Polonaise in G Minor: Right Hand

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson we're going back to a favorite collection of mine: The Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook. A treasure trove of great pieces. As with some of the other pieces we've learned from the A.M.B. notebook, we're not sure who the composer was for this piece we're learning today. "Polonaise in G Minor." Let's have a listen. Here's the score for "Polonaise in G Minor." Let's do our usual checklist. We always check our tempo indication. This time it's moderato. It means we'll be at a medium tempo. Treble and bass clef. We've got our key signature here: Two flats tells us that we're in the key of B-flat major or G minor, and haha, the title is a dead giveaway that we are in the key of G minor. Thank you tidal for that help. So two flats we're in the key of G minor. Our time signature is 3/4, so we know we'll have three quarter note beats per measure. Now scanning this piece, what do you notice about the rhythms? I'm seeing a lot of 16th notes and eighth notes. So I'm thinking this may be a great piece to use 16th note subdivided counting. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a And here in this first measure we have this dotted eighth sixteenth. Remember, a dotted eighth note equals three sixteenth notes. So we would count this 1-e-&, and then this final sixteenth note gets the a. So we'd have 1-e-&-a, and then 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Let's try tapping the rhythm of this first measure together. It will sound like this: 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Try it with me go. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Good, now how would we count this measure? We have a 1-e on that first eighth note, and then &-a for these last two sixteenth notes 1-e-&-a. and then 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a for the half note, which gets 2 beats. So let's try tapping this measure. It sounds like this: 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Try it with me. Ready, go. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a Now on your own can you pause the video and try and figure out the rhythms for these next two measures with subdivided 16th note counting? Pause and practice the rhythm in these two measures on your own, then press play and we'll check it out together. All right here's what you should have gotten for these rhythms. It's 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a, 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Let's try tapping and counting that together. So count the beat out loud with me while we tap the rhythm and I'll count 3 beats to get us started. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a, 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a, 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a Now, this kind of subdivided counting is great for accuracy. You can be exactly sure that you're giving each note the right value. But I also like to use our old way of counting using rhythm words. TIM-KI TA TA TI TI-KI-TWO-OO TI TI-KI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI-KI-TWO-OO the value of that way of counting is it's more intuitive. It rolls off the tongue a little bit easier. Let's try saying this in our old rhythm syllables. Remember a dotted eighth sixteenth note we say TIM-KI TA TA Say this with me, go. TIM-KI TA TA And then this is a TI-TI-KI TWO-OO. Say it with me, go. TI-TI-KI TWO-OO TI-TI-KI TI-TI TI-TI Say it with me, go. TI-TI-KI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI-KI TWO-OO Say it with me, go. TI-TI-KI TWO-OO I encourage you to practice both styles. They each have an advantage 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a, for accuracy, and then TIM-KI TA TA for fluency. The last thing you might want to do in your music before we play this is to circle all the notes that are going to be automatically flat because of our key signature. We know we have a B-flat and an E-flat, so we'll go through, here's a B, so I might circle it and that will remind me as I'm playing it to flat it. So pause and find all the B's and E's on this line and circle them, then press play to go on. We didn't find any E's, but there were several B's, and so now we'll remember to flat those. Let's come to the piano and try and play it. All right, can you tell me the letter name for the first note in the right-hand part? You said G, you're correct, and don't forget since we're in G minor let's go ahead and play a G natural minor scale and kind of get that in our fingers. We can just do one octave. Try that with me, go. Before I learn a new piece, I always like to play the scale once just to get it in my fingers and get comfortable with where those flats are going to be. Now, I encourage you to count out loud as we play. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a Without counting sometimes I see that students will rush these quarter notes. Those quarter notes are going to feel a little slow 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Now you try. Then in the next measure: 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Now you try. Let's put that together 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a, 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. Now you try. Now in rhythm words we'd have TIM-KI TA TA TI TI-KI TWO-OO Now you try. Say the rhythm words and play. Good, then in measure three we have TI TI-KI TI-TI TI-TI. Notice our finger 1 has to come under there. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a, and then 2 is going to come down to the B-flat. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a. So all tog ...