Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
MEI-YUKTANG, B.A., M.M.
A DISSERTATION
IN
FINE ARTS (MUSIC)
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Approved
August, 2003
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT
iv
LIST OF TABLES
vi
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION
II. BIOGRAPHY
15
29
71
99
VL CONCLUSION
118
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
122
APPENDIX
A. ANALYSIS TABLES FOR GiL4i)C/5/
127
161
207
247
E. AGRADEDLIST0FADLER'SGi?^i)[/5AND
THE SENSE OF TOUCH
264
111
ABSTRACT
Many new musical styles evolved during the twentieth century. The disjunct
melodies, harsh dissonances, and irregular time-signatures, phrasings, rhythms, and
notations featured in much music of the twentieth century were foreign to those
accustomed to the tonai harmonies of the major-minor system. Consequently, new
techniques and guidelines to performing and teaching this repertoire were in great
demand.
Samuel Adler is a prolific composer whose works include operas, symphonies,
concertos, chamber music, vocal music, and piano music. Adler wrote the Gradus and
The Sense of Touch to pr vide young students with a solid theoretical and technical
introduction to the performance of contemporary music.
The purpose of this study is three-fold: to analyze the pedagogica! piano pieces of
Samuel Adler in terms of their musical and pedagogical content; to compare these
compositions with the works of important twentieth-century piano pedagogues, Bartk
and Kabalevsky; and to propose Adler's works as worthy additions to the pedagogical
canon.
The study of Adler's Gmdus set (1971 and 1981) and The Sense of Touch (1983)
shows that these sixty-eight pieces are short in length but neh in musical content. The
flowing melodies, driving rhythms, coloristic sound effects, and clarity of texture of
Adler's piano pieces are appealing to students. They are recommended by music
scholars, piano teachers, and pedagogues. A comparison of Adler's coUections with Bla
IV
Bartk's Mikrokosmos (1926, 32-39) and Dmitri Kabalevsky's Pieces far Children, Op.
27 (1937-38) and Twenty-Four Little Pieces, Op. 39 (1943) shows that each has its own
function. Nevertheless, Adler introduces a greater number of innovative twentiethcentury techniques than either Kabalevsky or Bartk.
Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch are valuable teaching materials. They
contain a diversity of contemporary styles and systems. At the same time, these works
exemplify Adler's expressive and eclectic compositional style. They are instructive
piano works of high quality that deserve a wider circulation among piano teachers and
students.
LIST OF TABLES
128
A.2. GmdusI,No.2
130
A.3. GmdusI,No.3
132
133
A.5. GmdusI,No.5
135
A.6. GmdusI,No.6
137
A.7. GmdusI,No.l
139
A.8. GmdusI,No.8
141
142
AIO. GmdusI,No.
10
144
145
146
A.13. GmdusI,No.
13
147
A. 14. Gra(/Ms/,No. 14
148
A.15. GmdusI,No.
15
150
151
A17. GmdusI,No.
17
153
A. 18. GrarfM5/,No. 18
155
A.19. GmdusI,No.
19
157
A.20. GmdusI,No. 20
159
VI
162
164
166
168
170
B.6. GradusII,No. 6
171
173
B.8. GradusII,No. 8
175
177
178
180
182
B.13. GradusII,No. 11
184
B.14. GradusII,No. 12
186
B.15. GradusII,No. 13
188
B.16. GradusII,No. 14
190
193
B.l8. GradusII,No. 16
196
198
B.20. GradusII,No. 18
201
204
205
VII
208
210
212
214
217
219
220
C.8. GradusIII,No. 8
222
224
CIO. GraJM5///,No. 10
226
228
C.\2. GradusIII,No. 12
230
232
C.14. GraflfM5///,No. 14
235
237
C16. GraJM5///,No. 16
239
C.n.
241
243
244
C20. GradusIILNo. 20
246
vili
248
250
252
254
256
258
260
262
266
267
267
267
268
ix
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
language. At the same time, the concept of musical sound has also changed. For
example, in contemporary piano literature, new sonorities are created by tapping or
knocking the piano's wooden or metal parts or by strumming or plucking the strings
inside the piano. Piano pieces explore the full range of the keyboard, and composers
exploit its percussive nature. Now sounds are created by the emphasis on single tones
(for example, points of sound in a pointillistic style), textures (changing texture abruptly),
sound masses (such as clusters), timbres (producing new sounds by using new techniques
with conventional Instruments), and different rhythmic constructs (applying rhythmic
displacement, metric modulation, etc.).^
Contemporary musical elements such as disjunct melodies, harsh dissonances,
irregular time-signatures and phrasings, unpredictable rhythms, and non-traditional
notations are difficult to comprehend and appreciate. Unfamiliarity with musical
elements that are not used in the common practice language of Western music is at the
root of these difficulties. In performing contemporary works for piano, EUen Thompson
points out that "the fingers must adjust to new shapes and combinations of notes, such as
clusters, quarta!, moda! or synthetic scale pattems, while the mind and eye must leam to
grasp widely-spaced groups of notes, intricate rhytlmis, changing meters, a maze of
accidentals, etc."^ Ways of leaming new techniques, gestures, symbols, and styles are
^ Ibid., 6-8.
^ Ellen R. Thompson, Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA:
KjosWest, 1976), 17.
required to perform and interpret new music. There is a great demand for guidelines to
understand the various styles and systems of contemporary musical literature.
Frequent, early exposure to contemporary music can remedy the present state of
ignorance about contemporary music. In IVhat to Listenfor in Music, Aaron Copland
argued that the reason why ".. .so many music lovers feel disoriented when they listen to
contemporary music [is that they] seem to accept with equanimity the notion that the
work of the present-day composer is not for them. Why? Because they 'Oust] don't
understand it.'"'* He suggested that "the key to the understanding of new music is
repeated hearings."^ One of the major reasons why the music of previous centuries is
well-received is that it is performed frequently. If contemporary compositions were
performed more often, they would become more accessible and familiar to ali. No one
denies the importance and greatness of our musical heritage. Nevertheless, we should
also be prepared to appreciate and treasure the music of our time.
It is easier to prepare young ears to comprehend contemporary musical literature
before they are conditioned exclusively to traditional harmony. Nonetheless, young
music students are often introduced to contemporary hterature very late in their musical
training if at ali. One reason could be that teachers are struggling to understand
contemporary musical elements themselves. These teachers need assistance in selecting
appropriate contemporary musical literature and training in how to use and teach it.
' Aaron Copland, What to Listenfor in Music (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
1957), 242.
' Ibid., 251.
Pedagogues such as Samuel Adler compose piano works to remedy this situation.
He aims to prepare piano students who are inexperienced in contemporary literature to
deal with the more common compositional techniques, styles, and systems of the
twentieth century. Adler's piano coWectons-Gradus I, II, III, and The Sense of Touchare intended to expose ".. .the ear as well as the fingers of the student to the demands of
the present and the immediate past."^ Each of these pieces ".. .utlizes a technique of
composition which has become common practice in the last half-century."^
Justification
The purpose of this study is three-fold: to analyze the pedagogical piano pieces of
Samuel Adler in terms of their compositional techniques and pedagogical aspects; to
compare these compositions with the works of important twentieth-century piano
pedagogues, Bartk and Kabalevsky; and to propose Adler's works as worthy additions
to the pedagogical canon.
Bradford Gowen, concert pianist and professor of piano at the University of
Maryland, describes Adler's piano music as of "exceptional quality, well worth the
o
best music, give to these piano works a distinction and an audience appeal not commonly
found in today's music."^ One may find the same qualities in Adler's pedagogical works,
which include the sixty pieces of the three-volume set, Gradus, and a later coUection of
eight pieces called The Sense of Touch. According to Gowen, these works are attractive,
brief, clear in intent, instrucfive, and are worthy of a wide circulation.
The pieces in Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch contain a diversity of
contemporary styles and systems. At the same time, these works summarize the eclectic
compositional style of Adler. Adler, in fact, has called himself the "happy eclectc."'
Contemporary musical elements include the use of lyrical, disjunct, angular, and static
melodies; motorie rhythms; dissonant harmonic practices; and homophonic or polyphonic
textures. These sixty-eight pieces are short in length but rich in musical content. The
author hopes that this study will establisb these pieces as important additions to the
teaching repertoire so that more people will benefit fi-om these works.
In spite of the fact that some of the current commercially available piano method
books include materials introducing contemporary music concepts, not ali of them are
popular among piano studios. For example, the Hai Lonard series, published in 19961999, introduces a few cluster chords, whole-tone pattems, and some modality. The
Music for Piano series, pubUshed in 1961 and revised in 1979 and 1994-1996, introduces
pentatonic, modal, and twelve-tone music. The reasons for this lack of popularity are
' Ibid., 8.
'" Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive
Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. diss., University of Cincinnati 1999), 15.
varied. First, not ali piano teachers like to use method books. Second, it is possible that
these series may not have been advertised to enough piano teachers. Third, teachers may
not feel it necessary to introduce contemporary musical elements to elementary students.
As a result, most piano students have not been exposed to these more up-to-date piano
method books.
The pedagogical piano pieces of early twentieth-century composers Bartk and
Kabalevsky are stili commonly used to help fili the gap between music of the past and the
present, especially the Mikrokosmos of Bartk. During the latter half of the twentieth
century, composers such as David Diamond," Ross Lee Finney,'^ and Barbara Pentland'^
have written individuai contemporary short piano pieces or collections of piano pieces.
Adler's works are among those that aim to introduce piano students to contemporary
music.
Adler's piano collections Gradus and The Sense of Touch exhibit a greater variety
of contemporary styles and systems than the other available contemporary piano
collections. For example, aleatorie music, twelve-tone music, and pieces that explore the
inside of the piano are included. Anita and Louis Gordon suggest that ''Gradus is an
extremely useful source, both for teaching the techniques necessary to play twenteth-
' ' David Diamond's piano collection Then and Now, published in 1966 by Southern Music,
contains eleven pieces and most are atonal.
'^ Ross Lee Finney's 32 Piano Games, published in 1969 by Henmar Press, contains
contemporary piano pieces firom easy to moderately difficult.
'^ Barbara Pentland's three books of Music ofNow, published in 1970 by the Waterloo Music,
introduce some contemporary musical elements.
century music, and as a brief and simple theoretical introduction to modem music."'''
Lynn Freeman Olson, composer and piano pedagogue, comments that The Sense of
Touch deals with both the technical skills and the compositional devices of contemporary
music and emphasizes physical skills and tactile awareness.'^
The first two volumes of Gradus were published in 1971 and the third volume
appeared in 1981. Each volume of the Gradus contains twenty pieces.'^ The third
volume was composed in response to requests by teachers for works that would bridge
the gap between the first and second volumes. The difficulty ranges from the lateelementary level to the late-intermediate and early-advanced levels. Each piece uses at
least one twentieth-century compositional technique. For example. No. 5 of Gradus I and
No. 3 of Gradus II feature parallel movement in fourths and fifths. There are twelve-tone
pieces in Nos. 8a-l 1 oi Gradus //and Nos. 16-17 of Gradus III. Nos. 4, 7, and 14 of
Gradus I and four pieces in Gradus //make use of church modes. No. 8 of Gradus III is
written on octatonic collections. In the notes, Adler briefly discusses the compositional
devices used and occasionally provides suggestions for studying these pieces. The Sense
of Touch (1983) was commissioned by the piano journal Clavier. It contains eight short
pieces also introducing the young pianist to techniques used in twentieth-century music.
'" Anita and Louis Gordon, "Contemporary Music for Pianists," The Piano Quarterly 80 (Winter
1972-73): 28.
'^ Lynn Freeman Olson, ''Commissioned by Clavier," Clavier 23 (March 1984): 19-21.
'* If Nos. 8 and 8a are included, there are 22 pieces in Gradus IL Nevertheless, these two pieces
are not counted because No. 8 is the matrix table of the twelve-tone row and No. 8a is a preliminary
exercise that notates the pitches of the tone row.
For example. No. 1 of The Sense of Touch explores the full range of the keyboard on a
single pitch class. No. 2 features pandiatonicism and contrapuntai technique. No. 8
includes ostinati, clusters, and bi-tonality.
The titles, Gradus and The Sense of Touch, refer to important pedagogical works
of the eighteenth century. Muzio Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum (1817) is a collection
of one hundred pieces that represents a summary of the composer's "keyboard
creativity." The many exercises included in this collection may have been intended as
preparatory material for the compositions included in the set (for example, preludes and
1 -7
canons).
of Playing [Touching] the Harpsichord, 1717) and C P. E. Bach's Versuch iiber die
wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard
Instruments, part 1 [1743] and part 2 [1762]) discuss the styles and performance practices
1 S
ear as well as the fingers of the student to the demands of the present and the immediate
past."
Although the situation may have improved since the publication of the work,
Gradus and The Sense of Touch continue to be useful and important vehicles for
introducing twentieth-century music to piano students.
There are six chapters in this dissertation. Chapter 1 provides introductory
material stating the justification, review of related research, methodology and materials,
and delimitations of this study. Chapter II focuses on the personal history, teaching
philosophy, and philosophy of music of Samuel Adler. Chapter III discusses the
compositional techniques exhibited in Adler's pieces. Chapter IV examines the
pedagogical aspects of Adler's compositions and provides suggestions on how Adler's
works could be integrated into more traditional courses of study. Chapter V compares
pedagogical works by three twentieth-century composers: Samuel Adler's Gradus and
The Sense of Touch, Bla Bartk's Mikrokosmos, and Dmitry Kabalevsky's Pieces for
Children, Op. 27 and Op. 39. Chapter VI concludes the study. Appendices at the back of
the dissertation contain information about each of the sixty-eight pieces studied and a
graded list of ali the pieces.
Although thorough studies have been made of Bartk's Mikrokosmos and
Kabalevsky's Pieces for Children, there is virtually no research on Adler's Gradus and
The Sense of Touch. The author believes that a thorough analysis of these sixty-eight
pieces would reveal the distinctiveness of Samuel Adler's piano music and enable both
Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.
teachers and students to have a better understanding of bis pedagogical and compositional
techniques and of contemporary music. It is hoped that this study will achieve what
Adler states in the Preface of Gradus: "The aim of these books is not to bring about the
acceptance or rejection of any system, but rather to widen musical acquaintance and to
stimulate the wish to consider more deeply a style, a notational system, or a musical
philosophy."^^
10
articles, the Preface and Notes in the piano score of Gradus, and the brief notes in the
score of The Sense of Touch. The two journal articles about Gradus only provide an
overview for the first two volumes of the set and do not cover the third volume of the
Gradus, which was written ten years after the first two volumes. The journal article
about The Sense of Touch only gives a brief remark on the collection and provides a short
discussion of the piece No. 8.
Research on other books on twentieth-century/contemporary music shows that a
few other sources contain some information on Gradus I and / / Alice Canaday's
Contemporary Music and the Pianist: A Guidebook of Resources and Materials suggests
Gradus I and / / as contemporary pedagogical works. Ellen R. Thompson's Teaching and
Understanding Contemporary Piano Music identifies briefly several contemporary
musical elements found in selected pieces in Gradus I and //. Although Carole
Thibodeaux's "Performance Analysis: A System for Increasing in Piano Students an
Awareness of Stylistic Interpretation as Applied to Selected Twentieth Century Piano
Music" analyzes two pieces from GradusNo. 16, Gradus I and No. 17, Gradus IIno
other reference is given to any of Adler's other works.
Nevertheless, there are numerous documents available on the piano music,
pedagogical contributions, and compositional techniques of Bartk and Kabalevsky, and
^^ Alice Canaday's Contemporary Music and the Pianist: A Guidebook of Resources and
Materials (Tumbridge, VT: Trillenium Music, 1997); Ellen R. Thompson's Teaching and Understanding
Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA: Kjos West, 1976); Carole, Thibodeaux, "Performance
Analysis: A System for Increasing in Piano Students an Awareness of Stylistic Interpretation as Applied to
Selected Twentieth Century Piano Music" (Ph. D. diss., University of Oklahoma, 1976), 175-179 and 264269.
11
the musical elements, compositional techniques, and pedagogical ideas of the twentieth
century. Many of these are listed in the selective bibliography as functional resources.
This dissertation has provided an opportunity to study Adler's Gradus and The
Sense of Touch. The author of this study believes that the thorough study of these piano
works will serve as a guide for piano teachers and students to appreciate Adler's piano
music and as a useful source for leaming about contemporary music.
12
Delimitations
For the purpose of this study, the term "contemporary music" refers to serious
Westem art music that has been composed from the late nineteenth century to the present.
Since Adler's Gradus I, II, III, and The Sense of Touch were composed during the early
1970s and 1980s, the contemporary compositional techniques covered are limited to
those that emerged from the late nineteenth century up to the early 1980s. The discussion
in Chapter III, "Compositional Techniques," focuses on some of the major characteristics
exhibited in contemporary music which are illustrated in Adler's piano pieces. Chapter
rV, "Pedagogical Aspects," concentrates on exploring the teaching elements of Adler's
pieces. In Chapter V, a comparison is conducted of Adler's Gradus and The Sense of
Touch, Kabalevsky's Op. 27 and Op. 39, and the first four books of Bartk's
Mikrokosmos. The last two books of Mikrokosmos are excluded from the comparison
because they are on a more advanced level than the other selected works discussed in this
chapter. The category called "Pedagogical Elements" in the analysis tables of the
13
appendices specifically discusses technical skills such as muscular relaxation and wrist
flexibility in each of the sixty-eight pieces.
Conclusion
Samuel Adler is a prolific composer, experienced teacher, and conductor. He
plays a significant role in the contemporary musical scene, particularly in the United
States. The author hopes that this study will establisb Adler's pieces as worthy additions
to the current pedagogical canon. At the same time, this study will serve as a leaming
guide to Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch and may inspire piano students to take a
more serious interest in contemporary music. Like Adler, the author also hopes that
"...the awakened student and teacher, having begun bere, will continue to explore the
complex and diverse music which has been created in our century."
" Samuel Adler, Gradus (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.
14
CHAPTER II
BIOGRAPHY'
Early Years
Samuel Hans Adler was bom in Mannheim, Germany, on March 4, 1928. He was
brought up in a musical family. His first musical influence was bis father, Hugo Chaim
Adler. Hugo Adler was a cantor and the most important composer of the American
Reformed Jewish synagogues in the twentieth century. Hugo Adler studied briefly with
his Mannheim neighbor, Ernst Toch, but was largely self-taught.^ Hugo Adler was also a
biblical scholar and he composed numerous large cantatas. Samuel Adler's mother was a
mezzo-soprano and a pianist. She was able to accompany herself at the piano and sang
songs by Brabms, Reger, Pfitzner, and Mahler.
Samuel Adler's musical experiences began at an early age. He was a boy soprano
in the synagogue choir. At the age of five, he began to leam the recorder, using the
solfeggio system taught to ali Mannheim children. With the help of his grandfather, who
was a violinisi, Adler leamed to read music. At the age of six, Adler heard his first opera.
