Do the 24 Chopin Etudes cover everything?

[virtuosic1]

Poof

[dnephi]

Not again...

Dan

[fnork]

Precisely. Playing the Etudes in retrograde also presents an interesting technical challenge.

Can you please explain this a bit further? Do you have sheet music with the etudes in "mirror" or retrograde versions, or do you make them up yourself?

[virtuosic1]

Poof. Too much info here! Edited

[virtuosic1]

Not again...

Dan

Are you OK? I hope it's not that nervous twitch acting up again. 

[clavicembalisticum]

The Chopin etudes in every key were something that Lennie had me start on in my early teens. After awhile, transposition of any music, standards, jazz solos, classical pieces, to any key instantaneoulsy became second nature.

This is a technique that works with every technical work the performer enjoys. It is not just the finger dexterity that gets cultivated, it cultivates musicality. The more you know on how to "do" this with what you are given, the more you get into actually reaching mastery of what you "play".

[zheer]

This is a technique that works with every technical work the performer enjoys. It is not just the finger dexterity that gets cultivated, it cultivates musicality. The more you know on how to "do" this with what you are given, the more you get into actually reaching mastery of what you "play".

  Bach WTC has often been used for that particular method of learning music. I believe that with some exceptionaly talented musician the process of transposing music happens in real time, however with less talented people this will take a little longer,and turns into music gymnastics.

[virtuosic1]

  Bach WTC has often been used for that particular method of learning music. I believe that with some exceptionaly talented musician the process of transposing music happens in real time, however with less talented people this will take a little longer,and turns into music gymnastics.

Improving transposition skill is all about improving your musical perception. The ideal way to approach transposition is to view what is to be transposed as waves. A contour or shape that must be intervalically preserved regardless of the starting point. For example, regardless of which rung of a 12 rung ladder you place any object on, the object itself remains unchanged, only the object's relative position to the rest of the room has changed.

It's best to imagine this by transposing while sight reading something. That's why I advocate the use of a movable clef. When we first start to read text, we identify individual letters, then how these letters form a word, which we identify. Then the words form a sentence and convey an idea. At some point, when we're fluent readers, we no longer see the individual letters or words. The shape and content of the sentence's components take on a macro-meaning, and at some further point, we visualize the words, seeing the action described by the words.

Most don't read music this way, but they should. They should see the melodies and harmonies by their contours, not reading individual notes. Once you can view music as a series of contoured, interconnected lines, a fabric, then preserving this contour is an easy task, regardless of which rung of the 12 rung ladder is the starting point!

Transposition and the ability to do so instantly, whether a song, a melody, a riff, a chord progression, etc., is the key to unlocking creative limitation and becoming a superior musician. Technically, playing pieces like Transcendental Etudes in all keys will improve and hone your technique and control to unimagined heights.

[nocturnelover]

I suppose this sounds stupid but I only started playing last year so it's alright, it's just what the hell is transposing?? Does it refer to playing a piece exactly the same except for raising or lowering the key to any key or something?

[mephisto]

Yes. Let us say a piece only consisted of a c major scale(a piece in c major), transposing it to D major would be to make take every note a hole note higher.

So c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c would become d-e-f#-g-a-b-c#-d

[nocturnelover]

I see.....I understand now hmm yes that would be difficult and thankyou!