Brainstorming

Copy and Paste into the Brainstorming Section of your Wiki Space Portfolio Note: Multiple Projects Need Individual Brainstorming Links: Jenna Note: Easier to See Answers with Color or Font Changes: Jericha
 * Getting Started**

Write down what aspect of music you are interested in learning about this semester. Piano What do you want to know more about? I want to learn more about jazz piano in particular What skills do you wish to develop? I want to learn how to read music much more efficiently than I can now What topic will inspire you to engage in creative research? Jazz piano What tools will be needed for your study? A piano and internet access
 * 1. Brainstorm**

What are all the components that would need to be learned in order to master the topic? Reading music, playing more fluidly, playing better with both hands If you are unsure of all the components, do you think you can find more information to help you find depth for your study? Yes Are there enough questions about the topic that need to be solved or do you already know enough about the subject? I barely know anything about this subject Is there a history to your subject that can help your study? Who has done this? What have they done with it? Has it ever been done before? The history is below
 * 2. Narrow down the topic**

Complete some initial research into your subject. Is there information readily available? Are the method books or articles that will help your work? Yes, Yes. Hint: Music Files on Desktop(mstudent/musicstudent)
 * 3**. **Initial Research**

Resources:

[|Scott Joplin - Complete Piano Rags.pdf] [|Scales and Arpeggios for the Pianoforte (Taylor).pdf] [|Peanuts - Songbook.pdf] [|Blues, Jazz and Rock Riffs for Keyboards.pdf] [|Blues Riffs for Piano b ed baker.pdf] [|60 of the Funkiest Keyboard Riffs.pdf] [|!Book!!Art_Tatum_-_Jazz_Piano_Solos_2.pdf] [|!Book!!Art_Tatum_-_Jazz_Piano_Solos_1.pdf]

Review your brainstorming with your instructor. Use this a guide for the creation of your proposal.
 * 4**. **Review**

My goal for this term is to learn how to read music more fluently, and apply this to playing the piano. I also want to dramatically improve my ability to play multiple parts at once with my right and left hands. I would like to learn how to apply these abilities (once they are acquired) to jazz piano, blues piano, and to a lesser extent, classical piano. I plan on using the Logic program, or actual pianos when available. The best way to learn these skills is to work with experience pianists, and then practice the skills that they teach me until I have mastered them. I have a piano at home, and plan on practicing for half an hour a day. I have recently started taking extracurricular lessons with a professional, and plan to continue this practice.