At age seven, Adler began daily violin lessons with Albert Levy, the former
' The biographical information is drawn from two major resources: Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred
Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A.
thesis. University of Cincinnati, 1999); and Joan Dawson Lucas, "The Operas of Samuel Adler: An
Analytcal Study" (Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, 1978).
^ Ernst Toch was later a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and professor at UCLA. See Nelson W.
Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis of Selected
Compositions" (D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1999), 1.
15
concertmaster of the locai Pfalz Orchestra. At the same time, he began taking piano
lessons from his father but did not really practice. Adler regrets this rebellion against his
father. When Adler was ten, his family moved to America and settled in Worcester,
Massachusetts, where his father became cantor and musical director of Tempie EmanuEl.
Adler began to compose music some time after he arrived in America. His first
attempts were songs. Adler recalled that he persuaded his sister, Marianne, to "interpret"
the songs. Soon after realizing his son's interest in composition, his father sent Adler to
Boston every week to study theory, harmony, counterpoint, and form with Herbert
Fromm. At age 12, Adler started his first composition lessons with Fromm; they
established a lifelong friendship. Adler stated that Fromm had a great impact on his early
compositions, especially on his religious music.^ During the same period, Adler also
took violin lessons with Maurice Diamond, a former member of the New York
Philharmonic who was living in Worcester. Adler recalled that he would play violin
sonatas and other pieces for two hours daily accompanied by his father on the piano. By
^ Nelson W. Hill, "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Adler: A Study and Interpretive Analysis
of Selected Compositions" (D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1999), 2.
" Joan Dawson Lucas, "The Operas of Samuel Adler: An Analytical Study" (Ph.D. diss.,
Louisiana State University, 1978), 12.
^ Hill, 2.
Lucas, 13.
16
the time Adler went to college, they had read through ali the violin literature he could
afford to borrow from libraries or to buy with the money he eamed as a soda jerk.^
Adler had excellent opportunities to enrich his musical training during his high
school years in Worcester. He took part in school ensembles as a French hom player in
the band, violinist in the orchestra, and singer in the choms. Adler also served as the
assistant conductor for the high school orchestra. During his high school years and his
first two years at Boston University, Adler and seven friends met every Saturday evening
at Adler's home to play chamber music. The group consisted of four violinists, one
violisi, two cellists, and a pianist. Each group member made arrangemenls of orchestrai
pieces for the group. Under the slrong encouragement of his high school teacher, Albert
W. Wassell, Adler also composed, arranged, and orchestrated works for the different
ensemble groups at school. In addition to his high school courses, Adler also took three
years of theory and two years of music history. By the time Adler was eighteen, he was
quite an accomplished musician.
College Life
After high school, Adler received a full scholarship to major in composition at
Boston University. He studied musicology with Kart Geiringer and Paul Pisk and violin
with Wolf Wolfinsohn. Hugo Norden was his composition teacher. Adler thought at that
' Ibid.
17
time that Norden was "not the greatest influence."^ Norden was a contrapuntalist who
wanted his students to "leam the craf of composition, i.e., counterpoint in the strici and
old sense." Adler wishes that he had taken full advantage of Norden as his teacher.
During this period, with the encouragement and help of Robert King, founder of the
publication Music for Brass and theory professor at Boston University, Adler wrote
pieces for brass instiiments and published several of them. Adler now considers these
early works unsatisfactory and regrets that they are stili being performed.'
Besides composition, Adler showed interest in organizing and conducting during
his Boston years. Because Adler and some other music students were not satisfied with
how the orchestra, choms, and chamber ensemble at school were led, he organized the
Inter-Collegiate Symphony Orchestra. Adler conducted the orchestra, which performed
in the Boston area every six weeks. A choms and a chamber group were also formed.
Although Adler states that these were "very exciting" opportunities, the school
disapproved of these outside performing groups." Consequently, Adler was suspended
from school on three occasions. Eventually, the issue was settled and Adler graduated
from Boston University with his Bachelor of Music degree in 1948.
In the fall of 1948, Adler entered Harvard University and he received his Master
of Arts degree in 1950. During his Harvard years, he took composition lessons with
'Ibid., 15.
'Ibid.
"Hill, 4.
" Lucas, 16.
18
Walter Piston, Randall Thompson, and Paul Hindemith and studied musicology with
Archibald T. Davison and Arthur Tillman Marritt. Of the three composition teachers,
Adler was influenced most by Paul Hindemith. As a visiting professor from Yale
University, Hindemith presented his Norton lectures in residence at Harvard for one year.
Adler described Hindemith as "a tremendous teachervery exacting. He made his
students write in [Hindemith's] own style."'^ Adler had two lessons a week from
Hindemith for a year. He states that it was hard at the beginning to understand the
master, but after he had dose contact with Hindemith, it "took many years to shake the
actual Hindemith sound."'^ Adler has been thankful for Hindemith's teaching technique
and style.
Adler characterizes his relationship with Walter Piston, the other composition
teacher at Harvard, as a "cool one, but a very good one. Piston was not the kind of man
you could know very well."''' The friendship between the two became much closer after
Adler graduated. Adler claims that Piston was a very tmstworthy and good friend.
Although Adler studied with Randall Thompson for one year, he was not greatly
influenced by Thompson. Adler thought that "Thompson did not particularly like my
music. There was never very much of a relationship, although I respected the man and
stili do."'^
19
In the summers of 1949 and 1950, Alder participated in the Tanglewood Music
Festival. He studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky and composition with Aaron
Copland. Adler claimed that Copland "was the greatest teacher and had the greatest
influence on me."'^ Adler also stated that Copland helped him get out of the heavy
17
influence of Hindemith.
I leamed more from Copland in those two summers than from other teachers with whom l spent
more time. Copland had a marvelous way of putting his finger on just what the problem was in
every passage. If I can teach a little bit like that, I feel I would be a success as a teacher. Copland
was a great teacher and a beautiful person.
Careers
After graduating from Harvard in 1950, Adler joined the US Army and was sent
to Germany. He organized the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra and conducted more
than 75 concerts in Germany and Austria. The Department of Psychological Warfare of
the United States recognized that these concerts were effective in developing cultural
relationships among the United States, Germany, and Austria. Adler was awarded the
Army Medal of Honor for his musical services. He was subsequently selected to conduci
concerts and operas and to lecture extensively throughout Europe and the United States.
In 1953, Adler took a position as the Music Director at Tempie Emanu-El in
Dallas, Texas. He remained in this position until 1966. From 1954 to 1958 he worked as
" Hill, 6.
"ibid., 10.
'^ Lucas, 19.
20
the music director of the Dallas Lyric Theater. In 1957, he was hired as professor of
composition at North Texas State University. He remained there until 1966. In 1966,
Adler became professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music and was named
chairman of the Composition Department in 1974. In 1984, he was made a Mentor of the
University of Rochester. In 1994, Adler retired from the Eastman School of Music and
became Professor Emeritus there. Since then he has taught at Ithaca College, the
University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green State University, the University of Missouri
(Kansas City), and the University of Utah. He has been a guest composer, clinician, and
conductor at over 300 universities and colleges worldwide. Adler has also taught at
major music festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Brevard, and Bowdoin, as well as
others in Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Korea, Poland, Spain, and South America. He
is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School of Music in New York City.'^
" Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc., Composers Bureau: Samuel Adler, December 2002,
<http://www.sai-national.org/phil/composers/sadler.html> (20 February 2002).
21
(1989), an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1990),
the Charies Ives Award, the Lillian Fairchild Award, the Composer of the Year Award by
the American Guild of Organists (1991), a Special Citation by the American Foundation
of Music Clubs (2001), a number of teaching awards, and several honorary doctorates (a
Doctor of Music degree from Southem Methodist University, a Doctor of Fine Arts
degree from Wake Foresi University, a Doctor of Music degree from St. Mary's College,
fridiana, and a Doctor of Music degree from Saint Louis Conservatory).^"
Adler has also been honored intemationally. During his second trip to Chile, in
1993, he was elected to the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts "for his outstanding
contibution to the world of music as a composer."^' In 1999, he was elected to the
Akademie der Kuenste in Germany for distinguished service to music.^^
Many orchestras, chamber ensembles, colleges, music schools, magazines, and
other organizations, including intemational groups, have commissioned Adler to
compose works for them. Some recent commissions include: the New York Chamber
Symphony Orchestra {Show an Affirming Flame for Orchestra), the American String
Quartet {Piano Quintet, 2000),^" the Beaufort Ensemble {Scherzo Schmerzo, 2000),^^ the
^"Ibid.
^' Ibid.
^^Ibid.
^^ This work was commissioned by the New York Chamber Symphony Orchestra in memory of
the victims of the attacks on September 11, 2001. It was premiered by the New York Chamber Symphony
and conducted by Gerard Schwarz at the Alice Tully Hall of New York City on November 3, 2001.
22
Dallas Symphony Orchestra {Lux Perpetua for Organ and Orchestra, 1998),^^ the
Friends of Today's Music for the Music Teachers Association of Califomia {Concerto
No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra, 1997),^^ and the keyboard magazine Clavier {The Sense
of Touch, 1981).^^
In addition to composing, Adler has conducted many major symphony orchestras
in numerous concerts in the United States and other countries. In 1970, he conducted the
Vierma Symphony Orchestra in a recording for the Decca Recording Company, with
Eugene List as the soloist. They performed a work by Louis Moreau Gottschalk that was
orchesfrated and arranged by Adler. In 1972, Adler conducted the Berlin Symphony with
List as the soloist on a performance for Tumabout Records. They performed the
Gottschalk work and Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue.
23
chamber music, vocal music, and piano music. The publishers of his compositions
include: Theodore Presser Company, Oxford University Press, G. Schirmer, Cari
Fischer, E.C. Schirmer, Peters Edition, Ludwig Music, Southem Music Publishers, and
Transcontinental Music Publishers. These works have been performed in the United
States and abroad. Adler's music has been recorded on Albany, CRI, Crystal, Gasparo,
RCA, and Vanguard.
Adler is not only a great composer, but he also takes educating future musicians
as his mission. He has published three books and numerous articles in major joumals,
magazines, and reference books, both in this country and abroad.^^
Teaching Philosophy
Because Adler takes educating future musicians seriously, he has high standards
for college music education. He feels that universities play a significant role in preparing
future composers and musicians. He makes an analogy comparing the universities of
today with the churches and the aristocracy of the past. Adler believes that "the
university is the 'officiai guardian' of the composer, as the church and the aristocracy
^' Adler's three books: Choral Conducting, Sight-Singing, and The Study of Orchestration.
^ Hill, 8-9.
24
were in previous ages."^' Since universities and colleges are important places for training
the future music teachers, future composers, and professional musicians, Adler has
concems about the current college music curricula. He comments that too many music
schools in the United States have curricula in the first two years which "are often like
kindergarten rather than college courses."^^
Adler emphasizes that universities should raise the requirements of music theory
and music history for ali music students to provide better preparation for music
professionals. He thinks that to achieve this goal, the entrance requirements should also
be raised. Adler points out that the basic facts~for example, biographies and outputs of
composers, and facts about the timesshould be leamed by college music students
themselves, not taught by professors in classes. He also thinks that every new music
student should have acquired a basic knowledge of harmony (at least through the
dominant seventh chord and inversions), a certain level of proficiency in keyboard
harmony, and sight-singing skills when they start the program.^^ Before this goal can be
reached, Adler thinks that the early education of future musicians in the basics of music
theory and history should be in greater deplb.^"*
25
Adler also argues that most current music curricula are irrelevant to the needs of
students. He suggests that a more creative and student-oriented approach to education
which allows more participation in analysis, performance, evaluating, and teaching
should replace the more common "spoon-feeding" type of education.^^ Adler beHeves
that students in composition should be competent in the techniques of the past before they
decide whether or not to use them. "Students should leam that ali forms of music must
be considered valid until [students] are able to reject them by knowledgeable
consideration rather than because of an abysmal ignorance of the 'main stream' of
music."^^ Adler suggests that composition students should prepare themselves by
establishing a foundation in the classics, by being open-minded to new repertoire
appearing in recent decades, and by having a well-rounded knowledge of traditional
harmonies and melodie skills.
Adler has considered the advancement of contemporary music seriously. He
especially puts emphasis on the pedagogical level. For example, Adler's solo piano
collections Gradus I, II, III, and The Sense of Touch aim to expose ".. .the ear as well as
the fingers of the student to the demands of the present and the immediate past."
Each
of these pieces ".. .utilizes a technique of composition which has become common
" Samuel Adler, "The CMP Institutes and Curriculum Changes," Music Educators Journal 55
(September 1968): 36-84.
^* Adler, "Problems of Teaching Compositions," 19.
"Ibid.
'* Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.
26
practice in the last half-century."'''' One other aim of these Adler's pieces is "...to widen
musical acquaintance and to stimulate the wish to consider more deeply a style, a
notational system, or a musical philosophy."''" Adler also has been active in exposing
more people to contemporary music by participating in workshops and projects and by
writing and pubHshing articles and books. He enjoys spending time teaching, lecturing,
and conducting his music in order to introduce new music to different audiences.
Philosophy of Music
Although there is a variety of styles in Adler's compositions, his main goal is not
to emphasize compositional technique. Communication is the primary intent of Adler's
music. "If I am successful at ali in my music, I would like it to be a sucessfiil
fransmission of feelings from me to a performer to an audience."'" Adler argues that the
aesthetic value and the communicative quality of music should be the main focus. "It is
the convincing quality of the music resulting from any technique that validates the use
thereof. Too much emphasis is placed upon the technical aspect of contemporary music
and not enough on its communicative and aesthetic impact."" To Adler, the musical
content and the aesthetic value are more important than the other aspects of music. Even
39
Ibid.
^''Ibid.
"' James McCray, "An Interview with Samuel Adler," ChoralJournal 18, no. 9 (1978): 16.
"^ Charles B. Fowler, "American Composer Sketches: Samuel Adler," Music Educators Journal
53 (March 1967): 41.
27
Conclusion
This chapter provides us with information on Adler's background, philosophies,
and pedagogical ideas. His early education in music and the musical experiences of his
youth laid a solid foundation for Adler's musical development. His parents and teachers
also had a great impact on Adler's musical life. Adler's musical experiences reveal that
early and Constant exposure to music was of paramount importance in his musical
development. HopefuUy this information will help us to understand Adler's Gradus and
The Sense of Touch and will awaken in us a curiosity about the complex and diverse
music of our time.
28
CHAPTER ni
COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES
Certainly not ali the myriad styles and systems can be included and in order to keep the
music reasonably uniform, many inherent complexities have been simplified. But it is my hope
that the awakened student and teacher, having begun bere, will continue to explore the complex
and diverse music which has been created in our century.
S. A. '
29
open and closed voicing. His harmonic language is diverse: modal, pentatonic,
pandiatonic, whole tone, and octatonic. He also uses twelve-tone technique. Overall,
there is a tendency toward deviation from functional harmony and toward less restriction
in dissonance. Aleatorie techniques are also found in his works. Motorie rhythm and
rhythmic vitahty are cmcial in Adler's compositions. Adler's eclectic approach to
composition makes variety an inherent feature of his style. This eclecticism makes Adler
an ideal composer for a contemporary pedagogical survey.
The categories examined in this chapter are largely based on the discussions
featured in Stefan Kostka's Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music and
Ellen Thompson's Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music. The
discussion concenfrates on the foUowing categories: melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm,
form, texture, new notational procedures, and new timbres. The contemporary
compositional techniques highlighted in each category include: aleatorie procedures,
bitonality, canon, changing meters, irregular rhythm, mirror writing, modes,
octatonicism, pandiatonicism, parallelism, clusters, twelve-tone techniques, expanded
notational systems, and the use of innovative piano sonorities. A discussion of ali the
details and devices in contemporary music is beyond the scope of this study. The
following discussion will therefore focus on some of the major characteristics exhibited
in contemporary music that are illustrated in Adler's piano pieces. The appendices
' Stefan Kostka, Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1989).
' Ellen R. Thompson, Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA:
KjosWest, 1976).
30
provide a more detailed discussion on compositional techniques used in each of the sixtyeight pieces.
Melody
Although contemporary composers make use of new approaches in composing
melodies, as well as in other categories, many of these occur within the context of
traditional practices. Nevertheless, contemporary melodies exemplify themselves by
their characteristic sounds and distinguish themselves from their predecessors.
In general, melodie organization in contemporary music does not seem as
apparent at the surface level as that of previous eras. The qualities of predictability,
symmefry, and regularity are also found to a lesser degree than in conventional
melodies. In addition, the rhythmic stracture of many contemporary melodies departs
distinctively from that of the earlier periods. Unconventional rhythm and more rhythmic
variety commonly occur in many twentieth-century melodies. Other features of
contemporary melodies include more expression marks, more chromaticism, and fewer
harmonic implications than traditional melodies.
In contrast to classic-romantic melodies, the style of contemporary melodies is not
vocal in character. They can encompass a wider range, contain more leaps, and possess
more angular or disjunct contours. Limited range melodies are also commonly found.
Ellen Thompson describes the pitch characteristics of contemporary melody as including
31
".. .extended range, limited range (tuming around within a very small compass of notes),
exploitation of extremely high and low registers, angular and disjointed lines caused by
numerous wide and dissonant leaps (sevenths, ninths, tritones), and successive skips in
the same direction often outlining non-tertial chords (consecutive leaps of fourths and
fifths)."^
Nevertheless, some contemporary composers recali the "simplicity and gently
undulating" qualities of medieval plainchants, reproducing these traits in plainsong-like
melodies. In addition, contemporary melodies sometimes use scales or systems which
are outside the major-minor system such as modal scales, pentatonic scales, whole-tone
scales, octatonic scales, chromatic scales, and twelve-tone rows.
Extended Range
The range of contemporary melodies may encompass two or more octaves and
extend from the bass clef to the treble clef. For example, in No. 3 of Gradus II, the
melody rises from the bass clef to the treble to cover a range of more than three octaves.
In No. 11 of the same volume, the melody almost extends to a three-octave range. Also,
in No. 6 of The Sense of Touch, the arpeggiated melody covers a range of more than two
octaves.
32
Limited Range
Most of the pieces of Gradus I use a five-finger or shifting five-finger position.
The melodie activity in each band is limited in most cases to a fifth. In No. 10, twelve
chromatic notes are introduced within a span of a seventh with both hands in the treble
clef.
33
Successive Skips
In conventional melodie writing, skips are often preceded by stepwise motion and
a change of direction usually foUows a large skip. In contemporary melodies, however,
successive skips are common. For example, in No. 6 of Gradus III, notes move in
consecutive fifths in the same direction to suggest quintal chords. The first piece of The
Sense of Touch is derived from the pitch class C. Wide skips of two octaves and even
four octaves (in m. 17) altemate between hands.
Modal Scales
Several pieces in Gradus I use church modes. No. 4 (mm. 5-8) and No. 14 in
Gradus / employ the Phrygian mode;^ No. 4 (mm. 1-4 and mm. 9-12) features the
AeoUan mode. The Locrian mode is introduced in No. 7. The second piece of Gradus II
infroduces four church modes: the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Aeohan.
