Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Hardanger - thank the Norwegians

This is a beautiful sounding instrument, a fiddle with movable drones, with 4 resonating strings in addition to the 4 that are directly played. The instrument is associated with the folk music of Norway, though the violin-fiddle is also very commonly played there.  The Hardanger, pronounced HAR-DONG-er is the same as the Norwegian Hardingfele,  a very ornate fiddle with extra strings, some gut strings, many thinner than the violin.  It has a low flat bridge and demands  a fast light bow speed  - it is traditionally played without vibrato.  One or two drone notes are commonly played along with the melodic notes, made possible by the low flat bridge. The drone notes move around quite a bit with the melody, unlike some drone styles that stay on one pitch. 
     The music often is drawn from a Lydian Scale ( #4) with a slightly flat 7th, which at first sounds out of tune, but the ear adjusts.  There is a strange and unique but likeable quality to the music because of this pitch oddity.   The music tends to evoke a plaintive melancholy that is often the case with traditional Scandinavian folk music, even when used as a foundation for dancing.
  Speaking of dancing, some 19th Century religious groups condemned the instrument ( along with the fiddle) as "a sinful instrument that encourages wild dances, drinking and fights".  Here's to the power of music!

On Rhapsody I highly recommend listening to Annbjorg Lien to hear top notch playing and compelling arrangements.  Here are some other hits on Rhapsody to check out, and there are a fair number of examples on YouTube if you search for "Hardanger".
   Knut Buen
   Fossegrimen
   Norway - Chant and Hardingfele
   Bill Boyd
And finally here is a fascinating talk by Andrea Een and her journey, as a violinist, into the world of the Hardanger.
http://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/streams/playevent.cfm?eventid=173


There is also an extensive article on Wikipedia that is worth reading under "hardingfele".  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardingfele


The Hardingfele or Hardanger
Notice the Resonating UnderStrings
Annbjorg Lien

Transform Simple Jazz Exercises with Phase Shifting

     The simplest of scale patterns can be turned into something that's much more musically useful and interesting by simply shifting the pattern to the right or left, causing the downbeat to fall in a less predictable place.  The example below shows a simple triplet  "key chord"  pattern where the beginning of each  3-note phrase falls ON the beat.  By shifting the pattern to the side,  the melodic phrase that's created is much more interesting. Playing the newly created phrase requires some re-learning to maintain a dynamic emphasis on the downbeats as the original phrase becomes more obscured. 
  The final 2 examples show how, by changing the note value, the original 3-note phrase, as before, no longer lines up clearly on the beat and something is created that is also more musically interesting.

    As always these would, by a jazz musician, be practiced in all keys and in different directions, possibly with different scales.  The concept can be applied to just about any simple pattern-exercise to generate new ways of thinking and get the fingers and brain into some fresh territory.  The possibilities are endless and can take over your life, so be careful to think about what's important and what's not, and keep both eyes on the big picture.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Piano Jazz : Diminished Scale- Some theory and some fingering

  Jazz theory people talk about TWO kinds of diminished scales.  Both scales alternate HALF-STEPS with WHOLE-STEPS, but one of them starts with a halfstep and the other starts with a wholestep.  Take your pick on how to name each of those scales, but how you think about the scale defines how you can use it.   They really are just the same set of pitches just starting in a different place in the sequence. And it's such a symmetrical scale that you can start from any one of 4 different notes and generate exactly the same scale, which means there are really only THREE different sets of notes.

  For improvising over Diminished Seventh Chords, the Whole-Half Scale makes sense, while improvising over Dominant Seventh Chords ( especially with alterations), the Half-Whole makes sense because all of the notes in the scale are customary jazz dominant-7 alterations. (b9,#9,#11,13)
   When the Diminished-7th Chord is functioning as a Dominant-7th chord in disquise (which is almost always), one can just think of that related Dominant-7th chord instead, then use the appropriate Half-Whole scale for improvising.  Note, that eventually this all becomes intuitive and an aural decision that you make while playing, but it is helpful to think hard about it when learning to improvise.  Here's an example, to clear that up --
    A Cdim7 chord   can function as a B7(b9) chord ( the two chords almost sound identical!). So if you visualize the B7 and play the Half-Whole scale from B, you will be automatically playing the Whole-Half scale from C.  The Cdim7 will function just like the B7(b9) in its quality of sound and where it resolves.
  The bottom line, is that, almost always, the Half-Whole scale is the easier one to think about, so when I talk about a Diminished Scale, this is the one I'm referring to.

