|
Lesson 22 Focus: More Arrangement Possibilities
The supplementary book remains the focal point as you move into week 22, another week filled with arrangement practice and techniques. You'll begin with a popular classical piece to warm up your fingers and explore style variety. Duane explains in greater detail the decision-making process required to put a piece in context and choose an appropriate arrangement style; for this piece, he selects a romantic, ballad-like sound and takes you through the techniques used to achieve it. You'll cover arpeggios and appropriate intervals and learn how to create a right hand melody out of both octaves and chords. Duane also explains the series of trials and errors inherent in arranging and how to avoid becoming frustrated by such a process.
After demonstrating a variety of different arrangement possibilities for the song (ensuring that you hear the difference even a note can make), Duane introduces the technique of eighth note repetitive chording and explains how it can be used to make a melody truly stand out. You'll work a bit with dynamics and tempo before moving on to a Scottish folk song notable for its sheer number of notes; you'll, of course, go through this song as written before even considering the arrangement. Duane uses this stylized piece to demonstrate the ways in which a style indication, such as country of origin, can be used to create a familiar sound for the piece. In this piece, for instance, he uses fifth intervals to emulate a bagpipe-like sound reminiscent of the song's homeland. The lesson ends with a review of some techniques learned last week and the quick addition of grace notes and syncopation to the piece you're currently working with.
Review by Mollie Wells
|
