Hi, everybody
I'm Rick beato today's episode is the first in a series of discussions on musical form
Tonight's episode is going to examine the formal technique of theme and variations that's coming up next on everything music
There are many forms of variation found historically in western music
ground bass, Passacaglia Chaconne and theme and variations
ground bass Pasa Con Chaconne are based on
Ostinatos where a phrase is repeated in a particular musical voice usually using the same series of pitches you can have a
melody or bass Pattern or harmonic sequence that is stated and then repeated usually in the same key or
mode or with the same phrase lengths or harmonic structures and the variety is created in the variations by
contrasting the number of
voices the textures the
Complexity of the melodic figures which could include changes in meter tempo as well one of the greatest?
Compositions in variation Form is Fox Monumental Goldberg variations
The theme is first stated, and then is followed by 30 variations before it returns to the original melody
other famous variations include Beethoven Steve belli variations or brahms variations on a theme by Hiden
And there's also been many theme and variations used by 20th century composers
Let's listen to some theme in variations to see what I'm talking about okay to give you an idea on
Theme and variations what I mean by that I'll play you a popular
Glenn Gould recording of Bach's Goldberg variations
This particular recording came out. I believe in 1981 and
This is the first theme that all the variations are based off of there are 30 variations
So this particular one you may have heard in some movies
but it's
Really beautiful beautiful melody now
We play some of the variations
Okay, so this is using the same chord sequence
But as you notice it's a completely different tempo
or
Completely everybody can hear it's the same boredom aggression
once again
The variations are essentially variations on that or improvisation ziff you will on that theme
Sometimes they'll change meter sometimes they'll change tempo
But they always have that same underlying chord structure and phrase length
that's what remains constant in theme and variations now composers such as
modern contemporary composers such as
Stravinsky I wouldn't say they're necessarily contemporary composers anymore
but twentieth century composers use theme and variations as well sure and berg did and
There's a composer that I'm gonna play a piece of named David Diamond. He happens to be from my hometown
Rochester, New York he wrote a piece called elegy in memory of Maurice Ravel and
It's a really beautiful
Piece that's based on theme and variation
so they
Now begins again right here
This is the first variation we can hear the same chord structure going over
This is really beautiful
once again
so
So contemporary composers would would use it as well
it was a very common form I think it was a great vehicle for composers to write with because
All you needed was a simple theme in which to embellish on
Because many of these early composers were great improvisers it provided a way for them to use them in their live
improvisation they would take a melody from anywhere and
If they thought it was something that had a good harmonic structure that would enable them to
Improvise a great variation over
They would use it
I would imagine you found in a lot of beethoven concerts and Mozart concerts and bach
Concerts, you would find a lot of theme in variations. So why is it important to know about?
forms of Music I
think that
people should really understand
that
historically
composers would
have these
vehicles for writing whether it was for you know dances or
Different forms like Sonata form or these things like I'm talking about
Variations variation forms with ground base and Ostinato and thema variations things like that
And it's important to understand these from a historical perspective
Because I think it offers you an opportunity as a composer
to think in different ways maybe to take some of these ideas from the past and bring them into the future and
Write contemporary pieces based on these forms. They don't have to have the same
You know bass lines or the same harmonic structures, but something like theme and variation is
Definitely something that can be used in a modern
context not only could it be used in a modern context it could actually be used in a pop song I
Have a song that I wrote in an old band. I was in then it's definitely
It doesn't really have a chorus it kind of just has the same theme over and over
it's kind of like a continuous chorus with New lyrics
Essentially, it's like a theme in variations. I'm not expecting you to write a Chaconne or a
Passacaglia, but
understanding them and having a historical perspective on
What has happened before and what led up to?
Contemporary you know to to today's music. I think is really important especially with the real lack of understanding of
Both classical and jazz music that there is in today's society
The the lack of education one of the reasons that I do these videos is to to
to give
Voice to
things of the past that have no voice unless you're a music student at a university or
Conservatory these things are important
I really think so
It's it's as important to understand forms and classical music as it is to understand the lineage in jazz if I know that
You know that?
West Montgomery was influenced by DJango Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and that he influenced Pat Martino and
George Benson who influenced Pat metheny and
John Scofield who influenced you know Kurt Rosen winkle or whoever it is you know there's always a lineage between these
people of the past and today if you think of
Beethoven without Mozart
Mozart without Hiden Hyden without
you know without bach or
Mozart Or Beethoven without bach
Where would we be really I mean honestly xirn berg without bach
All these people have a place in the historical timeline
That they occupy and their influence
Well it may not be direct is always there
It's a constant. It's it's like history. It's just building on itself and these people that take these ideas if Beethoven is
Listens to the well-tempered Clavier listen to it or plays the well-tempered clavier by bach and then decides to write a fugue
It's going to come out with the harmonic language of the romantic
Era the the music that beethoven was writing at the time the kind of chord progression. He was writing. It's not Gonna have the same
Linear vocabulary that bach had which really was of his own time and really a visit of himself?
I mean he was he was really unto himself a whole universe of of ideas
but
Understanding lineage is very important to becoming a great great Musician and composer
Here's a little piece that is a theme and variations essentially it uses a harmonic structure that repeats
Starting in the woodwinds and then it goes
into the strings and then the piano
but it's a similar harmonic structure with a
you know some new melodic material, but it's about it's probably a minute and a half long or so if that
But just so you can get an idea. This is something I came up with
Really quickly for this, but I think there's some interesting things to know check it out
the idea for that melody, but uh
Just a simple idea that I harmonized in
a really modern way, I don't know I know a lot of you think that it's
Probably really dissonant really discordant because you're not used to hearing music like that
but
The way I look at it. It's like this
When I first started playing music
All I needed to do is play
G see indeed and I was musically satisfied with that because I was 12 years old
Then I learned a de sus 4 chord. I said wow that sounds great, especially when it resolves back to D
and then after a while, it's like yeah, that's kind of boring, so
I learned a g sus 4 and resolved it - gee that sounds cool then after a while. I learned D over f sharp
Then I learned some minor 7th chords
and then after that I said ok
What else I learned a minor 7 flat 6 Chord?
then eventually I learned major sevenths and minor sevenths and half diminished and
eventually those I got bored with
And I always felt that
Using the same musical vocabulary your whole life is like reading at a fourth grade level like I say you can't
Describe all of human experience using four chords. Just like you can't learn a language using four words
it takes
the entire
Lexicon of
musical vocabulary
from Simple Triads to Modal chords to poly chords to
Triads over bass notes to melodies that use all 12 tones in them one of the things I'm trying to do
With these videos is to show
people there are
Other ideas out there, and there ways to explore and there ways to explore on your own
Not just take the things that I'm telling you about I'm talking about coming up with your own ideas
it helps if you have someone that can show you where to look for inspiration and
that's I
Think that's what I'm trying to do is to
take my experiences and give people an idea of
where to look
for other inspiration, so when you hear really dissonant piece like that, I think
Wow, that's really interesting. I really grabbed by the the way the distances are approached and
Left I'm just searching to get that feeling that I had
when I was a kid, and I heard addie Sus4
resolved to a d major
now it takes hearing a
C major over a flat go to g major over f sharp
but six months from now it may take a
cluster resolving to another cluster
But I'm gonna keep searching for that feeling
Because I think that's what music is about
It's about trying to explain
the
emotional and
spiritual
condition of
human existence
through
music
That's all for now
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That's all for today. I'm rick Beato
