…such a relief that Music Progressions is finally over! Now I can breathe…

Everybody knows that to unlock a door you need a key. In the same way, to unlock a piece from a certain musical time period, you need a key.

There are three different keys you can use to unlock a Romantic Era piece. The first is the date. Since Romantic music was composed in the 1800s, the piece has to have been composed in the 1800s, also. The composer is the second key. Some popular Romantic composers include Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Grieg, and many more. The final key is the style of the piece. Because Romantic music was a reaction to eloquent, particular classical music, most Romantic music is big and grand. Also, Romantic music generally uses a wide range of dynamics. This is because the full scale piano had recently been invented, and it took the place of a smaller piano on which dynamics were almost impossible to produce. You can use these three keys to decide if a piece you are playing is from the Romantic Era or not.

Here is a truly amazing video for you to watch. It is a deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie showing that you need to not play a song exactly as the sheet music says it should be played; there is something else a good musician can add that makes it much better. Think about how you can use what she tells about percussion instruments on the piano.

http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html

I know it is long, but what Evelyn Glennie says can completely apply to the piano and really inspired me to “listen” more to the music I play on the piano.