to explain my footstep of how I succeeded in playing the piano so quickly. and was able to have my performances greatly applauded.

2. The Basic Theory of Adult’s Music Learning of Music: The Cognition and Comprehension of the Compositional Structure of Music

In order to understand a composition and to play it by on the piano, one must grasp the basic principles of the tonal notations which that are comparable to learning the pronunciation and grammatical rules in for learning a foreign languages. These rules consist, of at least of the following eight principles.

1) The time values (i.e., the kind of notes, semi-breve, minim, chrotchet, quaver, etc.) and their durations.

2) Bar lines, i.e., single or double bar lines which that are comparable to a phrases and or a sentences with a commas, colons, and or semi-colons.

3) Time signatures (i.e., 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 12/8 which are written on the top of the start of music,; the number of the numerator on top signifies the counts of each tones based on the bottom time values.)

4) The understanding of an octaves (ascending and descending the 8 steps of pitches in on the white keys of a the piano and the 5 black keys within each octave (which lowers or heightens half or semi-tones usually called sharps and flats.)

5) Clefs: the treble (G) clef and the bass (F) clef. The former signifies the upper parts of the notes written on the stave and this part is usually played by the right hands., and Tthe latter signifies the lower parts of the notes written on the stave and this part is usually played by the left hands.

6) Also to be understand are the equivalent time values, e.g., [pic] x 2 = [pic], [pic] = 2[pic] 1/2, or 6[pic]s, etc., and the corresponding signature of for the rests, [pic], [pic], [pic], etc.

7) (7) (7) Other special notations such as the slur, [pic], [pic] crescendo, and [pic]decrescendo, [pic] turn, etc.

and [pic]decrescendo, [pic] turn, etc.

8) Performance direction (which is usually written at the start In of classic music at the start usually written in Italian, such as allegro, adagio, andantino, and tempo, etc.,). and oneOne must decide how to following the speed of play through this direction. (The above are based on E. Taylor’s Music Theory in Practice, 1990, pp. 4-23.)

In addition, there are many more special signatures which that are occasionally encountered in many compositions, such as the cancel, staccato, trill, and tremolo, etc, etc.,. and also the Students positions of finguring sshould also be assisted in the fingering positions by a piano teacher.

The next step is how to transform the acquired musical notations into the composed text written by a the composer. This process occasionally helps to activate the melody that was previously learned and experienced in one’swhich is stored in the adult past memory.

3. The Practice with Some Simple Melodies to Get Acquainted with the Above Notations

Here are two abbreviated musical notes melodies. The first was written by Beethoven, and is the last part of the “Chorus” in the 9th Symphony. and tThe second was written by Johannes Brahms and is the beginning of the his Symphony No. 1. written by Johannes Brahms.1

The bBoth melodies are heard quite often and everybody knows this these melodies quite well. If one an adult tries to play these streams of notes with while paying attention to their basic time values, then the adult can play very easily and comfortably.

< Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Chorus D-minor >

< Symphony No.1 - Theme >>

Even in with the above simple melodies, we learn that each stream of the melodies melody is made up, together with the upper and lower tones, of a stream of harmony in succession of single time values for which the composers organized the tonal elements into a beautiful structure of phrases and articulations.

4. Learning of More Complex Phrases and Articulations by Some Noted Composers

In the following I would like to demonstrate in the following how I have acquired a learned a series of sonatas and other styles of compositions in other styles written by some noted composers such as those of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin, the most well-known Western classical composers today. I did this by discovering some common principles that are hidden in their compositions, such as of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin, the most well-known Western classical composers today.

Some The basic principles which that I have found, during thewhile learning of the works of those great composers, consist of the following.

1) Each of the above composers, as well as all others, have invented their own characteristic tonal harmonies and they have used them in for the variation and in transformation in phrasing and articulation.

2) Each piece of works, especially of sonatas, has has a its own repetition. This means of its own, so that when learners must first one grasp understand the major tonal characteristics, or main theme, or a motif of a composition and the succession and repetition of tones or its the variations which usually links the major themes,. Then the learner can will be able play to relatively easily play the parts of the bar lines contained in one a phrase and can then he can move on to the second phrase.

3) The next phrase may be quite a new form of a phrase accompanied by a modulation, but the point to note is the position or the role of that this phrase played plays in the entire structure of the composition.

Generally speaking, each composition consists of (i) introduction of the theme (or motif), (ii) response to the theme (motif), (iii) transposition or modulation of the tonal phrases and (iv) conclusion of the entireall the developments (coda). In this way a composition very much is resembles very much the characteristics of one’s one’s speech processing of a speech, or a style.

4) Each composition usually consists of the repetition of a phrase,. and The learner one must grasp understand how and in what manner such a part must be played, in both styles and speed (crescendo and decrescendo; louder and softer) in unison with the upper tones or in separately. This entirely depends depends entirely upon the correct and precise reading of the notations written by a the composer.