Pentatonic Scale
No. 10 of Gradus I uses the AeoUan mode on D and pentatonic scale on C-sharp
simultaneously. The first four measures speli out the first five notes of the C-sharp
pentatonic scale in the left band. In No. 20 of Gradus III, mm. 6-12, the left-hand line
emphasizes the E-flat minor pentatonic scale.
34
Whole-Tone Scale
In Gradus I, No. 3 is based on a whole-tone scale on D. The dissonant major
ninths throughout the piece and the abmpt ending, with the final note on the eighth-note
F-sharp, reveal the twentieth-century flavor of this piece.
Octatonic Scale
No. 8 of Gradus III is based on the octatonic collection C#-Eb(D#)-E-F#-G-ABb-C that is used in the ostinato pattems, the melodie line, and the coda. The collection
shifts in m. 14 to a new ostinato based on D-Eb-F-F#-G#-A-B-C. In No. 20 of Gradus
III, mm. 1-5 of the A section contain a left-hand octatonic collection E-F-G-G#-A#-BC#-D against a five-note ostinato figure.
Harmony
From the seventeenth century to the decline of the tonai system in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the system of triadic major-minor tonality had
35
been the primary organizing force in Westem music, hi the early tonai era, the primary
triads of the tonic, subdominant, and dominant were emphasized in the harmonic and
melodie aspects, and the secondary triads were favored for color and variety. Chromatic
chords functioned primarily as decoration and embellishment.'" During the nineteenth
century, chromatic harmony became increasingly significant, leading to a predominance
of nondiatonic tones over diatonic tones. The common use of ali twelve tones of the
chromatic scale disguised the diatonic foundation of the music and made tonality more
and more ambiguous to Hsteners."
By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, composers expanded the use
of tertian sonorities to an even greater extent. Chords with ninths, elevenths, and
thirteenths became popular and were even constmcted on scale degrees other than the
dominant. Instead of providing any harmonic function, the primary function of these
chords was to provide color. Composers in this period showed a declining interest in
fraditional tonai harmony. "Evaded cadences and irregular resolution of dissonant chords
produced long, unbroken passages which meandered from key to key or dissolved ali
sense of key. Functional harmony gave way to non-functional, where harmonic color and
emotive whim govemed the choice of chords."'^ Ellen Thompson describes the changes
occurring in the harmonic language of this period by noting that "successions of
Thompson, 79.
" Koskta, 1-15.
"Ibid., 194.
36
37
Tertian Chords
Adler often uses traditional major and minor triads, but they are not organized in
standard harmonic progressions. No. 9 of Gra</M5 / outlines the C-major triad in the right
band. It establishes C as the tonai center primarily by means of reiteration and formai
placement. The last two measures of both pieces suggest FV-V-I cadences but seem
coincidental rather than harmonically planned.
In the notes to Gradus I, Adler further states ".. .triads foUow one another without
apparent directional reason and are sounded simultaneously merely because the composer
1 R
triads in different keys to illustrate parallelism, mirror harmony, and bi-tonality. No. 20
includes bi-chords and ostinatos in triadic pattems. fri No. 19 of Gradus III, the right
band line contains parallel successions of root-position major and minor triads. In No. 6
of The Sense of Touch, both triads and sevenths are used. These chords are not used in
38
the traditional harmonic sense. Instead, many of them are selected purely for their
coloristic effects.
Non-Tertian Chords
In No. 16 of Gradus I, combinations of major and minor seconds are used to form
clusters. No. 8 of The Sense of Touch features tone clusters altemating between hands
and hands together. Also, the clusters are used as accompaniment against a melody that
altemates between the hands. Clusters are also used in No. 3 and No. 6 of Gradus II and
No. 4 of Gradus III. The arpeggios of No. 6 of Gradus III suggest quintal chords.
The tone row of No. 17 in Gradus III also outlines a quintal sonority (A-E-B) at
the beginning of its order. In No. 5 of The Sense of Touch, the opening and the ending
contain quintal sonorities made of augmented as well as perfect fifths. In mm. 16-17, two
layers of quintal chords are presented in the two hands.
Melodie Doubling/Parallelism
The ancient practice of melodie doubling in fourths or fifths can be traced back to
tenth-century organum. Beginning in the sixteenth century, however, it became a
violaton of contrapuntai convention to use parallel movement in fifths and octaves.
According to Kostka, parallel fifths and octaves, more than any other consonant intervals,
have an implication of a breakdown of counterpoint and provide relatively independent
39
musical lines.'^ This is one reason why the use of these parallel intervals was avoided.
In addition, parallel fourths were regarded as inherently unstable intervals which required
resolution to thirds. Contemporary composers often ignore such mles, freely using
parallel melodie doubling in seconds, fifths, and octaves in their compositions.^'^
In No. 5 of Gradus I, Adler uses parallel movement entirely in fourths and fifths.
The pitches are derived from two five-note scales: C major in the right band and F
(featuring B-natural and B-flat) in the left band. Similar procedures are found in Gradus
IL In No. 3, mm. 16-19, the right-hand pattern is in parallel fourths and No. 7 features
parallelism in sevenths and fifths. No. 5 is a free canon featuring parallel motion in fifths
in the middle section.
Polychords
Polychords are formed when two or more chords are combined, but spatially
separated, into a more complex sonority. According to Kostka, to perceive such a
sonority, ".. .the individuai sonorities that make up the polychord must be separated by
some means such as register or timbre."^' It is possible that more than one harmonic
analysis can be applied to a sonority, particulariy with mixed-interval chords. Different
arrangements of the same chord notes can resemble different chords-secundal, tertian, or
40
quartal. In most cases, the best analytical approach can be achieved by paying dose
attention to the context and the voicing of the music.'^^
In No. 6 of The Sense of Touch, polychords are featured in the middle section. In
Gradus I, No. 15, the two hands feature sustained tones successively outlining two
different chords from two different keys sounding simultaneously.^^ Polychordal texture
appears also in No. 13 of Gradus III. This elude explores sound color by featuring
parallel first-inversion triads from different keys sounding simultaneously.
Serial Chords
Ellen Thompson defines serial chords as chords ".. .derived from the sectioning of
a twelve-tone row into various size groups of tones."^'' Besides the prime row, other
permutations of the row such as the inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion may
be sectioned for building chords. In No. 16 of Gradus III, examples of serial chords are
foimd.
^^ Ibid., 70.
^^ Adler, Notes.
^"Thompson, 100.
^^ Kostka, 115.
41
Neotonalitv
Kostka categorizes neotonality into two types: tertian neo-tonality and non-tertian
neotonality. While tertian neotonality primarily uses tertian chords, nontertian
neotonality often avoids the use of them, except maybe during cadences. A combination
of these two types is also possible.'^'
Tertian Neotonality. In No. 9 of Gradus I, the right-hand outlines the C-major
triad. In the last two measures, the left-hand F to G to the unison C suggests IV-V-I
cadence, clearly establishing C as the tonai center.
In No. 19 of Gradus III, the right band line contains parallel successions of rootposition major and minor triads. In the middle section, the left band ostinato establishes
E as the tonai center while the right band continues with parallel major and minor triads.
Nontertian Neotonalitv. Pedal point is a more common twentieth-century
technique used to establisb a tonai center. In No. 1 of Gradus I, although there is no
conventional harmonic progression to establisb C as the tonai center, the pedal tone and
^^ Ibid., 108-115.
"ibid., 109-110.
42
the formai placement of C (C appears as the beginning and ending note of the melody)
clearly identify it as the tonic. No. 7 of the same book features a tonic pedal on the notes
B and F-sharp as well as dominant pedal on the notes F-sharp and C-sharp. hi No. 1 of
Gradus II, the two-note pedal point~the octave C contracting to a single note G~
establishes C as the tonai center. Also, the octave C-to-G pedal point emphasizes the
dominant and tonic degrees of C major.
Polytonality
Kostka defines polytonality as ".. .the simultaneous use of two or more aurally
distinguishable tonai centers...."
While the right band uses the D-Aeolian scale, the left
band uses the C-sharp pentatonic scale. In No. 12 of the same book, the C-major right
band line is set in parallel motion against the A-flat-minor left-hand line. No. 1 of
Gradus III also uses bi-tonality. The opening ten measures feature a G-sharp minor
right-hand melody against a G pedal point. In No. 19 of the same book, the A section
contains a pentatonic scale in the left band against broken-chord parallel major triads in
different keys in the right band.
^* Ibid., 110.
^' Adler, Notes.
43
Pandiatonicism
The term pandiatonicism^'^ refers to a musical style in the eariy twentieth century
that originated as a reaction against chromaticism. hi this style, the tones of a particular
diatonic scale are used. However, traditional harmonic progressions and dissonance
treatments are avoided. It is generally neotonal and may be tertian or nontertian.^' In
No. 2 of Gradus I, notes from the C-major scale are used in a mirror format. The
reiteration of C, the application of the full C-major scale (though divided between the two
hands), and formai placement establisb C as the tonai center.
Gradus II, No. 4 represents a pandiatonic piece. As Adler explains in the notes,
"It is quite diatonic even though most of the chromatic notes are utilized. Notice that it
does not establisb a traditional 'key' but polarizes toward a note which we cali the 'tonai
center.'"
The nght band brings in the opening theme on the note A which serves as the
dominant to the tonic D. The left band imitates the theme for a measure down a fifth and
ends on the dominant of D-flat. Then it continues with the tonic D-flat in the next phrase.
The last four measures feature A as the tonic final. While the left band includes a long
pedal tone on A, the right band also settles on A. The last six measures demonstrate well
the pandiatonic style.
^^ Nicolas Slonimsky used this term in his book Music Since 1900 (New York: Norton, 1937;
6* ed., New York: Scribner, 2001).
^'Kostka, 114.
^^ Samuel Alder, Gradus II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Notes.
44
Atonality
Although the term "atonality" has been controversial, it commonly refers to the
avoidance of a tonai center. There are two types of atonai music: non-serial
atonality/free atonality and serial atonality. Deliberate avoidance of tonality is the vital
characteristic of non-serial tonai music. It stays away from using the melodie and
harmonic pattems that are applied in the establishment of tonality in tonai music. In
addition, use of ali notes of the chromatic scale, unresolved dissonances, a predominance
of mixed-interval chords, ambiguous organization, and ambiguous metric organization
are some of the other characteristics found in non-serial atonai music.
Serial atonality confrasts with the non-serial in the area of pitch organization.
Amold Schoenberg developed twelve-tone serial technique in the 1920s. While the
classical serialism of Schoenberg is based upon a tone row of twelve notes, some
"Kostka, 183-205.
45
There are four basic forms of a serial tone row. The prime row is the originai order of
notes while the inversion is the mirror permutation of the prime row. The retrograde
represents the reverse order of the prime row and the retrograde inversion reverses the
order of the inversion. The tone row ".. .can be used starting on any one of the twelve
chromatic notes and in these four permutations of the row. No note may be repeated until
ali the other notes bave been used."^^ Composers including Schoenberg and Adler have
freely used octave transpositions and immediate repeats of the same note or a series of
notes as many times as desired.^^ While most serial works use tone rows of twelve pitch
classes, compositions with tone rows other than twelve also occur. In addition, besides
the strici application of the twelve-tone mles, rotation of sets or parts of the set and
reordering of rows are other options that have been explored in serial compositions.
^Mbid.
" Kostka, 286-290.
46
^* Ibid., 289-290.
47
prime row and 112 are used as the melodie notes in a jagged and pointillistic style. No.
8b also features the pointillistic style, where notes from PI and RIIO skip ali over the
keyboard. ft is important particulariy in the pointillistic style to observe rests and
articulations in order to highlight the random character of the piece.
In No. 9, the various permutations of the tone row supply pitch material for the
melody and accompaniment texture. The first six notes of R7 form a repetitious pedal
accompaniment in the opening measures. No. 10 is an example of how serial technique
lends itself well to disjunct melody. No. 11 uses the different permutations in a
confrapuntal style. Some parts of the melody occupy a range of almost three octaves.
In Gradus III, No. 16 uses a row with many chromatic half steps: A-Bb-B-F#-ED#-C-Ab-G-D-C#-E. The tone row is used vertically and horizontally. No. 17ofthe
same book is built on a tone row that sounds more consonant than the one in No. 16. The
tone row (A-E-B-Ab-C-Eb-G-F#-F-D-Bb-C#) contains a quintal sonority within its
opening three notes. The row also outlines the A-flat-major triad and the B-flat-major
triad. Arpeggiated pattems and notes altemating between hands are the major pattems
featured.
Rhythm
Relatively speaking, the surface rhythm in most tonai pieces is easier to
understand and more straightforward than that of many contemporary compositions.
Kostka claims that the focus of many contemporary compositions ".. .is on rhythm at
48
least as much as on pitch, and the surface rhythms are frequently varied and complex." ^^
Although syncopation, cross-rhythms, hemiola, and occasionally irregular meters are
found in Westem music before the twentieth century, these rhythmic practices along with
other devices such as changing meters and shifted accents are further developed in
contemporary music, contributing to a higher degree of rhythmic complexity.
On the other band, some contemporary composers show interest in ancient
rhythmic practices and write music that seems to lack a perceivable metric organization.
Kostka uses the term "ametric" to describe this style.'"^ He explains that music notated
without a time signature is not necessarily ametric. On the contrary, some music written
with a time signature may sound ametric to the listeners because of its improvisatory and
free style.'*'
One of the main difficulties of rhythmic analysis is the necessity to distinguish
between the written rhythm and the perceived rhythm. At the same time, it is particularly
common in contemporary music to find that heard rhythm contradicts with written
rhythm. This kind of contradiction results from listeners' perceptions.''^ Kostka explains
that "the listener perceives the beat type (simple or compound) by listening to the way the
beat divides (into twos or threes); the meter type is conveyed by the characteristic pattem
of accents. These accents can be of any type, but dynamic and agogic accents are most
''ibid., 120.
""Ibid., 130.
"ibid, 130-131.
"^ Ibid., 122-123.
49
commonly used to express the meter. "''^ Nevertheless, composers may write music so
that it is hard to perceive the notated beat type or meter type or both. In order to get a
better understanding of contemporary rhythm or rhythm in general, Kostka suggests
considering the perceived rhythm as the tme rhythm.''''
Motorie rhythm and rhythmic vitality play an important role in Adler's
compositions. Adler admits that he loves the "pul of the line."^^ The following
discussion focuses on some of the techniques of contemporary rhythm demonstrated in
Adler's pieces. The specific techniques include syncopation, changing meters, nonfraditional time signature/asymmetrical meter, polyrhythm/cross rhythm, polymeter,
ametric rhythm, and ostinato and pedal point.
Syncopation
Syncopation is defined as ".. .when a rhythmic event such as an accent occurs at
an unexpected moment or when a rhythmic event fails to occur when expected."
In
most cases, rests and tied-notes contribute to the syncopated rhythm. In No. 1 of Gradus
II, after the two-note pedal tone firmly establishes a 4 meter in the left band, syncopation
is introduced in m. 8. Instead of a strong first beat, the composer inserts a quarter-note
rest. Similar syncopated effects occur because of the tied-notes on the first beat of the
"'ibid., 121.
*' Ibid., 122-123.
"^ Hill, 16.
'^ Kostka, 122.
50
next two measures. In addition, the fortissimo in m. 8 shifts the regular metric accent to
the normally weaker second beat. In the first measure of No. 10 of Gradus II, the eighthnote rest leads to a syncopated accent on the second half of the third beat. A similar
situation occurs on the second beat of m. 10. In No. 16 of Gradus III, rests, tied-notes,
and dynamic markings create a syncopated effect throughout. In No. 1 of The Sense of
Touch, the many eighth-note rests increase the rhythmic complexity in this single-pitchclass piece.
Changing Meter
Changing meter is a technique used very frequently in Westem contemporary
music. Composers provide rhythmic variety and unpredictability through shifting or
altemating time signatures. Changing meter, mixed meter, variable meter, and
multimeter are ali terms referring to the same technique. Changing meter can be
achieved by syncopation or shifted accents or by inserting different meter signatures.''^
Adler changes meters in many of his pieces: Gradus I, Nos. 7, 8, 9, 15, 17,18,
and 20; Gradus II, Nos. 7, 10, 18, and 20; Gradus III, Nos. 1, 4, 13, 14, 16, and 17; and
The Sense of Touch, Nos. 4, 6, and 7. Both traditional time signatures (4, 4, 4, and t) and
non-traditional ones (s, s, and 4) are featured. Some pieces shift every few measures
while others change meters more frequently. Although No. 17 of Gradus I uses different
meters at every measure, the meters are arranged in pattems. Each of the three sixmeasure phrases, 6 + 6 + 6, contains two sub-phrases. Each of the three sub-phrases
"^ Ibid., 124.
51
altemates meters at every measure. Nevertheless, the distribution of the different meters
stays the same, except at m. 6 and m. 18. In Gradus II,al'l
altemation between groupings of three notes and groupings of two notes throughout most
of the piece. In Gradus III, the eighth notes in No. 6 are grouped both in 3 + 3 and 2 + 2
+ 2. The composer uses a 4 time signature with a s time signature in parentheses next to it
to indicate the altemation between the compound and simple meters. The opening four
measures of No. 6 of The Sense of Touch illustrate the hemiola effect by altemating
between s and 4.
52
Polymeter
The term polymeter refers to ".. .the simultaneous use of two or more aurally
distinguishable time signatures."^*^ Because of obvious performance difficulties,
polymeters are found only rarely in piano music. They occur more frequently in
orchestrai scores. Polymeters can be notated in three ways: using the same time
signature but using rhythmic displacement, using different time signatures with coincided
barlines, or using different time signatures with non-coincided barlines. The last type
may be the most common.^'
53
Cross Rbythm/Polyrhythm
The New Harvard Dictionary of Music defines cross rhythm or polyrhythm as the
simultaneous use of different rhythmic pattems such as three notes against four, or of
duple and triple subdivisions of the beat.^^ In general, rhythmic variety introduced as a
special effect is the main feature of this technique. In No. 13 of Gradus I, a threeagainst-two rhythmic pattem appears in the second half of the piece. The triplets in the
right band are set against the duplets in the left band. Gradus III, No. 12 also features
cross rhythm. There are pattems of three-against-two, five-against-two, four againstthree (second half of m. 8), and five-against-three (m. 12). The other piece in this book
that involves cross rhythm is No. 16. Triplet-against-duplet pattems occur throughout the
middle section of the piece.
52
54
Ametric
According to Kostka, ".. .some music seems to exhibit no perceivable metric
organization, a style we will refer to as ametric."^^ In No. 2 of Gradus II, the dual
meters, free style, and the irregular phrases create an ametric effect. The composer also
suggests that ".. .no down-beats are emphasized."^'' In No. 13 of the same book, instead
of using a time signature, the exact time span of each unit is set as one second or a
metronome setting of 60. No. 19 of the same book, no time signature or barline is
presented. Although suggestive rhythmic pattems are notated, performers are given a
wide choice determining not only the pitches but also how they should be executed in
time.