But this post was intended to be about fingering.  Diminished Scales have 8 different notes ( all of the modes have 7 ) and the fingerings for these scales are a bit strange.  With the exception of one alternate fingering that I show, all of the scales are most comfortably played using 3 fingers only.  ( I have read that Art Tatum only used 3 fingers for all of his dazzling runs, so, at least for some, it's not a handicap!).
        And a little more theory that ties everything together......
Notice that in the first scale, the B diminished scale is identical ( the same notes!) to the D, F and G# diminished scales.  This scale would fit nicely over altered B7, D7, F7 or G#7 chords when improvising.
       It would also fit nicely over C, D#, F# and A Diminished 7th Chords  - ANY of those 4 diminished Seventh Chords can function, and usually do, as the original 4 Dominant 7th Chords B7, D7, F7 and G#7.  And so it all ties together.  The Diminished 7th chord equivalents are ALL 1/2 step up from the Dominant 7th chords. 






























Clare Fischer's compositions and arrangements often make brilliant use of sounds that come out of the Diminished Scale, harmonically and melodically and, by the way, he is a fabulous pianist.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Myth: Octaves are Stretched on Pianos because of Equal Temperament

Yes, octaves are "stretched" on pianos but it has nothing to do with Equal Temperament.  Twelve notes DO have to be distributed within a slightly stretched octave but stretching and temperament are different phenomena altogether. Be sure to read my previous post about Equal Temperament.
OCTAVE STRETCHING
   What does this even mean?  Theoretical OCTAVES are pitches that have fundamental frequencies that progress by a factor of "2"  as shown here starting with C below middle C:

  C3       130.8 hz ( vibrations per second)
  C4       261.6  hz
  C5       523    hz
  C6      1046.5  hz    etc.
          ( multiply any frequency by 2 to get the pitch ONE octave higher)

Octaves on a freshly tuned piano actually end up a bit different than what you see above. This measurement comes from my own just-tuned Kawai KG6C a 7'4" grand piano ( every piano will end up a bit different, that's why tuning them is so much fun ).  Using C3 as a Zero reference, the other notes end up as shown below,  measured in cents (1/100 of a half-step):

  C3        0
  C4      4.4 cents sharper than the theoretical 2:1 octave
  C5     5.9 cents #
  C6     8.2 cents #
  C7     15.4 cents #
   C8     35 cents #

      THAT is octave stretching.   Relative to the 2:1 theoretical octave, the octaves are tuned wide, hence the word "stretch".  They were not stretched this way arbitrarily, though there is some latitude when stretching octaves, particularly in the very high registers. They are stretched this way so that the octaves will sound pure and smooth when played together.  On any other instrument, 2:1 octaves would sound pure, but not on acoustic pianos!  The stretching is done to accommodate the fact that, on the piano, the partials of any given note, which sound together with the fundamental are sharper than expected --- but only on pianos.  When playing octaves, the fundamental of the upper note primarily interacts with the 2nd partial of the lower note ( among other interactions!) and the tuning must accommodate the sharpness of the partial in preference to the theoretical 2:1 octave or the octave will sound out of tune. Tuners that tune aurally do this without even thinking about it - a pure octave on the piano is a stretched octave.  Notice that C8 in the above example is a full 35 cents sharp!  It's no wonder that other instruments often have real problems playing in tune with pianos.
    Why does this happen on pianos. Physics.  It is a quirky condition, which also is totally unrelated to Equal Temperament, called...

INHARMONICITY
 There is something to do with the physical nature of high-tension stringing ( 200 lbs. per string, more or less) and a "stiffness" factor near the string termination points that cause the effective speaking length of the string, for the high partials, to be shorter. The high partials are just sharp. Period.  There's no way to fix it but I'm not sure there's a need to.  Here is a measure of one string on my piano showing the octave partials that are generated by that one note ( C3):

       C3  0
       C4   3.4 cents #     2nd partial
       C5   4.1 cents #    4th partial
       C6    6.4  cents #     8th partial
       C7    125   cents #    16th partial  ( over 1/2 step sharp!!)

Interestingly, the first few octaves line up somewhat with the stretched octaves in the previous chart, but the the upper partials go pretty wild -- fortunately they are pretty much inaudible. Tuners use direct measurements of those out-of-tune partials when tuning octaves, so it's not really a surprise that the actual tuning mirrors the inharmonicity.
   There is a bit of serendipity in all of this because it turns out, that our ears distort our perception of pitch relative to the mathematics, and as luck would have it,  we humans prefer that the upper pitches be tuned sharp, otherwise we perceive them as flat.  This is easily and clearly demonstrated by playing a series of octaves on an electric piano - the upper notes sound disturbingly flat!   Because of this bit of PSYCHOPHYSICS ( physical science relative to perception), I believe that one of the big reasons that the piano has stuck around for so long is that it just coincidentally deals with the "pitch issue" naturally - if you tune the octaves for pureness, the pitch alterations pretty much compensate for the higher frequency pitch-compression that takes place in the ear and brain. 

 To make life in the piano-tuning world even more fun, every time there's a change in steel string diameter, which happens about every 6 notes,  the inharmonicity characteristics change significantly - tuners work hard to achieve EQUAL temperament, but sometimes it's not so EQUAL as we would like. 