=**History:**=

==== Early history ====   Grand piano by Louis Bas of [|Villeneuve-lès-Avignon], France, 1781. Earliest French grand piano known to survive; includes an inverted wrestplank and action derived from the work of Bartolomeo Cristofori (ca. 1700) with ornately decorated soundboard.   Early piano replica by the modern builder Paul McNulty, after Walter & Sohn, 1805 The piano is founded on earlier technological innovations. The first [|string instruments] with struck strings were the [|hammered dulcimers] .[|[2]] During the [|Middle Ages], there were several attempts at creating stringed [|keyboard instruments] with struck strings.[|[3]] By the 17th century, the mechanisms of keyboard instruments such as the [|clavichord] and the [|harpsichord] were well known. In a clavichord the strings are struck by [|tangents], while in a harpsichord they are plucked by quills. Centuries of work on the mechanism of the harpsichord in particular had shown the most effective ways to construct the case, soundboard, bridge, and keyboard. The invention of the modern piano is credited to [|Bartolomeo Cristofori] (1655–1731) of [|Padua], [|Italy] , who was employed by [|Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany] , as the Keeper of the Instruments. He was an expert harpsichord maker and was well acquainted with the previous body of knowledge on stringed keyboard instruments. It is not known exactly when Cristofori first built a piano. An inventory made by his employers, the [|Medici] family, indicates the existence of a piano by the year 1700; another document of doubtful authenticity indicates a date of 1698. A friend of the family by the name of Sebastian LeBlanc suggested the idea to switch the black and white keys [// [|citation needed] //] The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s.[|[4]][|[5]] While the clavichord allowed expressive control of volume and sustain, it was too quiet for large performances. The harpsichord produced a sufficiently loud sound, but had little expressive control over each note. The piano was likely formed as an attempt to combine loudness with control, avoiding the trade-offs of available instruments. Cristofori's great success was solving, with no prior example, the fundamental mechanical problem of piano design: the hammer must strike the string, but not remain in contact with it (as a tangent remains in contact with a clavichord string) because this would [|dampen] the sound. Moreover, the hammer must return to its rest position without bouncing violently, and it must be possible to repeat a note rapidly. Cristofori's piano [|action] was a model for the many different approaches to piano actions that followed. Cristofori's early instruments were made with thin strings, and were much quieter than the modern piano—but compared to the clavichord (the only previous keyboard instrument capable of dynamic nuance via the keyboard) they were much louder and had more sustain. Cristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, [|Scipione Maffei], wrote an enthusiastic article about it (1711), including a diagram of the mechanism. This article was widely distributed, and most of the next generation of piano builders started their work because of reading it. One of these builders was [|Gottfried Silbermann], better known as an [|organ] builder. Silbermann's pianos were virtually direct copies of Cristofori's, with one important addition: Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern [|damper pedal], which lifts all the dampers from the strings at once. Silbermann showed [|Johann Sebastian Bach] one of his early instruments in the 1730s, but Bach did not like it at that time, claiming that the higher notes were too soft to allow a full dynamic range. Although this earned him some animosity from Silbermann, the criticism was apparently heeded. Bach did approve of a later instrument he saw in 1747, and even served as an agent in selling Silbermann's pianos.[|[6]] Piano-making flourished during the late 18th century in the [|Viennese school], which included [|Johann Andreas Stein] (who worked in [|Augsburg] , Germany) and the Viennese makers [|Nannette Streicher] (daughter of Stein) and [|Anton Walter]. Viennese-style pianos were built with wood frames, two strings per note, and had leather-covered hammers. Some of these Viennese pianos had the opposite coloring of modern-day pianos; the natural keys were black and the accidental keys white.[|[7]] It was for such instruments that [|Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart] composed his [|concertos] and [|sonatas], and replicas of them are built today for use in [|authentic-instrument performance] of his music. The pianos of Mozart's day had a softer, more ethereal tone than today's pianos or English pianos, with less sustaining power. The term // [|fortepiano] // is nowadays often used to distinguish the 18th-century instrument from later pianos.
 * = [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Gnome-mime-audio-openclipart.svg/50px-Gnome-mime-audio-openclipart.svg.png width="50" height="50" align="center"]] || Comparison of piano sound [|19th century piano sound]

