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that second phrase is a bit more challenging.

Knots, that was definitely the hardest Bach chorale phrase I've played.
From the D maj 1st inversion chord (i.e. the 2nd chord) onwards, I end up moving the bass up an octave.

This weekend I'm doing nothing new, I'm just going to consolidate the 1st 2 phrases.

Cus.
There is a single problematic now and that's the A a 10 th above the F#.
I just roll it as best I can.
The next chord I also roll but it is a smaller 10 so it's easier. The next measure is very tricky because of holding the voices.
But that's what is all about isn't it.

Hey Knots
You're very exact with your voice duration.
You've made me realize that I don't concentrate enough on this precision. I tend to obscure the voice duration with the pedal. Although the pedal does produce a nice pianistic sound.

I anticipate I'm going to spend a while on Phrase 2.

Sorry to hold you up. Feel free to press ahead.

Check this out.

[video:youtube]4QOYP0hopws[/video]

I loved how he seamlessly blended in his solo at 0:27 in Bach's style of repeated motifs.
I also loved how he returned to the Invention to reintroduce the point of reference.

Looking forward to your burnin' version Knotty.

see you in 12 years

CATS ...

I'm not sure but it looks to me and I think sounds to me that that vid has been sped up. What do you think?

Sped up or not redoing that invention as boogie woogie as he does is more than way way WAY cool and clever and he plays the absolute daylights out of it.

mmm that's an interesting interpretation of yours, Mark.
Yes I agree it was very cool how he did the boogie woogie LH while he threw his RH all over the place.
The big take out for me is how suitable Bach's patterns are for jazz.

I've read your blog no.3 on voice-leading. Thank you for the lesson, it was very clearly illustrated. However, could I please clarify this point with you: do you mean "if a doubled 3rd is part of a contrary motion series, it's OK ?"
So in your example, the F is part of the desc alto line, which is fine, since the F in the bass is on its way up ?

... here's another guy (lennie tristano) who played things back faster than he recorded them. and caught all kinds of trouble for it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EmjgRnTZJU

it may be, for sure, that that bach invention IS real ... it's great either way!

and thanks for going to the blog ..... about that doubled third. yes, exactly. it's totally fine as long as it comes about through contrary motion. contrary motion ... is a very good thing to have in the toolbox!

Hi Mark
Thanks for the clip of Lennie, I didn't know that ! It would have been difficult to play the arps at such speed with so much precision.

Thanks also for confirming about the role of contrary motion for "legitimising" doubled 3rds.

Cus... A google search on something like "arnold schoenberg contrary motion" will turn up a lot of wordy stuff that really isn't fun to read. But it'll also give a sense of how important contrary motion is, just in an overall way.

Hi Mark
I've glanced at a couple of articles.
1. Contrary motion between the outer parts
2. Inversion (by definition, the mirror image in contour of the original form)
seem to be idiomatic of Schoenberg's compositions.

What was cool is the role voice-leading can play in freeing you from the limitations of a changes approach.

As you mentioned in your lesson, voice-leading is about lines rather than chords.

Cus, that is exactly the central idea! Very nicely stated!

So a way to look at the FH 4-part style is bass line paired to a melody but with as much contrary motion as possible. Then fill in the inner two voices.

CM isn't always possible. But *usually* if it is it's the best choice.

Here I attempt contrary motion in the bridge of ATTYA.
https://app.box.com/s/km4fqifx9r0bokz5yvp5

the sheet
https://app.box.com/s/tk1uwdjp0fg5n5vhau6c


As for learning Chorale #1, I will spend a few more days on Phrase 2.

Cus, for me thats a really interesting example that you've posted. What's interesting about them is the experiment with contrary motion

Your connections (chord-to-chord) are fairly free. In a theory class focused on "common practice" they'd most likely get covered in red ink! But, having said that, this isn't a theory class! More importantly, the focus for the moment is on the larger idea of contrary motion.

You might try, for fun, playing the Barry Harris scale in contrary motion ( C D E F G G# A B). The G# makes that motion much better than it would be with CM applied to a major scale.

Also, as an experiment, you might try (at the piano) playing clusters of notes (2, 3, or 4 notes) and then slowly spreading the clusters apart with contrary motion. You may find that contrary motion is enough on it's own to bring a little order to the chaos.

And just to point out the principle again, we're not talking about following specific common practice rules about which note to double or which chord goes here or there. Of course those things can be added in. But for right now, it's to the larger principle of contrary motion .

Cus,

How far along are you on chorale #1. Are you going to try and play the whole thing through?

Hey Knots
I'm still on Phrase 2. I don't want to move onto Phrase 3 until I can master:
a) singing a voice, playing another voice; and
b) singing a voice, playing the 3 other voices.

(I sound really bad singing tenor. I don't sing bass !)

I work on the chorales every few days.
So I think I will take 2 months for a chorale.

Yes my aim is to play the whole thing through. I will be happy to play it very unfluently with huge stops and starts while I get used to passing the middle voices around.

How are you going ?

That was fun indeed Mark.
CM applied to a major scale doesn't sound symmetrical to me, as the voices don't prepare or lead my ears to the two dissonances, namely
1. G(LH) F(RH)
2. F(LH) G(RH)

The BH scale to my ears had much stronger voice-leading properties. CM applied to it sounds symmetrical.
1. Ab(LH) F(RH)
2. G(LH) G(RH) - this 5th is a very strong sound
3. F(LH) G#(RH)

Cats,

Here's the 1st Chorale:
https://app.box.com/s/aykelzfspsvh3vfjyw19