Breaking Barlines

Online Music Theory Lessons: Turn Sound Into Skill

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By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

A Farewell to Mary Kogen

There are teachers who genuinely make a difference in your life, and I was proud to have been a student and friend of Portland’s own Mary Kogen. In a career more than five decades long, she taught piano and pedagogy at Eastern Illinois University and spent 26 years on the faculty at Portland State, striving always for the humanity and self-enhancement in music. And as for Breaking Barlines, I can confidently attribute a good deal of my own teaching methods to her influence. I was one of countless music teachers whose lives were touched by Mary’s warmth, unmatched humor, and her commitment to bringing music into people’s lives and souls. Though her time is ended, the light she left belongs to us all, and it will not go out. Thank you, Mary.

To read Mary Kogen’s obituary in OregonLive, please CLICK HERE.

By Aron Bernstein 1 Comment

Weekly Music Challenge: 7/11/22

Test your theory chops with the weekly challenge from Breaking Barlines! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This Week’s Challenge:

The meter is running! This is one of my favorite gems from my favorite composer. As always, I’ll reveal the source on Friday, so so spoilers please if you already know it! I’ve blacked out the time signature, so that’s your challenge this week. What meter is this in?

Listen to Audio

Post your reply and come back Friday, July 15th for the answer!

ANSWER for 7/11/22

Believe it or not, this week’s challenge was brought to you by Johannes Brahms! This is variation 7 from Book 2 of Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35. He chose to give this one two time signatures, 2/4 for the right hand and 3/8 for the left. To further complicate things, each left hand beat is carved into a triplet, making for a nice and simple NINE AGAINST FOUR between the hands! Even worse, Brahms actually starts each left hand triplet on a pickup before the first measure, so all the sixteenth note triplets are displaced backward, with beams crossing the barlines. However, the ultimate effect between the hands is 4 against 3, so it would have been more accurate to make the entire passage in 2/4 and have triplet quarter notes on the left, rather than triplet eighths. But don’t despair: if you’re interested in playing this, The next measures after these turn the right hand eighths into broken octave sixteenths. Who doesn’t need a little 8 AGAINST 9 in their lives? Brahms, you’re killing us.

Learn More Here!

With Breaking Barlines, fun music theory is no contradiction in terms! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! 44 lessons and counting, each one grounded in the music you want to hear. Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New videos are always added, so stay tuned!

By Aron Bernstein 3 Comments

Weekly Music Challenge: 6/13/22

Test your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This Week’s Challenge:

We’re playing it by ear this time! Here’s an excerpt from a piano sonata by Franz Schubert. I’ll tell you which one on Friday…no spoilers if you already know it! Listen to the audio and see if you can tell what time signature this passage is in. Hint: the actual beat unit value is less important than what kind of meter this is!

Audio–Franz Schubert

Post your reply and come back Friday, June 17th for the answer!

ANSWER for 6/6/22

This is the trio from the third movement of Schubert’s great Bb Major Piano Sonata, D. 960. The time signature is actually just a simple 3/4, but because the odd-numbered measures have a syncopation on the third beat, we have the effect of a hemiola. Two measures of 3/4 sound like a single measure of 3/2.

Learn More Here!

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, encouraging video lessons grounded in real music! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always added, so stay tuned!

By Aron Bernstein 7 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 1/24/22

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Below is the Kyrie from the Missa Prolationum, a mass by Renaissance composer Johannes Ockeghem. These are just two of the parts, but it’s enough to see what rhythmic principle Ockeghem based the piece on. What do you notice about the parts, and what’s the name of this compositional method?

Check back on Friday, January 28th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 1/24/22

This is a mensuration canon, also called a prolation canon. As in an ordinary canon, both voices pictured above have the same melody, but the bottom voice’s note values are one and a half times longer than those of the top voice. The result is that the bottom melody is really in 3/4, and “stretches away” from the top melody as time goes on. It’s a very tricky type of canon to write well.

But wait! Why have just one mensuration canon at a time when you can have two! The Missa Prolationem is a truly astounding setting of the Ordinary of the Mass because it’s based entirely on double prolation canons. In the original manuscript below, each page features a different melody. You can see the mensuration signs circled in red, which were archaic time signatures in the late Medieval period and Renaissance. Notice that each page has TWO of these signs, which means that each melody is to be sung by two voices, each with a different time signature. The melody on the left page is sung by one voice in simple triple meter, and another in simple duple. Not complex enough yet? At the same time that this is going on, a third voice sings a different melody on the other page in compound triple meter, and a fourth voice sings it in compound duple. So it’s really one mensuration canon in counterpoint with another! For the modern rendition I pictured above, I only showed what was happening on the first page.

Kyrie from the Missa Prolationem by Johannes Ockeghem, ca. 1475

Want to Learn More?

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, holistic, and with a personal touch! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always added, so stay tuned!

By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 1/3/22

First Challenge of the New Year!

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Below is a nightmare of improperly beamed notes. Re-beam these rhythms to show the beat in 12/8 time, and add barlines when needed:

Weekly Music Theory Challenge

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Check back on Friday, January 7th to see if you’re right!

Dogan’s Answer:

Jof’s Answer:

Katrina’s Answer:

ANSWER for 1/3/22

12/8, like all compound meter time signatures, has misled generations of musicians and students. It’s actually quadruple meter, four beats per measure, with each dotted quarter note beat divided into three eighth notes. The top number in the time signature should say 4, but there’s no number that will convey a dotted quarter note as the beat unit for the bottom number. As a result, compound meter time signatures show the division of the beat, rather than the beat unit. But take heart: just think this the next time you see 12/8:

Want to Learn More?

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, holistic, and with a personal touch! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always added, so stay tuned!