Ostinato
The term ostinato refers to a short recurring rhythmic and pitch pattem that
usually is used as an accompaniment figure. It is a conventional device that has been
used frequently in contemporary music. An ostinato often serves as a rhythmic "pedal
point." No. 14 of Gradus /uses an undulating ostinato built of fifths and fourths as an
accompaniment. Gradus ILI, No. 8 features two ostinato figures based on octatonic
collections. Ostinato is employed in No. 19, and a quintuplet ostinato occurs throughout
No. 20.
"Kostka, 130.
^* Adler, Gradus IL, Notes.
55
Form
Although ali of the formai stmctures and procedures of the past continue to be
used in contemporary music, the function of tonality as an organizing force shows less
influence upon form than in the previous centuries. Older forms such as the sonata form
that involve a confliet of tonahties have become less influential on many contemporary
composers. In addition, the dechne of tonality at the end of nineteenth century
coincidentally led to the avoidance of tonai centricity in atonai styles. Composers began
to write music based "on" a key instead of "in" a key. In serial music, the tone row
became the organizing factor.^^ Some musical forms such as canon, fugue, variations,
and temary form, in which tonality plays a much less significant role, can be applied to a
wider variety of styles. As a result, they tend to be favored in contemporary music.^^
While musical form in tonai music is determined primarily by tonahty and theme,
eonfrast of tonalities is a sfronger force than contrast of themes. The weakening of
tonality as an organizing factor has therefore resulted in an increasing significance of
thematic eonfrast, but Kostka has noticed that themes play a minor role in many
contemporary compositions.^^ Instead, musical elements other than tonality and themes
rhythm, dynamics, register, tempo, texture, and timbre-have become more important in
formai stmcture and are used to outline sections of larger compositions.
"Thompson, 153-154.
^'Kostka, 144-145.
"ibid., 159.
56
At the same time, contemporary composers tend to write concise motives, and the
themes are rarely repeated literally. The return of an idea is often varied or compressed.
Likewise, shortened forms and new elements are used to hold larger forms together. The
sti^ctures of contemporary compositions are often less balanced than those of the past,
and asymmetric and irregular phrases are commonly found.^^ Some may be considered
to be modifications of traditional forms; others may appear to be unique. The following
discussion is based on some of the forms that are demonstrated in Adler's pieces. For the
convenience of this discussion, jazz is discussed bere although it is a musical style rather
than a form.
^* Thompson., 153-154.
Thompson, 154.
57
9, which consists of four measures. No. 18 of the same book features a symmetrical 5 +
5 + 4 + 5 + 5 phrase stmcture.
Cadences
In music, cadences function as breathing points at the end of phrases and signal
the termination of motion, either temporary or permanent. They occur more irregularly
and unpredictably in contemporary music than in the music of the tonai period.
Nevertheless, clearly defined cadences or modified dominant-tonic cadences stili exist in
some contemporary music. In No. 9 of Gradus I in the last two measures, the movement
of the left band from F to G to C recalls a IV^-V-I cadence and establishes C as the tonai
center.
On the other band, cadences in atonai styles are harder to define. According to
Ellen Thompson, "Atonai cadences are more ambiguous and harder to anticipate aurally.
So tempo, texture and dynamics must assume a greater responsibihty to compensate for
the absence of a gravitational point."^ In No. 6 of Gradus II, sudden changes of texture
and dynamics aimounce the conclusion of the piece. No. 10 in the same book uses
sudden changes of meter, texture, and dynamics to define the ending.
58
Contrapuntai Forms^'
Many contemporary composers show particular interest in contrapuntai
techniques such as canon, fugue, inversion, and imitation.^^ Counterpoint is one of the
most common devices used in contemporary music. There are many examples of
counterpoint in Adler's collections. He thinks that "contrapuntai music is the greatest of
ali time. Counterpoint is what I love in music. It is a stmggle, a catharsis."*"^
In Gradus I, No. 6 is a canon at the octave with strici imitation. As Adler states in
the notes, "The novel feature is that intervals formerly called 'dissonant' and requiring
resolution now do not necessarily resolve."^'' In Gradus II, two contrapuntai pieces are
found. No. 4 is a confrapuntal pastorale and No. 11 is an invention based on a twelvetone row. In both of these pieces, imitative entries are featured at the begirming. Gradus
III, No. 2 is a canon that does not use strici imitation throughout. Mirror writing occurs
in mm. 4 and 7. No. 14 in the same book features mirror writing and counterpoint. Each
of the two voices has its own rhythm. Subtle imitation is employed. In No. 2 of The
Sense of Touch, the two lines are in free confrapuntal style.
*' For the purpose of this study, "contrapuntai forms" in this section refers to musical forms that
make use of contrapuntai devices, for example, fiigues or canons.
*^ Thompson., 163.
" Ibid.
*" Adler, Gradus L, Notes.
59
Other Forms
Other traditional forms such as binary and temary forms are used in Adler's
collections. In addition, some pieces are in free form.
Binary Form. Binary form is often used in short pieces, movements, or sections
of some larger works. The basic stmcture can be represented by AA' or AB. According
to Kostka, there is not much change in binary forms in contemporary music as compared
to those used in the past. The most obvious difference occurs in the rare use of the
traditional tonai schemes: the tonic to dominant/mediant relationship in the first half and
the retum from the dominant/mediant to the tonic in the second half.^^ Pieces that
employ binary form in Adler's collections include: Nos. 1, 3, 13, and 16 of Gradus I;
Nos. 5, 6, 12, and 19 of Gradus II; Nos. 5, 8, 10, and 20 of Gradus III; and Nos. 3, 6, and
8 of The Sense of Touch. They do not recali the traditional tonai schemes of binary form
in tonai music. The two sections are differentiated by changes in rhythmic pattem or
melodie material.
Temary Form. Temary form refers to works based on an ABA format. In tonai
music, generally some kind of balance is displayed between the two A sections, yet this
kind of balance is often absent in contemporary temary forms. The retum of the A
section may recali just one or two measures of the opening A section.
Examples of
temary form used in Adler's pieces include No. 4 of Gradus I; Nos. 2, 4,14, and 18 of
Gradus II; and Nos. 3, 9, and 19 of Gradus III.
" Kostka, 145-146.
** Ibid., 146-147.
60
Free Form. Stmctures that are freely constmcted without conforming to any
traditional form are considered to be free form.''^ Examples of free form include No. 20
of Gradus I; Nos. 1, 13, and 20 of Gradus II; Nos. 1, 4, 7, and 15 of Gradus III; and No.
7 of The Sense of Touch.
Others. Pieces that contain sections but do not recali any traditional forms may be
considered sectional forms. In No 2 of Gradus I, the three irregular phrases of four, five,
and eight measures start with the same material. No. 17 of Gradus II contains four paired
sectionsthe first and third sections use similar material while the second and fourth
sections are similar. The sections are unified by timbre and texture.
Adler also includes one piece that exhibits jazz rhythm. Jazz began to influence
Westem music in the 1920s. It originated in New Orleans and was brought to New York
City. It then spread to other major cities throughout the United States. The primary
elements of jazz include syncopation, 'blues' notes, tonic with added sixth, chromatic
passing and auxiliary chords, coimterpoint and improvisation. In No. 18 of Gradus II,
some syncopated jazz rhythms are employed.
Texture
Texture in music is referred to as ".. .the relationships between the parts (or
voices) at any moment in a composition; it especially concems the relationships between
rhythms and contours, but it is also concemed with aspects such as spacing and
*^ Thompson, 164.
61
Dissonant Countemoint
Contemporary polyphonic works use dissonance freely. Conventional mles
involving the use of only consonant intervals on strong beats bave become optional.
Instead, any interval can be prominent. According to Ellen Thompson, this kind of
texttire is called "dissonant counterpoint" and it has become idiomatic in confrapuntal
forms.
The canon at the octave in Gradus I No. 6 contains dissonant intervals. Likewise,
the contrapuntai style of No. 4 of Gradus //includes strong dissonance. No. 2 of The
Sense of Touch features two contrapuntai lines with dissonant intervals.
Kostka, 231.
^'Ibid., 246-251.
Thompson, 135.
62
Contrapuntai Procedures
Contemporary composers also use inversion, imitation, canon, diminution,
augmentation, and invertible counterpoint. In addition, the relatively recent contrapuntai
technique of mirror writing" is commonly used in contemporary compositions.^^ The
discussion that follows is focused on the techniques found in Alder's pieces.
Inversion. friversion occurs in the opening two measures in No. 1 of Gradus I.
No. 18 of the same book contains a right-hand line that is the inversion of the left-hand
line in some measures. Inversion is also found in No. 14 of Gradus LIL The right band
enters m. 3 in an inversion of the opening four notes of the left band.
Imitation. The opening of the twelve-tone piece in No. 11 of Gradus II features
the left-hand voice imitating the right-hand voice, hi No. 14 of Gradus III, the right-hand
imitates the left-hand during the final statement of the theme in the last section.
Canon. Gradus L, No. 6 is a canon at the octave with strici imitation. No. 5 of
Gradus II features a free canon with motives constmcted from parallel fifths and on fifths
confracting to thirds. Gradus ILI, No. 2 is a canon that contains some mirror writing.
Diminution. In No. 12 of Gradus III, the opening right-hand motive involves
quarter notes. This motive occurs in diminution later in the piece with eighth-note
quintuplets in the right band and also is inverted in the left-hand.
Mirror Writing. There are several pieces that feature two voices that are
reflections of themselves. No. 2 of Gradus I uses mirror writing throughout, except at the
^' Adler defines "mirror writing" as "an inversion of one voice by another" in the Notes of No. 2
of Gradus 1.
Thompson, 138.
63
end. The opening two measures of No. 11 of the same book involve mirror writing.
Other pieces in Gradus I that include mirror writing are Nos. 17 and 18. In No. 10 of
Gradus III, the two parts with the grace-notes are mostly mirrors of each other. In the
same book. No. 15 features mirror writing in the moving parts of the two hands along
with the long-held pedal tones.
64
at a time in layers and holding the notes until the end. The "texture melody" section is
widely spaced. In Nos. 11 and 15 in the same book, sections where the hands are far
apart altemate with sections with the hands dose together. Nevertheless, they vary
greatly in character. No. 11 is a fast moving elude while No. 15 features pedal points and
has a more meditative quality.
65
tap on their instmments or on some other surface, to whistle, or to make a wide variety of
vocal sounds.^"*
New notational symbols have been created to represent these new techniques and
sounds.^^ The following discussion is limited to the new symbols and techniques found
in Adler's piano pieces.
66
Aleatorie Music
In the second half of the twentieth century, composers began to relinquish control
over their compositions, giving more creative responsibihty to the performers.
Performers are given the freedom to make decisions that shape the dynamics, textual
aspects, temporal aspects, and performance of a musical piece. One example of this is
allowing performers to improvise or to choose from an arrangement of suggested pattems
at given points in the piece. The composer may assign a time limit to this activity.
Explanations or instmctions are usually provided with the music.
Adler also uses aleatorie techniques. He thinks that they are "perfectly logicai
and necessary in many cases and have their place."'^ Nevertheless, he believes that some
limits should be imposed. "As far as l'm concemed, anytime I use an aleatorie device it's
because I want a different performance each time, within certain limits of course, because
they have to be set...I think chance is written into a work."^^
Nos. 13, 16, and 19 of Gradus II are examples of aleatorie music. In No. 13,
there are no solid bar-lines or time signatures. Instead of measures, the notes are put into
units. The exact time span of one unit or beat is indicated by the composer. Adler states
in the notes that "the eye, in other words, decides where the note is to be stmck within the
time span of each unit."^ In No. 16, tmncated measures from the previous two pieces
are arranged across two pages. Performers are free to choose the order in which they
'^ Hill, 17.
Ibid.
^^ Adler, Gradus II, Notes.
67
play the fragments. The composer's instmction states that ".. .any fragment can follow
any other fragment; if possible, no fragment should be played twice. The order in which
the fragments are presented bere is not to be foUowed...."
In No. 19, the notation only gives an approximate idea of the pitches and rhythm.
The notes are notated on an unconventional 17-line staff. No bar-hnes or time signatures
are indicated. Adler explains that "the location of the note is to be judged by each
performer and the music page is a chart to guide the performer's musical gestures. Each
time it is performed, this exercise should sound totally different.. ."^' The composer even
suggests the option of playing the piece upside down after trying it right side up.
New Timbres
hmovative effects on the piano include clusters, plucking the strings inside the
piano, using percussion mallets or marimba sticks to play on the strings inside the piano,
or inserting objects on or between the strings to alter the piano's timbre.^^ Both No. 17 of
Gradus II and No. 18 of Gradus III require performers to play on the keyboard and also
to explore the insides of the piano. An "x" on the stems or a small cross over the notes
indicates that the strings inside the piano should be plucked. Specially shaped note-heads
are used to indicate when the keys should be depressed without sounding. In addition,
glissandi are employed at the keyboard as well as inside the piano on the sfrings.
^' Ibid.
*^ Kostka, 240.
68
Gradus I and No. 4 of Gradus II, the entire band is used to produce clusters. hi No. 8 of
The Sense of Touch, the black rectangular-sbaped cluster symbols cali for the use of the
forearms to produce full tone clusters of black and white keys.
Conclusion
Although contemporary composers make use of new approaches in composing,
many of the changes occur within the context of traditional practices. Nevertheless, new
sounds and the diverse systems and styles of contemporary music have brought
challenges to piano students and piano teachers in performing and teaching contemporary
piano literature. It is necessary for us to broaden and redefine our musical concepts.
Adler demonsfrates his eclectic compositional approach in the Gradus and The
Sense of Touch. Not only do these sixty-eight pieces exhibit the compositional
techniques commonly used during the first three quarters of the twentieth century, but
they also serve as useful tools to infroduce and familiarize pianists with contemporary
compositions. For pedagogical purposes and "to keep the music reasonably uniform,"
Adler has simplified "many inherent complexities" of contemporary music in these
'Mbid.
In the case of Ives' second piano sonata, a board is used for the clusters.
69
pieces. ^ This makes these pieces more accessible to the students. At the same time,
students will be introduced to new techniques, gestures, symbols, and styles in
contemporary literature.
This chapter highlights many contemporary compositional techniques and
illustrates them with Adler's pieces. Techniques discussed include aleatorie technique,
bitonality, canon, changing meters, irregular rhythm, mirror writing, modes,
pandiatonicism, parallelism, twelve-tone techniques, clusters, expanded notational
systems, and the use of innovative piano sonorities. Readers will develop a better
understanding of contemporary music in light of Adler's pieces.
70
CHAPTER IV
PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS
Adler's Gradus I, II, and /// and The Sense of Touch were composed for
pedagogical purposes. In the Preface to each volume of Gradus, Adler cleariy states his
didactic intentions in composing these pieces. He also hopes that these works will
stimulate both teachers and students to explore contemporary music' Adler provides in
the Notes brief comments about the compositional devices used in Gradus and
occasionally makes suggestions on how to study these pieces. The Gradus pieces can be
used not only as brief and simple theoretical introductions to contemporary music, but
they can also be considered as helpful tools to teach the techniques necessary to play
twentieth-century music. The subtitle of The Sense of Touch, "Eight Short Pieces
Introducing the Young Pianists to Techniques Used in Twentieth-Century Music," clearly
states Adler's intent of using these pieces to prepare piano students for contemporary
piano techniques.^ The title implies an emphasis on "physical skills and tactile
awareness."" "Techniques" bere refers to both the technical skills and the compositional
devices.
' Samuel Adler, Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), Preface.
^ Anita and Louis Gordon, "Contemporary Music for Pianists," The Piano Quarterly 80 (Winter
1972-73): 28.
^ Samuel Adler, The Sense of Touch (Bryn Mawr, PA: Theodore Presser, 1983).
" Lynn Freeman Olson, "Commissioned by Clavier," Clavier 23 (March 1984): 19-21.
71
The pieces in Gradus and The Sense of Touch are not necessarily arranged in
progressive order. For example, Nos. 6 and 7 in Gradus I are technically more
challenging than Nos. 8-12. No. 6 not only contains different articulations in the hands,
but also contrasting touches (legato and staccato) between the hands. No. 7 involves
sfretches of the left band caused by sustaining notes with the fifth finger and playing
additional lines on top. In the left band, a stretch of a sixth appears between the fifth and
the second fingers and a stretch of a fifth occurs between the fifth and third fingers.
Moreover, even though Adler intended the pieces of Gradus Ulto fit between those of
the first two volumes, some of the pieces in Gradus III {for example. No. 16) are
technically or musically more demanding than those in Gradus IL When assigning these
pieces, teachers should consider the readiness of students and should provide appropriate
preparatory exercises. A graded list of ali sixty-eight pieces is found in the Appendix E
at the end of this dissertation.
This chapter concentrates on the pedagogical aspects involved in teaching Gradus
L, LL, LLL, and The Sense of Touch. The Gradus set is discussed in terms of three
categories: technical aspects, reading skills, and introduction of new elements. The first
category-technical aspects-focuses on teaching the smaller muscles (the fingers) and the
larger muscles (the hands and arms) to execute different touches and different pattems of
notes. Suggestions for preparation exercises are provided. The second category-reading
skills-deals with teaching students to execute different rhythmic pattems, changing
meters, numerous accidentals, and widely-spaced notation. Activities that teach students
how to practice these reading skills are suggested. The third category-introduction of
72
new elements-discusses the innovative musical elements that emerged in the twentieth
century.
The pieces in The Sense of Touch are discussed in terms of two categories. The
category of technical skills remains the same as in the Gradus set. Because of the content
of the pieces, the categories of reading skills and introduction of new elements are
combined. Practice suggestions and preparation exercises are also provided. Before the
conclusion, suggestions on how to integrate the Adler pieces into traditional piano
methods are listed. For detailed discussions on the compositional techniques,
pedagogical elements, and practice suggestions of each of the sixty-eight pieces, see the
appendices. Unless explicitly stated, the comments and suggestions found in this
discussion are explicitly those of the author.
Gradus L
AH twenty pieces in the first volume of Gradus are brief in lengththe shortest is
four measures (No. 11) and the longest occupies less than a page. Adler successfiilly
illustrates some of the most common twentieth-century keyboard skills and compositional
techniques in a concise and simple way. The pieces are numbered and do not possess
titles. Nevertheless, tempo marking in each piece tells the character of the piece. Most
of the pieces involve a five-finger position, shifted five-finger position (Nos. 19 and 20),
or extended five-finger position that includes thumb crossings (Nos. 2, 6, and the right
band of No. 7). These positions enable students to familiarize themselves with segments
of the modal scales, the whole-tone scale, and the major-minor scales. Five-finger pieces
73
such as Nos. 1, 11, and 13 can also be used as exercises for transposition. Some piecesNos. 7, 14, and 16-involve band stretches (a fifth to an octave). In this volume, the two
hands are positioned a second to less than two octaves apart. Most of the pieces are in
two-part texture except for No. 7, which is in three-part texture.