   





     

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Easy Way Out Is Not So Easy

   As improvisers and jazz musicians, when we head to the practice room, the perennial question that pops into the head is "What do I work on today?" or "What do I work on, on any day"?.  People in all lines of work tend to gravitate to tangible goals over undefined or ambiguous goals and improvising musicians are no exception. I find that my students almost without exception prefer me to spell out exactly what they should work on and are uncomfortable with instructions like "Play what you feel" or "Try to become childlike again".  When it comes to my own practicing, I am more comfortable with these ambiguous directions than they are, but I fully understand the desire to have objective goals - fortunately, I usually have multiple projects going on simultaneously that provide some structure and direction.  But the challenge remains for all of us.  The is always a kind of magnetism there that will drag us into  the ubiquitous Practice Room Trap. ( The dreaded PRT)

   The "Easy" default practicing algorithm (a habit of thinking) that seems to find it's way in the Jazz Practice Room is primarily this:
1. Play faster and faster, then faster even more.
2. Play more notes and more notes-per-second that are less and less obvious.
3. Change the chord structure as much as you can and substitute, substitute more, add more stuff.
4. Make the rhythms more and more complicated.

One could, and many do, spend a lifetime on these clear and "tangible goals".  They are NOT so easy, - any of them, but they are attractive because they provide something, at least, that we can grab on to, goals that on the surface, are basically SIMPLE and unambiguous.   There are always easily definable goals and  measurable results when you hang out in the land of 1-4, and there are always clear and obvious steps to take to further progress along that chosen road.    Or,  one could come to a place that recognizes that the "intangible" aspects of music are MUCH more important, one could choose a different road that is hidden behind the bushes.   When you hear a piece of music that is emotionally moving, does it ever have anything to do with 1-4?  Wouldn't it feel better to have a loftier goal, goals that actually have the potential to make a difference?   As improvisers, we have the power to create our own path through improvisation.  Not only do we make up the notes to play, we make up the process that leads to choosing the notes that we make up to play.

What are those intangible aspects of music?  Well, it's hard to say, because they're... intangible.   The act of practicing and studying improvisation is the search for #5 and above, and resisting the superficial attraction and simplicity of  the obvious.  It is possible to examine those important qualities of music that are worth pursuing, and create smaller tangible goals that point down THAT road instead.  To risk sounding like an amateur poet, the intangible goals have something to do with "feel", communication, emotion, "groove", beauty, expression, quality, tone, phrase, meaning.  And add your own words, after sincere reflection, that seem important, then let these guide "what you work on today".

Victor Wooten - His book "The Music Lesson" is about ambiguity.



If it's not worth doing, it's not worth doing well.                            (Thomas Newman)


Eric Maisel - creativity and life coaching through books and podcasts

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Playing by Ear - from the Top Down

If you can recognize 2 things when you're listening to music, you will be able to play any song in any key, without looking at music.  Surely that's what people mean when they talk about "playing by ear".   Here are the 2 things:
   1.   Chord Type
In their basic form, there are really not that many kinds of chords to recognize:  Maj, Min, Dominant 7, Diminished, Half Diminished.  It can be a little challenging when the root is not on the bottom or there are a bunch of fancy jazz extensions and alterations thrown in, but it is a skill that can be learned and you will have to learn to see through the clutter to the basic underlying chord.
   2.  Degree of the Chord on Top
Every melody note has a subjective quality that has everything to do with how it relates to the underlying chord.  For example, a note that is a b9 of a chord has a distinctive tension and sound that it would not have if it were the 5th of a chord.

  Once you have those 2 things in mind, the chord becomes clear because there's only ONE chord that satisfies those two conditions. It is possible to get very fast and making the decision about what to play and it can be done as you're playing.  This is not another academic exercise but a practical and fundamental hearing skill.

In the 8 bar section, below, of We'll Be Together Again,  I have spelled out these 2 characteristics along the way, characteristics of the quality of sound that can be heard and recognized immediately.  BLUE is the chord type, RED is the degree of the chord that the melody occupies. In each case, their is only one chord that will satisfy the two requirements and playing the tune by ear is simply a matter of putting it together.    To me, this way of hearing through a tune is far easier than trying to hear ( or worse yet, memorize ) root progressions.  Note - on the second chord below I've also often heard that as the 9th of a dominant7 chord  (which means it would have to be Gb9) - I can't say I know for sure which is the original chord without some research
A Simple Way to Hear Chord Changes to a Song
George Shearing - Blindness Forces you to Play "By Ear"

The Performance Version, with Chords derived by Hearing Top Note Qualities and Chord Types

Improvising, Naturally

  There's a comfortable familiarity that starts to develop when you keep coming back to something.  You start noticing details and connections, you become more aware of the nuances and the complexities. For me, it happens with movies like Das Boot and Witness and The Day The Earth Stood Still which I've seen many times.  I now see the relationships between this character and that one in vivid clarity, I know where the lighting changes and the score kicks in and the unique style of editing during the action scenes. I know the font on the credits and the color temperature of the opening scene. 
  There is a quality of experience that is familiar, comfortable,  where you can let go and explore the details, experience the moment more fully and make creative connections.  It is a style of experience we aspire to when we're improvising music - we strive to let go and let the ideas flow and let the elegant connections happen naturally and let all the music and theory that we've studied so hard come shining through in a natural logic that defies the music theorists.

