Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson,
we're going to tackle learning the B section of Burgmuller's "Arabesque".
Let's get started by taking a look at the score.
By now you should have already learned the A section
right hand and left hand, and maybe you're even starting to work on that hands together.
Today we're going to work on the B section which begins here in measure twelve.
Will you take a look
at the B section and just scan through and tell me what you notice about the B section.
Maybe you notice that the left hand now is playing the same rhythm that the right hand used to play.
Remember how the right hand goes:
the right hand has that TI-KI-TI-KI TI REST TI-KI-TI-KI TI REST rhythm.
Now that rhythm's in the left hand TI-KI-TI-KI TI REST TI-KI-TI-KI TI REST.
So we're putting the melody down in the left hand, and our right hand has its own counter melody.
There'll actually be two melodies going on at the same time.
When that happens, we can call the secondary melody a counter melody.
It's like a melody that supports the other melody.
They work together to make the music.
Let's take a look at the rhythm of this right hand counter melody.
We have a dotted quarter note.
You may recall that a dotted quarter note is equal to 1 and a & beats.
So we'll count 1-& 2.
Remember, the 2 refers to the first half of beat 2, so we get all of beat 1, half of beat 2,
leaving the final & for this eighth note. 1-& 2-&
and that rhythm continues throughout this section.
Notice how the right hand has this 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&,
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&,
1-& 2-&,
Can you try that with me? Let's count 1-& 2-& while we tap the rhythm of the right hand part.
Count out loud with me and tap.
Get ready, go.
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&,
And notice here it says dim, which stands for diminuendo.
Diminuendo means gradually getting softer. e means and.
poco ritardando
Poco ritardando means slow down a little bit. If you know Spanish or Italian, poco is a little.
So, slow down a little bit
and get softer. Diminuendo e poco ritardando. So we'll go -& 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
And then you'll notice
it goes back to the theme from our A section.
When you see these words 'a tempo' in the score, that means to go back to your original speed.
'A tempo' usually comes after a ritardando, and it's usually placed above both staves like this.
A tempo means back to your original full speed.
Okay now let's tap the rhythm of your left hand. So I've moved
here now I'm using my left hand,
and we're going to tap the rhythm down here, which is like this: 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2 Let's try it together.
Will you try that with me?
Tap the rhythm of the left hand while we count the beat. Remember, we've got TI-KI-TI-KI TI REST,
but we're going to count the beat 1-& 2. Get ready.
I'll count 2 beats we'll start. 1 2
1-& 2 REST, 1-& 2-&,
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&,
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&.
gradually getting softer and slowing down there,
and then we go back TA TA to the A section with those quarter note chords.
Now, let's try these two different rhythms, which by themselves may not be too hard,
but we're going to try it now hands together by tapping on the piano lid or your lap.
So now get both of your hands ready, and we're going to count the beat out loud.
You'll notice that on beat 1 they play together,
and then the left hand is going to continue with
those sixteenth notes while the right hand holds like this: 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
So see how the right hands tapping on that & after beat 2 while the left hand is going 1-& 2
but the right hand is 1-& 2-&. Together 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&.
Now you try it with me. Let's count the beat and we're going to tap this crazy rhythm. Here we go.
I'll count 2 beats to get us ready, then we start. 1-& 2-&
1-& 2, count with me, 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2, then we're back to the A theme.
Okay, now pause and rewind if you need more practice with that otherwise let's keep going.
Can you tell me the letter name of the first note the left hand plays here in measure twelve?
If you said G-sharp you're correct.
Remember, we're in the key of A minor,
and sometimes G becomes sharp if we use harmonic minor, and here in this measure
we are in fact using harmonic minor. So we need that G-sharp
Now, should this G be a G?
No, do you remember the rule for a sharp placed in the flow of the notes?
If it's placed right here, it lasts, that sharp lasts for
one measure. So any other G's on the same line or space are also sharped.
So we'll have a G-sharp both at the start and the end of that phrase, and just like the right hand,
when we get to the end of that phrase,
you want to just gently lift the wrist to make that staccato quick and light.
If you hit down, it's going to make a heavy kind of ugly sound.
You want a light crisp sound. So lift the wrist,
then you'll see in measure thirteen finger 5 moves to A,
and then we just go up those five notes. 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
Now pause the video and work on measures twelve and thirteen,
and then press play to go on.
Now, take a look at measures fourteen and fifteen,
and tell me what's the same and what's different from what you just played.
You always have to compare the notes really carefully, but if you check every note,
you'll see it's exactly the same as measures twelve and thirteen,
so we already know this, okay?
Now, let's go on to measure sixteen.
Tell me the letter name of the first note in measure sixteen.
If you said C-sharp, you're correct.
So and it's our middle C becoming a C-sharp,
and is this note C or C-sharp?
That's right, it's C-sharp because we had that sharp before. It's still active
through the end of the measure. 1-& 2-&
Then whoa, here we are in the left hand part,
which is typically a bass clef, but what's this treble clef doing here?
That's telling us to get ready, because on the next line we're switching
to treble clef, and that's because our left hand is now going so high
it's better to write the notes in treble clef than bass clef.
Otherwise there'd be so many ledger lines.
So, the composer decided hey, I'll just make this easier, let's make this treble clef,
and then I can just show this is a D step above middle C.
So my left hand came so high we're really in trouble cleft land now.
Does that makes sense? So back here in measure sixteen
we're here on that C-sharp, and then we switch to treble clef.
Now you try.
Good, now let's go all the way back to measure twelve and listen once. Here's the left-hand part.
Then we're going to stop right there. There's more notes after that,
but we'll get to that in a minute.