Technical Skills
Technical skills that are covered in this first volume inelude: (a) legato and
staccato touches, (b) executing clusters, (e) projection of counterpoint, (d) holding long
notes while playing additional lines on top or below within one band, and (e) shifting
band positions.
Legato and Staccato Touches. Many pieces in this volume (Nos. 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12,
13,18, and 19) require smooth legato melodie lines. Students should use weight transfer
to produce the legato line by transferring weight from finger to finger without any
detached finger movements until the end of the phrase.^ In addition, the arm should line
up behind the playing finger to produce richer tones. In some loud passages, for example
in Nos. 2, 5, and 18, rotational motions of the band and faster key speed are also required
to produce loud richer tones.
In this twenty-piece set, five pieces (No. 6, 9, 10, 11, and 20) prominently feature
staccato touches. Students are required to use flexible wrists for the upward, bouncing
staccati. In addition, they need to use different key speeds to produce different dynamics.
^ Weight transfer refers to transferring weight from finger to finger in one motion, rather than with
a detached finger movement. It is useful in producing legato tones.
74
For example, a faster key speed should be used for the forte staccati in Nos. 9 and 11
while a light bouncing motion should be used for the piano staccati in No. 6.
Adler challenges students by requiring different articulations between the hands.
In Nos. 2 and 17, the staccati are executed at the same time in both hands. However, in
Nos. 3, 6, 10, 14, and 20, the two hands play different touches at the same time. For
example, in No. 3, a repeated eighth-note figure in staccato appears in the left band at m.
6, in the right band at m. 7, and the right band again at m. 9. Each time it occurs, the
other band plays confrasting legato notes. The necessity for independent technical
confrol of the hands makes this piece technically challenging.
Teachers may create warm-up exercises using staccato and legato touches in fivefinger pattems. The same exercises may be played differently. First, the same
articulations may be assigned to the hands with same dynamics. Second, the same
articulations in the hands may be played with different dynamics in the hands. Third,
different articulations may be required between the hands with same dynamics. Fourth,
different articulations and different dynamics may be assigned between the hands. These
exercises are useful for preparing students for the skills that they will need to master
these pieces.
Executing Clusters. One of the twentieth-century piano techniques covered in the
first volume is the execution of clusters. No. 16 contains staccato and tenuto clusters. fri
playing clusters, students are encouraged to develop large muscle control and a rapid
bouncing or ricochet technique. Students also leam that key speed plays a significant
role in producing clusters in a wide range of dynamics-,^,/?;?, and ppp.
75
Teachers may create warm-up exercises by using the fists with the palms down,
hitting keys randomly ali over the keyboard. The hands may be in contrary motion or
parallel motion. Different dynamics may also be assigned. These exercises prepare the
students to use flexible wrists and large muscle control in the required bouncing or
ricochet technique that they will encounter later in the pieces. At the same time, they
leam that a faster key speed produces a louder tone while a slower key speed produces a
softer tone.
Projection of Countemoint. No. 6 in this book is a canon involving different
articulations in the hands. Students leam how to use their hands independently in
projecting the different voices. Teacher may create warm-up exercises in simple fivefinger pattems in different registers. Different dynamics and different touches, such as
legato or staccato touches, may be assigned to the hands and then switched. The two
hands may take tums playing the five-finger pattems with articulations. For example, the
right band can start with a five-finger pattem in legato and then the left can repeat the
pattem in a lower register with the same or a different dynamic. These exercises prepare
students to play hands independently and to voice properly.
Playing Sustained Notes with Additional Notes in the Same Hand. Nos. 1 and 15
require the hands to hold long notes and to play additional notes at the same time.
Muscular relaxation is important while holding sustained notes and playing additional
notes simultaneously. Wrist flexibility and correct positioning of the arm behind the
playing finger are necessary to maintain muscular relaxation.
76
Teachers may create warm-up exercises introducing held notes and moving notes
in the same hand. First, hold a note with the thumb while playing the next note with the
second finger. Release the second finger. Second, hold a note with the thumb while
playing the next two notes one after the other with the second and third fingers. Release
the second and third fingers. Third, hold a note with the thumb while playing the next
three notes with the second, third, and fourth fingers. Release the second, third, and
fourth fingers. Fourth, hold a note with the thumb while playing the next four notes with
the second, third, fourth, and fifth fingers. Release the second, third, fourth, and fifth
fingers. The hand should be lifting upward during the releasing motion. These exercises
can be played hands alone or hands together. The sustained note may be held by the
thumb or the fifth finger as in the pieces. Students will develop muscular relaxation
through flexible wrists, motions of the arm lining up behind the playing finger, and the
lifting motion.
Shifting Hand Positions. Nos. 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 contain shifting hand
positions. While Nos. 15 and 17 involve small hand shifts of a second, Nos. 14,16, 19
and 20 use larger hand shifts. The band shifts not only physically exercise the larger
muscles, but they also challenge the eyes and minds because they involve more
accidentals and wider ranges of notes.
Teachers may do hand-shift drills with students. For example, students can be
asked to play different major, minor, augmented, and diminished triads in different
registers. Then ask students to notate the triads. This exercise helps students familiarize
themselves with hand shifting, note reading, and different registers of sound.
77
Reading Skills
Reading Changing Meters. Nos. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 20 contain one
common characteristic of contemporary music-changing meters. Teachers may create
activities to help students master this skill. Clapping, walking, dancing, and/or
conducting subgroupings in twos and threes in different rhythmic pattems or in different
meters are ways to familiarize students with the changes in rhythmic pattems and meters.
Reading Cross Rhythm. No. 13 features cross rhythm or polyrhythm, which
refers to the simultaneous use of different rhythmic pattems such as three notes against
four or two notes against three.^ In the second half of the piece, the triplets in the right
hand are set against the duplets in the left hand. Teachers may prepare students by asking
them to clap or tap the pattems before they play the notes. First, clap the triplets several
times. Do the same with the duplets using the same pulse. Second, repeatedly tap the
triplets at m. 5 with the right hand and the duplets at m. 5 with the left hand. Do this
hands separately first, then hands together. Third, play m. 5 at the keyboard repeatedly,
hands separately and then hands together. Fourth, repeat steps one to three with the other
cross-rhythmic measures. Fifth, play the cross-rbythmic measures (mm. 5-8) together.
78
through pedal points, ostinati, accents (metric, agogic, or dynamic), or formai placement.
Other new elements include non-fraditional major and minor systems, parallelism,
contrapuntai devices, mirror writing, and irregular phrases.
Establishing Tonai Centers in Non-Conventional Ways. Teachers may point out
the new elements in each piece and discuss how they are different from fraditional
musical elements. For example, explain to students that there are different ways to
establisb tonality. First, listen to the C-pedal point throughout piece No. 1. Second,
examine and listen to the Cs occurring at key positions at the beginning and endings of
phrases and to ali the notes derived from the C-major scale in No. 2. Third, play a
fraditional dominant-tonic cadence and compare it with the elements in steps one and
two. Teachers may also infroduce students' ears to new sonorities by playing Nos. 15
and 16. In No. 15, triads from different keys sound simultaneously. Teachers may
suggest that students try out other triads and play them in the same manner as those in
No. 15. In No. 16 clusters are introduced. Students may be encouraged to experiment
with different kinds of clusters, for example, clusters played with the entire band, clusters
played with the whole forearm, and three- or four-note clusters.
Non-Traditional Major and Minor Systems. Nos. 3, 4, 7, 10, and 14 are written in
non-traditional major and minor systems. No. 3 uses the whole tone scale with D as the
fiindamental. No. 10 features the pentatonic scale on C-sharp in the left hand, while the
right hand contains a line written in D-Aeolian. Other pieces featuring the medieval
modes are No 4 (Aeolian and Phrygian), No. 7 (Locrian and Phrygian), and No. 14
(Phrygian). Teachers may ask students to construct whole-tone, pentatonic, and modal
79
scales starting on different pitches and registers. Have the students notate the scales after
they play them.
Parallelism. Another common feature of twentieth-century music included in
Gradus L is parallelism. No. 5 is a piece that consists entirely of parallel fifths and
fourths. Teachers may suggest that the students explore parallelism with other intervals
such as seconds and sevenths. Ear-training can be used in leaming the intervals. For
example, play a note and ask the students to sing different notes above it at different
intervals. Then teli them the name of the bottom note and ask them to notate the note that
they have just sung.
Contrapuntai Devices. Contemporary composers not only create new musical
sounds, but they also like to use old musical devices. Contrapuntai devices are
commonly found in contemporary music. Nos. 1 and 6 in Gradus L make use of melodie
inversion, free imitation, and canon. Teachers may discuss points of imitation and other
confrapuntal devices with students. Students may be encouraged to write their own short
tunes and then to invert them.
Mirror Writing. Nos. 2, 15, 17, 18 and 19 involve mirror writing. This
compositional technique is commonly found in contemporary music. Teachers may play
one voice and ask students to play a mirror of it.
frregular Phrases. Although contemporary music also contains regular 4-measure
phrase groups, irregular phrases are used frequently. No. 2 contains three irregular
phrases, 4 + 5 + 8. No. 17 features 3-measure phrases but the meter changes at every
1
measure; every phrase starts with i, changes to 4, and concludes with either 4 or 4.
80
Teachers may sing and conduci the pieces phrase by phrase to experience the irregularity.
Then phrases may be compared to find out the similarities and differences between them.
For example, in No. 2, every phrase starts with the same material.
Gradus II
Like the first volume, the pieces in Book II are numbered rather than titled but
tempo markings indicate characters of the pieces. Most of the pieces are longer than
those in the first volume. Ahhougb there are stili short pieces (for example. No. 8b
contains only 10 measures and is only half a page long), the length of most of the pieces
is a page and the longest (No. 18) is more than two pages. In Book II, the pieces cover a
much broader range of notes. For example, in the first section of No. 18, the two hands
play four octaves apart. Fvirthermore, the range of the melodies is extended. No. 11
contains a passage at m. 21 in which the melody encompasses three octaves.
Technical Skills
Compared to Gradus I, few new technical and reading skills are introduced in
Gradus //but differences are found starting from the first piece. The two-part writing
used extensively in Gra JM5 / becomes fiiller and more complicated. In addition, the
technical demands of the pieces are greater. The following discussion focuses on: (a)
larger hand span, (b) double-note technique, (e) hand independence, (d) reading cross
rhythms, and (e) reading widely-spaced notes.
81
Larger Hand Spans. In Gradus I, most of the pieces are in five-finger or extended
five-finger hand positions. hi Gradus II, hand sfretches occur more frequently. No. 1
features an ostinato in both hands that includes an octave contracting to a single note.
The octaves demand power and the single notes in between the octaves provide moments
for the hands to relax.
Teachers may create warm-up exercises by using the ostinato pattem of the octave
contracting to a single note. Play the first-measure left-hand ostinato pattem repeatedly.
Use a small drop-lift motion to play the octave moving to the single note. Maintain
muscular relaxation after each stroke. Repeat the pattem in the right hand.
Double-Note Technique. Most of the pieces in Gradus II use double-note
technique, ranging from doubl thirds (Nos. 14 and 16) to parallel fifths (No. 5), sevenths
(No. 7), and octaves (No. 1). It is common to find three- or four-note chords. Since there
are octaves and other hand stretches required in this volume, students need to be
cautioned to maintain muscular relaxation during these stretches. Use flexible wrists and
drop-Uft motions to help to release hand tension. Teachers may prepare students with
warm-up exercises. For example, play parallel fifths up and down the keyboard for one
octave. Use a drop-lift motion for each chord. Maintain muscular relaxation throughout.
Do the same exercise with parallel sevenths and octaves.
hidependence of Hands. Like Gradus I, there are several pieces in Gradus //in
homophonic texture. Different types of melody against an accompaniment are usually
featured. For example. No. 2 contains a melody in the right hand, while Nos. 9 and 12
feature left-hand melodies. Sometimes the melody is passed from one hand to another, as
82
in Nos. 14 and 16. Students leam to project the melodies in different hands. The two
contrapuntai pieces included in this volume are more complicated than those in Book I.
According to Adler's notes. No. 4 is a contrapuntai pandiatonic pastorale.^ No. 11 is
another piece using contrapuntai technique. Teachers may prepare students with fivefinger pattems. First, play five-finger pattems leading from the left band to the right
hand. Start from the bottom of the keyboard and move octave by octave (starting on the
A's) to the upper register. Reverse the pattem coming downward. Play crescendo when
going upward and diminuendo when coming down. Practice both legato and staccato
touches. Use weight fransfer to maintain legato tones and drop-lift bouncing motions for
staccato touch.
Reading Skills
Reading Cross Rhythms and Syncopation. Rhythmic pattems in the pieces of
Gradus IL are more complex than in Gradus I. Nos. 15, 16, and 20 contain cross rhythms
or polyrhythms (three notes against two in Nos. 15 and 16 and three notes against eight in
No. 20). Nos. 8b, 10, and 18 involve syncopation. Nos. 7, 10, and 20 contain randomly
changing meters. To practice syncopation, teacher may excerpt the measures with
syncopated pattems. First, the teacher and students clap together with a regular pulse.
Second, the teacher continues clapping the pulse while students enter with the syncopated
rhythmic pattem. Third, students tap the pulse in one hand and tap the syncopated
pattem in the other hand. This helps students to master the rhythm before they leam the
' Samuel Adler, "No. 4, Notes," Gradus I (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971).
83
notes. Refer to the section about reading cross rhythms in Gradus l for practice
suggestions on cross rhythms.
Reading Scattered Notes. Nos. 8b features widely-spaced intervals. This twelvetone piece is in a pointillistic style, which favors sparse notation and thin textures. The
eyes have to read notes that are scattered in exfreme ranges. The teacher may ask the
students to play the tone row several times to familiarize their ears with its sound. The
teacher then can ask the students to play each of the pitches in the row in extreme
registers of the piano as in No. 8a. Students should leam the notes measure by measure.
84
No. 8a is a prehminary exercise that states the row in whole notes, except for the
last two notes. No. 8b uses the row in a pointillistic style. Adler illustrates how the
different permutations of the row can be arranged into a melody and accompaniment
texture in No. 9, in which the right hand uses part of the row as the pedal
Q
accompaniment. Students should soften the accompaniment to bring out the melody.
No. 10 is a twelve-tone piece that uses the same row as Nos. 8-8b. It changes
meter in every measure, except for m. 2. Teachers may ask students to clap, walk, dance,
and/or conduci subgroupings in twos and threes, different rhythmic pattems, or different
meters. These are useful ways to prepare students to play different rhythmic pattems and
changing meters that they encounter in the piece. No. 11 uses the row in a contrapuntai
fashion. Teachers may point out the theme and identify the different permutations of the
tone row.
Aleatorie Technique and Non-Traditional Notational Systems. Nos. 13,16, and
19 exhibit aleatorie technique. No. 13 and No. 19 also introduce students to nontraditional notational systems. There are no barlines in both pieces. fri No. 13, instead of
using soHd barlines, the notes are grouped into units. The time span of each unit is one
second. In No. 19, the notation only gives an approximate idea of the pitches and
rhythm. The pattems of the figurations and the rhythmic pattems make this piece one of
the most difficult pieces of the sixty-eight pieces that were examined. In No. 16,
tmncated measures from the previous two pieces are arranged across two pages.
Performers are free to choose the order in which they play the fragments. In ali three
' Ibid., "No. 9, Notes."
85
pieces, perfomiers participate in deciding what to play during the performance. Pattems
or figurations used in these aleatorie pieces are quite difficult. Students should practice
the individuai pattems or figurations one by one.
New Timbres. No. 17 is the only piece in the first two volumes which explores
the insides of the piano. New timbres are produced by plucking and stmmming the
strings inside the piano. In addition, new symbols are used to notate these sounds, such
as the symbol "x" on the stems and the use of triangular note-heads. Students are
introduced to new techniques for playing inside the piano. When assigning this piece,
teachers need to be aware of the height of the student. The student should be tali enough
to be able to reach inside the piano. It is helpful to identify the strings that have to be
plucked inside the piano by gently affixing temporary removable labels to the strings.
Gradus LLL
Unlike Gradus I and //, ali twenty pieces in Gradus III have titles. Some titles are
descriptive, for example the tite for No. 1, "Evocative Questions." The pieces in Book
III are mostly one page long. The longest piece is No. 15, which contains forty-one
measures. The pieces in this volume also explore the full range of the keyboard. For
example, No. 11 features passages which cover the low, middle, and high registers of the
keyboard.
86
Technical Skills
The level of difficulty of these pieces is similar to those in Gradus IL Although
Adler states in the Preface that the difficulty level of the pieces in this volume falls in
between the first two volumes, there are several pieces that are more difficult to play than
those in Gradus IL For example. No. 11 and No. 16 are more technically and musically
demanding than any of the pieces in Book IL
Extensive Hand Stretches. One of the major technical problems in this volume
involves the extensive hand sfretches. The pianist is asked to hold long notes while
playing additional notes above or below the held notes. Nine of the twenty pieces
involve stretches of sixths, sevenths, and/or octaves. No. 15 is one such piece. If
students have problems playing the stretches, these pieces should not be assigned.
Students need to maintain muscular relaxation during the sfretches and the held-note
passages by using drop-lift motions and weight transfer.
Different Textures. In Gradus LLL, different textures are found. No. 3 features
two kinds of melodies: the traditional homophonic type and Adler's so-called "texture
melody."^ The "texture melody" (mm. 9-13 and mm. 20-24) refers to adding one note at
a time to layers of the melodie notes. Once played, each of these notes is held until the
end of the melody. No. 8 features an ostinato accompaniment with a melody moving
from the right hand to the left hand in the second half of the piece. Nos. 2 and 14 feature
contrapuntai independent lines. No. 8 uses counterpoint in the two voices. These
different textures require independence of the two hands to bring out the individuai
' Samuel Adler, "No. 3, Notes," Gradus III {New York: Oxford University Press, 1971).
87
voices or the appropriate voicing. Students may use five-finger pattems as warm-up
exercises to experiment with maintaining different voicings between the hands.
Technical Studies. There are many etude-like pieces in this volume. No. 5 is a
study in consecutive thirds. Adler altemates some of the thirds between the hands. This
facilitates the execution of the thirds. To execute consecutive thirds in the same hand,
students need to use weight transfer and drop-lift motions. The arpeggios of No. 6 of
Gradus III suggest quintal chords. This piece is an exercise in consecutive fifths.
Flexibility in the vmsts is important in maintaining muscular relaxation for executing the
arpeggiated consecutive fifths. No. 7 is an elude in contrary motion. Students should
practice these passages with weight transfer, rotational movement, and flexible wrists.
No. 9 infroduces consecutive first-inversion chords. Students must leam to voice the top
notes of the lines. Although there is no pedal marking, pedal should be used to connect
the chords. Change the pedal frequently to avoid blurring. No. 10 is an elude in gracenotes. Students should leam to use rotational motions in the execution of the grace notes.