  There is this experience of "non-thought" when we're playing a simple song in a familiar key that is well within our ability to hear - the music just comes out directly and comfortably without calculation and guess-work.  It would be so nice to have that relaxed sense with more complex music and in all keys.  It is informative that we only tend to play at that level in the keys that we play in a lot.  No big surprise there, but the lesson is obvious and simple, that we should just play a lot in the other keys to get to that place.

This ASSIGNMENT  then, is spend about an hour doing this:
     Choose 20 tunes that you know really well ( at any level you're comfortable with -- could be Home on The Range, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Danny Boy, Sophisticated Lady or Giant Steps )  and sit down and play them all in the key of B.  If you're like me, the brain goes into a different mode when playing in an unusual key.  Make it a usual key for an hour and see what it does for your playing.  Are you closer to that place, you know the one?

Kenny Werner  -- Check out his book Effortless Mastery

 

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Alphorn Season will Be Here Soon / Jazz Alphorn is Here Now


       The Alphorn ( Alpine horn or Alpen horn )  has been evolving from its ancient roots for some 100,000 years. Early versions were mainly for military use but, in the region of the mountainous Alps they were used mainly  to announce daily activities.  Archeological records provide evidence of alphorn-like instruments being used by Celtic tribes on the northern slopes of the Alps around 2000 years ago. Very similar to horns from the early 1500's, the modern alphorns range in length from  10.6 feet to 13.5 feet and play in the keys of E, F or F# depending on the length, which can be adjusted with various extensions.   The horn is pretty much a wooden version of an unrolled French Horn - French Horn players are most immediately comfortable playing the Alphorn, which, without valves or holes, plays only the one overtone series of the fundamental pitch.  Other brass-family horns have movable valves that enable the player to  change fundamental pitch of the horn in order to play additional notes from a different overtone series, but not the Alphorn.  This is its biggest challenge in playing - adjusting pitch completely with the embouchure (shaping of the lips and muscle control) and hitting pitches accurately within the 4-octave range.
The Carnyx - from the Celtic Iron Age

Alphorns of The Salzburger Echo Band perform in Honolulu                      photo  s.k.
   The seventh partial of the Alphorn (6th overtone) is a perfect 7x the frequency of the fundamental pitch 43.65 Hz ( the lowest on a F horn ),  which puts it's pitch at 305 Hz., squarely between D and D#, a little closer to D# but clearly FLAT of the tempered b7 of the major scale that we are used to hearing ( 311.1 Hz).  If played together with a tempered b7 it would produce a beat rate of about 6 beats/sec.  It is just the nature of the beast and not a flaw in the instrument  - it is really more a flaw of Equal Temperament.  See previous post about Equal Temperament.   Alphorn players will still use this note in their performances to approximate the tempered b7th,  or just as a unique sound unto itself, while several other notes of the tempered chromatic scale simply don't exist on the horn.
    The horns are made of spruce or pine and wrapped with birch rattan, while the mouthpieces and decorative crowns could be make of other woods like walnut or boxwood. Some are very decorative and extravagant with detailed carvings and hand painted details.  A new generation of carbon fiber horns are frowned on by the purists but they do make traveling easier, though the sound quality is considerably different.

  For some impressive Jazz Alphorn by Arkady Shilkloper  click here

Don't miss the Fourth Annual North American Alphorn Retreat near my home town of Salt Lake City, Utah , to be held at the beautiful Solitude Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon Aug 11-14, 2011.   Group lessons, private lessons, top-notch food and accommodations, mountain treks, world-class instructors, alphorn competition and concert, horns to rent if you don't have your own...

Brian Priebe, Tony Brazleton, Mark Pyper                                      photo   s.k.


other links:

Rocky Mountain Alphorns  - Bill Hopson
          http://www.alphorn.ca/

Gerald Pot - alphorn maker
          http://www.alpinehorn.com/en/alpinehorn-pot.html
                                ____________________________________________________


Tight Airport Security for Alphorns - But it's just a Musical Horn!
Arkady Shilkloper, Russian jazz Alphornist

