Author Archives: Ryan Libel
The George Bridgetower Sonata for Violin and Piano, by Beethoven
Beethoven’s Sonata Number 9 for Violin and Piano is a phenomenal work – both instruments are highlighted, the piece captivates from its opening notes, and it’s a full concert-length work. The Sonata’s official nickname is the Kreutzer Sonata. But the piece debuted on my birthday – May 24 – in 1803 at the deft hands […]
Jam of the Day
I have a friend who, for a very long time, sent out an e-mail every day with a little write-up of a song and a link to its video. It went on for years – he called it “Jam of the Day,” and we subscribers were “Jammers.” I signed up for his musical daily the […]
The Elements of Music: 7 of 7, Spatial Location
This final piece in my series on the elements of music as identified by Richard Restak, MD, deals with the most esoteric concept yet. There are many lists of the elements, components, building blocks, fundamentals – call them what you will – of music. Most include versions of the elements I’ve written up to date, […]
The Elements of Music: 6 of 7, Loudness
The loudness of music is a relatively straightforward concept. Composers and musicians play music loudly or softly to evoke certain moods and feelings. Broadly, the term dynamics refers to the loudness and/or softness of music. Composers use Italian words to convey their wishes for the dynamics for specific segments of music. Forte means loud, and […]
Cradling the Neck
Since my first lesson, Teacher has been working with me on the proper violin hold. She’s been showing me the same thing week after week and my progress has been small and incremental. In last week’s lesson, however, I had a bit of a breakthrough, and over the past week I feel I’ve finally been […]
Precious Cargo
A friend on Facebook linked to a CNN story about Zachary De Pue, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster, who refused to check his 1757 Gagliano violin into a US Airways plane’s cargo hold for a quick jump to Fayetteville. What did De Pue do? Why, a tarmac recital, of course: Turns out De Pue is right on the […]
The Kodály Method
My musical sister called me Saturday to wish me happy birthday, and as we chatted she made me aware of a pedagogical method about which I’d been clueless – The Kodály (say ko-DAY) Method. Apparently Sister and Brother-in-Law are prepping to host a fellow who’s doing some intensive study on the Method at a nearby […]
Birthday Present
Last night I got home and had a package in the package room. Teacher told me to order Suzuki Book Two, so I did – I got the one that comes with the CD. I opened it, started leafing through the book, and started getting excited about what’s to come! For one thing, it looks […]
The Elements of Music: 5 of 7, Timbre
Why does a clarinet’s sound differ from that of an oboe? What makes a high C on a piano sound different than when it’s produced by a soprano? Timbre is the answer. It’s everything about the sound other than pitch that makes it unique. Some folks at Georgia State University have a handy but old […]
What Is a Gavotte?
Gavotte is coming along. It’s a very long song for me – 8 lines that repeat and repeat and repeat. Consider that each letter below represents two lines of music. Here’s the pattern of Gavotte: AABCCDDAB For some reason section B does not repeat until a D.C. repeat, but all of the rest of the […]
Ryan Libel 