No. 11 is an exercise that features quick changes of hand position. The rapid shifts of
hand position are good exercises for band-eye coordination.
Reading Skills
Reading Widelv-Spaced Chords. No. 3 features some wide intervals that result
from widely-spaced chords. The chord consists of eight notes that are distributed
between the two hands in three layers. The bottom layer contains three notes forming a
fourth above a ninth. The three notes in the middle layer build a stack of two sevenths.
88
The top layer presents a tenth. The eyes have to spot these notes across a wide range.
Teachers may ask students to rescore traditional root-position, first-inversion, and second
inversion triads into widely-spaced chords to explore their unique sonorities.
Reading Accidentals. The pieces in Gradus III contain more accidentals than in
the previous two books. Sbarps, flats, and naturals occur frequently in almost ali the
pieces. These accidentals result from atonality, bitonality, clusters, octatony, polychords,
and twelve-tone writing. They challenge the minds and the eyes. The following
activities may prepare students for frequent occurrence of accidentals. First, ask students
to write out pairs of notes with accidentals. Have them play the notes. Analyze the
interval. Ask them to revmte the notes enharmonically and play them again.
89
New Timbres. Two pieces in Book 111 explore the coloristic sounds of the piano.
No. 13 features a polychordal texture. This elude explores sound color by using parallel
first-inversion triads from different keys sounding simultaneously. Flexibility in the
wrists is cmcial in maintaining muscular relaxation for executing the parallel triads. No.
18 contains passages played inside and outside the piano. Like No. 17 in Gradus II,
students who perform this piece have to be tali enough to be able to reach inside the
piano and to play at the keyboard at the same time. No. 18 in Gradus III is more
challenging than No. 17 in Gradus IL II includes stmmming on a number of strings,
instead of just one string as in No. 17 of Gradus LL. Strings that have to be plucked need
to be carefuUy marked in a way that does not damage the hammers or strings of the
keyboard.'
Twelve-Tone Writing. The two twelve-tone pieces included in Gradus LLL are
more difficult than those in Gradus LL Adler uses two different tone rows in No. 16 and
No. 17 and the pieces are quite different. The tone row of No. 16 (A-B -B-F -E-D -CA^-G-D-C*-F) is more chromatic and sounds more dissonant than the one in No. 17. No.
16 is one of the most difficult of the sixty-eight pieces. Polyrhythms (two against three)
and syncopations contribute to the complexity of the rhythm. The relatively chromatic
tone row and the complex rhythmic pattems make this piece sound intense.
No. 17, built on the tone row A-E-B-Ab-C-E-Eb-G-F#-F-D-Bb-C#, contains a
quintal sonority in its opening three notes. This row sounds more consonant and tonai
because it contains A-flat-major and B-flat-major triads. The arpeggiated pattems, the
' For example, gently affix temporary removable labels to the strings to identify the strings that
have to be plucked.
90
Constant rhythmic pattems, and the tonai elements of the tone row contribute to the more
relaxing effect of this piece. Analyzing the intervals and familiarizing students with the
sounds of each row facilitate leaming. Leam the rhythm by clapping the rhythmic
pattems of each hand separately first. Then tap the rhythm on the top of a table with the
hands together phrase by phrase. Finally play the pattems at the keyboard.
Techical Skills
The techniques included in The Sense of Touch are about the same as in the
Gradus set. Hand shifts, independence of the hands, different textures, and legato and
staccato touches are also featured in this collection. Although a few elements such as
pandiatonicism and polychords appear in some of the Gradus pieces, these elements will
be discussed for first time in Ibis section.
Rapid Finger Movement. No. 1 features repeated notes and quick shifts. Students
need to use rapid strokes for the loud single-note staccati. Students should practice
silently at the keyboard to familiarize themselves with the shifts. The repeated notes and
91
the abmpt changes of hand position require quick finger attacks and rapid key releases.
The rests contribute to the difficulty of the piece. They fall in different places and are
rather unpredictable. Teachers may create different warm-up exercises by using the rapid
repeated strokes, the abmpt changes of hand position, and the different rhythmic pattems.
Tap the rhythmic pattems and the staccato touches on the top of a table away from the
keyboard before playing at the keyboard.
Independence of Hands. No. II is written in pandiatonic style. In this style, tones
of a diatonic scale are used. However, traditional harmonic progressions and dissonance
freatments do not govem chord or melodie movement." This piece features the diatonic
notes of the G major scale. Students need to use weight transfer in the legato lines. The
two confrapuntal lines require independent treatment from the hands. Teachers may
discuss with students the difference between a G-major piece and a G-pandiatonic piece.
Rotational Motions. No. Ili requires rotational motions for the hands for the
written-out trills and widespread figurations. Teachers may single out the written-out trill
pattems and the widespread figurations and use them as preparatory exercises. Flexible
wrists, rotational movements, and lining up the arm with the playing finger help to
maintain muscular relaxation.
Reading Changing Meter. No. IV features changing meters. Clapping the rhythm
before playing the notes helps students to leam the changing meters. Tapping,
" Stefan Kostka, Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1989): 114.
92
conducting, walking the subgroupings in twos and threes is also useful for leaming the
different rhytlimic pattems.
Voicing. No. VII is an exercise in voicing. The right hand plays the
accompaniment and the melody at the top while the left hand provides an additional
accompanimental line below. The vertical treatment of the melody and accompaniment
and the horizontal treatnent of the top melodie line are the two major techniques
involved. Flexibility of the wrists and lining up the larger muscles behind the playing
fingers are cmcial in handling the layers of lines. Practice voicing by dropping weight on
the melodie notes without unwanted accents. In addition, use rotational movement in the
right hand to bring out the top melodie notes over the altemating-note accompaniment at
the bottom.
Rapid Bounce-Off Motions. No. VIII features clusters in the same hand and in
altemating hands. In the middle section of the piece, the melody shifts from the left to
the right hand. Bring out the melodie lines by lining up the wrists behind the playing
fingers and by softening the cluster accompaniment. Rapid bouncing motions are
required for executing the clusters. Teachers may create warm-up exercises from
pattems of staccato and non-legato clusters.
93
rhythmic, and harmonic materials are common in this style. No. 1 consists entirely of the
pitch class C, covering four octaves of the keyboard.
Widely-Spaced Chords. In No. V, the widely spaced chords recali the "texture
melody" infroduced in some of the Gradus pieces. The eyes need to adjust to the widelyspaced chords. The scoring of the chords creates a special sonority for the ears. Pedal
use is required to blur the chords together. Teachers may encourage students to play
different wide-spaced chords to explore the sounds.
Polychords. No. VI features polychords. The long pedal marking indicates that
the composer may want a blurred effect. Suggest that students play different triads from
different keys simultaneously to familiarize themselves with polychordal sounds.
Remind students to relax by using drop-lift motions and maintaining flexibility in the
wrists. Teachers may create warm-up exercises by using different major, minor,
augmented, and diminished triads. Play the triads separately and simuhaneously to
explore the different sound effects.
94
and No. 14 in Gradus /both employ the Phrygian mode. Lei them listen to both scales
and discuss the differences between the different systems. Encourage them to transpose
part of the Adler pieces into different modes or major-minor keys. This is also the time
to infroduce octatonic or whole-tone pieces to the students. Play the different scales to
them and ask them if they can teli the difference. No. 3 in Gradus L uses the whole-tone
scale with D as the fundamental and No. 8 in Gradus LLL uses octatonic collections.
Changing Meters
Introduce pieces with changing meters to students after they have mastered the
basic concept of simple and compound time signatures. In Gradus I, Nos. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10,
15, 16, 17, 18, and 20 contain changing meters. Clap, tap, and verbahze different
95
rhythmic pattems and help them to put them together to form changing meters. After
these Adler pieces, teachers may introduce them to pieces with non-conventional time
signatures and changing meters from Bartk's Mikrokosmos. In Book III of
Mikrokosmos, non-conventional time signatures are used, for example, 8 in No. 82 and i
in No. 93. Nos. 77 and 82 contain changing meters.
Styles
Students should be exposed to a diversity of styles even in the early stages of their
study. For example, the lively rhythm and spirited melody of the Musette in D from J. S.
Bach's Notebook ofAnna Magdalena are similar to Adler's twelve-tone piece in No. 10
of Gradus IL Another important style is that of impressionism. Adler's "A Five Finger
Rumble" from No. 20 of Gradus ///resembles Debussy's Feux d'artifce (Fireworks),
from the Preludes, Book II. This Debussy piece is probably too hard for any student to
play, but Adler's piece helps the students to be aware of the existence of the style of
impressionism.
Techniques
Teachers may develop the articulative techniques of sttidents by introducing them
to pieces from Bartk's Mikrokosmos as well as Adler's collections. fri Book E of
Mikrokosmos, Nos. 38 and 39 involve staccato and legato playing. No. 39 contains
frequently altemating staccato and legato passages between the hands. No. 40 is the first
piece that involves a right-hand melody and a left-hand accompaniment. In Adler's
96
Gradus I, students are also challenged to execute different articulations in the two hands.
In Nos. 3, 6, and 7, there are places where the two hands are required to play different
touchesone hand in staccato and the other hand in legato. In No. 9 of Gradus II, Adler
writes a right-hand accompaniment with a left-hand melody based on a twelve-tone row.
Textures
When students start to leam J. S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions, they may be
infroduced to Adler's contrapuntai pieces. No. 2 of The Sense of Touch is a contrapuntai
piece featuring pandiatonicism. No. 2 of Gradus III is a canon with dissonance. No. 11
of Gradus II is a contrapimtal piece vratten in a twelve-tone row. In addition, students
may be introduced to Adler's "texture melody."'^ No. 3 of Gradus III contains a
homophonic texture and a multi-layer "texture melody." The widely-spaced chords of
the "texture melody" create a unique sonority.
Conclusion
For those of us who have been trained almost exclusively in tonai music, the
diverse musical styles and systems of twentieth-century compositions present significant
challenges. Early exposure to different musical styles and systems is cmcial in
developing a comprehensive musicianship before the ears, minds, and hands are confined
to certain pattems. This is why introducing young musicians to new and diverse musical
elements is very important.
" The "texture melody" (mm. 9-13 and mm. 20-24) refers to adding one note at a time to layers
of the melodie notes. Once played, each of these notes is held until the end of the melody.
97
The Gradus and The Sense of Touch consist of contemporary piano pieces for the
late elementary to eariy advanced student. They are suitable for both children and adults.
Adler's pieces not only prepare piano students for contemporary piano techniques such as
rapid shifts, quick finger movements, playing inside the piano, and aleatorie techniques,
but they also familiarize the ears with music that uses materials outside the traditional
major/minor system. Some of these pieces, particularly those in Gradus I, also provide
excellent exercises for sight-reading and transposition.
These brief and concise pieces are beneficiai to any piano student who wants to
familiarize herself or himself with twentieth-century musical styles. Piano teachers may
think about using pieces from Gradus and The Sense of Touch as a supplement to
fraditional piano method books. Il is hoped that the ideas shared in this chapter and in the
appendices will motivate and stimulate teachers and students to study Adler's works.
98
CHAPTER V
A COMPARISON OF PEDAGOGICAL WORKS FOR PIANO
BY BARTK, KABALEVSKY, AND ADLER
Every composer should give children not only a part of his talent and skill, but also a part
ofhisheart.
Kabalevsky
Bla Bartk's six books of Mikrokosmos (1926, 32-39) and Dmitri Kabalevsky's
Pieces for Children, Op. 27 (1937-38) and Twenty-Four Little Pieces, Op. 39 (1943) are
considered to be the most significant pedagogical works for piano written in the first half
of the twentieth century. Samuel Adler's three books of Gradus (1971-1981) and the
single volume. The Sense of Touch (1983) build and extend upon the foundation
established by Bartk and Kabalevsky.
Although they composed these works for different reasons, Bartk, Kabalevsky,
and Adler had clear didactic purposes in mind. Kabalevsky wrote teaching pieces for his
piano students due to the lack of satisfactory material available in Russia at the time.
Bartk began to compile the pieces of the Mikrokosmos in the 1930s in order to provide
an integrated approach to mastering the most fundamental to the most advanced piano
skills. Adler's collections, Gradus and The Sense of Touch, aim to expose and prepare
piano students for the demands of playing twentieth-century music.
' Dmitri Kabalevsky, "The Composer and Music for Children," Music Educators Journal 50
(Feb/Mar 1964): 49.
99
100
his talent and skill, but also a part of his heart."' As a result, Kabalevsky composed
works that appealed to the abilities and interests of children. He considered musical
goals more important than technical ones. He often rewrote his music to fit the abilities
of his students. "If something in the piece bothers a number of students, I rewrite it to
eliminate difficulty."^
Kabalevsky's Op. 27 (1937-38) and Op. 39 (1943) exhibtt how the composer
achieved his teaching philosophy and pedagogical goal. Composed explicitly for his
piano students, these two collections contain pieces ranging from the elementary to
intermediate levels. Assigned descriptive titles, these pieces are imaginative, precise, and
full of pedagogical elements. Each of them deals with at least one technical problem, for
example, playing different dynamics in the two hands, executing different touches in the
two hands, or balancing the left-hand melody with the right-hand triadic accompaniment.
In these two collections, Kabalevsky focuses on developing basic piano
techniques, for example, phrasing, dynamics, and articulation.^ The twenty-four short
pieces in Op. 39 are arranged in order of difficulty. For example, the opening piece, "A
Little Tune," is in C major. Il includes a three-note right-hand line with an extended lefthand part in five-finger position below. Although there are only eight measures in this
piece, it deals with the techniques of phrasing, legato playing, and dynamics. Contrasting
101
touches in the two hands are featured in the next piece "Polka." The off-beat right-hand
line is staccato and the left-hand line is legato.
While the first sixteen pieces are of an elementary level, the rest of the pieces in
the book are on an intermediate level. The independent treatment of the two hands shows
that No. 16, "A Sad Tale," can be considered as a transition piece from the elementary
level to the early intermediate level. In this piece, different dynamics are assigned to the
two hands to emphasize the counterpoint. No. 19, "Prelude," is another early
intermediate piece. Il includes altemating legato and staccato touches in both hands. Il
also covers different minor scale pattems, for example, G minor, F minor, and C minor.
No. 20, "The Clown," confrasts the altemating legato-staccato right-hand melody with
the staccato left-hand accompaniment. Phrasing and different dynamics are also
emphasized. These last pieces in Op. 39 are more complicated than the early numbers in
this book.
The level of the pieces in Op. 27 falls mostly in the intermediate level.^ There are
thirty pieces in this opus. Ali of them are short and each piece varies in difficulty. Like
Op. 39, a different piano technique is addressed in each piece, for example, phrasing,
legato and staccato playing, and variable dynamics, but on a more challenging level.
"Playing Ball," "Toccatina," and "A Litte Joke" are popular selections included in many
piano collections for intermediate students.
' There are thirty pieces in Op. 27. Some publishers put the pieces of Op. 27 into two books and
omit some numbers. Schirmer is one of the publishers that publish the complete opus.
'Novik, 35.
102
Bartk
Bartk (1881-1945) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and pianist.
He invested a significant amount of time collecting and researching Hungarian peasant
music and folk music of other countries. He claimed that his findings about Hungarian
peasant music freed him from the rigid use of major and minor keys. "The outcome of
these studies was a decisive influence on my work, because it freed me from the
tyrannical era of the major and minor keys."' His works reflect the influences of folk
music: the modal and pentatonic scales that are frequently used in his works are
characteristic of Hungarian, Romanian, and some Slavic folk music.
Bartk wanted to help young pianists to have a better understanding of the music
of their generation and acquainted them with the simple non-romantic characteristics of
folk music." He achieved this goal in many of his works, but Mikrokosmos is his most
significant pedagogical work for piano. The first Mikrokosmos pieces were composed as
repertoire pieces for Bartk's own performances. In 1932, after seeing the German violin
pedagogue Erich Doflein's five-volume progressive collection in which Bartk
contributed some pieces that introduced simple folk music from different Eastem
European cultures, Bartk was inspired to compose a series of piano pieces graded from
the very easy to the most advanced. These pieces eventually were compiled into the
Mikrokosmos.
'" David Ewen, Composers Since 1900 (New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1969), 35.
" Benjamin Suchoff, Guide to Bartk's Mikrokosmos (London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1971), 7.
'' New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., v. 2, s.v. "Bla Bartk" by Malcolm
Gillies.
103
The next year, in a response to his son Peter's request for piano lessons, he
composed many simple pieces.'^ In the years that followed, he composed more pieces of
different levels of difficulty. Because he felt that the standard piano literature failed to
provide an integrated approach to mastering fundamental piano skills (for example,
legato and staccato playing, note values and rhythmic pattems, and phrasing), Bartk
systematically designed his set to cover the entire range of piano study, from the most
fundamental to the most advanced." From 1933-1939, Bartk composed additional
pieces, and he published the six books of Mikrokosmos in 1939.
The 153 pieces in the six progressively graded volumes of Bartk's Mikrokosmos
cover almost every conceivable technical and musical problem, for example, coordination
of the two hands, encountered at the piano. The pieces are of vasi value because of thefr
systematic and inclusive presentation of both compositional techniques and keyboard
skills of the first third of the twentieth century.
In Book I, the pieces contain two voices. Bartk introduces some basic concepts
along with some imconventional ideas. He addresses legato playing, sbarps and flats,
dynamics, contrapuntai techniques (for example, canons), different note values,'^ timesignatures,'^ major-minor keys, modes,'^ and even bimodahty.'^
^ Ibid.
'' Mary Elizabeth Parker, "Bartk's Mikrokosmos: A Survey of Pedagogical and Compositional
Techniques" (D.M.A. diss. University of Texas at Austin, 1987), 13.
'^ Quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, dotted notes, and syncopated rhythms are included. No.
7 uses dotted notes and No. 9 features syncopation..
'* There are examples of regular duple and triple meters as well as unusual i and 2 meters. No. 12
contains both 2 and 2 meters.
104
105
students who encountered polyrhythms in their solo repertoire. The damper pedal is
introduced in No. 47. In addition to the modes used in Book 1, Bartk uses chromatic
scales in No. 54 and 64b and pentatonic scales in No. 61.
In Book III, the texture of the pieces becomes thicker. Double-note and threenote-chord playing are included in Nos. 69 and 73. Bartk also develops the left hand by
inverting the right-hand and the left- hand parts. The two parts are usually switched
about halfway through the piece. As a result, the two hands have the same opportunities
to practice different musical expressions and touches.'^ The reading aspect also increases
in difficuhy when Bartk introduces bitonality in Nos. 70 and 71. Two different key
signatures are used in No. 70. There is a five-sbarp key signature for the right hand, but
no sbarps or flats for the left hand. fri No. 71, F major and D minor are used in the right
hand and left band respectively. Non-conventional time signatures are used, for example,
8 in No. 82 and i in No. 93. Nos. 77 and 82 contain changing meters. Bartk increases
the difficulty level of Book III by using doubl notes and chords, developing the
independence of the hands, and using changing meters and irregular rhythmic groupings.