5) A pPiano players must be conscious in of the entire complete tonal movements, followed by a the performance direction,. sometimes Sometimes this is distinctively in a staccato fashion, and at other times in a legato fashion. The learner in must grasping the whole stream of musical events, parts and wholes, continuation and grouping, similarity, and transposition as an organized experience of music as a whole. (cf. Köhler, Gestalt Psychology, (??Liverlright??spelling does not match that in the reference list??) Paper-bound edition, 1970, p. 236.)

A. The case of Mozart’s Sonata

In grasping Mozart’s sonata, tThe following points may be stand out for understanding Mozart’s sonata.

1) The repetition of accompanying notes (usually played by the left hand). Taking anThe following example is from Andante Cantabile (Opus 545). The lower tones (by with the left hands) start with: sol-re, si-re, and then la-re and do-re (first bar line, in Italian notation), etc. In other words, a one tone is replaced by another tone,. while tThe upper tone played by the right hand takes only one minim out of 4 groups of semiquavers or a pair of a crotchets in accordance with the lower tones played by the left hands.

2) There is always a repetition of the group of harmonic melodies which are played with the left and right and left hands either simultaneously or alternatively.

3) Many of the Mozart’s sonatas accompanies accompany alternatively bright melodies (expressed by sharp notes of do- fa-sol) and sad melodies (expressed by flate notes of la-mi-sol-mi-re).

Some of the easiest parts of Mozart’s music are reproduced here.2

< Eine kleine Nachtmusik >

< Eine kleine Nachtmusik >

B. Chopin’s’s Example

Some of Chopin’s earlier and simpler work can also be analyzed in the following way. Although This does not always include (??OK??) Chopin’s has produced a number of difficultclassical piano music with in different genres (such as MazurukasMazurkas, Polonaises, Waltzes, Ballads, and NocturnsNocturnes, etc.) which liberalizing liberalized the tonal structures, combining combined the elements of Polish dancing, in used bright tones, or and expressed his delicate moods and sentiments in sublimated forms. The latter (??OK??) (this is especially expressed in his NocturnsNocturnes, Etudes, and Waltzes which using use a number of alternations of sharps and flats in staves,. some of his earlier and simplest works can be analyzed in the following way.

1) There is a continuation of the same tones (cf. the beginnings and the middle of the Etude “Rraindrops”, and also at the start of the Grand Valse Brilliante, Opus 18. See the beginning parts of both compositions.

2) There is also a repetition of a group of harmonic melodies.

3) In the above these two compositions, there is no big major modulation of the tonal structures, compared with his other difficult pieces,. so that an iInexperienced pianists can follow the stream of melodies in such phrases after grasping understanding the whole structure of the above two examples. Here are two relatively simple examples of Chopin’s work that are mentioned in the above.

(cf. Chopin’s Etudes 28-15 (the Pprelude of “Rrain-drops”) in the opening phrase and the middle parts (depicting the rainfalls) and the opening paragraph of the Grand Valse Brilliante Opus 18.)

< Grande Valse Brillante >

C. Beethoven’s Sonata

While Although Beethoven composed 32 different sonatas in his life, the style and the contents of his earlier, accomplished and later years of his works are found out to be quite different from his earlierin the stages of his career(??OK??).from one to another, while h Theis characteristic tonal elements of his phrases (mostly melancholic and suddenly bursting out in tones), however, can be traced in each of his compositions.

The His most well-known sonatas were composed in his the (??accomplished-delete??) period around when Beethoven was in his late twenties and early thirties. These sonatas are the his Opus No. 13 (called “Pathetic”), Opus No. 27-2 (“Moonlight”), and Opus No. 57 (“Appassionata”).

In the latter two sonatas, some of the easy parts are found as follows. The moonlight starts with the four groups of sol-do-mi in the first bar line of the treble-clef and changes gradually like la-do-mi, la-do-mi, la-re-fa, and la-re-fa in the next bar line in the performance direction of adagio sostenuto.

While the opening paragraph of the Opus 57 (“Appassionata”) is very fast (in allegro assai), followed by slow and fast bursting phrases alternatively in 12/8 time signature, the second part consists of a harmonic melodies written in both treble clefs,. The melodies are la-do la-do-fa sol-si-mi, 3 sol-sis, la-do sol-si (upper tones) sol-si (middle), and sol-si (lower tones) and the second tones written in the treble-clef consist of the repetition of mi (upper tones).

The second part starts with a bass clef la-do-mi-la, la-do-mi-la, la-do-mi-la, and la-do-mi-la and goes up to the a series written in treble clef,. This series is do-mi la-la (combination of upper and a lower tones), do-do, la-la, sol-sol, sire-sire, re-re, sol-sol, la-la, and mi, fa-re, do-mi, do-si, and mi-re-do-mi, etc., which constitutes a song of a praise for a lover (who maybe may have been one of his Beethoven’s sweethearts).

