This thing is way over-the-top schmaltz, but I still love it.
Month: January 2018
Schubert’s Strange Path Home
Schubert’s Impromptu D.935, Op. posth. 142 – No. 2 is one of my favorite piano pieces. It has many delights, but what really caught my ear was the bombastic double forte section (m. 17-30 at 1:06). It takes us into the IV key and uses a clever trick to modulate back so that I barely noticed when we arrived back home.
Below are lead sheet-style chords under their functions, with simple inversion notation. I’ve transposed from Ab to G to get rid of the double-flats (I’m terrible playing/thinking in Ab).
Bury figured bass
Figured bass notation is already long dead, but musicians carry its corpse around to show off that they squandered valuable moments of their lives learning it. It also creates needless ambiguity. Is I7 a dominant seventh? Not in figured bass. Just try notating G7b9/B in figured bass. Yeah, let’s bury it already. And it can be so easy:
V9:2. You may have already guessed this is the dominant 9th chord in 2nd inversion. Easy.
ii7:3 is Am7/G in G.
I7 has a flat 7th on the tonic. Imaj7 is the diatonic variety.
You are freed to do Roman numeral analysis with some sanity.
About Steve
Steve is way into…
- His wife, and his dog Rufus
- Shallow, rocky creeks of the Appalachians; hollows; towns built on the side of mountains; abandoned roads, bridges, railways, and stairways.
- Building web sites, apps, and frameworks with TypeScript, Node, React, GraphQL, and some PHP
- Indiepop, dreampop, yacht rock, disco beats, 60’s pop, classic hip hop, Stereolab, Broadcast, ABBA, Deerhoof, Zombies, Innocence Mission…
- Playing piano, guitar, bass, and drums if anyone will let him
- Transcribing song chords
- Nudging songwriters to embrace a wider view of harmony
- Building little apps to share chords and keyboard snippets
- Moose’s album Live a Little Love a Lot (all time)
- Jorge Elbrecht’s album Here Lies (last decade)