How to solfeggiare a piano score

Introduction

As we have seen in some previous articles, in the process of reading a score on the piano the note names that make up the Fundamental Scale are usually associated with the double pentagram through precise signs that are called rhythmic signs. We had already observed this in an example that I report below as a reminder:

The Note: A Complex Element

For this reason we at Piano Reading Method must necessarily consider what is commonly called known not as a simple element of the study that you have to face only by intuition, but as a precise set of three components:

• A rhythmic figuration, for example;
• A precise position on the pentagram, then the precise association with a name (which will eventually have an attribute, which we will discuss in subsequent articles;
• A precise sound height , that is, a sound.

The limits of trendy treatises

Many of the most recognized introduction manuals to music theory do not make a distinction between the constituents of what is called a note, but begin to deal directly with the notes themselves and their sound or rhythmic component. In the Piano Reading Method , on the other hand, we gradually distinguish the individual aspects that define what is commonly called known, so that you can ensure that you are paying the same attention to each of them. I report below a clip taken from a previous article, which will make you immediately understand the pedagogical importance of this operation.

Many children who begin to study the piano abandon it advancing with age: in some cases, the reason is that the difficulties of reading a score have been magnified by the much, too much spontaneity with which they have been accustomed to approach the instrument. This also applies to us who did not start as children: we ardently desire to learn to read Music, but we are often introduced to this art by someone who can do nothing but put us directly in front of four notes as if it were only a trivial exercise of repetition. But let's think about it: even if the notes are only four, they are composed at least of names and sounds. With a simple multiplication, we are now faced with eight different elements! And it is good to anticipate that the number would increase whirlwindly if we knew how to count all those components of reading a score that we have not yet been trained to recognize. To understand how counterproductive this is, let's imagine for a moment a great footballer, a striker with legendary ball control, with unparalleled physical power and speed in the race, capable of dribbling opponents in the most brilliant ways: it is certainly a phenomenon, we would say … But we wouldn't do the same if we found out that this footballer doesn't know where the goal is. With this last clarification, if before in our minds the images of the greatest footballers in history flowed, now we are probably thinking: what a waste, it would take so little to be an unforgettable athlete! In fact, we would never want to be like this footballer who neglects only one of the totality of the characteristics he needs to be a champion, the one that drags everything else with him. Yet in most cases we cannot read the notes fluently for this very reason and not because, as some bad teachers want us to believe, we did not start as children or we lack talent. 

How to Read Music Quickly » Matteo Malafronte

How to solfeggiare?

In this article I would like you to understand, respecting the aims of the Piano Reading Method, the enormous importance of this subject, so as to introduce you to the treatment of the following articles, which will give the rhythm as an established issue (at least in its essential characters). I will show you precisely only some important paths to undertake the path on the rhythmic meaning, but I will not formulate either complete considerations on Music Theory or on Solfeggio, also because there are already many manuals that deal exhaustively with these subjects.

Rhythmic signs

To write rhythmic indications we use signs called rhythmic signs, divided into two categories: rhythmic figures and rhythmic pauses. These two categories can be accompanied by signs of rhythmic prolongation, such as the point of value or the ligature of value, which we will talk about later.

The most used rhythmic figures in our music are the following seven:

In the practice of spoken solfeggio, they indicate the duration of the pronunciation of the noun of note to which they are associated; in piano practice, they indicate the duration of the sound associated with their name. In any case, writings as in the example above are not associated with anything since the pentagram lacks the key. The latter is the only reference for the names of the Fundamental Scale and also for the precise height of the sounds, since starting from the key we can match the lines and spaces of the pentagram to the keys of the piano. In the example below, the rhythmic figures were all written on the first space of the pentagram. However, it can happen to find them written on any position (line or space) of the same, since they indicate, in addition to the rhythm, also the name of note that from time to time is associated with their position. 

In many cases, when in a score the rhythmic figures provided with a stem – that vertical line that starts from their head and sometimes ends with one or more tails – are written above the central line of the pentagram, they have the stem facing down; conversely, if they are written below the central line of the pentagram, they have turned it up. We treat them in this order to respect the purposes of this article, namely those of carrying out a gradual treatment: at the beginning of the studies, you will have more opportunities to meet the rhythmic figures with the greatest values, that is, the first in the example. These figures have an absolute value, and not – as is sometimes said – "relative". They are not worth "a tot of seconds" or "a tot of minutes", but they retain regardless of the context in which a precise mathematical value is found: respectively, from left to right of the image above, 4/4, 2/4, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64. Therefore, the duration of these figures has no absolute chronometric value, of the type "the chroma is worth three seconds", but only musical and mathematical.

