Author: Mr. G.

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John Williams and the Chamber of Star Wars

Episode from David Walliams Marvellous Musical Podcast

In this episode, David Walliams explores the music of John Williams with his usual humor and wacky approach.  John Williams is the composer of the musical soundtrack for many great movies including Jaws, Superman – The Movie, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Seven Years in Tibet, Saving Private Ryan and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Episode 10 John Williams and the Chamber of Star Wars

Listening Section

Here is just a small selection of John Williams’ music.  See how many you recognize.

Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter

Excerpt from Jaws

Star Wars Conducted by John Williams!

John Williams Conducts The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back

Superman

Flying Theme from E.T.

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Weird Instruments

Episode from David Walliams Marvellous Musical Podcast

In this episode, David Walliams explores the world of Weird Instruments with his usual humor and wacky approach.

Episode 9 Weird Instruments

Listening Section

Unusual Instruments

More Unusual Instruments

Rube Goldberg Machine Piano.  Can you tell what song it’s playing?

Rube-Goldberg’esque Music Machine (Powered by Intel and LabVIEW)

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It Takes One To Piano One

Episode from David Walliams Marvellous Musical Podcast

In this episode, David Walliams presents the history of the piano with his usual humor and wacky approach.

Episode 3 It takes one to piano one

Listening Section

Here are some of the pianists and musical pieces mentioned in the edisode you just listened to.  Enjoy some beautiful piano playing.

Beethoven’s Fur Elise
Performed by Lang Lang

Chiara Massini plays Bach’s Zweistimmige Inventionen (BWV 772-778) on the harpsichord.

An Introduction To The Harpsichord

Harpsichord Performance: Comparone Plays Scarlatti

The Making of a Steinway Piano.

A very detailed video about how pianos work.

Martha Argerich Chopin Scherzo 3 cis-moll op.39

Glenn Gould Playing The Art of the Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach

Glenn Gould Playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations.  Really pretty.  Listen as closely and quietly as you can.

Chopin Nocturne E Flat Major Op.9 No.2

Duke Ellington: Take the A Train (solo piano)

Thelonious Monk Playing Duke Ellington’s Music

1.Satin Doll
2.Sophisticated Lady
3.Caravan
4.Solitude
5.Unknown Monk Tune 6.Blues For Duke
7.And I Love Her (Bonus)

Live At The Berlin Jazz Festival 1969

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The Cat Theme from Peter and the Wolf

Introduction

Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf is one of the most famous pieces of music in the world. Most of you have probably heard the music from it, even if you don’t realize you have.When Prokofiev wrote this peace, he was trying to write a symphonic fairytale for children. He even used it as a way to teach about the different instruments in the orchestra. Not only is it an exciting story, each character is represented by an instrument in the orchestra.

Today, we are focusing only on the “Cat Theme” which is the music that plays when the cat is part of the story.

Video

The Lesson

As you look at the sheet music for this piece, you will notice that it looks really sloppy and hard to follow. We start on the left-hand and then switch to the right hand for one note and then back the left-hand and it keeps going like that for the first six measures. The trick is to think of the melody as one flowing line. Also, make sure you break it into small pieces.
There are some new markings on this piece as well. The little dots on top of the notes are staccato marks, which means the sound of the notes should be separate from each other. There’s also two notes that are sharp in this song. There is an F sharp and the 2nd measure and the 6th measure. They’re both played by the same finger, and you will notice if you forget the sharp. Go back and fix it if it doesn’t sound right.

Here is a video with a demonstration of what staccato (and legato — they sorta go together) means.

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
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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Waltzing Matilda

Introduction

“Waltzing Matilda” is one of Australia’s best known folk songs. Many Aussies consider it an “unofficial” Australian national anthem. The musical roots of this genre can be traced back to the folk music of the first English, Scottish, and Irish colonists and prisoners who came to Australia from Europe.

Bush ballads, like many folk songs, are often quite simple and straightforward in terms of structure and rhythm.  This is because folk music is meant to be accessible to regular people, like you and me, to play and write ourselves, so that our voices are heard.

“Waltzing Matilda” tells the story of a migrant worker who is camped by a pond and boiling water for tea.  The lyrics in the song are little tricky because “waltzing” does not mean dancing, and “Matilda” does not refer to a person. In this song, “Matilda” is the traveler’s bag and “waltzing” is traveling. So “waltzing Matilda” means to travel with your bag and nothing else.

Video

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

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

Ukulele and Guitar

Ukulele

Chord Videos

Guitar

Chord Videos

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