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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord
Harald Vogel
Proceedings of course given August 28, 1997 at St Paul's Church at the first Festival
Improvised Music of Lausanne, written by Gal Liardon in September 1997.
Harald Vogel teaches organ at the Hochschule fr Knste in Bremen and at the Hochschule
fr Musik und Theater in Hannover. He is director and founder of the Norddeutsche Orgelakademie.
Part One: North German style elements harpsichord and organ.
1st year.

Play once this formula slowly and steadily in each hand.

Then repeat the formula in descending third in C major tone (Treppenmotiv staircase pattern). Always keep the same fingering: this formula helps to exercise
the positioning of the hand on the keyboard, because the fingers are always placed on five
Joint notes.

Play both hands in canon:

- The left and right hand begins the following parallel tenths,
- The right hand and the left begins the following in parallel sixths.

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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

The flow rate of the notes must be regular, smooth at the junction of reasons. The articulation must
also be regular, whether related or somewhat detached. You must first exercise
slowly and then keep control when you want to pick up speed.
Exercise the same formula to the pedal.
Transpose the exercise in other tones (major and minor) always keeping
the same fingering, even when the thumb or a finger should play on deception.

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Remarks:
This formula is both an exercise in improvisation and technique. It is in fact
a puzzle piece with which we can improvise real technical studies. Jusat the end of the eighteenth century, the musicians were still working their instruments of this machine
manner, and technical studies were never written.
This formula moves smoothly in hues: between each pattern, it is possible to
to a rate and modulation. In general, the German style of the late seventeenth
century is characterized in that it consists of simple formulas harboring a large riMusical chesse. Thus, early music shows the example of a creative process
in which produces complex things in a simple way. Serious music
Twentieth century has instead developed the opposite, namely produce simple things in a way
complex. The complementarity of these two approaches may be an explanation for the necessity of the current revival of early music.
2nd year: the same formula adapted to mount.

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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

The joint should be regular, that is to say without support on time or inequality to Francesca
Caise. In principle, there is no inequality in the north German style. It is in any case very
profitable work this year without inequality, so as to become aware of its propre game and be able to play equal or unequal when you want. The inequality should not be
the result of an unconscious process, it should instead be subject to the will.
Note here that these simple formulas allow to work not only
improvisation and technique, but also the style. If they do these exercises in a way
scrupulous, developing the consciousness of his own game, one that better assimilates the style
playing ten parts unconsciously directory.
We must first work slowly. Then, when we want to accelerate, it can be good
initially to detach much, as this facilitates equal joint. By
Subsequently, it will also be able to detach less.
Work tempo changes: slow - speed - slow down.

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3rd year: two formulas for the pedals.
Same remarks as above: work with regularity, without inequality nor build on
time; make tempo changes as shown.

4th year manualiter.

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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

The 4321-1234 range is called fingering Passagio fingering. Check correct

the joint. Try different types of joint to vary the sound. Work
accelerando.
Another option to go down:

This formula plays two voices shifted a white, forming third or

parallel sixths. The ranges can also play two voices in thirds, sixths or
parallel tenths, but it must be used with a fingering transition thumb.

5th year for the keyboard and pedals.

Learn to improvise in a style, it's like learning a language. You need to learn
these formulas as a vocabulary.

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Second part: the style of Empfindsamkeit clavichord.
Between the north German style and style Empfindsamkeit, there is a time gap of
one hundred years.
The study of the clavichord is essential to who wants to play music of German organ;
France, the organ is rather associated with the harpsichord.
1st year.

We must link the dissonance and resolution, especially in the soprano. Dissonance must be
strong and sweet resolution. The style of the Empfindsamkeit is essentially dynamic,
that is why the clavichord lends itself very well. 6/4 delay is characteristic of this style. The
5/4 delays occur in this context an old-fashioned effect. Note in this regard that just
Change a note to the style is completely transformed. Similarly, if we play four
be voice, the sound is archaic because the style is always Empfindsamkeit two or
three votes.

The answer almost obligatory that the delay is 6/4 9/4 delay:

Then, simply copy this formula while walking in other tones obtained for
ne a small Phantasie. The agreement of 7th diminished allows to give particular weight to
cadence:

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2nd year: on a fifths sequence.

3rd year: a chromatic bass.

4th year: with two voices in the left hand.

5th exercise: a formula for two voices.

