Author: Mr. G.

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Musette

Introduction

Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest composers that ever lived. Remember, a composer writes music just like an author writes a book.

Bach’s father taught him to play the violin when he was seven years old. He also grew to play harpsichord and the organ.  The Bachs were a BIG family of composers and musicians. Fifty-three of his male musician relatives were also named Johann!

As a child, Johann had a beautiful soprano, (or really high) voice and sometimes sang in the street before eventually going to music school.

Bach composed music during a time known as the Baroque Period, and he wrote over 1,128 pieces of music! That’s a lot!  If you played one piece of his music every day, it would take over three years to play all of them!

The Life of Johann Sebastian Bach

Musette

Musette comes from a small notebook of songs that Bach wrote for his second wife, Anna Magdalena.  She was a singer, but Musette was meant to be played on the clavichord.  This performance is on the piano.

Rhythm

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Which hand plays this song?

The RIGHT.

Can the other hand go on vacation?

Yes.

The patterns in measures 1, 2 and 3 repeat themselves in measures 5, 6 and 7.  You can see that really clearly in the rhythm practice from before. 

Both lines end differently in measures 4 and 8, but they are not very much different.

Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases, or chunks.

I added the challenge version here for those of you that are able to play with both hands at the same time.  Most of us can just stick with the right hand only one.

Have fun!

Dig Deeper

The next video is a piano teacher demonstrating how to play the full version of Musette as Bach wrote it.  Maybe you’ll find it interesting.

Dig EVEN DEEPER (Other Music by Bach)

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When The Saints Go Marching In

Introduction

This is one of the most famous American songs in history. It is considered to be the unofficial anthem of New Orleans, Louisiana, which is the birthplace of jazz, the only truly American genre of music.

Like our own city, New York, New Orleans is a port city, meaning it is in a place where it is easy for large boats to dock, so it was a place where many people first immigrated to America. New York and New Orleans are similar because people from all over the world with diverse cultures and backgrounds live there. That’s why jazz, which started in New Orleans, is so uniquely American. Jazz incorporates musical styles from all over the world, particularly African drumming and rhythms. When the musicians in New Orleans got together to play, the combination of all of their styles led them to create jazz.

One of the most important parts of jazz is improvisation. That means that you make up your part as you go. Listen to the introduction to jazz below for more detailed information. The person speaking is Wynton Marsalis, the director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Introduction to jazz with Wynton Marsalis

Louis Armstrong

No discussion of New Orleans jazz would be complete without mentioning Louis Armstrong. Louis was born in New Orleans and over the course of his life probably did more to spread jazz all over the world than any other musician. Louis played the trumpet. Even though he was born in New Orleans, after he got famous, he moved to New York because that was where all the important jazz musicians lived. Back then, the place where all the famous musicians lived was Harlem. Even though his friends wanted him to move there, Louis felt more comfortable around regular people, so he moved to a house in Jackson Heights, Queens. His house is now a museum and it is about 8 miles away from Long Island City. The pictures on the left were taken on his front steps with some of the kids that lived in his neighborhood.

Here is a video of Louis Armstrong and his band playing When the Saints Go Marching In.

Video

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

This song is played with your hands and C position.The biggest challenge that you will have is adding the chords in the left-hand. One thing you might try would be to sing the words while you play the chords in time.

Watch the videos above to have an idea of how the chords are played. They are played with fingers number 1, 3 and 5 together, all at the same time. Think of it like a shape that you are making with your hand to play the combination of notes that make up the chord.

Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Enrichment

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La Paloma Se Fue

Introduction

This song is sung in Spanish and comes from Puerto Rico.  It is a fun song to sing.  Make sure you sing it through a few times before you try to play it because it is important for you to know what a song is supposed to sound like so you know if you’re playing it correctly.

In the words, a person is looking for a dove that has flown away from home.  Since the words to a song are usually similar to a poem, we can think of them in the same way. When we look at the words in this song in an artistic way, we can understand that this song is really about missing someone, whether it is a dove, person or anything else.

Listen

Rhythm

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

The first thing to notice about this song is the key signature. You should recognize it, it is the same key signature as in Brahms’ Lullaby. Do you remember the key? It’s my favorite one! Whether you remember the name of the key or not the important thing to take out of the key signature is which notes must be played as sharps. In this song that is F. All of the F’s are F#’s.

The song has two parts in the melody, which are repeated.  Make sure that you play the eighth note part smoothly, evenly and rhythmically.  Notice the G major scale starting on the right hand starting in measure 3.

Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

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Is Music A Shared Language?

For most people, when you hear the first few bars of “Rock-A-Bye Baby,” you immediately know that the tune is a lullaby. But would you be able to pick out a lullaby from another culture?

This is the question that cognitive scientist Samuel Mehr and evolutionary biologist Manvir Singh were interested in answering. They played lullabies, dance songs, and other types of songs to random internet users to see if there was a universality between these musical forms.

Now Listen To The Show

Interested in more?

Explore more on the Science Friday website!

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The Color Of Music

Around four percent of the world’s population has some form of synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon that blurs some of the lines around the senses. In two of the more common variants, synesthetes may involuntarily associate letters with colors, or see colors for musical notes—but there are many other forms of synesthesia, all involving the crossover of one form of perception to another.

Now Listen To The Show