Rhythmic Pauses

We said that each of these figures is worth half of the rhythmic figure that is on its left. The same mathematical principle applies to rhythmic signs that indicate the duration of silence, called rhythmic pauses:

Unlike the seven rhythmic figures, the seven rhythmic pauses are most commonly written in a fixed position of the pentagram – the one shown above – regardless of the key written on it, precisely because they do not refer directly to a sound but to silence. The only other way you can find a rhythmic pause written in a different position than the one shown is indicated in the following example. In a paragraph to follow on the different vocal types, we will see that – in a particular context – the rhythmic pause can occupy any position of the pentagram, not just the one shown in the next example. This context is momentarily negligible: just for completeness, one of the possible cases in the image below is shown in advance:

Another difference between rhythmic figures and rhythmic pauses is that the former have proper names, starting from the left of their scheme (shown above): semibreve, minima, semiminima, croma, semicroma, biscroma, semibiscroma. Rhythmic pauses, on the other hand, since they share the mathematical value of rhythmic figures, are named after the latter (for example: semibreve pause, minimum pause, etc.).

Measures

All the rhythmic signs shown so far refer from time to time not only to this general set that represents the fourteen most used, but also to more specific sets, called measures. For example, on the pentagram of any composition you may find this set of two numbers immediately after the key :

This is the so-called measurement indication and reads "four quarters". It has value, except for indications, along the entire pentagram that contains it, which is why it was written on both the upper and lower pentagram . The measurement indication serves to know in advance the rhythmic structure of what follows it on the score. Very often in the first piano exercises this indication does not change along the entire piece: we therefore understand that it is essential to know how to interpret it in order to have in mind, even before starting to read what follows it, a rhythmic structure to follow. In the case of the example, the measure will consist of four rhythmic figures with a value of one quarter each:

In this case – as we will see happens only in specific cases that will be distinguished shortly – that the rhythmic figures of the measure are four says the upper number, while that they can not be worth more than 1/4 each says the lower number. 

The Jokes

Measure is synonymous with another term that might sound familiar, namely joke: the first term refers more often to considerations of a theoretical nature, while the second to the graphic representation of the measure itself on the pentagram. This graphic representation corresponds, in most cases piano, to what is written within the two vertical bars that delimit the beat itself. The vertical bars that identify the beats are called rods. The first rod, which marks the beginning of the beat, is the one that on the score is located before the keys, immediately next to the brace that binds the two pentagrams to each other; the second, which marks the end of the beat, is the one placed after the four rhythmic figures worth a quarter each. After a first beat there are generally many others, since the concept of measurement is repeated along the course of the piece.The value of the measure could undergo further variations, always indicated in advance by a new measurement indication that replaces the previous one, starting from the point of the song from which it is written.

Measures and Times: Synonyms?

The term measure is not to be confused with the term time, which instead represents the units into which the measure itself is divided. The measure is in fact composed of times. A measure in 3/4 is composed of three times since to define it you must regularly count up to three. Here is the case in example:

By regularly counting up to three, as indicated by the number at the top of the measurement indication, you will have marked the number of times of the measurement, that is, three. 

Depending on the number of times of which a measure is constituted, it can be classified as:

• Binary, two-stroke;
• Ternary, three times;
• Quaternary, four-stroke.

There would be other classifications based on the number of times, but it is not necessary to treat them for the purposes of this article, which are to introduce you to the rhythmic reading of a piano score. Each of these times then has precise characteristics: in the case of the example, the first half will be more incisive than the others, the second weaker than the first, the third weakest of all. That is why a distinction is made between time and measure: the times establish the true character of the measure that contains them. For example, in a score bearing as an indication of measure 4/4, the first half is stronger than the others, the second half is weaker than the first, the third half is stronger than the second but weaker than the first and the fourth half is the weakest of all. This convention has very simple reasons: consider any waltz and imagine the last tempo of all its measures as the most incisive tempo. Or even worse, try to take away the incisiveness from the first of his time. The waltz is no longer a waltz, it completely loses its character. It is therefore sufficient to say that, conventionally:

1. Binary measures theoretically predict the first half as stronger and the second as weaker;
2. Ternary measures theoretically predict the first half as the strongest, while the second half weaker than the first and the third half weaker than the other two;
3. Quaternary measures theoretically predict the first half as the strongest, the second half as weaker than the first, the third half as stronger than the second and the fourth half as the weakest of all.