Monday, June 13, 2011

Jazz Piano Study - Beginning INTERMEDIATE

      I've posted a few Jazz Piano Brain Teasers recently and realized that they are too advanced ( I can barely play them myself)  for some students and less experienced  followers of PuppyDogMusic, so I'm posting this one for you - you know who you are.
     The skill involved in this exercise is extremely useful in practical playing of pop music and jazz.  In jazz, triads are a good way to visualize and isolate a group of upper structure extensions of a complex jazz chord.   In less complex music, successive inversions like this crop up all the time.  The study should be expanded to any two major triads a whole step apart ( as in this example ), or a half-step apart ( such as Gmaj and Abmaj) and to minor triads.  A particularly useful combination is a Maj triad and a minor triad that is a whole step up ( such as Bbmaj and Cmin).  The second passage below is an example of the same exercise with broken chords in both directions.
   As usual, this should be done in all keys and without using music, visualizing the inversions and always noting the sound of the top note and how the quality of the top note has everything to do with what degree of the chord it is.....
  The logic here is that we alternate 2 triads moving up to the nearest inversion.  Play up a couple octaves then go down to where you started. And remember to keep your thumb OFF of the black keys, unless it's an emergency.  If God had wanted us to use the thumb on a black key she would have made it longer.  There are no emergencies here....

Intermediated Jazz Piano Brain Tease #3

This brain tease is not so advanced as previous Brain Teaser posts #1 and #2,  but still challenges the brain to think and apply voicing theory.  For jazz players this should be done in all keys without printed music up a couple octaves and down a couple octaves at a slow steady tempo.    The first  series below is a set of inversions of open voicings  of a C half-diminished chord ( Cm7(b5)) and the second series incorporates a logical resolution of each of the voicings from the first series.   It is simply the  chord progression:   ii,V7  in Minor.    The ii chord in minor is m7(b5).   To visualize the open voicings you could think of the closed voicing stacked up from the bottom note,  then move the middle two notes up an octave.  Or you could imagine the closed voicing from the top note stacked down, then move the 3rd voice down an octave ( " drop 3 " it might be called ).  When doing an exercise like this it is important to always keep in mind the degree of the chord that is on the top and on the bottom, and be able to sing all the notes so that this becomes ear training and not simply an intellectual exercise.  This particular study is an extremely useful addition to the vocabulary of solo jazz piano.   It can be generalized to other types of chords as well.      

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Jazz Piano Brain Teaser #2

Memorize the chord progression ( just 2 voicings repeated up a minor 3rd )  and do the whole thing again up a half-step then up another half-step to hit all keys.  Visualize the voicings and the chords they represent, what degrees of the chord are on top and bottom.   Sorry about the double-sharps, but just trying to use correct spellings.  Accidentals do not carry over...  good luck.   See Brain Teaser #1 if you haven't done that one.    These advanced exercises will help you to think in new ways - they are complex enough to make the other stuff seem like a walk in the park and are just good to keep your brain active.  You will find that they influence your improvisations.   

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Developing a Temperament Temperament

 THE NATURAL OVERTONE SERIES
With a little patient study, if you have a bit of scientific temperament, Equal Temperament is not hard to understand.  In this first post on the topic, I made a chart (below) that shows the difference between the Naturally Occurring Overtones Series and the same notes generated by the Equal-Tempered Scale.  The Overtone Series is the collection of pitches that result when you play a SINGLE note on a piano or any other instrument. The pitches are all "integral multiples" of the original pitch that sound simultaneously ( 1,2,3,4 etc. times the frequency of the fundamental pitch )  As you see on the chart, the F overtone series, we naturally hear a number of F pitches at 2, 4, 8, 16,and 32 times the fundamental pitch.  This is not an abstract concept - the overtones ARE audible if you pay attention - it's easy to not notice them and take them for granted!  Aural piano tuners will listen directly to selected overtones to count beats and compare beat-rates and it's a skill that can be learned.
  There is a wealth of information just in the left side of the chart before I even touch on the "Tempered Scale".   Here are some things to observe about the Natural Overtone Series:

    1.   All sounds that are an octave apart have a frequency ratio of 2:1  ( this applies to the A's and C's as well as the F's)
   2.  All sounds that are a 5th apart have a frequency ratio of 3:2
   3.  All sounds that are a 4th apart have a frequency ratio of 4:3
   4.  All sounds that are a Maj-3rd apart have a frequency ratio of 5:4
   5.  All sounds that are a Min-3rd apart have a frequency ratio of 6:5
   6.  All sounds that are a Maj-6th apart have a frequency ratio of  5:3
   7.  All sounds that are a Min-6th apart have a frequency ratio of 8:5

The reason we recognize this intervals as "musical" is because our ears are sensitive to these simple frequency relationships.  The other overtones that occur naturally are so divergent from the scale that we normally use ( the tempered scale ) that I see no reason to include them now.

