New Theme Development 137 bpm

[audio:137-keys.mp3 | titles=137 Theme Development|artists=music2work2]

I’m actually enjoying the whole practicing thing at the moment – historically I have balked at the thought of sitting down and running through scales and arpeggios but it’s like many things – once you start, so much good stuff begins to manifest that you kick yourself for not doing it earlier.

I’m searching for themes at the moment – playing with different tempos and going with the flow. This particular theme has been emerging over the last couple of days and this morning started to really take shape. Having started in ¾ time and moved through 6/8 time, it is now sitting pretty in 9/8 time and I think feels pretty good.

I like playing in 9/8, particularly in the higher tempos – there’s an inherent movement to the meter – think of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and Robert Duvall in a Huey and you get an idea of the kind of emotion that 9 time can deliver.

Marsha - 18 minutes 57 seconds

Piano, Organ, Strings with a renaissance edge

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I used three voices on this track: Piano, Organ and Strings. I have been using organ more and more on the Kelli project and I wanted to see how it would fit into the overall style of this kind of piece. As ever, the piano track goes down first, then the organ and finally the strings. Listening to the tracks afterwards, I then remove what doesn't work. There is an interpretation of one of Wendi's earlier themes tucked into the middle of the piece, which felt fairly appropriate with Wendi being Marsha's daughter.

One of my most visceral memories is of seeing David in Florence. I remember being 18 and not terribly into "Culture" per se - however, the sheer size of the sculpture, the perfection, the human achievement, was enough to change my attitude towards art forever. Legend has it that when they asked Michelangelo how he did it, he replied: "I just removed what wasn't David." I have had that concept in my head for a while now and am actively incorporating it into my approach to creating music. When I look at the finished piece, I use about 30% of the organ track and about 60% of the string track - with apologies to Michelangelo, but: "I just removed what wasn't Marsha!"

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Marsha is part of The Thinker's Playlist.

Practicing in 113

[audio:113-keys.mp3 | titles=113 Keys|artists=music2work2]I've started every day this week by practicing to "the click" - to a metronome. I'm a big fan of prime numbers so Monday was 101 beats per minute, Tuesday 103, Wednesday 107, Thursday 109 and today was 113. I will continue up the primes until I can't keep up and then I will start at 101 again and go down as low as I can go.

The way I set up my practice sessions is to start with scales - after a few hand exercises I work the keyboard, running 1 octave then 2 octaves, 3 octaves then 4 octaves then change key; if I make a mistake along the way I have to start again at the beginning- as the metronome gets faster so do my fingers. After scales come arpeggios with a similar game and then a break. I started practicing to a metronome 10 years ago and found that it dramatically improved my playing.

After the basics I then play whatever comes to mind - having been away for so long I'm playing with very basic simple themes and only with one voice - the piano. This theme has been developing for a couple of days although it was previously in a major key. I like the tempo of 113 bpm - it seems to be a nice pace for the left hand to work in 3/4 time while the right hand picks out the melody - I'll probably continue developing the theme at this tempo and see where it leads. It is a little similar to scary movie music which might make its first appearance on the site later on this month!