[|Frédéric Chopin] 's [|Étude Op. 25, No. 12], on an [|Erard] piano made in 1851



The same piece, on a modern piano || //For more details on this topic, see [|Innovations in the piano] .// In the period lasting from about 1790 to 1860, the [|Mozart] -era piano underwent tremendous changes that led to the modern form of the instrument. This revolution was in response to a consistent preference by composers and pianists for a more powerful, sustained piano sound, and made possible by the ongoing [|Industrial Revolution] with technological resources such as high-quality steel, called [|piano wire], for [|strings] , and precision [|casting] for the production of [|iron frames]. Over time, the tonal range of the piano was also increased from the five [|octaves] of Mozart's day to the 7¼ or more octaves found on modern pianos.  <span style="display: block; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px ! important; text-align: left;"><span style="background-image: none ! important; color: #0645ad; display: block; float: right; text-decoration: none;"> Broadwood square action Early technological progress owed much to the firm of [|Broadwood]. [|John Broadwood] joined with another Scot, Robert Stodart, and a Dutchman, Americus Backers, to design a piano in the harpsichord case—the origin of the "grand". They achieved this in about 1777. They quickly gained a reputation for the splendour and powerful tone of their instruments, with Broadwood constructing ones that were progressively larger, louder, and more robustly constructed. They sent pianos to both [|Joseph Haydn] and [|Ludwig van Beethoven], and were the first firm to build pianos with a range of more than five octaves: five octaves and a fifth during the 1790s, six octaves by 1810 (Beethoven used the extra notes in his later works), and seven octaves by 1820. The [|Viennese] makers similarly followed these trends, however the two schools used different piano actions: Broadwoods were more robust, Viennese instruments were more sensitive. <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #cccccc; clear: right; display: block; float: right; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.8em 1.4em; min-width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; width: 222px;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px ! important; text-align: left;"><span style="background-image: none ! important; color: #0645ad; display: block; float: right; text-decoration: none;"> Erard square action By the 1820s, the center of innovation had shifted to [|Paris], where the [|Pleyel] firm manufactured pianos used by [|Frédéric Chopin] and the Érard firm manufactured those used by [|Franz Liszt]. In 1821, [|Sébastien Érard] invented the double escapement [|action], which incorporated a //repetition lever// (also called the //balancier//) that permitted a note to be repeated even if the key had not yet risen to its maximum vertical position. This facilitated rapid playing of repeated notes, and this musical device was pioneered by Liszt. When the invention became public, as revised by [|Henri Herz], the double escapement action gradually became standard in grand pianos, and is still incorporated into all grand pianos currently produced. Other improvements of the mechanism included the use of felt hammer coverings instead of layered leather. Felt, which was first introduced by Henri Pape in 1826, was a more consistent material, permitting wider dynamic ranges as hammer weights and string tension increased. The [|sostenuto pedal] ( [|see below] ), invented in 1844 by [|Jean Louis Boisselot] and improved by the [|Steinway] firm in 1874, allowed a wider range of effects. One of the major technical innovations that helped to create the sound of the modern piano was the use of a strong iron frame. Also called the "plate", the iron frame sits atop the [|soundboard], and serves as the primary bulwark against the force of string [|tension]. The increased structural integrity of the iron frame allowed the use of thicker, tenser, and more numerous strings. In a modern grand the total string tension can exceed 20 tons. The single piece cast iron frame was [|patented] in 1825 in [|Boston] by [|Alpheus Babcock], combining the metal hitch pin plate (1821, claimed by Broadwood on behalf of Samuel Hervé) and resisting bars (Thom and Allen, 1820, but also claimed by Broadwood and Érard). Babcock later worked for the [|Chickering & Mackays] firm who patented the first full iron frame for grand pianos in 1843. Composite forged metal frames were preferred by many European makers until the American system was fully adopted by the early 20th century. Other important advances included changes to the way the piano was strung, such as the use of a "choir" of three strings rather than two for all but the lowest notes, and the implementation of an over-strung scale in which the strings are placed in two separate planes, each with its own [|bridge] height. (This is also called " [|cross-stringing] ". Whereas earlier instruments' bass strings were a mere continuation of a single string plane, over-stringing placed the bass bridge behind and to the treble side of the tenor bridge area. This //crossed// the strings, with the bass strings in the higher plane.) This permitted a much narrower cabinet at the "nose" end of the piano, and optimized the transition from unwound tenor strings to the iron or copper-wrapped bass strings. Over-stringing was invented by [|Jean-Henri Pape] during the 1820s, and first patented for use in grand pianos in the [|United States] by Henry Steinway, Jr. in 1859. <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #cccccc; clear: right; display: block; float: right; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.8em 1.4em; min-width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; width: 222px;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px ! important; text-align: left;"><span style="background-image: none ! important; color: #0645ad; display: block; float: right; text-decoration: none;"> Duplex scaling of an 1883 Steinway Model 'A'. From lower left to upper right: main sounding length of strings, treble bridge, duplex string length, duplex bar (nickel-plated bar parallel to bridge), hitchpins, plate strut with bearing bolt, plate hole. Duplex scaling, patented in 1872 by Theodore Steinway, enhanced the voice of each note by using [|sympathetic vibration]. Short lengths of non-speaking wire were bridged by the aliquot throughout much of upper range of the piano, always in locations that caused them to vibrate in conformity with their respective overtones—typically in doubled octaves and twelfths. Somewhat similar systems were developed by [|Blüthner] ( [|Aliquot stringing], 1873), as well as <span style="background-position: 100% 50%; color: #3366bb; padding: 0px 13px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;">[|Taskin] (1788), and [|Collard] (1821). Each used more distinctly ringing, undamped vibrations to modify tone. Some early pianos had shapes and designs that are no longer in use. The [|square piano] (not truly square, but rectangular) was cross strung at an extremely acute angle above the hammers, with the keyboard set along the long side. This design is attributed to Gottfried Silbermann or Christian Ernst Friderici on the continent, and [|Johannes Zumpe] or Harman Vietor in England, and it was improved by changes first introduced by [|Guillaume-Lebrecht Petzold] in France and [|Alpheus Babcock] in the United States. Square pianos were built in great numbers through the 1840s in Europe and the 1890s in America, and saw the most visible change of any type of piano: the iron-framed, over-strung squares manufactured by [|Steinway & Sons] were more than two-and-a-half times the size of Zumpe's wood-framed instruments from a century before. Their overwhelming popularity was due to inexpensive construction and price, although their tone and performance were limited by narrow soundboards, simple actions and string spacing that made proper hammer alignment difficult. <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #cccccc; clear: left; display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 0.8em 0px; min-width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; width: 222px;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px ! important; text-align: left;"><span style="background-image: none ! important; color: #0645ad; display: block; float: right; text-decoration: none;"> The mechanism in upright pianos is perpendicular to the keys. The tall, vertically strung upright grand was arranged like a grand set on end, with the soundboard and bridges above the keys, and tuning pins below them. The term was later revived by many manufacturers for advertising purposes. Giraffe, pyramid and lyre pianos were arranged in a somewhat similar fashion in evocatively shaped cases. The very tall cabinet piano was introduced about 1805 and was built through the 1840s. It had strings arranged vertically on a continuous frame with bridges extended nearly to the floor, behind the keyboard and very large //sticker action//. The short cottage upright or //pianino// with vertical stringing, made popular by [|Robert Wornum] around 1815, was built into the 20th century. They are informally called //birdcage pianos// because of their prominent damper mechanism. Pianinos were distinguished from the oblique, or diagonally strung upright made popular in France by [|Roller & Blanchet] during the late 1820s. The tiny [|spinet] upright was manufactured from the mid-1930s until recent times. The low position of the hammers required the use of a "drop action" to preserve a reasonable keyboard height. Modern upright and grand pianos attained their present forms by the end of the 19th century. Improvements have been made in manufacturing processes, and many individual details of the instrument continue to receive attention. ===<span style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; color: black; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.17em; padding-top: 0.5em; width: auto;">** [ [|edit] ] History and musical performance ** === //Main article: [|Piano history and musical performance] // Much of the most widely admired [|piano repertoire], for example, that of [|Haydn] , [|Mozart] , and [|Beethoven] , was composed for a type of instrument (the pianoforte) that is rather different from the modern instruments on which this music is normally performed today. Even the music of the Romantics, including [|Liszt], [|Chopin] , [|Robert Schumann] , [|Felix Mendelssohn] and [|Johannes Brahms] , was written for pianos substantially different from modern pianos.
 * //Problems listening to these files? See [|media help] .// ||