THE TEMPERED SCALE
   Some time ago it was decided to cram 12 notes into an octave in such a way as to be able to play in all 12 keys without some keys sounding dissonant and some sounding smooth.  The notes were distributed in the octave "equally" ( actually "geometrically", see previous post "The 2 Most Important Musical Numbers").  All resultant equal intervals are equally out of tune because, if you try to tune a series of pure intervals you will end up with an octave that is EXTREMELY wide and out of tune and you will also end up with some resultant intervals that are seriously out of tune.  Basically, you can't do it! ( It's fun to try this if you have an old piano and a tuning hammer).  So all 3rds are equally out of tune, all 4ths are equally out of tune, etc etc.   Fourths and Fifths end up being only slightly out of pure, but all of the other intervals are considerably out!   We currently have the Equal Temperament compromise that dominates almost all of music.  With this system we can do endless 1/2- step modulations of "Mack The Knife" and it continues to sound like "Mack the Knife".  Didn't used to do that.

  The right side of the chart shows the pitches that would result from an Equal Temperament Tuning.  There is also a wealth of information on THIS side of the chart.  Here are some things to observe about Equal Temperament Tuning:

  1.  The octaves of the fundamental ( F in this case ) are the same as the naturally occurring Octaves - equal temperament maintains pure octaves.  ( Note that "octave stretching" and "inharmonicity"  are different concepts altogether - I will post on that later and should not be confused with "tempering")
  2. Tempered 5ths  ( The F to C intervals ) are narrower than the naturally occurring pure 5th ( a slight amount ) ( Red up to blue on the chart).
  3.  Tempered  Maj-3rds are wider than naturally occurring pure maj-thirds ( quite a bit, by the way) ( Red up to green on the chart. )
  4. Tempered 4ths are wider than naturally occurring pure 4ths ( a slight amount ) ( Blue up to red on the chart)
  5. Tempered Minor-6ths are narrower than naturally occurring m6ths ( quite a bit)  ( green up to red on the chart)
  6.  Tempered Major 6ths are wider than naturally occurring Maj 6ths ( quite a bit)  ( blue up to green )
  7.  Tempered Min-3rds are narrower than naturally occurring min-3rds ( quite a bit )  ( green up to blue)
Whenever an interval is wider or narrower that the pure inteval, it will create beats ( slow vibrato effect).  Every interval on the piano produces beats except the octave ( though even that may generate some beats for other reasons that I will leave out here).  There are no pure intervals in Equal Temperament.
  

  This is why unaccompanied choirs sound so wonderful - singers will naturally gravitate to pure intervals because they are so natural and they will make that adjustment at every chordal opportunity.  It also explains why choirs tend to pull flat - if the third of a chord is on the top, the singers will naturally sing it considerably flat to achieve a pure interval against the lower root. This new audible pitch reference becomes the new running reference for the piece and this can happen multiple times - a not-so-practiced choir piece can drop a quarter step or more by the end! 

CHECKING OVERTONE PITCH ON BASS OR GUITAR
    An interesting thing that happens when musicians  are checking their overtones against an electronic tuning machines reference.  Those machines are normally preset to Equal Temperament.  If you play string overtones ( by gently touching the strings at the various node-points) and check against the machine, here is what you will naturally find because of the difference between Natural Overtones ( the pitches from the instrument unfretted harmonics) and Equal Temperament ( the pitch reference built into the tuning device) :
   Octave overtones will be right on.
   Third and Tenths will appear to be considerably FLAT.
    Fifths and Twelfths  will appear to be slightly SHARP.
 Those results would be expected and is independent of fret location.  If you get something else, there might be string damage or who-knows-what.

 Hope that clears everything up.......

Friday, June 10, 2011

Shirley Bassey - A Singer For All Time

Check out her track After The Rain on the album titled "The Performance"  - an incredible singer that I didn't really appreciate much  until recently - her ability to communicate a song is stunning, her pitch, phrasing and dynamics will stand the test of time.  You might have to wade through a bunch of razzle-dazzle show-biz arrangements to find the good stuff but it's worth the effort.  Who could ever forget her famous renditions of 3 James Bond themes?   And her album of "remixes" Get The Party Started is a refreshing twist - her singing style really fits well blended into a more contemporary instrumental concept that is laid in place of the original orchestrations - it is a perfect match for her and I wish somebody would do more of these.    She is in her mid 70's now, living in Monaco, looking back at a very impressive performance and recording career.    And look at these dazzling photographic portraits of her - some of the early ones are by legendary photographer Harry Hammond.  

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Bandoneon - the original Band in a Box

