A Journey to Meet Beethoven
5/5
()
About this ebook
This is a book to help you learn to play the piano. It is not a 'Learn the Piano in Ten Easy Lessons' tutor - plenty of those exist - but an adventure introducing you to the world of music and stirring your imagination. Beginning with simple pieces, as you are fed with more knowledge the compositions become more advanced. They are all by composers whose works range from a 14th century Venetian dance to a 20th century South American tango. Your journey takes you through sixty-eight pieces with their historical and geographical backgrounds, the last being the much-loved first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Hence the title.
Related to A Journey to Meet Beethoven
Related ebooks
A Journey to Meet Beethoven Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Play it again: Piano: The perfect way to rediscover the piano. Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Visible and Invisible in Piano Technique - A Digest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Classical Music Insights: Understanding and Enjoying Great Music Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Composer's Landscape: The Pianist as Explorer: Interpreting the Scores of Eight Masters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA First Book of Chopin: for the Beginning Pianist with Downloadable MP3s Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Beethoven Sonatas and the Creative Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA First Book of Brahms: For The Beginning Pianist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A First Book of Great Composers: For The Beginning Pianist with Downloadable MP3s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My First Grieg: Easiest Piano Pieces by Edvard Grieg Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My First Beethoven: Easiest Piano Pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piano Music for Little Fingers: Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy First Schumann: Easiest Piano Pieces by Robert Schumann Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Young Mozart: Easy original pieces for piano, written by Mozart at the age of six and eight years Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My First Haydn: Easiest Piano Pieces by Joseph Haydn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pianist's Dictionary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Playing the Piano for Pleasure: The Classic Guide to Improving Skills Through Practice and Discipline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My First Chopin: Easiest Piano Pieces by Frédéric Chopin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A First Book of Tchaikovsky: For The Beginning Pianist with Downloadable MP3s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5La Mer and Other Works for Piano Four Hands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA First Book of Schumann: For The Beginning Pianist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBartók for Piano: A Survey of His Solo Literature Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piano Mastery Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Beethoven's Piano Playing: With an Essay on the Execution of the Trill Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A First Book of Beethoven: For The Beginning Pianist with Downloadable MP3s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My First Bach: Easiest Piano Pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A First Book of Bach: For The Beginning Pianist with Downloadable MP3s Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Classical Piano Method: Christmas Collection Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Music For You
The Mixing Engineer's Handbook 5th Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Easyway to Play Piano: A Beginner's Best Piano Primer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Jazz Piano: book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guitar Theory For Dummies: Book + Online Video & Audio Instruction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Step By Step Mixing: How to Create Great Mixes Using Only 5 Plug-ins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Music Theory For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/588 Piano Classics for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piano For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Everything Songwriting Book: All You Need to Create and Market Hit Songs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guitar For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Open Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meaning of Mariah Carey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bass Guitar For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hal Leonard Pocket Music Theory (Music Instruction): A Comprehensive and Convenient Source for All Musicians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Singing For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Songwriting : Apply Proven Methods, Ideas and Exercises to Kickstart or Upgrade Your Songwriting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming a Great Sight-Reader–or Not! Learn From My Quest for Piano Sight-Reading Nirvana Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Your Fretboard: The Essential Memorization Guide for Guitar (Book + Online Bonus) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Guitar A Beginner's Course Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Circle of Fifths: Visual Tools for Musicians, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Songwriting For Dummies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How To Improvise When Playing Piano & Keyboard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & The Dark Heart Of The Hippie Dream Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for A Journey to Meet Beethoven
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
A Journey to Meet Beethoven - Pat Champness
Introduction
The above probably makes as much sense to you as do Icelandic runes, Egyptian hieroglyphs, or Mayan inscriptions. However once you have made the journey through this book all will be revealed and you will be able to meet the work of the great Beethoven, (the Shakespeare of music), without fear, and create his moonlit landscape for yourself. For this journey the luggage you will need will be mental alertness and physical relaxation.
Make the journey slowly, one step at a time. There is no need for hurry or panic, but only enjoyment.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Piano?
How to learn and how not to, and don’t you want to have some fun on the way?
Throughout this book I have used as few technical names as possible. They can always be found in books on theory. The aim of this book is not to pass exams, but to learn to play the piano with as much pleasure as possible.
Music is universal and has no barriers of either politics or language, so our journey will not confront such problems. At the start of this journey I am assuming that you know nothing, and wish to travel this path through your love of music. Of course you may not be entirely ignorant, in which case you must bear with me and join the travellers a little later on, after skimming through the initial pages.
The Soft-Loud
For those for whom the pianoforte is a mystery let us begin with an introduction to it. It was invented in Italy by a harpsichord maker, Bartolommeo Cristoferi, at the beginning of the 18th century. Hence its Italian name Pianoforte, which means simply ‘Soft-Loud’. Why? Because the keyboard instruments which existed up to that time – organ, harpsichord, clavier, virginals, et al., could only produce a variation of volume of sound by mechanical means. The delight of the pianoforte is that you can produce soft or loud tones at will, simply by the magical power of your fingers.
Naming the Notes
Take a look at the keyboard, first at the black notes, which you will see are arranged in groups of twos and threes. This is important in locating the names of the white notes.
The white note in between the group of two blacks is D, and the two notes between the group of three blacks are G and A.
Once you have found A, naming the rest of the notes is easy. We only use the alphabet from A to G, which is repeated both up and down the keyboard.
Don’t be tempted to label the notes with stickers. This will only hold you back in the long run.
To become familiar with the letters play the following words. At first confine yourself to the A – G in the middle of the keyboard, which includes ‘Middle C’. Afterwards you can venture further afield.
CAB DAD BED ACE DAB AGE FAD FED GAG BAD EGG FEED BABE DEAF CAFE FADE CAGE DEED AGED FACE EDGE BEAD DACE CEDE BADE BEEF FADED ADAGE EFFACE BADGE ADDED CADGE BAGGAGE CABBAGE.
Now look for them all over the keyboard. The grouping of the black notes will help you.
For instance: C and F are both L-shaped, but C is to the left of the group of two black notes and F to the left of the group of three black notes. It should be easy to find them all now, high and low.
Finding Middle C
Middle C is an important note because written music centres around it.
On the piano Middle C is the nearest C to the lock.
On an electric keyboard there is neither lid nor lock. So measure the length of the keyboard – a piece of string will do. Middle C is the nearest C to the halfway mark. I cannot give you absolute measurements as keyboards may vary in