You can move very freely this formula: just think about placing little fingers
an octave or double octave. The sequence of descending thirds works very
property:
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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

In the style of Empfindsamkeit, can be modulated very abruptly and very far. By comcomparison, one can say that in the Baroque style modulations proceed as values
guages, while in Empfindsamkeit it stays longer in the tones, and modules
lations are stronger:

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Remarks:
When improvising with these formulas, do not analyze what we play. Must
implement the scheme and move in shades without finding out or understanding what
one does. If one wants to analyze what you play, you get stuck, because the analysis is slower
that music. This does not mean that it is useless to analyze music, but at the moment
ment where we play, we can not analyze. The sphere of improvisation is not analytical.
(This explains a curious phenomenon that one can sometimes observe the concert: when
organist improvised at the end of a recital, improvised piece, even if it is very simple,
imperfect, is generally much more successful than just played repertoire pieces
before, which are nevertheless of much higher quality. Now, as we have seen, analysis
is slower than the music, or at least the auditor's analytical capacity is highly
reduced when to follow the tempo of the music. For this reason, the listener perceives
no qualitative difference between a directory and an improvisation piece.)
When a teacher teaches improvisation to a student, he must produce in him a state of
non-analytical consciousness. Simply teach by imitation, the principle
most primitive learning possible. It is naturally more difficult in a course
collective. This approach aims to teach creativity; it is extremely necessary to nobe time.
Today, most people, even among good musicians think
improvisation can not learn, and that there are talented people who can improvise and
others who will never know. It is striking, when one reads the texts of ancians Greeks, that they had the same opinion regarding the intellect: they considered
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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

being intelligent, literacy and numeracy, etc. was a gift from the gods that was transmitted
in some privileged families. Our civilization has come a long way since
time, since it has made learning of the intellect. We can consider that this is
of the major achievement of the last millennium, and this is incidentally the sole purpose of
our schools.
Any development in an area is to the detriment of another, we developed intellect at the expense of creativity. In fact, under this big road traveled
by our civilization, the view that creativity (or more particularly
improvisation) can not learn is anachronistic. Our era has instead Granville
Dement need to develop learning creativity.
The current music education develops only the intellectual aspect of the practice
musical tick, that is to say the ability to read the notes. Of course, this is useful, but if we do
knows how to do it, it's catastrophic. We absolutely can not continue teaching
music as well and it is very important for this reason that we are gathered today.

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Part Three: improvisation on chorale.
Until the mid-nineteenth century, the harmonized chorales for organ were always written
in figured bass, as in our example from the Tab Weimar (1704)
realization of these alignments according to the basic principle of encrypted low, that is to say
playing bass in the left hand and grouping the other voices in the right hand,
allows the organist to easily improvise all kinds of variations. In particular, the device
tuck the three upper voices can play the cantus firmus (melody choral) without changing the tenor backing vocals, with rare exceptions, and without
whereas it crosses.
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has
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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

Thisharmonizations
is not possible with
the harmonization
our current
books" which are
in fact
for mixed
choir, where of
backing
vocals"organist
are spread
equal distances from the bass and soprano. It is not a question here of denigrating the quality of these
harmonization, but simply to observe that they are inadequate for the organ. In Realizer
tee, organists today would do well to transcribe their chorales and figured bass in
to throw their "organist book" Fire.
All ways to play a figured bass chorale.
1) mg: B

md: T, A, S (cf)

2) ped: B

md: T, A, S (cf)

3) ped: B

mg: T

md: A, S (cf)

4) ped: B

mg: T, A

md: S (cf) on a keyboard solo

5) ped: B

mg: T, A

md: S (cf) on a solo keyboard 16 ', so as to obtained

ne a cantus firmus tenor

6) ped: B

mg: T (cf)

md: A, S

7) ped: T (cf)

mg: B

md: A, S

8) ped S (cf)
4'ou 2 '

mg: B

md: T, A

9) ped: B, T (cf) mg: A

md: S

Legend: pd: pedal / mg: left hand / md: right hand / B: Low / T: Tenor / A: alto /
S: soprano / cf: cantus firmus (chorale melody)

1 The Tab Weimar (Johann Pachelbel and his school) ed. Susy Schwenkedel; ANFOL, 103 Street
Amiens, F-62000 Arras

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Embodiment for numbers 1) to 4)

Embodiment for numbers 5) to 9):