The times do not change, in number or quantity, depending on the rhythmic signs that are arranged within the measure. Look at this example:

The number of times that make up the measure has not changed. There are still four times with a value of 1/4 each within the beat. Since the first half is considered the strongest, the first two 1/8 rhythmic figures that fit into it will be more incisive than the others. The 1/4 figure will be weaker than the two 1/8 figure, while the 1/2 figure, being between the third and fourth half, will maintain the character of the third half when it is played, until it becomes weaker approaching the fourth time. 

Metric Accents

In a score, the "strength" of the times is determined by their dynamic intensity, that is, by the intensity with which they are rendered in terms of volume. This is what is meant by metric accent, clearly distinct from the articulation accent, which will be discussed in the next articles. In the piano, the expressiveness is limited by the fact that, once a key is lowered, it can no longer change the intensity of volume produced by the string, a volume that inexorably fades. This is not the case for the violin, as you can grow and decrease a note while you are playing it, just as it happens in the human voice and many other instruments. In the case taken as an example there is no problem of piano performance since the sound, naturally fading in our instrument following the percussion of the string, can return the required effect without problems. 

Subdivisions

The times of which a measure is constituted can be divided into further rhythmic signs. For example: in 3/4, if the value of each time is respectively 1/4, it is possible to further subdivide that unit of time giving rise to a subdivision. To recap:

1. Dividing a measure into times, it is scanned (binary, ternary or quaternary).

2. Southby dividing a time belonging to a measure, its subdivision is obtained.

Depending on the result that is obtained by dividing a time, the entire measure from which it was taken takes the name of simple or compound. If the subdivision takes place into two rhythmic signs, the measure is defined as simple; if, on the other hand, the division takes place into three rhythmic signs, this is called composed.

Points of value

With regard to compound measurements , the measurement indications are written in such a way that the number of times in which the measure is articulated cannot be immediately derived from the highest number of the indication itself: in fact, that number must be divided by three. The reason is simple: if a convention other than that of simple measures had not been used, the difference between the two types of measure would not have been highlighted and confusing decimal numbers would have had to be introduced to the denominator. Here is an example of a compound measure:

The size is in 6/8. In this case the time is worth 1/4 plus one point of value.The value point, which is that dot that is located to the right of the rhythmic figure, prolongs the duration of the rhythmic sign next to which half of the value of the rhythmic sign itself is placed. The point of value is characteristic of the times that make up the compound measures, but it can also be found within a simple measure on any level of time subdivision.In the case examined, half of the value of 1/4 is 1/8. The division of time will be achievable only using three rhythmic signs, in particular from 1/8 each. In fact, to use only two would require an imaginary rhythmic sign of the value of 3/16, which in the context of our music does not exist. Dividing by three the number six that is at the top of the measurement indication, you get two. From this it can be deduced that the measurement is composed of two times: it is therefore a binary measure. Even the number that is lower does not have an immediate meaning, this refers to the subdivision that can be implemented of time. That is why these measures are said to be composed: unlike simple measures, they have times that can be divided into three rhythmic signs, which is impossible in simple measures. Having to use for the subdivision only the seven values of the fourteen rhythmic signs indicated above, the times of these last measures can be divided each only in two. Here's an example:

Thesis and Arsi

We have said so far that on a score the timing of a measure provides for a precise organization of their metric accents, which are sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Even the times, however, have an internal metric hierarchy: each time has in fact a thesis and an arsi, that is, a beat and a rise, on the first and second rhythmic sign of their respective subdivision. We could summarize and integrate what has been said so far in the following scheme, complete with some essential additions:

1. The strongest metric accents are called beat (or tense), the weaker metric accents are called levare (or arsi). What is generally referred to as the beating or lifting of a measure corresponds respectively to the time metrically stronger or weaker than that measure, but it is possible to find beat and rise, that is, different types of metric accent, even within the subdivisions of the times.

