In this article we will talk about how to prepare for a specialty lesson in a music school, and what the teacher expects from a student when he sets as a homework analysis of a musical work.
So what does it mean to make out a piece of music? It means to begin to quietly play it without hesitation. For this, of course, it is not enough just to go through the play once, reading from the sheet, you have to work through something. How does it all start?
Step 1. Preliminary acquaintance
First of all, we must, in general terms, get acquainted with the composition that we have to play. Usually, students first of all consider the pages - it is funny, but on the other hand, this is a business approach to work. So, if you are accustomed to count the pages - consider, but the initial acquaintance is not limited to this.
While flipping through the notes, you can see at the same time whether there are repetitions in the work (musical notation is similar to the fact that at the very beginning). As a rule, repeats occur in most plays, although they are not always immediately noticeable. If we know that there is a repetition in the play, then our life becomes easier, and our mood improves noticeably. This, of course, a joke! Your mood should always be good!
Step 2. Determine the mood, image and genre
Next you need to specifically pay attention to the name, surname of the author. And no need to laugh now! Unfortunately, too many young musicians fall into a stupor when asked to name what they play. No, they say that this is a supposedly etude, sonata, or play. But after all, sonatas, and etudes, and plays are written by some composers, and even these sonatas, etudes with plays sometimes have headings.
And as a title, we, as musicians, say that the music is hidden behind the musical text. For example, by name we can determine the basic mood, its theme and figurative and artistic content. Say, by the names "Autumn Rain" and "Flowers on the Glade" we understand that we have a work about nature. But if the play is called "Horseman" or "Snow Maiden", then there is clearly some kind of musical portrait.
Sometimes, the title often contains an indication of a musical genre. You can read about genres in more detail in the article “Main musical genres”, and now answer: soldier march and lyric waltz - this is not the same music, right?
The march and waltz are just examples of genres (by the way, the sonata and the etude are also genres) with their own characteristics. You probably have a good idea of how the march music differs from the waltz music. So, without even playing a single note, just by reading the name properly, you can already say something about the piece you are going to play.
In order to more accurately determine the nature of the musical work and its mood, to feel some genre features, it is recommended to find the recording of this music and listen with notes in hands or without them. At the same time learn how the given piece should sound.
Step 3. Elementary analysis of musical text
Everything is simple. Here are three basic things that must always be done: look at the keys; identify key by key signs; look at the indications of pace and size.
Simply, there are such amateurs, even among experienced professionals, who both read from the sheet, so they spin everything up, but they see only the notes themselves, not paying attention to either the keys or the signs ... And then they wonder why they have fingers get out not beautiful melodies, but some kind of solid cacophony. You do not, ok?
By the way, to determine the key by the key signs can help you, firstly, your own knowledge of music theory and experience on solfege, well, and secondly, such useful cheat sheets like quarter-quint circle or tone thermometer. Let's move on.
Step 4. Playing the play from the sheet as we can
I repeat - you play as you can, from the sheet everything is straight with two hands (if you are a pianist). The main thing - to reach the end, without missing anything. Let there be mistakes, pauses, repetitions and other hitch, your goal - just stupidly play all the notes.
This is such a magical rite! The case will surely be successful, but success will begin only after you have played the entire play from beginning to end, even if you succeed in doing so ugly. Do not worry - the second time will be better!
It is imperative to lose from beginning to end, just do not dwell on it, as most students do. These "apprentices" think that once they have completed the play, everything seems to have been disassembled. Nothing like this! Although there is a sense even from just one patient replay, it is necessary to understand that this is where the main work begins.
Step 5. Determine the type of invoice and learn the work by party
Texture is a way of presenting the work. This question is already purely technical. When we felt with the pens, it becomes clear to us that there are such and such complexities associated with texture.
Common types of texture: polyphonic (polyphony - it is terribly difficult, you will need to play not only with individual hands, but also to learn each voice separately); chord (chords also need to be taught, especially if they are at a fast pace); passages (for example, in a sketch, fast scales or arpeggios - also we look at each passage separately); melody + accompaniment (needless to say, we learn the melody separately, the accompaniment whatever it is - we also look separately).
