Improving Pianists
Written in 1784 during Haydn’s second escapade in London, this monothematic Sonata was one of a number of works he dedicated to the resident German pianist Therese Jansen-Bartolozzi, who ‘must have been a first-rate player’, inspiring ‘wonderful and highly demanding compositions from Clementi [of whom she was a pupil], and Dussek’ (Komlós, 1995, p.77). The […]
Title: Partimento: A Beginner Method for Classical Improvisation Author: Connor Gaydon Release Date: February 2023 (eBook) Price: £14 (or £2.50 per stage) Purpose: Provide beginner musicians a practical book to learn classical improvisation using the Partimento method. For over a century, classical improvisation has been a lost skill, until now. During the 17th-19th centuries, improvisation […]
Technique in focus:“On the diminished 5th that goes to the 3rd” Regola 30 – Partimento Regola 30 from Durante emphasises the realisation of diminished 5/3 chords resolving onto major or minor 5/3 chords. This can be found throughout the partimento where Durante adds the figure ‘5’ followed by ‘3’ on the ascent of the bass […]
“If I have one regret about my traditional education, it’s that it wasn’t traditional enough. We have forgotten that in the eighteenth century – those hundred years that form the bedrock of classical music – improvisation was a foundation of music training. Oddly, our discipline has discarded a practice that helped bring it into being. […]
The partimenti of Nicola Sala (1713-1801) focus more on counterpoint than pedagogues from the Durante schools of Partimento. Sala teaches invertible counterpoint through presenting themes in the bass followed by their countersubject (which he sometimes marks with a Signa Congruentia ‘:S’ or ‘S:’ (Van Tour, 2017, Introduction)). The theme (interesting) must be played over the […]
The Benefits of Improvisation A linguistic parallel may be applied to outline the relationship of different musical fields of study. When learning a foreign language, a student may be taught grammar, aural, literacy, pronunciation, and translation skills. But a language may only be said to have been learnt if the student can speak it. Subsequently, […]
Reform needs to occur in musical theory and improvisation pedagogies. I posit that Partimento can be used as a method in which to holistically integrate compartmentalised aspects of music education. Partimento can act as a scaffold to train improvisation (Callahan, 2017, p. 196). Improvisation is an admirable goal in and of itself and produces valuable […]
Technique in focus:“On the (tie of a 2nd and an) augmented 4th” Partimento and Example Realisations Below are my simple realisations of Durante’s regola 28 “On the tie of a 2nd and an augmented 4th”. This partimento is to train the musician to resolve the tie of a 2nd (where the bass resolves by descending […]
Technique in focus:“On the tie of a 2nd and a perfect 4th” Introduction My simple realisation of Durante’s regola 27 “On the tie of a 2nd and a perfect 4th”. This partimento is to train the player to resolve the 4/2 (by moving to 6/3) and the perfect 4th (by falling to the 3rd). I […]
There are institutional, individual and perceptual issues at all levels of classical music. The rectification of these issues may lead to a keener understanding of music theory, and a proliferation of classical improvisation at amateur and professional levels of performance and education. I shall deal with those issues which may be resolved through the integration […]
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