Lesson 14, Part 2

OK, it's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been practicing some actual songs.  More on thatlater,but I'll say, I got a book called First Lessonsin Bach.  Why Bach?  Well, I think he has a future in Music.  But now, to the lesson at hand.  Playing Jingle Bells is an excersise in harmonic intervals, which I've discussed before. 

Recall, I am learning the basics from a book called Self -Teaching Adult Piano Course.  It starts of with excersises and songs that illustrate and allow the student (me) to hear the different intervals.  In this case, the 4th and 5th harmonic intervals (harmonic meaning both notes of the intervale are played at the same time).  In Jingle Bells, the left hand plays the Harmonic 4th and 5th intervals.  They accompany the Jingle Bells melody in the right hand.  I show in this vid me playing it with the metronome.  It's important that all the notes that start on a particular beat are played at the same time.  This is harder than it seems, especially if you have arthritic fingers, as do I.  But still I try.  And here is the final result.

Lesson 14, Part 1

In this lesson I use both hands to play Jingle Bells.  Keep in mind however, that the goal isn't just to learn to play Jingle Bells, or any particular song.  Rather, it is learning how intervals, harmonic and melodic (playing the notes of an interval simultaneously vs. one after the other) are applied to build songs.  In Jingle Bells, the left hand plays the Harmonic intervals (chords), and the right hand plays the melodic intervals (notes one after another that makes up the melody).   The exercise from the book I'm using instructs the student to say the interval as it is played, which I do.  I think.  The intervals are based on C, that is, the forth is C and a fourth above C, which is F, and the fifth is C and a fifths above C, which is G.  This video is over 10 minutes long and may or may not be instructive.  The hope is to get familiar with the feel of 4th and 5th intervals, and to play Jingle Bells.  We'll see.

This is the last of the single hand exercises for a while.  It would get more interesting next as I tackle "Jingle Bells" with both hands.  Back to this exercise, it has me playing a fifth interval in both the treble and bass clefs.  I think I even sing.   Watch the hands, they do tricks.

Lesson 12,13

Both of these exercises are about intervals, 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, and 5ths.  I include them both here for completeness.  The My Fifth has a purported joke.  At least according to the author of the book.

Lesson 11, Melodic Intervals, 4ths and 5ths.

This exercise introduces the 4th and 5th melodic intervals.  This means the notes are 4 and 5 notes apart respectively.  Notice that the counting begins with the note being played and ends with the note being played.  for example, a 4th up from C is the note F => C-D-E-F.  Starting at C = 1, counting to F you get 4.  I play it slow and try to hit the notes exactly when the metronome ticks.

Lesson 10 Harmonic Intervals, 2nds and 3rds

This lesson introduces Harmonic Intervals, which are just like melodic intervals, except that the notes of the intervals are played simultaneously.   It's fun!  Note:  I haven't yet brought most of these exercises up to speed because I think it's more important to play exactly what you're trying to play rather than speed it up and make mistakes.  I intend to speed these up and maybe make a new video for comparison.  Also, I'm looking forward to playing something a little more interesting.  Jingle Bells is coming up.  Can't wait.

Lesson 9 Melodic intervals 2nd and 3rds

This Tisket, a Tasket song is also an exercise in the 2nd and 3rd melodic intervals.  The instructions in the Alfred's book I'm using to learn suggests saying the intervals as you play them.  I said the notes in the video, but practiced it also saying the intervals.  The point being I suppose is that a melody is not so much a series of notes, but a series of relationships between notes, and it's good to ingrain these relationship sounds in your head.  Especially, I suppose, if you intend to improvise someday.