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Early Music Theory Question
Started this discussion. Last reply by Gordon Francis Blaney Jr. Sep 11, 2012. 4 Replies 1 Like
It was recently brought to my attention by a friend of mine that in Lasso's Lamentations, he uses a turn VERY frequently. It sounds to me like a suspension ornamented by a lower neighbor tone. It…Continue
Tags: Renaissance, Ornament, Polyphony, Suspension, Neighbor
Modal mishaps
Started this discussion. Last reply by Chris Alpiar Nov 19, 2010. 13 Replies 0 Likes
I have been messing around with the modes a lot lately, clumsily improvising counterpoint at the keyboard, if you will, to get my ear working in that way instead of just my mind (that idea is by and…Continue
Enharmonics...WTF?!?! Oh god another tuning question.
Started this discussion. Last reply by Marcel de Velde Nov 13, 2010. 4 Replies 0 Likes
I was at choir last week and the main work we are doing for our upcoming concert is Rautavaara's Vigilia. If you are unfamiliar, it is ridiculous, monumental, awesome, ethereal yet earthly,…Continue
Tags: what?, pain, enharmonics, theory
Intervals, the Monochord, and Ordinal Numbers
Started this discussion. Last reply by Tombo Rombo Oct 3, 2010. 12 Replies 0 Likes
I've just started studying Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum as translated by Alfred Man. It only has a brief overview of Fux's theory from book 1 with an appendix assigned to his chapter on harmonic…Continue
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Matt Walsh posted a discussionEarly Music Theory Question
It was recently brought to my attention by a friend of mine that in Lasso's Lamentations, he uses a turn VERY frequently. It sounds to me like a suspension ornamented by a lower neighbor tone. It sounds as Sol in the bass and Do-Ti-La-Ti in the upper voice...and then the 'chord' resolves to tonic. Here's a youtube recording of the piece so you can listen for what I'm talking about if I am not being descriptive enough: …See More
Matt Walsh replied to Nalinikanth Josyabhatla's discussion Double Trill in the group Musical Scholars Group"Haha well yes in pieces for solo voice LOL, but I've definitely encountered double trills in choral music. They can be found in the choral scores of both the B Minor Mass and the Messiah I believe. I just got done performing both works about a…"
Matt Walsh replied to Nalinikanth Josyabhatla's discussion Double Trill in the group Musical Scholars Group"Interesting ideas...I wonder, what of neighbor groups then. Could you have changing tones a 5th apart based on the same notion that its purely decoration? Also, I would think that the trill would have originated in the voice and progressed over…"
Matt Walsh replied to Jacob Royal's discussion Your FIVE favorite composers."Hmm....
Josquin Des Prez
Thomas Tallis
Claudio Monteverdi
JS Bach
GF Händel
Top 5 lists are so unfair. "
Matt Walsh replied to Luca Turchet's discussion Meditation music"Yes I would recommend binaural beats and solfeggio frequencies as well (Mountainmystic9 on youtube is a great source as Jamie pointed out, I am subscribed to him). Its all really under the umbrella of minimalism. I would check out Steve Reich and…"
Matt Walsh joined Oscar Luis Santos's group
Musicae Sacrae
Devoted to composing sacred music. This is a musical group (not religious) so we must be respectful, avoiding religious discussions.
Chris Alpiar replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Modal mishaps"In the Jazz world, we just call this Lydian Dominant ;-)
And there are a lot of very hip superimpositions available in jazz borrowing from modes of melodic (and harmonic) minor
Locrian #2 is another great one, and with the lydian dominant can…"
Matt Walsh replied to Douglas Edward's discussion Bad Viola joke"hahaha, your first joke reminded me of another joke I know. So you know, I play blues harmonica on the side...sort of as a musical hobby. I have a fun time and I usually drink for free when I'm playing. It is definitely not my primary…"
Matt Walsh replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Modal mishaps"Ok, it's starting to make more sense now I think. Knowing how the modes developed (4 modes and that there was an authentic and plagal for each eventually into the 6 useable "modern" modes) helped me along I think. Thanks for the links…"
Fernando Ortega replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Modal mishaps"I totally agree with you, its good to read books but it is also great to hear others’ interpretations and figure out your own. There a lot of ways to understand and deconstruct a concept.
