Baroque Era (1600-1750)

Our first stop on our travel through music history is in the Baroque Era. During this time, all of Europe was changing the way artists painted and sculpted, architects designed buildings, and composers wrote music. If we looked around, we would find that Shakespeare is alive and writing plays. People have learned that the earth revolves around the sun, and now that we have a telescope, we realize that the universe is much bigger than we thought. These ideas cause musicians to create the style of music that they do with many loud instruments and all kinds of fast notes. People had been creating music of all different styles long before 1600, but this is the beginning of what we call Classical music. Some of the famous composers during this time were Johann Sebastian Bach (ever heard of him??), Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Johann Pachelbel. The word Baroque actually means a misshapen pearl, from the Portugues term barroco. It is easy to see why this period could be referred to as a misshapen pearl. The music was very dramatic with many embellishments. The pieces were long works written for orchestras, made up of many musicians, and were over the top. However, much like a pearl, the music from the Baroque Period is very beautiful and awe-inspiring.
The composers of this era were influenced by the Greeks and Romans. They tried to create music that communicated a great message or idea. This meant that many pieces of music were commissioned by churches to tell stories from the Bible. In fact, the famous composers were often paid by churches or princes to compose music that fit a certain purpose, not necessarily just what they wanted to create.

New forms of music:
Oratorio
Sonata
Cantata
Concerto

Listen to a Baroque Banquet:
For Bach, listen to the Brandenberg Concerto 2 and the Concerto for 4 Harpsichords
For Vivaldi, listen to the Four Seasons-Spring
For Scarlatti, listent to the Sinfonia 12


Sources:
Stuart Smith, Jane, and Betty Carlson. The Gift of Music. 3rd ed. Wheaton: Crossway
Books, 1995.
Music of the Baroque. http://www.baroque.org/baroque/whatis.htm#whatis (13 January 2011).
Sony Music Entertainment. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/ (17 January 2011).

Music History

One of my goals for this blog is to briefly cover a very important part of learning to play the piano, and one of my favorite parts, which is music history. This is a large subject which covers hundreds of years, but we'll keep it short and sweet to get a brief overview. Understanding music history really helps students understand the background of the pieces they are learning, especially as they begin to play what are known as "Classical" pieces. There are 4 major periods that cover the span of what we know as Western Music.

These are:

-Baroque
-Classical
-Romantic
-Contemporary

Each period has its own unique sound and style, which changes over time. However, there are even more differences among musicians within each period, but overall, music historians identify these 4 eras. Over the next few months, I will (hopefully!) create posts on each era, and my goal is to incorporate each periods style of music into my students' lessons. So first up...Baroque!!!

Good practicing

So summer's almost over and school's about to begin. Schedules are changing, and it can be hard to fit in time to practice the piano. Practicing for about 20-30 minutes for beginning students is ideal, but on the days where that may not be practical, spending 5-10 is still good. Even though you may only get to practice for a short time, it will be time well spent. For those days that you do get to spend more time, try to follow somewhat of a routine. Start out with scales and your finished song from last week as a warm-up. Then, continue to work on last week's song and try to make the little changes we talked about in the last lesson. If you passed all your last songs, then begin working on the new one, trying each hand separately until you feel confidant with each one. Sometimes a new piece of music can be frustrating to learn. If you feel like a piece is too hard to do on your own at home, try putting it aside for a little bit and try one of your favorites that we've worked on before. Sometimes taking a break and then going back to a hard piece will actually help make it easier! :)

My style of teaching

In all my years of taking piano lessons, my teachers emphasized playing classical music through all four major periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary. However, when I began college music theory classes, I realized how important theory, sight reading, and ear training are for really understanding music and playing the piano. As I teach students, I try to introduce classical music, as well as the three elements of theory, sight reading, and ear training. I also believe that it is important to have students play music that they enjoy, and so I try to bring in songs that the children know and like. Sometimes students can become burned out with learning how to play the piano, so keeping it fun and engaging is important. Developing a love for music is so important, and if nothing else, I hope that my students come away from their time learning from me with this love and appreciation, which can also hopefully be life long.

Welcome!!!

Hello, and welcome to The Piano Place. This is my blog for the students I teach piano lessons to, as well as their parents, to find out what's coming up for them in lessons, helpful tips on playing the piano, and other useful information. Keep checking in regularly to stay up to date, as I will be putting out reminders and anything I forget to mention during the lessons. Thanks for stopping by!
~Hannah