Piano Strings
Well, this is a unique way to the play the piano. It must have taken him forever to tie all those strings!
Well, this is a unique way to the play the piano. It must have taken him forever to tie all those strings!
I’m going to be visiting Turkey soon to visit my youngest son, which inspired me to look up some Turkish piano music.
This piece was written by Turkish composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun (1907-1991) using aksak, which means “limping” or “stumbling.” It’s very fast with irregular rhythms. (Strictly speaking, in Turkish music theory the term refers only to the grouping of nine pulses into a pattern of 2 + 2 + 2 + 3.) For you math and computer experts, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksak
If you want to see a close-up of a pianist’s hands, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=wi0vF7HG7gU This video is a bit wavy and slightly blurry, but you can see more of the fast repeated notes, the glissandi, and the fast octaves in both hands.
Believe it or not, after all the dissonance, this piece has a C major chord in it towards the end. See if you can hear it. Then match the last note of the piece to the piano and see what it is.
Here’s a performance of one of our favorite pieces. You’ll be surprised at how it all works out. This performance took place this spring in Sabadell, Spain.
Here’s a fun video of a cellist who accompanies himself with drumbeat sounds he makes with his mouth.