The melody is played an octave lower, but the voices are unchanged. There are however
a problem between the latter two agreements, which appear between two consecutive straights
tenor (cf) and soprano (in this case, this could be tolerated because the first
fifth is diminished). This appears whenever one has, in the harmonization
with cantus firmus in the soprano, consecutive fourths between soprano (cf) and viola, as
when the cantus firmus tenor goes, these quads become fifths rollover.
Only in this case, it is necessary to modify the conduct of the vote:

The Tab Weimar is ideal for beginners, because the harmonies are simple: they
consist only of triads and some sixth agreements. Thereafter,
we can study other styles. The modal category, for example, is characterized by the fact that the
low tends to form a mirror of the melody.
Examples:

The famous four-part chorales of JS Bach are difficult to play the organ, as they are,
also written for choir
bass encrypted tions of Clavierbung JL Krebs, which are actually very good
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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

transposition of the style of Bach chorales in the technique of figured bass.

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Part Four: The figuration of the melody.
Musicians from 1550 to 1690 left us with a very large number of methods figurative
tion or reduction, containing a total of several thousand examples. The catalog I you
offers is for beginners. This is the simplest possible, decreases system
designed so as to reduce any melody without problems of
conduct voice. Indeed, each formula consists of a diatonic joint movement
between the second note figuration and the next melody note, in the same direction
the melody itself.

In formulas 7 and 14, it may delete the second rating, if it is incomplete

compatible with harmony.
This little formulas catalog must be learned as a vocabulary with discipline. The
figuration is indeed one of the strictest disciplines of improvisation, although it
paradoxically gives the effect of a greater freedom. A few weeks of exercise are necessary to acquire the basic vocabulary and gain confidence. While this is a
limited vocabulary, but it already gives a professional result. We must not forget that
generally improvisation product on listeners a superior effect that the
simplicity of improvised music seems to promise.
For exercise, I recommend the following method:
- Play the melody alone and systematically decrease according to the catalog;
- Play the four voices without reducing the melody ped: B / mg: T, A / md: S (cf);
- Replay the same decreasing the melody.
And work one sentence after the other, then gradually add the sentences together
to others.
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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

The flow rate of the notes should be regular and fluid. The first note of each phrase can
not be reduced. You can also stop just before the final decline rate
each sentence. On this rate, we can play a trill. In this regard, it must be remembered that
then we study, namely around 1700, the ornaments start to become
expressive, and must therefore play trills accelerating.
In a melody consisting of notes of unequal length, as in our example
that is ternary, there are two ways to reduce the long notes:
- Can be considered long notes as short notes repeated and apply them
forms provided for this purpose:

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- Can be used on long notes on the same formulas as short, but twice
slowly:

Examples of reduction of the first sentence of Chorale:

Note that the music we play at this stage is very schematic, although a
unprejudiced listener does not realize it. There are a lot of music in the directory
tory organ that is completely schematic, and that almost nobody plays au
Jourd'hui why: Pachelbel chorales preludes them and Telemann, for example.
In fact, these plays were written for didactic purposes, they are improvisational models.
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Improvisation exercises on the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord

Part Five: The choral fugue.

In the Tab Weimar, each is preceded by a choral fugue on the first small
sentence. Only three counterpoint processes are used in all these fugues:
- Third parallel movements or sixths,
- Contrary movements,
- Delays.
We must begin by exercising slowly to play the theme to the right hand, then his answer
to the left hand. The answer may be tonal (with mutation) or real (without mutation). In
our example of Tab Weimar, the answer is tonal; the actual answer would
as follows:

Both methods exist in tradition. The real answer is easier for dbutives, and recognizes best melody. Can then be undertaken to complete the
counterpoint with parallel movements, inevitably notes against notes.
If you want the tempo of the fugue is commensurate with the chorale follows, we must Seek the
dre guard to the measure. Indeed, a binary melody gives you the opportunity to play the melting
gue twice as fast (if the chorale is slow), while this is impossible with a melody terms
nary.
When you are able to improvise a small fugal exposition, you can
combined with a decreased chorale. Play a small transition sequence between fugue and
chorale, so as to introduce the first agreement, but without a conclusive cadence.

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Summary.
The four essential disciplines of improvisation are:
- Harmonization,
- Figuration,
- "Phantasieren"
- Fugue.
Harmonization is the basis of everything. Figuration is the strictest discipline.
"Phantasieren" that is what we have worked at the beginning of the course, that is to say improvise
on puzzle-pieces formulas. The fugue, or imitation, requires a certain dose
analysis, unlike other disciplines.

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