=** Styles of Piano Playing: **=

===** Blues: **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">The blues involve an emphasis on the major and minor pentatonic scales, with an additional note included. The flatted fifth is added to the minor pentatonic to create the blues scale. Many blues songs are based on a simple chord progression, known as 12-bar blues. This uses the I, IV and V chords of a scale to create a foundation for melodies and solos. ===

=<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial;">Cocktail: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">a style generally connected with Liberace, Eddy Duchin, Roger Williams, and others who play popular tunes with lots of great technique — lots of notes, runs, flourishes, and so on. But I hate to catagorize and of these great pianists, as many of them play in other styles as well. =

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial;">Boogie-Woogie: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">a piano style based on the blues. It started as a solo piano style, but has expanded into other genres, such as county-western and gospel. It differs from the blues in that it is considered dance music, while blues music traditionally expresses sadness and frustration.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial;">Rhythm and Blues: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">based on blues, jazz, and gospel styles. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on the rhythm of the song. Most R&B has a particular swing to it, with a strong feel of syncopation in the rhythm. Syncopation involves placing the stress on a normally unstressed beat. This often results in an almost off-time feel to the untrained ear.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial;">Ragtime: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">also incorporates syncopation. Ragtime uses syncopation in its melodies by placing melodic notes between the stressed beats of the rhythm. Ragtime is often considered the first completely American genre, even predating jazz.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 24px;">Jazz: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">encompasses such a broad palate of styles that it is impossible to describe. Many piano styles incorporate ideas borrowed from jazz, such as improvisation. An emphasis on extended chord forms also stems from jazz piano.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 24px;">Classical: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">probably the most varied of all the styles. Classical music is older than other styles, and is considered to the proper grounds for musical instruction. Many elements of other piano styles come from classical music, and nearly all forms of musical theory are used in classical music. Classical music usually requires intense training to master, though there many pieces designed with the novice player in mind.

= = = = =Great Pianists:=

Beethoven Born in the late 1700s, considered amongst the greatest composers in history. Went deaf, but used the vibrations in the floor to hear his own piano playing. media type="youtube" key="1saWiYWflQc?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

Art Tatum Early American jazz pianist, very influential in his genre. Nearly blind. media type="youtube" key="aNAJlqn0nO4?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

Jerry Lee Lewis Pioneer of early American rock music, combined many genres in his comprehensive style of piano playing media type="youtube" key="8yRdDnrB5kM?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

=Common Warm Ups:= The best ways to warm up seem to be playing scales, or variations on scales.