Contemporary Bandoneon
  As an accordion player, people are always asking me about this mysterious Argentinean free-reed instrument, the bandoneon.  ( often pronounced with accent on final syllable).  Actually, it's a German instrument that was brought to Argentina by German immigrants in the early 1900's and took the country by storm to eventually become a national symbol,  the instrument that gives the unique timbre and intensity to the Argentinean Tango. A "free-reed" instrument is one in which the vibrating reeds are attached at one end and "free" to vibrate on the other as is the case with the concertina ( from German Konzertina ), the accordion, and the harmonica.
  The instrument was invented in the mid 1800's but  not by the man whose name graces the name of the instrument, Heinrich Band, but he had much to do with it's keyboard design and evolution and clever marketing strategies to popularize the instrument.
Heinrich Band
   The instrument's configuration is somewhat standardized since 1924 but there are still some pretty significant variations in instruments.  Typically, though,  each button sounds 2 reeds that are tuned a pure octave apart and each button triggers a different note depending on whether you're pushing the bellows together, or pulling them apart ("push-pull" bisonoric system, not to be confused with the term "diatonic")  With 37 so-called "descant buttons", or melodic buttons,  in the right hand, there are therefore 74 notes that can be played in that hand alone. In the left hand are the bass buttons, 35, giving 70 different notes in the left hand.  The logic behind the layout of the buttons is arcane to say the least because it was based on an older Concertina layout but expanded around the central core notes -  the instrument has a reputation for being formidable to learn!  There are usually  a total of 144 notes on a modern bandoneon.

   It is a beautiful sounding instrument with a cutting intense quality, and a dynamic expressiveness that really makes Tango come alive. Like the accordion and violin,  and unlike the piano, notes can be modulated in tone and volume after the note has begun to sound.  The push-pull nature of the melodic playing gives a punchy attack and edge to the melodic lines that articulate in the Tango style or, conversely, has defined the Tango style.
      The most famous of the Tango bandoneon players is Astor Piazzolla, by far, but there are other superb players around. Peter Soave, Raul Jaurena to name a couple.   Rhapsody lists nearly 100 albums recorded by Piazzolla, primarily his composition and his incredible bandoneon playing.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Memorizing Tunes - What Could be Easier

   Jazzers need to know lots and lots and lots of tunes - we have a huge shared repertoire that we need to draw from when we show up to a gig or session, particularly if we are working with musicians of varying ages.   Staring down at a fake book lead sheet while playing a tune looks unprofessional and it alienates the audience and communicates that you really don't know the music, which you don't. Reading music on the gig interferes with the creative process by engaging a "non-listening" more analytic part of the brain and it locks you in to the gross simplification of chords and melody that is the nature of the "lead-sheet".  There is much time and confusion with the shuffling of papers and books which also looks unprofessional and can be stressful and a lot more junk to carry around.
     The jazz repertoire spans almost a hundred years and is a daunting volume of music - the debate that needs to happen is whether to expect young musicians to clutter their brains with this information, but that is another topic.
Andi Bell - World Champion Memory Expert
    Conveniently, the brain is quite capable of storing thousands of songs complete with chord changes and customary styles and fills.   And memorizing music is really not daunting at all!  Think about it.. do you have any problem remembering The Star Spangled Banner or Happy Birthday or Home on The Range?  Not at all, I'm sure. Playing it is another matter!  For a musician that can play what he or she can hear
(this is what we train for), it's a simple matter of just playing the tune as the playback runs along in your head.  It is essential, of course, to have this ability to translate what you are hearing in your head, to your instrument, otherwise, memorization is ridiculously hard.  Ear training, equal fluency in all keys,  playing by ear, chord recognition, interval recognition, progression recognition, recognition of what degree of the chord the melody is, what degree the low note is etc. can all be learned and is the backbone of playing any kind of improvised music.  I believe that the goal of all the scale theory, the chord exercises, the voicing practice, transcriptions, and all the "practice" etc is to achieve the skills I just described.  Without the direct connection between basic intuitive hearing and playing, it is all, frankly, for the aspiring improvising musician,  a waste of time.
   So the KEY to MEMORIZATION, with these skills in place, is simply LISTENING.   What could be easier?
  I have an upcoming gig where I would like to know all of the songs by memory, on a list of  nearly 100 tunes in specified keys. My strategy for this is not to go over and over the lead-sheets,  ( I have about 2 weeks), but it is to load versions of the songs into my Rhapsody Playlist and go on long walks and just listen to them.  I've chosen versions that I will enjoy listening to - this is very important if you're trying to burn new brain-cell connections, to establish an emotional connection that commands your attention.  The songs will carve a path in my head, much like the one the Happy Birthday has permanently chiseled out, and, when the gig happens, I will simply play the tunes and be creative with them as well.  When this works, there will be no need for lead sheets or fake book and the musical experience will be much more natural and expressive because of the process. 
 The best way, fortunately, is the EASY way.  But isn't that always true?  

