BITONAL Goldberg Variations - Aria

Sometimes, when I'm bored, I practice pieces this way, to see how well I understand the tonality of the different voices. This is me playing the Aria from J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. The right hand is in the correct key of G, but I transposed the left hand to G-flat. I then play it a second time correctly, with both hands in G. If you can't stand the atonal version -- and I wouldn't blame you at all for that -- the proper version starts at about 2:12.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• atonality
• dissonance
• atonal
• bitonal
• johann
• sebastian
• bach
• jsbach
• bwv988
• s988
• goldberg
• variations
• aria
• ives-wannabe

[Bolender]

I am glad that you didn't write "Zappa" as a tag. I like Zappa's abstract music, but I am really struck by how almost any modernist or quasi-modernist music clip on Youtube gets the word "Zappa" slapped on it.

[sparkyfry]

Never even would have crossed my mind.

[pianoboyo]

I hear your pedal squeaks a bit - could be your shoes?!? Have you tried playing this NO pedal? I agree that some pedal is beneficial but i also think a really beautifull finger legato is essential hear and that the articulation is given a lot of thought..the pedal is often an enemy to our finger work it can if we are not carefull cover all our subtlety - experiment more.

[sparkyfry]

The squeaking is actually the bench, not the pedal. Since I recorded this, I got a new piano and a better, quieter bench. I have gotten better at using less pedal as I've moved into my 30s, but I could still probably stand to use even less...

[kpunkt]

What went wrong at 2:12...???

[django53]

Les Dawson(ish); but never the same control or technique.

[Guitareben]

What the hell... :D Cool... But i prefer how it is normally :P

[yourforte]

@tggold Yes, I understand about intervals and chord inversions. I still don't understand how playing in two keys makes anything more transparent than it already is. Actually there are a huge number of relations between chords and intervals within a key. They all have music meaning to us - that's what functional harmony is about.

[tggold]

@yourforte Well, I am not the video creator, so I must assume what he means here. While you can be aware of the key of a piece, it is not a huge amount of information (assuming the piece has a key). As the hands play, there are intervals between them and the tonic (and themselves). For example, a C chord in first inversion would be EGC, in the key of G: 614 (scale degrees) and in relation to itself made of a minor third and a perfect foruth stacked. To play in 2 keys is to know all of this well.

[yourforte]

@yourforte Tonality (which is what you say you want to understand is about the key) - the intervals in every major key are the same of course.

[yourforte]

@tggold I understand there's more to music theory than the key.. Tell me what you mean by an 'interval relationship thing' and how does playing each hand in a different key help? The reason why I talked about the tonality is because you say in your blurb that you want to see how well you understand the tonality of the different voices.

[tggold]

@yourforte It's an interval relationship thing. There's a lot more to music theory than the key =P

[Wandelbart]

Bitonal is not atonal. But I know you know... ;-) I prefer the beginning because it makes me really listening and it doesn't sound bad.

[TheQuale]

What's the point of this claptrap? 

[woodwardable]

@logicus1 Ditto @ reading your post.

[woodwardable]

I truly enjoy listening to bitonality, I know some people like the 'idea' of it, but I genuinely get pleasure from it. It makes this piece sound joyous and frightening at the same time.