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Impressionism
Impressionistic music achieves it's unique sound by using: 1. Bitonality. This means two different harmonies at once. This technique creates fuzzy harmonies. Traditional harmonic progressions are clean and straightforward, while Impressionistic harmonies are fuzzy. Think of music written in two different keys at the same time. A good example of this is Debussy's piano piece, La Puerta Del Vina. The right hand plays in one key, the left hand in another key. Played together, they create bitonality. 2. Fuzzy chords. Take lots of notes and pile them up, one on top of another, and you can get some pretty interesting sounds. Listen to Debussy's Claire de lune. 3. Modes. These are special scales that have been around for a long time. They were used by composers until about the time of the Renaissance. A wonderful piece by Debussy that is based entirely on modes is Fetes (Festival). What an incredible piece! The Dorian mode is one of the scales that is used in this piece. You can be play it on the piano by starting on D and playing up eight notes on the white keys. 4. New sounds that suggest exotic locations--composers like Maurice Ravel borrowed ideas from places like Spain, the Orient, Greece, and jazz from America to "paint" these sounds into their music. Bolero is an excellent example of this new, exotic sound. Another wonderful example of Impressionistic music with a Spanish flavor is Ravel's piano piece, Albarado del Gracioso. 5. Pentatonic scales. These are scales with just 5 notes. Play just the black keys on a piano and you have this simple, short scale. This old scale has been around for a long time. Music of China and the American Indian use this scale. Debussy's Girl With the Flaxen Hair is a good example of a piece based on this 5-tone scale. 6. Whole tone scale. This is a scale with no half steps. Listen to L'isle joyeuse (Island of Pleasure) by Claude Debussy. To learn more about Impressionism, click here. To hear more MIDI files of Ravel, go to the Classical MIDI Archives. To hear more MIDI files of Debussy, go to the Classical Music Page or the Classical Midi Archives. Things to Think About 1. Can you play a pentatonic scale on the piano? It's easy if you know the trick. 2. Try to sing a pentatonic scale. Was it easy or hard? 3. Why is it easier to sing a major scale than other kinds of scales? 4. Look at an Impressionistic painting up close, then step back. What do you see? 5. Draw a picture in an Impressionistic style. Use dots instead of lines and clear-cut shapes. 6. At first Impressionistic art and music shocked the world, but now it is loved and accepted. Can you think of musicians today who shocked the world and then were accepted?
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Capistrano Elementary School |
Capistrano School