Book rV represents an even higher level of difficulty than the previous three
volumes. fri this book, Bartk finally introduces "thumb-under" or "cross-over"
fingerings. Bartk wanted students to master more basic techniques such as lining up the
wrists behind the fingers and staccato and legato touches first.^ No. 98 is the first piece
106
in the whole set to feature thumb-under fingerings. This technique is used frequently in
the rest of the pieces in the set.
In No. 99, unconventional key signatures with one fiat against two sbarps (E-flat
in the right hand and F-sharp and G sharp in the left hand) are included. No. 102 is a
piece that uses overtone harmonies. The overtone effect occurs when chords are
depressed silently while other chords are played. Tempo rubato is used for the first time,
and there are frequent meter changes. No. 103 introduces more unconventional concepts
and techniques: irregular rhythmic groupings (4 + 5 in ), unconventional time
3x2
^' Asymmetrical rhythms are one of the main characteristics of Bulgarian folk music. Bartk
began to record folksongs in Bulgaria in 1912 and he named these rhythms as 'Bulgarian' m 1938. Smilar
rhythms are also found in Greece, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, and the Caucasus.
The Bulgarian asymmetrical rhythms may be considered as combinations of duple and triple meters
grouping together to form heterometric pattems. Some of the most commonly used pattems found in
Bulgarian folk music are 2 +3 or 3 + 2 in 8, 2 + 2 + 3 or 3 + 2 + 2 in s, 3 + 2 + 3 or 2 + 3 + 3 in 8, etc. Other
commonly used meters include i6 and L See New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., v. 4,
s.v. "Bulgaria" by Donna A. Buchanan.
^' The meters of the six dances include: ' 1 ^ ' m No. 148, 'V in No. 149, ^8^ in No. 150, 'T in No.
151, ^'*^ in No. 152, and ^T in No. 15 3.
107
The pieces of the Mikrokosmos, "a little world of music," do indeed present a
microcosmic view of Bartk's musical language and style. The pedagogical intent of the
composer can be discemed from the progressive arrangement of the pieces.
Adler
Because many performers are not proficient in performing twentieth-century
music, Adler wrote the Gradus and The Sense of Touch, fri his collections, Adler writes
pieces in the avant-garde styles that emerged after the mid twentieth century. He states in
the Preface of the first two books of Gradus that "...it is my hope that the awakened
student and teacher, having begun bere, will continue to explore the complex and diverse
music which has been created in our century."^^ The purpose of the Gradus (1971-1981)
and The Sense of Touch (1983) is to introduce young pianists to twentieth-century
musical styles. Adler explains that "The aim of these books is not to bring about the
acceptance or rejection of any system, but rather to widen musical acquaintance and to
stimulate the wish to consider more deeply a style, a notational system, or a musical
philosophy."^"*
The sixty-eight pieces in the two Adler's collections explore the more common
compositional styles and piano techniques arising or in use in Westem European
Classical music during the first three quarters of the twentieth century. They include:
atonality, twelve-tone writing, mirror writing, clusters, modes, octatony, whole-tone
Samuel Adler, Gradus IL {New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1971), Preface.
'Mbid.
108
" Dmitii Kabalevsky, A Composer Writes About Music and Education (London: Jessica Kingsley
Publishers, 1988), 32.
109
Kabalevsky feels that during the first two years of musical education, listening
experiences are the most valuable experiences for children. Students develop the ability
to appreciate and understand high quality music from listening. They are able to
intemalize the styles of some composers and to identify a composer by listening to music
by that composer which they have never heard before.
Bartk and Adler believe that early exposure to music not written in major-minor
keys before the ears are attached to major-minor sonorities enables students to accept
new music. Adler thinks that "...it is vital to teach music by exposing people to it."
As
a result, Bartk and Adler use systems and scales other than the major and minor
pentatonic, whole-tone, modal, and octatonic for example. Adler even includes twelvetone music in his collections.
'' Samuel Adler, "The Importance of Listening to Live Music," The Eastman Colloquium on
Teaching Music as a Liberal Art (CMS Report Number 10), 19.
110
Organization
The works of Kabalevsky and Adler are not as systematically arranged or as
comprehensive as Bartk's Mikrokosmos. The Mikrokosmos begins at the most
elementary level and proceeds to the most advanced, and technical ideas are introduced
systematically. ft differs from the pedagogical works of Kabalevsky and Adler in
additional ways. First, technical drills are provided in the appendices of Books I, II, III,
and rV. Second, beginning in Book II, ensemble music is introduced. However, Adler's
collections cover styles that are not included in the works of Kabalevsky and Bartk.
Melody
Both Kabalevsky and Bartk use folk song melodies. While Kabalevsky uses
Russian materials, Bartk's pieces show the influence of Hungarian and Eastem
European folksongs. Adler did not use much folk material in his pieces, but there are a
few exceptions. For example, in Nos. 14-16 of Gradus LL, the popular tunes "Yankee
Doodle" and "Three Blind Mice" are featured.
Kabalevsky's music is basically diatonic, flavored with touches of chromaticism
and modality. While the diatonic characteristics reflect Kabalevsky's preference for
using less adventurous musical materials, the chromaticism and modality show the
influence of Russian folk music. For example use of the Aeolian, Dorian, and Lydian
modes can be found in "Sonatina" of Kabalevsky's Op. 27. Bartk exploited a much
wider range of resources than Kabalevsky. The melodies of Bartk use a greater number
of modes. For example, in Book I, the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian; Mixolydian, and
111
Aeohan modes are used. He also used other scales including pentatonic, whole-tone,
octatonic, and synthetic scales. Adler's pieces show less emphasis on melodies. His
melodies exhibit both narrow and wide ranges and they are the least singable of the
melodies of the three composers. In addition to using modal, pentatonic, whole-tone, and
octatonic melodies, Adler included some twelve-tone melodies.
Ali three composers write pieces occupying a wide range at the keyboard.
Nevertheless, Adler's pieces require more quick physical motions and gestures to
facilitate the various rhythmic pattems, registrai shifts, dynamics shifts, and changes in
the musical texture than those of Kabalevsky and Bartk. For example, No. 1 of The
Sense of Touch makes use of only one pitch class, C, but the two hands shift among the
low, middle, and high registers of the keyboard.
Tonai Systems
Of the three, Kabalevsky used the major and minor keys more frequently. One
may find instances of modal or pentatonic pieces in Kabalevsky's pieces, but they are
considered to be isolated cases. By contrast, the majority of Bartk's pieces are modal or
pentatonic. Synthetic scales are also found in Bartk's pieces. Polytonality is rarely
found or only used occasionally in Kabalevsky's music; Bartk used it more frequently.
A bimodal piece is introduced as early as the Book I of the Mikrokosmos (No. 33, Gmajor against G-Lydian).^^ No. 62 in Book II of Mikrokosmos is a piece combining
112
Harmony
While Adler's and Bartk's pieces contain sonorities not found in traditional
harmony, Kabalevsky's pieces basically use tertian harmony.' Clusters are found in
^* Ibid., 104.
^' Stefan Kostka, Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1989), 115.
^^ Kabalevsky and Bartk use more non-tertian chords in other works not studied in this
dissertation. For example, Kabalevsky's Variations, Op. 40, contain quartal chords in its closing section of
the variation in A minor. No. VI of Bartk's Rumanian Folk Dances includes quartal chords. See Sister
Barbara Rastatter, "A Comparison of the Styles of Bartk and Kabalevsky in Their Piano Music for
Children" (M.A. thesis, University of Northem lowa, 1972), 54 and 57. In Book V of Mikrokosmos,
Bartk includes clusters in some of the pieces (Nos. 130 and 132 of Book V and No. 142 of Book VI), and
quartal harmony in No. 125 (m arpeggio) and No. 131 (in chords) of Book V, but the last two volumes of
113
No. 16 of Gradus I, No. 4 of Gradus II, and No. 8 of The Sense of Touch. No. 6 of
Gradus III suggests quintal chords in arpeggiated form. Clusters and quartal chords are
found in Bartk's Mikrokosmos. No. 107 of Book IV includes chords that are made of
pairs of seconds. No. 125 and No. 131 of Book V feature a quartal sonority.
Parallelism is another feature that is used in the works of ali three composers.
Kabalevsky and Bartk used parallel tertian chords in root position and second inversion,
as well as parallel seventh chords. For example, Kabalevsky uses parallel fifths in No. 9
of Op. 27. In No. 65 of Book II, Bartk doubles the left hand with the right hand an
octave apart in parallel perfect fifths. No. 120 in Book IV includes parallel root-position
triads. Adler's pieces exhibit freer and more frequent use of parallelism. In No. 3 of
Gradus II, mm. 16-19, the right-hand pattem is in parallel fourths. No. 7 in the same
book features parallelism in sevenths and fifths. No. 5 is a free canon featuring parallel
motion in fifths in the middle section.
Polychords are also found in Adler's pieces. The middle section of No. 6 of The
Sense of Touch features polychords. Other polychords can be found in No. 15 of Gradus
I and No. 13 of Gradus LLL.
Rhythm
There are more different and more complex rhythmic pattems in the pieces of
Bartk and Adler. Kabalevsky likes to use a great amount of repetition in bis rhythmic
pattems. Although ali three composers use syncopation in their pieces, unusual and
Mikrokosmos are not considered in this comparison chapter. See Benjamin Suchoff, Guide to Bartk's
Mikrokosmos (London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1971), 9.
114
irregular rhythms and metrical groupings appear frequently in the pieces of Bartk and
Adler, but not in those of Kabalevsky. Bartk and Adler frequently use changing meters
as well as non-traditional time signatures, for example, s, l, and 8. There is no example of
changing meter in Kabalevsky's pieces, and he uses more traditional time signatures, for
example, 4, 4, 4,8, and 8. hi the case of phrase constmetion, Kabalevsky uses more regular
two- or four-bar phrases, while Bartk and Adler include more irregular groupings in
their pieces. Even in the first volume of Mikrokosmos, Bartk uses irregular groupings of
4-1-2 4-3 measures. Although there are regular four-bar phrases in Adler's pieces, the
majority of the pieces contain irregular phrases. For example, in Book I of Adler's
Gradus, 4-1-5 + 8 measure groupings are used.
Texture
Kabalevsky's pieces are basically homophonic, but Bartk's and Adler's pieces
are both homophonic and polyphonic. Contrapuntai devices used in Bartk's pieces
include imitation (Nos. 10 and 30, Book I of Mikrokosmos), inversion (No. 79, Book III
of Mikrokosmos), diminution (No. 89, Book III of Mikrokosmos), stretto (No. 58, Book II
of Mikrokosmos), canon (No. 60, Book II and No. 94, Book III of Mikrokosmos), and
mirror writing (No. 72, Book III of Mikrokosmos). Adler uses mirror writing (Nos. 2, 17,
18 of Gradus L, and Nos. 10 and 15 of Gradus IIL), canon (No. 6 of Gradus L, No. 5 of
Gradus LL, and No. 2 of Gradus LLL), and inversion (No. 1 of Gradus L) in his pieces.
115
methods are explored, for example, the "spatial" notation of No. 13 of Gradus LL No. 19
of the same book features another innovative notational method: it uses a 17-line staff
and the pitches and rhythmic pattems serve only as a guide to the performer's musical
gestiares. Twelve-tone pieces are introduced in Gradus LL and ///. These techniques are
not introduced in any of Kabalevsky's or Bartk's pieces.
Conclusion
A comparison of selected compositions of three important twentieth-century
pedagogues shows that they explored most of the styles and techniques that were
important trends in Westem European Classical music during the first three quarters of
the twentieth century. Ali three pedagogues concemed themselves with writing music for
elementary-level students because they thought that early musical training was a great
advantage. They also believed that listening experiences played an important role in
musical development. They devoted their talent, time, and effort to writing musical
compositions that developed the abilities of students to understand contemporary music.
^' In No. 102, Book IV of Mikrokosmos, Bartk infroduces the overtone effect by depressing
chords silenty.
116
Of the three composers, Kabalevsky is the most accessible. His pieces will lead
anyone familiar with traditional major-minor harmonies and the regular rhythms of pretwentieth-century works to the more diverse sounds of twentieth-century music.
Although Bartk's Mikrokosmos is a very comprehensive and systematic set of works, it
lacks some of the innovative twentieth-century techniques that are introduced in Adler's
collections.
No single work covers ali the styles and systems of twentieth-century music.
Teachers are responsible for choosing appropriate materials to widen the musical
experiences of their students. Besides the pedagogical works of Kabalevsky and Bartk,
Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch are contemporary piano pieces of the highest
quality. They are worth studying along with the piano works of Kabalevsky and Bartk.
117
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSION
Different musical styles and systems with new sounds and new elements
blossomed during the twentieth century. Musical elements such as disjunct melodies,
harsh dissonances, and irregular time-signatures and phrasings, unpredictable rhythms,
and non-fraditional notations rhythms, and notations were rarely found in the music of
previous centuries. The unfamiliar sounds were foreign to those accustomed to the tonai
sounds of the major-minor system. Consequently, new techniques and guidelines to
performing and teaching this repertoire were in great demand.
Repeated hearings are considered to be the key to the understanding of new
music' However, contemporary piano hterature is often introduced very late to students
or completely neglected in their musical training. This may be because teachers find it
difficuft to find appropriate teaching materials or because they themselves need help in
interpreting and teaching contemporary music. Pedagogues such as Samuel Adler
compose piano works to remedy this situation. Adler's Gradus and The Sense of Touch
not only provide a theoretical introduction to contemporary music, but they are also
helpfil tools for teaching the techniques necessary to play twentieth-century music.
' Aaron Copland, What to Listenfor in Music (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
1957), 251.
' Anita and Louis Gordon, "Contemporary Music for Pianists," The Piano Quarterly 80 (Winter
1972-73): 28.
' Lynn Freeman Olson, "Commissioned by Clavier," Clavier 23 (March 1984): 19-21.
118
The sixty-eight pieces in the three books of Gradus and the one volume The Sense
of Touch are valuable in different aspects. Technically, these pieces expose the fingers to
new shapes, combinations, and clusters of notes; to modal, whole-tone, or octatonic
pattems; and even to explorations inside of the piano, hitellectually, they introduce
students to changing meters, complex rhythms, widely-spaced groups of notes, and
frequently occurring accidentals. Aurally, they open the ears to new sonorities, nonfraditional harmonies, and greater numbers of dissonances. Visually, they challenge the
eyes with new notational systems and symbols, various intricate rhythmic pattems, and
widespread notes. Ali these prepare and familiarize students with the characteristics of
contemporary music.
The study of Adler's Gradus set and The Sense of Touch shows that these sixtyeight pieces are short in length but rich in musical content. The flowing melodies,
driving rhythms, coloristic sound effects, and clarity of texture of Adler's piano pieces
are appealing to students. They are recommended by music scholars, piano teachers, and
pedagogues. Bradford Gowen,"* Alice Canaday,^ Ellen Thompson,^ Anita and Louis
Gordon, ^ and Lynn Freeman Olson^ comment that Adler's piano music is not only a
" Bradford Gowen is a concert pianist and the professor of piano at the University of Maryland.
^ Alice Canaday is the author of Contemporary Music and the Pianist.
* Ellen Thompson is the author of Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music.
^ Anita and Louis Gordon are concert pianists, piano teachers, and pedagogues.
^ Lynn Freeman Olson is a composer and piano pedagogue.
119
useful source for teaching and introducing twentieth-century music, but also high quality
music that is well worth a wide circulation.^
A comparison of Adler's collections with Bla Bartk's first four books of
Mikrokosmos (1926, 32-39) and Dmifri Kabalevsky's Pieces for Children, Op. 27 (193738) and Twenty-Four Little Pieces, Op. 39 (1943) shows that each has its own function.
Kabalevsky believed that art should be created for everyone."' As a result, he chose to
write accessible music which incorporated folksongs and which featured a primarily
diatonic style, fraditional time signatures, and repetition of rhythmic pattems. At the
same time, Kabalevsky's pieces exhibit contemporary musical elements, for example,
parallelism and modal scales. Of the three composers, Kabalevsky is the most accessible
to students who have been exposed to more traditional musical elements.
Bartk systematically and inclusively presents both the compositional techniques
and keyboard skills of the first third of the twentieth-century in his books of the
Mikrokosmos. The one hundred fifty-tbree pieces in the six progressively graded
volumes of the Mikrokosmos cover almost every conceivable technical and musical
problem encountered at the piano. More dissonances occur in Bartk's pieces than in
Kabalevsky's. Instead of major-minor systems, Bartk favors modal, pentatonic, wholetone, and synthetic scales. Changing meters and irregular rhythmic pattems are also
frequently found.
' Bradford Gowen, "Samuel Adler's Piano Music," The American Music Teacher 25, no. 3
(January 1976): 6.
' Kabalevsky, My Dear Friends (Moscow: Young Batallion Publishing, 1977).
120
" Gowen, 6.
121
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Irvin, Marjory. "A New Look for New Sounds." Clavier (Aprii 1973): 15-18.
James, Michael Joseph. "The Evolution of Pedagogical Thought in American Piano
Teaching of the Twentieth Century." D.M.A. thesis. University of South
Carolina, 1994.
Kabalevsky, Dmity. 24 Pieces for Children, Op. 27. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing
Co., 1992.
. 30 Piano Pieces for Young People, Oi). 39. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred
Pubhshing Co., 1993.
Kolar, Jane Michelle. "A Guide to Elementary Keyboard hnprovisation Using Selected
Twentieth-Century Compositional Techniques." Ph.D. diss., Columbia
University, 1975.
Kostka, Stefan. Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood
Chffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Laytimi, Amy Jo. "Dmitri Kabalevsky and His Pedagogical Works for Piano." M.M
thesis, Kansas State University, 1994.
Lindsey, Suellyn. "A Study of the Solo Piano Music of Dmitri Kabalevsky." M.A.
thesis, Eastem Illinois University, 1964.
124
Lucas, Joan Dawson. "The Operas of Samuel Adler: An Analytical Study." Ph.D. diss.,
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1978.
MacNeill, Roger. "Secular Choral Chamber Music in America Since 1950: As
Represented by the Music for this Genre by Samuel Adler, Jean Berger, Eugene
Butier, and Kirke Mechem." D.A. diss.. University of Northem Colorado, 1986.
Magrath, Jane. The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature.
Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Pubhshing Co., 1995.
Marshall, Wallace Elwood. "An Analysis of the Mikrokosmos of Bla Bartk." M.A.
thesis. University of Washington, 1946.
McCray, James. "An Interview with Samuel Adler." The ChoralJournal 18 (May
1978): 18.
Nagode, E. Gregory. "The Pedagogical Nature of Kabalevsky's Solo Piano Music."
D. Music thesis, Northwestem University, 1986.
Olson, Lynn Freeman. ''The Sense of Touch." Clavier 23 (March '84): 19-21.