2. The rhythm of a composition or fragment of it can be called theptic, anachrusic or headless. Theticus, from thesis, if it begins on the first half of the measure, which in all measures is metrically the strongest. Anacrusic, when on the contrary it begins on a levare. The headless rhythm is similar to the tetic one because it starts the same way on a beat, but with a rhythmic pause.

3. The rhythm of a composition or a fragment of it can then end on a thesis (trunk), or on a rsi (plane).

What has been said so far has the sole purpose of introducing the following considerations; although initially it may be difficult, the understanding of the notions presented is expanded and made natural by the constant practice of Solfeggio, with which one can also develop the ear and impress sounds on one's mind. 

Conclusions

Here are some important tips to undertake the rhythmic study of a score on the piano. First of all, observing the pattern of values of rhythmic signs shown in this paragraph, we understand that being the measures predominantly binary, ternary or quaternary, time will have in most cases a value between these intermediate. In other words, the rhythmic sign that represents time will in most cases be linked to the first 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 studies, a sign to which the value point will be added in the case of composite measurements, to determine at the rhythmic level the correct amount of time. Employing these rhythmic figures associated with time, it is possible to regularly count up to three to determine the amount of a simple ternary measure, but also to count up to six and establish the subdivisions of the three times of that measure:

In fact, applying the example to a three-quarter measure, we will count "u-no, du-e, three-e" by dividing each time into two, with the same regularity with which we counted up to three without subdivision; this process gives rise to six rhythmic signs worth 1/8 each. This can also be seen in the example above: these rhythmic signs are in turn subdivided into twelve rhythmic signs with a value of 1/16 each, in turn subdivided into twenty-four rhythmic signs of 1/32 each, in turn subdivided into forty-eight rhythmic signs of 1/64 each. Beyond this point almost always does not go, since the convention wants that the smallest value commonly used for a rhythmic sign is that of 1/64. 

What may seem like a cold mathematical calculation, actually makes us understand a question of fundamental importance: each time of the measures in which our music is written will generally not be divided within a piece more than three or four times. So if you study the rhythm starting from this assumption, the work will be infinitely clearer. Here's why: imagine taking a measure and dividing it into three times, this time without pronouncing the three numbers with which you scan it. By moving your hand slowly, but regularly, to three different points in space and then pronouncing a "ta" at each of these movements, you will pronounce three "ta". Pronouncing instead at the same frequency two "ta" for each of these movements, which must take place slowly and regularly, you will pronounce six "ta". In this way you will have implemented the division of time. Now say "ta" four times for each movement of the hand, and finally say it eight times for each movement of the hand, all without ever changing the speed and regularity of the scanning of the three movements in space. This procedure is applicable to all measurements and represents the solid rhythmic basis from which to undertake our studies: you will always have to compare these variations on the measure, from time to time proposed in the compositions, with the unit of time and with the number of subdivisions that in the latter you recognize to have been operated. What we have just said will be even clearer with an example: if you want to study rhythmically a measure in three quarters, you will always have to have in mind the number of rhythmic figures associated with the times and their value. In this case, therefore, you will consider three rhythmic figures with a value of 1/4 each, trying from time to time to understand how time has been modified, at what level of subdivision we are, etc., but always relating what you read to the number and value of the times that make up the measure. Exemplifying:

You will immediately have in mind three times worth 1/4, each, which in this way are at a second level of subdivision, since we will find four rhythmic figures for each time, and not just two, as happens at a first level of subdivision. Music publishing helps in this, since most of the songs published for the press present the rhythmic figures always grouped by units of time. The figures written above, in fact, could also be written in this way:

These figures are generally grouped by publishing to facilitate the reading and interpretation of the score starting from the units of time of the measure, which you will always have to keep in mind in their number and value. By grouping the rhythmic figures, you consequently go to order any rhythmic pauses in precise points of the measure. The topic could be further explored, but for today we stop here: if you feel the need to go further, or to prepare the study plan for a Solfeggio exam, you can consult the appropriate section for tailor-made individual lessons at this link. If, on the other hand, you feel ready to experience everything you have read in this article, below I leave you the most used Solfeggio manuals. If you buy them through the banners below, you will help support this blog. I leave you to them, we'll see you in the next article!