Andi Bell Memorizing the Positions of all Cards in a Full Deck

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Tuning Bass or Guitar to a Piano - using SuperAccurate Reference Tones

   When two pitches are equal, if they are sounded together, there will be zero beats
(beats being a slow vibrato that results when pitches are slightly detuned from each other.) Bass and guitar players (when not tuning using electronic devices!)  will typically get a pitch from the piano by playing in unison with  a chosen note,  tuning and playing simultaneously with the piano sounding.  They will tune the string until they hear a "zero beat rate" condition and assume that the string is now tuned to the piano.   From aural piano tuners, we know that making beat-rate speed comparisons is FAR MORE ACCURATE than attempting to find  this "zero beat-rate" condition.  Imagine, for example, trying to detect the sound of "1 beat per second", a very slow vibrato - it is nearly impossible to distinguish that from 0 beats per second, yet it represents a difference of 4 cents ( at A4)!  That is a huge error when you consider that a change 1/10 and even 1/100 of a cent  is  audible in the effect it has on the quality of intervals.  We can take a lesson from aural piano tuners and use a completely different approach that circumvents trying to hear an elusive zero beat-rate using REFERENCE TONES. 
    Imagine three notes    R, X and Y.   If the beat-rate between R and X   equals the beat-rate between
R and Y, then we can assume that X = Y ( they are tuned to the same pitch ).  If we change the pitch of R a slight bit, the 2 beat rates will both change but will remain equal.  The exact pitch of R ( Reference Tone) is not important as long as it's creating some beats that are slow enough to hear clearly.

(This will always be the case when x and y are both on the the same side ( # or b) of the perfect zero-beat point)
  R is the reference tone ( on the piano, a arbitrary note that we choose to use ).  X is the tone on the piano that we wish to tune to.  Y is the tone on the guitar or bass that we are tuning ( trying to accurately match the pitch to X).  Piano tuners use this system to verify that various intervals are narrow or wide from perfect by adjusting one beat rate to be slightly faster or slower than the other.  All intervals on pianos are a bit out of tune intentionally ( some are wide, some are narrow) to accommodate equal temperament.
  But I digress.   So how is this actually PRACTICAL?   Here is a real scenario involving tuning an electric bass using a test interval of a tenth, an interval with easy-to-hear beat rates on the piano. 
   R  :   Eb 2  on the piano  ( octave and 6th below middle C)
   X:    G3 on the piano  ( 4th below middle C)
  Y:   G harmonic on the G string of the bass ( octave above the open string)

GOAL is to perfectly match the G string harmonic to the piano G3
PROCEDURE:    1.   Play R and X together on the piano - listen to the speed of the beats.
               2. Play R and Y together ) piano and bass - listen to the speed of the beats.
     3.  Adjust Y until the beat rates are identical.

There you have it - the bass is matched to the piano probably to within 1/4 cent or even less.
   See my previous post about tuning and equal temperament as it pertains to guitar tuning.  http://puppydogmusic.blogspot.com/2011/04/piano-and-guitar-tuning.html

Beat rate comparisons are very useful when tuning 2 keyboards to each other to get quick accuracy.  Simply play an interval, like a major third, between the keyboards ( one note on one, one on the other) and judge the speed of the beats. Then reverse the roles of each keyboard using the same notes,  and adjust the pitch until both versions of the major third have equal beat-rates.

 
  

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Jazz Piano Brain Teaser #1

Practice this in all keys ( WITHOUT  music, of course - this is jazz!) visualizing the chord name and what degree of the chord is on the bottom and top.   Every other chord is a Cm7(b5) in the same open voicing configuration but different inversion.  Every transition chord is a Ddim7 chord in the same open voicing configuration but a different configuration than the Cm7(b5) chords.   It's a great sounding and useful progression that reminds the brain and the hands to always use good voicings and voice leading while  helping to maintain healthy brain-cells through exercise.   ( accidentals do not carry over;  sorry for the Cb but that is the correct spelling of the 7th in a Ddim7 chord ). If you like this I have lots more.

Alternating Cm7(b5) and Ddim7 Open Voicing Brain Challenge



To help with visualization, imagine the chord in closed position and observe that the Cm7(b5) chords are voiced with the outside ( top and bottom) notes in the left hand and the middle 2 notes are in the right hand.  Imagine the Ddim7 in closed position and observe that the bottom and 3rd notes are in the left hand and the 2nd and top notes are in the right hand.
         This post dedicated to John Mehegan - jazz theory guru whose many books I never had the patience to try and understand. ( But he would have liked this voicing exercise)....
 

Giant of the Piano Roll

James P. Johnson made hundreds of piano rolls from 1917-1927 that still hold up today, musically, that is. They are played brilliantly, always with an absolutely infectious drive, and filled with fresh ideas that remain so today.  Firmly part of the so called "Harlem Stride" era, his compositions blend elements of ragtime, blues and swing and numerous inserts that defy description.  The ragtime era was from about 1897-1918  - he obviously had one foot planted in this era, but the other was stepping way ahead.  Clearly some are recorded in multiple takes as no single human could play some of the stuff I hear on these recordings.  They are all laced with a lively humor and rhythmic intensity and a driving groove that make them a pleasure to hear.  Recorded 1970-1972 on player pianos.  Despite the lack of dynamics from these mechanical pianos, or maybe because of it, the groove comes shining through!
 I highly recommend James P. Johnson / Parlor Piano Solos from Rare Piano Rolls.  It is listed on Amazon and iTunes,  and available on Rhapsody.