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Jim Aikin replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Modal mishaps"Even within the standard 12-note ET tuning, there are some other interesting modes. I'm fond of the raised-4th, lowered-7th mode, which I've heard called the "Bartok" mode. When the tonic is C, this scale has an F# and a Bb.…"
Marcel de Velde replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Enharmonics...WTF?!?! Oh god another tuning question."Notation is based on the Pythagorean system.
In this system Bb has the ratio of 16/9 to C (about 996 cents) and A# has the ratio of 59049/32768 to C (about 1120 cents).
The difference between Bb and A# is 531441/524288 (about 24 cents) and it is…"
Andrew Gleibman replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Enharmonics...WTF?!?! Oh god another tuning question."Let me rephrase a remark from another discussion, as it is relevant here.
Enharmonics is not always related to pitch. We simply do a simple logic with key vs. accidental signatures and subconsciously link our emotions to this logic.
Let us do the…"
Jim Aikin replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Enharmonics...WTF?!?! Oh god another tuning question."It's definitely not a quarter-tone. People who are not familiar with the details of tuning systems sometimes use the term "quarter-tone" (incorrectly) because they assume or imagine that the only pitch between two of the pitches in…"
Chris Alpiar replied to Matt Walsh's discussion Modal mishaps"I should also mention that since Phrygian is so close in its 'natural cadence' of 1m - b2M - 1m - b7m with Locrian, it is important to use that natural 5th in there (as locrian would have a flat fifth), another reason why my 1-b2-4-5…"
Profile Information
- What have you composed for? Or what medium do you work around?
- Choir, Small Ensemble, Songs, Other
- What is your favorite genre or style of music?
- I am obsessed with the HIP movement. I adore Early Music (sacred mostly, but some secular Renaissance stuff is ok) and Baroque. Since I am a vocalist, I mostly listen to Oratorio and Opera of the Baroque. I also love Romantic Art Song and Comic Opera.
- Is music your main income source?
- No - Not Yet
- Where do you live?
- Chicago
- About Me (MUST be more than 10 words to be approved):
- I am a vocal performance major at CCPA at Roosevelt University. I am very interested specifically in Renaissance and Baroque style counterpoint, polyphony in general, and homophonic modal music in short form/ song right now... I want to write choral music (in particular), chamber music, and maybe even opera. I am here for advice from those more experienced than I and to hear arguments about different topics.
I am a baritone if anyone's curious. I currently sing with Chicago Chorale (associated with the University of Chicago), University of Chicago Early Music Ensemble, and the St. James Cathedral Choir (Episcopal Cathedral of Chicago). It is my HELLBENT DREAM to one day study Medieval and Renaissance performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basil, Switzerland. Maybe Baroque Opera after that. We'll see how that turns out...
Matt Walsh's Blog
The number 9 and interval inversion
Posted on October 2, 2010 at 6:30pm 2 Comments 0 Likes
I've had two (very different) theory teachers so far in my career as a musician and neither was willing or able to explain the relationship between the number 9 and interval inversion. I was taught it as a "quick check" or rule before I just knew what the inversions were. Whatever interval you have is subtracted from 9 and the yield is… Continue
Comment Wall (4 comments)
- At 8:57pm on August 24, 2011,
Paulo cesar Maia de Aguiar (Br) said… - Amazing work
- At 10:47pm on October 11, 2010,
Kristofer Emerig said… - Hi Matt,
I put up a discussion regarding your inquiry in [the probably short-lived] Early Music Group. Check them out.
- At 3:40pm on October 11, 2010,
Bill Ricci said… - Hello Matt, Thank you for the kind words. What I posted to listen to is a little out of my norm. Its was my cousin and good friend that probed me to go all out with some original material. Weave Made A Mask Around the World is that material. I have One more track to complete where it ties all the themes together for a theme of its own. Almost like a fugue in reverse! Lol! Normally I'm a blues and jazz player and occasionally gig in your back yard! Lol! Chicago is about an hour from me so the blues are in my bones as well as yours I'm sure. Nice meeting you man. What ax do you play? Compose?
- At 2:21am on October 3, 2010,
SEDstar said… - Hello Mr. Walsh...
I came here to your page to see if you posted a small original music track up yet? There's a player thats easy to put on your page, and if you poke around you'll see it. I see you found the "theme" changing on your page, the music player is no harder to add...
I look forward to hearing something from you. If you get bored... you can go to MY page, I have posted up 2 tracks. One a short guitar ditty, the other a rough sketch-out of my next sonata attempt... and by all means, dont be afraid to tell me anything I ever do is "snail snot". I like criticism, without it I cant get any better.
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