Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
The 20th century was a breeding ground of musical innovation and transformation unlike any other era in history. Within this course, you’ll discover the genius of composers such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Webern, Bartók, Ligeti, Adès, and many others. Experience the superlative musical art that so vividly and unforgettably speaks to the life of our times.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
The guitar is one of the most accessible, versatile, and easy to learn instruments you can play. Get lessons and tips from expert, such as how a simple group of four guitar chords enables you to play hundreds of songs. Even if you already play the guitar, this course will broaden your knowledge by applying music theory, history, and expanding your repertoire of songs and styles.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Look into the remarkable guitar-playing of Eric Johnson, and his use of the pentatonic (five-tone) scale. Learn a left-hand exercise for "walking" across the fretboard; then study half-step intervals on the guitar and how to read them. Investigate syncopated strumming patterns, the two-octave pentatonic scale, and how to use them in improvising.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Uncover the legend and innovations of Doc Watson, the great bluegrass player who was brought out of obscurity by a chance meeting. Study the challenges of playing with a pick while moving across the strings. Then taste "barre" chords, a useful technique you'll explore further, learn the C major scale, and try a tune inspired by Johnny Cash.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Begin to familiarize yourself with the landmark pitches on the staff. By practicing various five-finger patterns (including C major, D major, E major, and A major), you will soon be able to match a tune to a specific tempo. This lesson also introduces the concept of "chords," a triad of notes that allow for richer accompaniment.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Learn about three legends of "fingerstyle" guitar - the technique of playing with the right-hand thumb and fingers. Practice the basics of right-hand fingerstyle technique, with alternating fingers. Study the notation of open strings; then extend your fingerstyle to "fingering" chords. Play a G major scale across three strings, and use your fingerstyle in a song.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Discover the music of visionary composers who turned away from Serialism and Ultraserialism, beginning with Hans Werner Henze and Luigi Nono. Assess the place of postwar Ultraserialism, and the factors that led many to reject it. Explore the extraordinary Stochastic or "sound mass" music of Iannis Xenakis, and how his innovations prefigured and influenced the phenomenal works of György Ligeti.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Take a closer look at the important role of inhalation in vocal technique. Explore three kinds of breath: clavicular (the upper chest), thoracic (the ribcage), and diaphragmatic (the lower abdomen). Then practice a gentle, three-part yoga breath that uses all of them.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Delve into the original style of jazz guitarist Johnny Smith, and the story behind one of his greatest hits. Then go deeper into barre chords, one of the most challenging guitar techniques. Learn "movable" chord shapes, using the same fingering for multiple chords, and practice two-octave arpeggios (broken chords). End with a reggae-style song, structured in "A-A-B-A" form.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Explore head and neck alignment that support a freely functioning vocal mechanism. Visualize the cervical spine and its seven vertebrae, and grasp why head position is crucial for ease in vocal vibration. Practice movements and exercises to experience how vocal tone is affected by head posture; to learn how to maintain a free neck alignment; and to find your optimal, dynamic posture for singing.
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
Schoenberg was both substantially misunderstood as a composer, and one of the greatest influences on 20th-century music. Learn about the enormous enmity and dissent that greeted his compositions, as they challenged tradition and offended musical conservatism. Trace his early life and music, his vision as a composer, and the achievements of his most "popular" work, Transfigured Night.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Cover global ground in this lecture, which looks at important 20th-century composers outside of the European/American orbit. Hear the fusion of Asian and Western traditions in the music of Tōru Takemitsu (Japan), Isang Yun (Korea), Chinery Ung (Cambodia), and Tan Dun (China). Discover the musical riches of Latin American composers Heitor Villa-Lobos, Carlos Chávez, and Alberto Ginastera.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Take an overview of the anatomy and structure of the larynx: the cartilage, ligaments, and muscles that house and support the vocal cords. Then look at how phonation or sound production works, and how pitch is made. Explore phonation through a series of exercises, working to create a healthy vocal tone and a balanced, free laryngeal position, without extraneous tensions.
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
2018.
Language
English
Description
The 1920s saw both an explosion of new compositional languages and a conservative backlash against modernism. Follow the fortunes of Stravinsky, as he created a new ballet score for Diaghilev, incorporating themes from the Baroque composer Pergolesi. In Pulcinella, see how Stravinsky's ingenious treatment of the score created a neo-Classic musical hybrid of astonishing modernist sensibility.
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
2020.
Language
English
Description
A flexible alignment is the foundation for solid vocal technique. Study the structure of the spine and practice exercises to find a free and dynamic posture for your best sound production. Examine lower body and pelvic alignment and note how these affect your singing. Also learn how slightly elevating the sternum and strengthening the back and shoulder muscles help free the breath.
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
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.
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