In this video, I'll discuss and demonstrate some of the different musical concepts that have been brought up in the course, including rhythm, ornamentation, dynamics, or loudness, articulation, and the differences between major and minor. To do that, I'll be playing five of the 12 variations of a piece called Vous Dirai-je, Maman, which was written by Mozart in the 1780s. The theme or melody on which the other variations are based is the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star melody, which is actually where that melody comes from. Now I chose to play a Mozart piece specifically, because arguably, more than any other composer in music history Mozart was extraordinarily musically fluent. By that, I mean that he was able to manipulate music in the same way that you and I are able to manipulate languages that we're fluent in. In other words, if he had a certain musical intention, he was able to come up with multiple different and clever ways of expressing that intention, the same way that you or I could come up with many different sentences or wordings to express the same sentiment. That's exactly what he does in these 12 variations. He lays out a musical intention with the theme, and then keeps that intention consistent throughout the variations, while obviously varying them to keep them interesting. So first, listen to the theme all the way through. [MUSIC] As you can hear, it's simple, straight forward, and already familiar to us. And notice the little flourishes that I was doing. [MUSIC] Those are called trills, and they're common form of ornamentation in Western music. Now in subsequent variations, he varies a number of musical concepts while keeping other musical concepts constant. In my analysis of the piece, there are four musical constants. The first would be that the timbre is kept the same throughout the variations. They're all meant to be played on a piano with no other instruments, no other voices, etc. The second will be that they're all in the key of C. In other words, the note C is the tonic in all of these variations. Most of them are in major, but there are some forays into minor, as you'll see later on. The third constant is that the variations all have the same chord progression, meaning that they use the same chords in the same order. The fourth constant is that all of the pieces have the same overall phrase structure. Or the same number of musical phrases arranged in the same order. You can think of phrases in music as analogous to sentences in books, groups of related material. These final two constants are really the key factors that unite all of these variations. Without keeping the chord progression and the phrase structure with the variations constant, it would sound like we were hearing 12 unrelated pieces of music instead of variations on the same theme. For more detail on the core progressions and phrase structure, there's a PDF document of the sheet music on the site in which I've analyzed the core progressions and the phrase structures of each of the variations I'm about to play. So now I'll play the second variation. As you'll hear in comparison to the theme, the melody in the right hand and certain parts of the baseline have been altered. More specifically, there's now florid ornamentation in the right hand. Most of the added pitches here are notes that are fairly unstable sounding in the key of C, like B, as well as notes that are outside of the key entirely, like the black notes on the piano. In addition, Mozart has quadrupled the pace of the rhythm. In the theme, you are hearing quarter notes in the right hand. In the following example you'll be hearing 16th notes. [MUSIC] The next variation I'll play demonstrates a phenomenon called rhythmic syncopation, where beats that are normally unemphasized are emphasized, which disrupts the overall flow of the rhythm. Like the previous variation, this change adds energy and excitement to the piece. Also note Mozart's use of notes outside of the C-scale here again, like in the previous variation. Lastly, also for differences in articulation, or how I press the keys. You'll here staccato notes, which are shorter and removed from one another. As well as legato notes, or notes that smoothly slide in to one another. Both of these articulations have been specified by Mozart in this score. Here's the variation. [MUSIC] The final two variations I'll play exemplify the differences between major and minor. As you'll hear, the minor variation conveys a more subdued or negative emotion. While the major variation sounds brighter and more positive. Also note the relative prevalences of the minor third, which is e flat in this case, in the minor variation, and the major third, e natural, in the major variation. In addition, the melodies in the minor variation use more semitone increments like you find in the chromatic scale. [MUSIC] In contrast, the melodies in the major scale generally move in whole step increments, which are exemplified in the whole-tone scale. [MUSIC] Mozart also indicates dynamics or specific volume in these two variations. The phrases often begin quietly in the piano or soft dynamic. And end in a louder or forte dynamic. There are also interesting differences in articulation, staccato versus legato, to listen for here. You'll hear the minor variation first, then the major variation. [MUSIC] In short, Mozart's compositional style here is an example of how composers and songwriters play with and manipulate the different musical phenomena described in the course, to create different energetic and emotional effects in music.
