Spinning Song by Ellmenreich: B Section, Part 1

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson we'll be learning to play the B section of "Spinning Song" by Albert Ellmenreich. Let's come to the piano to get started. The B section begins here in measure 27. Now, let's zoom in on this rhythm in measures 27 and 28. The left hand appears to have the melody now. You'll notice the right hand's just playing these repeating two note chords with this E-flat F. 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-& So our left hand has the interesting melody now. The left hand begins with a dotted quarter note, which lasts for 1 1/2 beats. Now because we've got this eighth note pulse, I'm going to recommend that instead of counting subdivided 16th notes, that we switch to thinking in subdivided eighth notes, just 1-& 2 And then these two 16th notes come on the & of 2. 1-& 2-&-a 1 &, you could think &-a. 1-& 2-&-a 1 Now you try. Let's slow it down 1-& 2-&-a, 1-& 2-&. And notice that tenuto on the first note will make us bring out that note a little extra loud 1-& 2-&-a 1 And on that last note try to float up with your wrist. Since it's the last note of the phrase, we want to play it gently so 1-& 2-&-a 1, float up on that last note. Now you try. Count out loud with me. Let's do it together, ready go. 1-& 2-&-a 1-& And notice by the & of beat 1, we have to let go because of the rest. Remember to respect the rests. It's not okay to just keep holding a note down because that doesn't respect the rest. When you see a rest, it's time to lift and let go. 1-& 2-&-a 1-& Let go by the end. Now you try, go. Now let's look at this next one. Finger 2 is on B, but should we play a B? No. Because of our key signature we know that should become automatically a B-flat. 1-& 2-&-a 1-& Let go by the end. 1-& 2-&-a 1-& Now you try. Now let's see about adding in the right hand. We get 1-& 2-&-a, 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-& Pause and work a little bit on putting this hands together. Remember, the left hand is the melody, so voice it so we hear the left hand louder and the right hand much softer. Think pianissimo for the right hand. You don't have to get this perfect today, but pause and work a little bit on those four measures, then press play to go on. By the way, it's kind of interesting to note that we've got this E-flat now, and if you look through the B section you'll see a lot of E-flats, and what I think the composer Ellmanreich has done is a tonal shift from F major to B-flat major. Now we have a B-flat and an E-flat, which brings us into the world of B-flat major. We've seen that composers sometimes like to do tonal shifts just to keep things interesting. That's what's happened here by bringing in that E-flat. Now, I'd like you to take a look at measures 31 through 35, and see if you notice if this is the same or different. If it is different, how? Then press play and we'll check it out together. Hopefully you found that measure 31 is the same as what exactly the same as what we had before in measure 27, but in measure 33, we change the rhythm a little bit. Now it may be best to count with subdivided sixteenth notes. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a Notice we've got that tie, so 1-e-&-a 2. 2 it's still being held, but then because of all these 16th notes now we need e-&-a. So let's practice this a little bit 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a, 1-e-&-a Pause and work on the left hand alone right there counting the subdivided 16th notes out loud, then press play to go on. Now let's add in the right hand. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a Notice how important the counting is here. So our left hand can be in sync with the right hand. 1-e-&-a 2-e. That e is by itself then the & they play together, then the a the left hand plays by itself. Then 1 they play together again. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a, 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a, there's also something new in the right hand there. Right, we come up to that F and A-flat maybe another tonal shift here. Right, we'll have to see in a minute what comes next. Okay pause and work on just these two measures: 33 and 34 very slowly hands together trying to get that timing, then press play to go on. Now I'd like to give you the challenge of figuring out measures 35 and 36 on your own. Figure out the rhythms, figure out the notes, watch for flats, sharps, naturals, accidentals. Try and learn these two measures on your own left hand alone, right hand alone, and then try it hands together, and then we'll check it out together. Okay, the left hand starts on this D above middle C. 1-& 2-&-a 1 Okay, that's the left hand. The right hand goes 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-& Okay, notice that E-flat is for the bottom note, and remember a flat lives the whole measure up until the bar line and then so we get that three times, and then on this very last one the G gets a flat too. So now both the E and the G are flat. 1-& 2-& Hands together we get 1-& 2-&, 1-& 2-&. Okay, now same thing, I'd like you to figure out measures 37 and 38 by yourself, then press play to go on. and if you learned it correctly we get one and two and a one and two Now this look ...