Never neglect the game with individual hands. Playing separately with your right and separately with your left hand (again, if you are a pianist) is very important. Only when we are working on the details, does a good result result?
Step 6. Fingering and technical exercises
It’s already without which a normal, “average” analysis of a musical work in a specialty is never done without fingering. Immediately place the right fingers (do not be tempted). Proper fingering helps to memorize text faster and play with fewer stops.
We define the correct fingers for all difficult places - especially where there are gamma-like and arpeggio-like sequences. Here it is important to simply understand the principle - how the given passage is arranged (according to the sounds of which scale or according to the sounds of what chord - for example, according to the sounds of triad). Then the whole passage should be divided into segments (each segment - before shifting the first finger, if we are talking about the piano) and learn to see these segments-positions on the keyboard. By the way, so the text is easier to remember!
Yes, what are we all about pianists? And other musicians need to do something like that. For example, clerics often use imitation games in their classes — they learn fingering, press the right valves at the right time, but do not blow air into the mouthpiece of their instrument. It helps a lot to cope with technical difficulties. Still, a quick and clean game needs to be worked out.
Step 7. Work on the rhythm
Well, it’s impossible to play a play in the wrong rhythm - the teacher will curse anyway, if you want, you don’t want to, and you’ll have to learn to play correctly. We can advise you the following: classics - to play with the score out loud (as in the first grade - it always helps); play with the metronome (set yourself a rhythmic grid and do not deviate from it); choose for yourself some small rhythmic pulse (for example, eighth - ta-ta, or sixteen - ta-ta-ta-ta) and play the whole play with a feeling how this pulse penetrates it, how it fills all notes, the duration of which greater than this selected unit; play with the allocation of a strong share; play, stretching a little, like a rubber band, the last share; do not be lazy to calculate all sorts of triplets, dotted rhythms and syncopes.
Step 8. Work on the melody and phrasing
The melody needs to be played expressively. If the melody seems odd to you (in the works of some composers of the 20th century), that's okay, you should love it and make candy from it. She is beautiful - just unusual.
It is important for you to play a melody not as a set of sounds, but as a melody, that is, as a sequence of meaningful phrases. See if there are phrasing leagues in the text - we can often find the beginning and the end of a phrase by them, although if you have a good ear, you can easily identify them by your ear.
There could be a lot more to say here, but you yourself know perfectly well that phrases in music are like talking people. Question and answer, question and repetition of question, unanswered question, one person’s story, exhortations and excuses, a short “no” and a wordy “yes” - all this is in many musical works (if they have a melody). Your task is to solve what the composer put into the musical text of his work.
Step 9. Putting the piece together
Something too many steps and many tasks turned out. In fact, and, of course, you know about it, that there is no limit to improvement ... But at some point you need to put an end. If you have worked at least a little on the play before you bring it to class, that's good.
The main task of parsing a piece of music is to learn how to play it in a row, so your final step is always picking up the play, playing it from beginning to end.
Therefore! A few more times we lose the whole work from beginning to end! Have you noticed that it is much easier to play now? So your goal is achieved. Can be carried to class!
Step 10. Aerobatics
Two variants of aerobatics for this task: first - to learn the text by heart (no need to think that this is not real, because this is real) - and the second - to determine the form of the work. A form is a work device. We have a separate article devoted to the main forms - "The most common forms of musical works."
It is especially useful to work precisely on the form, if you are playing a sonata. Why? Because in the sonata form there is the main and secondary part - two figurative spheres in one work. You must learn to find them, identify their beginnings and ends, and relate the conduct of each of them to the exposition and to the reprise.
It is also always useful to divide the development or middle part of a play into parts. Say, it can consist of two or three sections, built according to different principles - one can have a new melody, another can develop already sounded melodies, the third one can consist entirely of scales and arpeggios, etc.
So, we considered such a problem as the analysis of a musical work in the performing plan. For convenience, we have imagined the whole process as 10 steps to the goal. The next article will also deal with the topic of music analysis, but in a different way - in preparation for a lesson in musical literature.
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