I always look forward to notification of a new YouTube upload by Smalin aka Stephen Malinowski. I’ve linked to several here before but this one is a cracker and features:
- his uniquely colourful system for portraying pitch and duration
- the option to watch in 3D – with the right specs
- mention of the following musical concepts:
- augmentation – doubling the length of notes in the theme
- diminution – halving the length of notes in the theme
- inversion – turning the theme upside-down; as he explains the M-shape becomes a W-shape
- if you watch the hands closely you’ll also see ‘finger substitution’ – where a finger, which is keeping a note down, is ‘relieved’ by another so that it can move on to its next job; the complexity of the music comes through here as many of the notes are effectively being played twice