Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Here, encounter two classical guitar titans, Agustín Barrios and Andrés Segovia, and grasp their contributions to the instrument. Study tremolo, which gives the illusion of a sustained note. Learn to read sixteenth-notes, add the E major chord, the major pentatonic scale, and use your tremolo and finger technique in the "Raindrop Etude".
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
In this lesson, you will refine much of your existing repertoire. You'll then try your hand at Liszt's Liebestraum. While this piece can be quite challenging for students, Professor Pike has created a special arrangement designed for your current level of ability. Work on adding musical expression to these Romantic-era pieces.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Investigate the qualities of Debussy's music that connect it to French art and poetry as well as to the sensuality of the French language. Learn how his landmark work, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, began musical modernism. Study the wealth of compositional innovations in his piano Prelude #10, and note how his impact on 20th-century music mirrors Beethoven's in the 19th century.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Learn how the advent of musical synthesizers and the tape recorder gave rise to both electronic music (using sounds created electronically) and musique concrète (manipulating real sounds with a tape recorder). Witness how Ultraserialism developed within Europe, leading paradoxically to hyper-complex music which in performance sounded random - a fatal problem for listener comprehension.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
The 20th century ended with a trend toward "pluralism" - the practice of employing a range of different musical languages within a single work or movement. Witness the incredible range of this musical inclusivity and synthesis in composers ranging from the Americans Joseph Schwantner, Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Jennifer Higdon to the British composer Thomas Adès.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Take the measure of guitarist Charlie Christian and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, each of whom transformed jazz and their instruments. Grasp how to work for greater speed and accuracy when playing melodies. Learn "movable" chord shapes for major and minor seventh chords, practice the Dorian modal scale, and use them in a minor blues tune.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
So far, you've been practicing five-finger scales, but in Western music, a complete scale is an octave, or eight notes. Expand your abilities to play full eight-note scales, and practice with C major, G major and D major. In addition to working on your existing repertoire, you'll add the jazzy "Minor Romp" and "A Turkish Tune" to the mix.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Clear diction and phrasing are fundamental to vocal artistry. In this episode, explore how we communicate meaning through pronunciation and syllabic stress. Begin to work with phrasing, how words are stressed relative to each other, and which words to emphasize as important. Consider how to place vowels and consonants in a sung phrase, and start to address intention and meaning in singing text.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Begin your study of musical rhythm by distinguishing periodic from non-periodic rhythmic patterns. Periodicity can be thought of as beat; non-periodicity involves expressive techniques such as timing variations and phrasing. Close by asking whether composers write music in the rhythmic patterns of their native language..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Trace the career of violinist Malcolm Watson, as it illustrates principles of success for musicians, and consider seven habits of highly effective guitar players. Then learn the technique of artificial harmonics. Add half diminished and full diminished chords to your repertoire, play the Mixolydian scale, and finish the course with a jazz and flamenco inspired song.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
After warming up with a waltz, you'll learn "Rameau's Minuet," a piece widely anthologized for music students. Then, go back to the Baroque to learn about Bach's fugues and Pachelbel's famous Canon in D. This lesson gives you a chance to refine your skills in harmonization.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Regular and effective practice is crucial for developing your singing skills. Study three primary facets of efficient practice: Evaluate your progress; strategize a plan of action, and integrate your new skills. Grasp what a typical practice session will look like, from your warmup and assigned exercises to applying your new abilities to the music. Also, remember to sing for fun!
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Not all aspects of musicality mature in the brain at the same rate. Trace the developing music faculty in infants, who have already learned to recognize their mother’s speech patterns and singing while in the womb. Examine research showing that singing is more effective than speech in calming infants..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Look beneath the surface of a seemingly simple feature of music: beat. Discover that beat perception in humans is exceedingly complex and incorporates six distinct criteria. Then survey animal studies to see if other species share our talent for getting the beat..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Darwin believed that musical behavior arose because it gave our early ancestors a biological advantage. But what advantage? Investigate Darwin’s theory and other adaptationist explanations for the evolution of music. Then look at two alternatives: invention theories and gene-culture co-evolution theories..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
In vocal technique, consider how the quality of the exhalation determines the quality of the inhalation. Study the appoggio technique, which focuses on encouraging sternum elevation and rib position during the exhalation. Practice exercises to maintain an open upper body and suspend the inclination to collapse on the exhale, releasing the inhalation and engaging appoggio on the exhale.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Use neuroimaging to investigate the ways that brains of musicians differ from those of non-musicians, asking whether the differences are due to nature or nurture—whether they are inborn or the result of experience. Pinpoint brain structures involved in such musical skills as absolute pitch..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Here, take the measure of the Viennese triumvirate of Schoenberg and his students Alban Berg and Anton Webern, who advanced a historically new, non-tonal music. Delve into the most representative work of this era, Schoenberg's song cycle Pierrot Lunaire, and experience Schoenberg's stunning compositional language. Investigate the extraordinary works and contributions of Berg and Webern.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Grasp how the vocal tract acts as a resonator and study the physiology of the three main areas of vocal resonance. Learn to shape and control your resonance through exercises that explore vibration in the internal spaces of the vocal tract, creating different sounds and colors. Work to achieve a well-balanced resonance throughout your range, maintaining awareness of the internal spaces.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Learning to play the piano is a complex, challenging process, so don't worry if you feel like you're hitting a plateau. In addition to expanding your knowledge of theory - including secondary chords - use this lesson as a time to review what you know and assess what needs work.
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