Press pause and work on measures twelve through seventeen,
stopping part way through measure seventeen. Once you've finished that phrase
after that staccato you can stop.
Work on that on your own, then press play to go on.
Now here in measure seventeen you just played,
and then what happens?
The notes are stepping down with eighth notes. One mistake students
make here sometimes is playing these eighth notes too fast.
You're so used to playing sixteenth notes TI-KI-TI-KI TI REST, TI-KI-TI-KI TI, that
you want to rush those eighth notes. But remember, eighth notes
are twice as slow as sixteenth notes. So it goes to TI-KI-TI-KI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI
Okay, watch that again. We have 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&,
1-& 2-&, we're going to be gradually getting softer as we play all of those notes.
Okay, now let's watch these notes more carefully one at a time. We have stepping up,
step down, step down, step down, step down.
Now I'm on finger 5 on D,
then I get a D-sharp and it asks for finger 3, and that's because we have to shift
to finger 1 on the next note. So notice those three notes in a row just go D, D-sharp, E, but
you're going to use fingers 5 3 1 using left hand. Now will you try just these three notes,
actually just take any finger and play those three notes just to kind of see that.
That's called going up by half steps.
Now, use your left hand and go finger 5 3 1.
I want you to do that like ten times. Okay, let's just do it together.
Let's do that over and over again 5 3 1
D, D-sharp, E, again, D, D-sharp. I want you to get really comfortable with that.
This is going to really help you out
if you do the right fingering, and then it becomes D natural.
That natural symbol cancels the sharp. The sharp actually already was canceled by the bar line,
so the composer didn't need to put a natural symbol there,
it's just a courtesy to remind you that D-sharp was cancelled.
So we come down white notes, and then it goes back to bass clef with his A minor
chord. And you'll see your hands in the perfect position already
to make that switch.
Okay, so watch measures seventeen through nineteen once. Here it goes:
Step down, step down, step down, D-sharp E D C B, doesn't that sound cool?
Now press pause and work on measure seventeen all the way
through the return to that A theme when you play this A minor
chord. Press pause to work on that section then press play to go on.
Now let's check out the right hand part.
Backing up to measure twelve,
tell me the letter name of the first note you see here in the right hand.
If you said E, you're correct. Finger 5 is here on
E. Here's my middle C, so I'm up one octave plus a third.
And then tell me the interval between these first two notes.
If you said a fourth, you're correct. See the distance of four notes makes a fourth.
1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&
Will you press pause and on your own work on measures twelve
through fifteen, then press play to go on.
Good, now look at the last note of measure fifteen, and
then tell me the interval from
this note to the next note you see. The first note of measure sixteen.
It's a wide interval.
If you said an octave or an eighth you're correct. See it's an A to an A, so it has to be an octave.
So it'll be & 1. So you're going to have to kind of reach or glide your
hand up. If you have small hands and you can't reach an octave,
see my hands can reach an octave. If your hands can't quite reach, just glide over,
okay? You don't have to
really hurt your hand or contort it. You know, just do what's comfortable. & 1-& 2-& 1.
And you'll notice this follows that pattern of down to fourth then up a step again.
Okay, so practice going & 1-& 2-& 1-& 2.
Now you try.
Good, and then after we land there on that F,
you'll notice we have a whole bunch of notes stepping down in a row.
The fingering is where you have to really pay attention.
Okay, so notice we step down, we step down, now we're on finger 1, but we have another step down.
That's okay. We know how to do scales,
so we know how to do that. We're going to cross over finger 3,
and now we're good right? No. We need one more step down.
So now finger 2 is just going to come over to that G-sharp,
and then we have the interval of a sixth up to that E.
Okay, see how I did that? Let's start on this F, our flag F,
measure seventeen. 1-& 2-& 1, 3 crosses over, 2 crosses over,
and at full speed it's going to sound like this. Here's measure
sixteen, or the pick up to measure sixteen.
Doesn't that sound cool? Listen to it one more time.
Now, that's going to take some practice. This is possibly the hardest part of the whole piece
because our right hand is doing some crossing over, the left hands doing that
weird 5 3 1 fingering, but I promise if you master the fingering carefully and then stick to it,
don't let the fingering corrupt or change.
Then it will be much easier to put hands together, okay?
Right hand crosses over getting softer and slower.
Okay, now pause the video and work on measures sixteen. Start on that little eighth note A,
and then lead into that high A, and then this little scale down with the crossovers.
Press pause to work on that section right hand alone, then press play to go on.
Now today, you probably won't be ready to put this hands together,
and that's good. I want you to spend
two or three days really mastering the hands alone. Getting those fingerings correct,
getting the rhythms correct,
and then you'll be ready to tackle the hands together. When you do feel ready,
again go really slow and watch how the hands work together.
Remember how we practiced tapping those rhythms.
Sometimes the hands play together, and sometimes they're taking turns.
On beat 1 they play together. 1-& 2-& 1-& 2
Also notice that this time the right hand is legato
while the left hand is also legato
except for that last note of the phrase. So the left hand is going to do
a little wrist lift while the right hand is holding steady.
Staccato in the left hand while the right hand is the legato the whole time.
Now both hands are legato and getting softer and slower back to the main theme.
Again, don't try it hands together today.
Wait until you feel like you've got the hands alone mastered,
and then slowly work it hands together.
Great work learning the B section for Burgmuller's "Arabesque".
Happy practicing, and see you next time!
Hey Chef, want to hear a joke?
You bet!
What do you call a tune that knows its numbers?
I don't know.
A counter melody. Hahaha
Very funny.