Concept of Registration at the Piano keys

[m19834]

I am just thinking about how people think of the piano in terms of a horizontal concept.  I mean, I tend to think of the registration from left to right, and we play scales from left to right, low to high.  But, why?  Once, years ago, I decided to play them starting from the top and going down and lately I want to do that again.  But, why don't we?  Who ever said to start low and go high?  I think it's even tied into pieces.  I don't know.  In a stride bass (I think that's what it's called) you play the bottom note and then jump up to a chord.  Why not the other way around for a change?  There's something bigger there that I want to know more about.  Is it for some reason because of the overtone series?

[thalbergmad]

In a stride bass

 K. plays stride. Now that would be interesting.

You could be the next Stephanie Trick.

As to your question, I have no idea and would not see the point of wasting too many grey cells on it.

Thal

[pianowolfi]

The ancient greek modes used to go from the top downwards. That was usual back then. Now it's the opposite tendency, I guess it changed somewhen in the middle age when the modal scales have also been renamed. Old Greek Phrygian wasn't the same as our Phrygian, for instance. I think the whole conception/musical feeling back then was more like "descending" or so.

[m19834]

The ancient greek modes used to go from the top downwards. That was usual back then. Now it's the opposite tendency, I guess it changed somewhen in the middle age when the modal scales have also been renamed. Old Greek Phrygian wasn't the same as our Phrygian, for instance. I think the whole conception/musical feeling back then was more like "descending" or so.

Ohhhh ... that is actually fantastic!  Descending ... *daydreams* ... that is somehow just what I needed to know, thank you!  Now I know why I want/ed to play my scales that way and I might just go sneak over to the piano and do that!  You know, I really love knowing about modes.  For anybody who is familiar with scales and modes and such, it's an obvious thing how all of it ties together.  I am still learning about some of it, but I remember distinctly the moment when I realized you could go around the circle of fifths in any mode (duh!) -- it was a revelation to me and I was actually truly ecstatic.  And, recently I have taken up playing them again (all major and minor scales and some modes) and realized some more stuff.  For example, Dorian mode is the same key signature as natural minor (Aeolian) plus a sharp in the order of sharps.  I mean, you can think of them as it relates to the respective Ionian key signature (like A Dorian being the same key signature as G Ionian), but it's just one more way to think about them.

I think of modes as it relates to the scales degrees of the Ionian/Major mode, as though Ionian is the origin in some way.  It gets pretty easy that way.  I also realized recently that if you build a mode on scale degrees ii, iii, and vi, you will build a minor sounding mode because the half step will be within the first three notes.  Whereas, if you build a mode on the IV or V, it will at first sound mostly Major.  And, scale degree vii' mode, Locrian, is like a diminished mode -- just like when you build chords on those scales degrees.

[m19834]

K. plays stride. Now that would be interesting.

Thaly, the third variation in the Schumann ABEGG has something like a stride bass for much of the time .  I know, I know, you don't like Schumann!

[ted]

For the last forty years at least I have never been susceptible to the sort of arbitrary restriction K describes. In fact I still devise new figurations every day. As a child I was exposed to it, of course, but habitual improvisation soon fixes that. Isolated examples of inverted stride basses do exist by the way - Morton comes to mind.

On the other hand, I think the idea of complete left-right symmetry as a musical concept is silly, because any given figuration usually produces very different musical effects in different registers. For technique, usually on my silent practice clavier, the symmetry about D and Ab can be used very profitably to equalise the fluency of the hands. However, musical effect itself just isn't symmetric, and in the end, for me anyway, sound is the whole point of everything, not an intellectual concept or method.

Having said all that though, if you don't try everything you might miss out on a discovery.

[ted]

A good specific example of the lack of correlation between keyboard and sound symmetry is rapid double notes. Years ago, like most players I guess, I took pains to develop these over the whole range in both hands. But I soon realised why the existing repertoire almost completely restricts them to the treble, and usually the higher treble at that. If played legato down below the effect is a sort of nondescript roaring and clumping. If you want a roar or a clump that's fine of course, but the point is that the formation produces little else.The ear requires the delicacy of the treble to hear a decent range of sound types from them. It is possible to play them low, with more difficulty, using a light, detached technique to provide scope for dynamic variation and increased interest.

This is just my opinion as it applies to my own music. I embrace any intellectual idea that is going for exploratory purposes but the nature of the sound it produces is all that counts in the end. That's probably why I cannot see the point of arbitrarily imposed forms either, composing by rules and numbers and so on, whether old fashioned or modern.

[lostinidlewonder]

I am sure if Chinese invented the piano they would have done it the other way around like they read their writing. But now that I imagine it, it would be impossible to play some pieces if they keys where reversed!

[m19834]

Yeah, but Lost, I'm just wondering why we don't think right to left, and in that case, high to low.  I agree, if the keys got reversed, of course that would be pretty crazy to try to play (but fun ).

[timothy42b]

Yeah, but Lost, I'm just wondering why we don't think right to left, and in that case, high to low.  I agree, if the keys got reversed, of course that would be pretty crazy to try to play (but fun ).

Is red higher than green?

That's an obviously silly question.  Like, is rough higher than smooth? 

Why, then, is C higher than B?  It's really the same question.  Yet, this is so universally understood there may be little point in analyzing it further. 

With specific examples though there are reasons.  Chords deep in the bass sound muddy, you couldn't do stride reversed.