(cf. The beginning of Beethoven’s “Moon Light” and Opus 57 (“Appassionata”).

< Moon Light Sonata (Sonata quasi Fantasia) >

< Beethoven’s Opus 57, First Movement >

(second paragraph and the following)

The first part of the his Opus 57 consists of the a long phrasing with a theme (motif) followed by the second and the third part with different tonal styles (which using use transpositions). The fourth part consists of a large variation of up and down movements ending up with a small adagio,. and tThe coda of the fifth part (starts with piu allegro) and ends up with rather a (??calme-or calm??) phrasing.

In this way, most of the Beethoven’s sonatas consist of a long series of phrases divided by first, second, and third movements. (Tthe first and the third movements are very quick and involve bursting tones, while the middle,, or theor second movement, usually is constitutes constituted of a rather calm, comfortable phrasing. And in this context, it It is rather difficult in this context to play all the parts smoothly and as indicated by his performance direction,. but even in these difficult phrases oOne can still find a the simple and very characteristic tones of Beethoven even in these difficult phrases, such as fa-la-do-fala, mi-do-mi-so-do or the same repetition of tones like mi, la-do, and do-mi-la as is exemplified in the parts of the Opus 57 above.

5. Conclusion

To conclude the present stage of what I have reached after five years’ learning as a late beginner, I can make conclude the following conclusions about the present stage that I have reached after five years of learning as a late beginner.

1) An Increase increase a in the further skills of reading and understanding musical notes and scores, as well as an increase of in the skills of finger movements.

The latter problem skills can further be improved through practice by with the assistance of a piano teacher, and listening to CDs and the actual performances of good playerspianists.

2) Piano playing is analoguous to other the mechanical learning of other skills such as using computer key boards, word processors, E-mails E-mail, and the internets Internet of thewhich are all recently developed mechanical technological implementsinnovations(??OK??). The only difference with between music and those these other techniques exists in the skill of hearing musical sounds and of memorizing them distinctively. With regard to the finger movements, the The mimicry of motor movements after piano teachers seems to be very important with regard to the finger movements.

3) The problem of the speed as written in at the head of each composition (performance direction, such as allegro, presto, largo, etc.) and the problem of a good coordination of the left and right hands still exists,. but tThis will be improved by further practice, and by listening to many performances of experienced pianists.

4) (4) On lLooking back, I can see that my first learning it was rather slow when I first learned( the understanding of the music fundamentals) was rather slow,. but from the beginning, I had a skill from the beginning, however, concerning the expressiong of the melodies that I have heard since my childhood., I also had strong motivation to become a good piano player and musician,. and I have not forgotten to practice and some time ago what seemed to be difficult at the beginning some time ago could be overcome by later rests and practices. In this context, I think what Professor (??Sir-spelling OK??) Bartlett called “effort after meaning” was activated in my mind concerning the memorization of melodies;. in other words, That is to say that a schemata of tonal elements was enlivened unconsciously in my brain (Bartlett, 1932, 1995).

Now I have a had good experience of ain the deep feeling or and delicate emotions of composers as to how they expressed themselves in their compositions.

I can now identify with them in the expression of melodies, harmonies, and rhythms with certain forms of musical notation, phrasing and articulation, modulation, ornamentation, and pauses.

Notes

1. 1)Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 adapted from Tomoe Kitamura (1994). Piano Lessons for Adult Beginners, Ongaku-no-tomosha, p. 19.

2)Brahms Symphony No. 1 from James Bastienne (1981), Favorite Classic Melodies, Kjes, West, San Diego, California, p. 9.

2. 1)Mozart, KV. 545 Zen-on Piano Library (1956), Mozart Sonaten 2.

P. 236.

2)Mozart, KV. 525 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Zen-on Piano Library (1988) p. 4.

3. 1)Chopin, Opus 28-15, Zen-on Piano Library (1955) pp. 29-30.

2)Chopin, Grand Valse Brilliante Opus 18, Zen-on Music for Piano, No. 128, p. 1.

4. 1)Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata, Zen-on Music, Music for Piano, No. 1. P. 1.

Beethoven, Opus 57 (Appassionata) G. Henle Verlag, p.4.

References

1. Taylor, E. (1990). Music Theory in Practice, London, The Associated Board of the Royal School of Music.

2. Baxter, H. and M. (1993). The Right Way to Read Music, U.K. Right Way.

3. Keller, H. (1955). Phrasierung und Artikulation. transTrans.lated by Uemura, K. and Fukuda, T. (1969), Tokyo, Ongaku-no-tomo-sha.

4. Köhler, W. (1947). Gestalt Psychology: An Introduction to New Concepts in Modern Psychology, New York, (??Liverlight?? spelling does not match with above??), republished (??or reprinted??) reprinted in 1970.

5. 5. Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: An Experimental and Social Study. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, reprintedrepublished (??or reprinted??)in 1995.

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