Piano Diana Blog: Italian language

Notes move on the staff in three ways: Step
Skip
Repeat

Notes on or above the middle line have down stems.

Notes below the middle line have up stems.

Measuring Intervals
The distance between two notes is called an interval. Another way to say it; the distance from the pitch of one note to the pitch of another.

2nd Interval:
On the keys a 2nd is like a step: from one key to the next key.
On the staff a 2nd is like a step: from line to space or space to line.

3rd Interval:
On the keys a 3rd is like a skip: from line to line or space to space. One skipped key is a 3rd.

4th Interval:
Two skipped keys is a 4th. On the staff a 4th is either line to space or space to line. On the keys a 4th is a larger skip.

5th Interval:
Three skipped keys is a 5th. On the staff a 5th is either line to line or space to space.

Melodic and Harmonic Intervals:

A melodic interval has single notes, like notes in a melody that are played one at a time. If you sing a note and then another then this is a melodic interval.

A harmonic interval has two notes played together to make harmony in music. If two people each sing a different note at the same time then this is called a harmonic interval.

Now that you know what intervals are why do you suppose we need to learn them?

Learning to recognize intervals, whether by sound, on paper, or an instrument, is extremely helpful for many reasons. Among them are chord building, improvisation, sight singing, composition, understanding and remembering keys and their related accidentals, and figure out music by ear. If you’re trying to play a melody that is in your head or on the radio, knowing your intervals eliminates most of the time spent searching for the right notes.

One of the coolest ways to add feeling and expression while playing those piano notes is to observe road map signs or what musician’s call Dynamics or dynamic markings.
Basically there are symbols that indicate varying degrees of volume. So we have degrees of loudness or softness.

Music has loud and soft signs called dynamics.

mf means medium loud.
Its Italian name is Mezzo Forte.

f means loud.
Its Italian name is forte.

ff means very loud
Its Italian name is Fortissimo.

fff means very, very loud.
Its Italian name is Fortississimo.

ppp means very, very soft.
Its Italian name is Pianississimo.

pp means very soft.
Its Italian name is Pianissimo.

P means soft.
Its Italian name is Piano.

With this understanding of how notes move while playing quietly or loudly, you’ll enjoy hearing yourself play with more feeling in addition to technically playing the notes correctly. Have fun!

All the best,
LadyD

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Image via Wikipedia

Anyone who has the faculty of speech is to a degree interested in having a clear vibrant voice. I would say that is because they want to be understood and secondly, the auditor experiences pleasure in listening. A vibrant voice is one that produces clear vowel sounds. Vowels are the only sound produced by the vocal chords that are fully vibrant.

A soft voice is one that permits the escape of unused breath during the production of vowel sounds. If this fault is quite pronounced, the voice is said to be “breathy”. If it is extreme, the voice is said to be hoarse. I’m sure you have heard these differences with singers.

No matter how light a puff of breath may be released through the opening between the vocal bands, careful listening will discern a resulting vowel sound, usually “uh” or “ah”. On the other hand, if in striving for power of sound, the controlling factor for pure vowels is simply achieved in the power of the voice. Volume of sound then becomes not a matter of effort but a reflex result of mental stimulus.

English words are composed of more consonants than vowels, with consonants usually at the beginning and end of each syllable. While all the vowel sounds can be produced without movement of the jaw or lips, this is not true of consonants.

Most studies of voice and speech are too complex for me. So we know it’s more than just A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y. Sometimes turning to the dictionary can be more confusing rather than helpful.

Italian is a favorite language of singer’s because of its wealth of vowels but there is really more vowel material available in English. One can go into great detail analyzing the alphabet and distinguishing between true vowel sounds, diphthongs (meaning complex speech sounds that begins with one vowel and gradually changes to another vowel within the same syllable) and consonants.

I have found with the word “see” it is necessary to emit more breath to form “s” than is necessary in producing the vowel “ee” which follows. So the vowel must be the primary consideration in order that the mechanism of the throat will adjust itself to utilize every bit of breath passing the opening between the vocal bands during the formation of the vowel. The “s” sound by its very nature must be breathy while the sound following must be just the reverse.

When you pronounce “B” the vowel “ee” impounds in the throat by your lips pressed together and then released. When you say “D” the vowel “ee” impounds in the throat by the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and released. And then with “F” the vowel sound “eh” is followed by an escape of air between the lower lip and upper front teeth. So yes, it’s very true that forming vowels properly will add character and color to the sound of your voice, especially your singing voice.

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