Parker, Mary Elizabeth. "Bartk's Mikrokosmos: A Survey of Pedagogical and
Compositional Techniques." D.M.A. diss.. University of Texas, Austin, 1987.
Patton, Carolyn Hastings Thompson. "Selected 20'*'-Century Russian Piano Music for
Children: Analysis and Application in Teaching." M.M. thesis, University of
Texas, Austin, 1975.
Penrod, Diane. Miss Grundy Doesn 't Teach Here Anymore: Popular Culture and the
Composition Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers, 1997.
Rastatter, Barbara, Sister. "A Comparison of the Styles of Bartk and Kabalevsky in
Their Piano Music for Children." M.A. thesis, University of Northem lowa,
1972.
Regal, Ronald Ernest. "The Analyses with Related Teaching Strategies of Selected
Twentieth-Century Elementary Piano Compositions by American Composers
(1940-1970)." Ed. D. diss., Columbia University, 1973.
Schwartz, EUiott and Bamey Childs ed. Contemporary Composers on Contemporary
Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998.
Shirek, Jane Peachey. "A Guide for Teaching Musical Stmcture of Twentieth-Century
Music." M.S. thesis, Wisconsin State University, Oshkosh, 1970.
125
126
APPENDIX A
ANALYSIS TABLES FOR GRADUSL
127
Weight fransfer refers to fransfemng weight from finger to finger m one motion, rather than a
detached finger movement. It is useful in producing legato tones.
128
Table A. 1. Continued.
Practice Suggestions
Preparatory Exercise
1. Play five-finger scale in contrary motion and transpose the
pattem up or down sequentially by steps. Maintain
muscular relaxation throughout the exercise by using
drop-lift motions, flexible wrists, and weight transfer.
2. Transpose the five-finger pattem to other keys such as D,
F, and G in contrary motion up and down the keyboard.
3. Repeat the five-finger scale with crescendo and
diminuendo.
Ear Training
1. Introduce the five-finger pattem in major and minor keys.
2. With the starting pitch on D (which is an appropriate pitch
for most students), ask students to sing the five-finger
pattem up and down. Compare the pattem in D major
with the pattem in D minor.
3. Ask students to notate five-finger pattem notes in different
keys on the board.
4. Have them play and sing the pattems in an appropriate
range, from D4 to D5.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the free use of imitation in this piece with
students.
2. Ask students to write a short piece with five-finger
pattems and imitation.
' Middle C is considered as C4. D4 is a step above C4. D5 is an octave above D4.
129
130
131
132
133
Ear Training
1. Review five-finger scales in major and minor keys.
2. Introduce the Phrygian and the Aeolian modes.
3. Place students in pairs and aftemate playing a one-octave
Phrygian scale in different registers.
4. Ask them to notate the scales.
5. Sing the scale together in an appropriate range.
6. Transpose the Phrygian scale to different pitches and
notate them.
7. Do the same activities with the Aeohan mode.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Play Phrygian-five-finger scale and Aeolian-five-finger
scale. Start the scales on E and transpose to various keys.
2. Practice the scales legato and with tenuto.
3. Repeat the five-finger scales with crescendo and
diminuendo.
Rhythm.
1. Clap, walk, or tap 2 + 3 and 3 + 2 eighth-note groupings to
get used to the irregular \ meter.
2. Divide the students into two groups. Have one group
clap, walk, or tap the right-hand rhythm and the other
group taps the left-hand rhythm.
3. Have each group tap the rhythm of the right-hand and lefthand parts. Switch parts.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the two modes used in the piece: Aeolian and
Phrygian.
2. Ask students to write melodies with either one of the
modes.
134
135
136
137
138
139
Ear-Training
1. Review the Phrygian, Aeolian, lonian, and Lydian modes
by singing and playing.
2. Ask students to sing and play the Locrian mode.
3. Notate the notes.
4. Transpose the Locrian mode and notate the notes.
5. Sing the right-hand melodie line in an appropriate range.
Or transpose it down an octave for easier singing.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice a one-octave Locrian scale in legato, hands alone
and together.
2. Leam the fingerings: 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5.
3. Practice the left hand of the piece alone to get used to the
long pedal point.
4. Repeat the scale with crescendo and diminuendo.
5. Maintain muscular relaxation through the exercise by
applying drop-lift motions, flexible wrists, and weight
transfer.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss Locrian mode.
2. Ask students to write melodies using Locrian mode.
3. Suggest that they to try to add a left-hand accompaniment
by using a pedal point.
140
141
142
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice five-finger scales in contrary motion with both
thumbs starting on middle C.
2. Play the scale hands together in staccato.
3. Repeat the five-finger scale with crescendo and
diminuendo.
Rhythm
1. Take the eighth note as the basic unit.
2. Clap the rhythm of mm. 1-3, feeling the 2 + 3, 2 + 2, and 3
+ 2 groupings.
3. Divide the students into two groups. Altemate clapping
the 2 + 3, 2 + 2, and 3 + 2 rhythms.
Ear Training
1. Review intervals of fifths. (See also No. 5, Gradus I, No.
5, Gradus II, and No. 6, Gradus III.)
2. Play a note for the student and ask him or her to sing a
fifth above or below.
3. Play the interval of a fifth and ask students to sing the
upper or the lower note. Prepare them to be able to sing
either note.
4. Ask them to notate the different fifths on the board.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the two intervals of a fifth used in the piece.
2. Ask students to write a short piece using the fifth above
and the fifth below.
143
144
145
146
147
148
Preparatory Exercise
1. Use the ostinato pattem as a warm-up exercise.
2. Practice m. 3 five times to get used to the execution of the
grace notes.
3. Practice five-finger scales with crescendo and diminuto.
4. Maintain muscular relaxation throughout the exercise by
keeping the wrists flexible.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the intervals used in the ostinato figure and the
contour of the melodie line.
2. Ask students to write different ostinati by using different
combinations of intervals.
3. Group students in pairs and have them improvise on each
other's ostinato figures.
149
150
' Carole, Thibodeaux, "Performance Analysis: A System for Increasing m Piano Students an
Awareness of Stylistic Interpretation as Applied to Selected Twentieth Century Piano Music, (Ph.D. diss.,
University of Oklahoma, 1976), 175-179.
151
Elements
Practice Suggestions
to support them.
Weight Transfer. Use weight transfer to shape the lines in
both hands.
Larger Muscle Involvement. Involve larger muscle
movement. Use forearm drops for the execution of clusters
and rapid bouncing motions for the staccato clusters.
Key Speed and Different Touches
1. For the forte and fortissimo dynamics, use a faster key
speed. Sink into the keys slowly for the pp and ppp.
2. Use rapid drop-lift motion for the staccato touch while use
weight transfer for the soft legato touch.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Play legato five-finger scales in contrary motion in
random keys, for example, G-minor, F-major, A-minor,
etc.
2. Repeat the whole exercise holding down notes as in
No. 16.
3. Block the five-finger scale as clusters and practice with
rapid bouncing motions.
Ear Training
1. Introduce clusters.
2. Ask students to explore clusters ali over the keyboard.
3. Ask students to notate the clusters.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss clusters used in this piece.
2. Ask students to write their own clusters.
3. Have them improvise melodies with their clusters.
4. Use the clusters in the right hand or the left hand.
152
\7
"Mirror writing with shifting metric pattems."
The overall form is ABA: A- -mm. 1-6; B-mm. 7-12;
A-mm. 13-18.
The constantly shifting meters (including four different
meters) create different rhythmic units.
The rhythmic interest is further increased by the placement of
accents.
Each of the three six-measure phrases contains two subphrases. The meter altemates between l, 4, and 4 throughout
the piece.
The only exception is that the last measure of the two A
sections (m. 6 and m. 18) contain 4 meters rather than 4
meters.
The two- and three-eighth-note units are the fundamental
metrical units.
The mirror image (based on the short two- and three- eighthnote rhythmic units) is applied throughout the piece with the
two voices an octave apart.
While the two A sections feature D major five-finger
positions in the both hands, the B section contrasts the right
hand E major five-finger position with the left hand C wholetone five-finger position.
The frequent dissonant intervals on the strong metrical
positions (C in the left hand and B in the right hand) result in
a more dissonant B section.
The ending concludes with the right hand note D. The last
left hand quarter-note rest impUes its unison with the right
hand note D.
153
Elements
Practice Suggestions
154
155
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice five-finger scales in contrary motion.
2. Play hands together in legato.
3. Add dynamics, for example, using mezzo forte, forte, and
crescendo.
4. Maintain muscular relaxation throughout the exercise by
using drop-lift motions, flexible wrists, and weight
transfer.
Rhythm
1. Clap the rhythm of mm. 1 -2 to feel the different rhythmic
groups.
2. Divide the students into two groups. Altemate clapping
the different meters.
3. Repeat steps one and two for mm. 4-5.
Creative Activity
1. Review and compare the mirror-writing techniques used
in No. 2 and No. 17 in this book.
2. Ask students to write a short piece using mirror-writing
technique.
156
157
158
159
Preparatory Exercise
1. Play staccato hands together with major and minor triads
in contrary motion.
2. Play legato and staccato five-finger scales in contrary
motion up and down the keyboard for one octave.
3. Add crescendo and diminuendo to the above two
exercises.
4. Maintain muscular relaxation throughout the exercise by
using drop-lift motions, flexible wrists, and weight
transfer.
Ear Training
1. Review the major and minor triads.
2. Ask students to play and then sing different triads. Focus
on parallel major and minor triads to help students become
aware of the raising and lowering of the thirds.
3. Ask students to notate the triads.
4. Play one note and ask student to build a triad on top.
Then notate the triad and transpose the triad into different
registers.
5. Play a triad and ask students to sing any one of the three
notes. Then notate the triad and transpose the triad into
different registers.
6. Group students into pairs and ask them to play different
triads simuhaneously in parallel motion.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the compositional techniques used in this piece.
2. Divide the students into groups and bave each group write
a piece based on one of the different compositional
techniques used.
3. Ask them to share their pieces and combine the pieces to
form a new work.
160
APPENDIX B
ANALYSIS TABLES FOR GRADUSII
161
162
Practice Suggestions
163
164
165
166
Ear Training
1. Discuss clusters of m. 1 and the parallel motion of m. 16
with the students.
2. Ask them to locate the clusters and the parallel motion in
the piece.
Encourage them to make some new clusters, and explore
parallel motion with them.
4. Suggest them to play the clusters in different registers.
5. Ask them to notate the clusters.
Tempo. Start with a slower tempo (half-note = 50 or quarter
note = 100), and gradually work up to the suggested "as fast
as possible" tempo by the composer (half-note = 100).
Rhythm. Group students in pairs. Altemate playing the notes
as written and clapping or counting the rhythm. The teacher
may play the notes as written while the students clap, count,
or/and walk the rhythm.
Note Leaming
1. Figure out the notes of the cluster chords. Examine the
treble ledger-line notes at mm. 3-4.
2. Block the notes and play them in different octaves.
3. Point out the repetitions, such as the repeat of the A
section at mm. 8-15.
Creative Activity
1. Create clusters and play them ali over the keyboard.
2. Play the clusters to various rhythmic pattems.
167
168
Practice Suggestions
Hand Span
1. There are chords in thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths,
and octaves. Do not assign this piece if hand size is a
problem.
2. Even for larger hands, keep the hands relaxed. For
example, use drop-lift motions and flexible wrists to
maintain relaxation.
Voicing. Bring out the two independent lines by shaping the
two parts separately.
Weight Transfer. Follow the direction of the lines and shape
the lines by using weight transfer.
Flexible Wrists. Wrists should line up behind the fingers to
support them.
Fingerings. No fingerings are provided. Pian fingerings with
students. Different shapes and sizes of hands may require
different sets of fingerings.
Ear Training
1. Play short rhythmic pattems found in this piece and ask
students to repeat the pattems by clapping or verbalizing
(for example ta-ta-ta, etc).
2. Play any short melodie pattems in a five-finger range and
ask students to repeat them at the keyboard. Then bave
the students to transpose them in different keys.
3. Play one of the two imitative melodie lines and ask the
student to play the other line. In group lessons, divide
students into two groups and bave each group play one of
the lines. Have them sing the lines if possible.
Note Leaming
1. Divide the piece into four-bar phrases.
2. Leam the notes hands separately.
3. Block the notes.
Other Literature
1. Practice some pieces from J. S. Bach's Two-Part
Inventions to explore more two-part contrapuntai pieces.
2. fri Gradus III, No. 14 is another piece written in
counterpoint.
3. Some other easy contrapuntai pieces recommended are,
for example, Alee Rowley's Five Miniature Preludes and
Fugues.
Creative Activity. Ask students to write short motifs and
extend them into short pieces using different contrapuntai
devices such as canonie imitation and inversion.
169
Compositional
Techniques
Pedagogical Elements
thirds) with drop-lift motions. Also, use the drop-lift motion for the
three-note and four-note slurs.
Practice Suggestions
13-15 require flexible wrist motions. Line up the wrists behind the
playing fingers to support them. Hands should remain relaxed
without any stiffhess at ali times.
Weight Transfer. Use weight fransfer to shape the lines,
particularly during the parallel fifths.
Pedaling. Although there are no pedal markings. use quarter- or
half-pedals for the parallel fifth passages to connect the notes.
Change the pedal on every beat.
Preparatory Exercise on Slurs
1. Practice m. 1 to get used to the drop-lift motion one hand at a
time. Pay attention to the release of tension after the drop
motion. The lift motion should be done by lifting from the
forearm and following through with the wrist.
2. Transpose the pattem to many different notes.
Preparatory Exercise on Parallel Fifths
1. Practice the parallel fifths at mm. 6-7 to get used to the drop-lift
motion, weight fransfer, and the fingerings with the right hand
alone.
2. Practice m. 5. for the parallel fifths with the left hand alone.
3. It is less sfretchy to finger the fifths using 1-5 exclusively or
altemating 1-4 and 1-5.
4. Transpose the pattem to various key levels.
Ear Training
1. Review the interval of a fifth. (No. 5, Gradus I also includes
fifths.)
2. Play a note to the students and ask them to sing the note a fifth
above or below.
3. Play the interval of a fifth and ask the students to sing the upper
or the lower note. Prepare each sfrident to be able to sing either
note.
Creative Activity
1. Give the students a motive or have them write their own.
2. Ask them to write a canon with the motive. May assign
different interval to the students. For example, canon at a third,
a fifth, or an octave.
170
171
172
173
Preparatory Exercise
1. Repeat m. 1, m. 11, and m. 16, five times each, as warmup exercises.
2. Practice the exercises both staccato and legato. Use the
pedal with the legato practice.
3. Begin with a slower tempo and gradually increase the
tempo as the hands get used to the movement.
Rhythm
1. Study the rhythm ofmm. 1-5.
2. Clap, count, or/and walk the rhythm several times.
3. Conduci the first five measures while the teacher plays.
Ear Training
1. Review the interval of the fifth and introduce the interval
ofthe seventh.
2. Play a note for the student and ask him/her to sing the note
a fifth above or below. Do the same exercise with the
sevenths.
3. Play the interval of a fifth/seventh and ask students to sing
the upper or the lower note. Prepare them to be able to
sing either note.
Creative Activity
1. Ask students to write some short pieces using the intervals
of fifths and sevenths.
2. Use devices such as canon and imitation.
174
175
Elements
Practice Suggestions
starts with F and the pitch-class integer of F is 5, the prime row is labeled as P5. Under this labeling, C is
PO, C#isPl,etc.
176
177
' PI is the first row reading from left to right in the mafrix on No.
178
Ear Training
1. Play the prime row within an octave range and ask
students to identify the intervals.
2. Group the students in pairs and bave them take tums
playing the prime row in different octaves.
Rhythm
1. Take the eighth note as the basic unit.
2. Divide every 4-beat measure into two halves.
3. Clap or tap the rhythm as written.
4. Add dynamics in clapping or tapping.
Preparatory Exercise
Practice slowly, two measures at a lime.
Repeat each note or pairs of notes five times to get used to
the touch and dynamics.
3. After mastering the measures in a slower tempo, gradually
play up to tempo.
Note Leaming
1. Help students to identify the rows. Ask them to check
their findings with Adler's indications.
2. Discuss with students how the same notes from the same
tone row could be presented in different ways by using
octave transposition. Enharmonic renotation can also
make the notes look different in the score.
3. Repeat the steps suggested in the Preparatory Exercise,
except practice the measures in larger units-mm. 1-4,
mm. 5-7, and mm. 8-10.
179
180
Preparatory Exercise
1. Use m. 1 as a warm-up exercise. Repeat the pattem five
times to get used to weight transfer and contraction and
extension ofthe hand.
2. Use the first four left-hand melodie notes as a warm-up
exercise for the left hand. Repeat the first four notes to
practice flexible wrist, weight transfer, and contraction
and extension of hand.
Ear Training
1. Play P6, P7, P11, R6, R7, and RI 1 since they are the
permutation rows used in this piece.
2. Put students in pairs and have them to play these rows for
each other.
Creative Activitv
1. Ask students to use the tone rows that they create in No. 8.
2. Guide them to constmct their own matrix.
3. Ask them to pick three rows to write another short piece.
4. Suggest that they do something similar to No. 9: use the
row to constmct the melody or set part ofthe row in the
accompaniment.
181
Compositional
Techniques
Pedagogical Elements
182
Ear Training
1. Play the rows used in this piece: PIO, 17,111, RI, RI2, and
RI5.
2. Group students in pairs and make them take tums playing the
different permutations to get used to the sound.
3. Identify the intervals used in the different permutations.
Rhythm
1. Take the eighth note as the basic unit.
2. Clap or tap the rhythm. Leam the rhythm by groups of eighthnote units: at m. 1, the four eighth-note groups; at m. 3, the two
three eighth-note groups; at m. 5, the three eighth-note groups;
and at m. 7, the two three-eighth-note groups.
3. Add dynamics in clapping or tapping.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Make a short warm-up exercise from the confrary motion
movement at m. 1 by playing m. 1 and transposing it up or
down sequentially by steps (see the example below). Put a
fourth in the right hand and a sixth in the left hand (do without
accidentals).
^t-'J^J
^^e!e?
acziM
Piano
5^
183
Compositional
Techniques
Pedagogical Elements
184
Ear Training
1. Review ali the deviations from the refrograde of the row since
No. 11 is based mostly on RI.
2. Group students in pairs and have them take tums playing the
different deviations to get familiar with the sound.
Rhythm
1. Divide students into groups.
2. One group claps the right-hand rhythm and the other group
does the left hand. Switch the parts.
3. Practice the three-against-four pattem at m. 26.
4. Have students do the following individually:
a. Set a pulse and clap in three for several times. Then
clap in four for several times.
b. Tap both rhythmic groups on the table with the group
of four in the right hand and group of three in the left
hand.
e. Each hand should tap its rhythmic group for many
times till the tapping becomes secure.
d. Tap the two different groups together.
e. Then play the three-against-four at the keyboard.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Repeat m. 4 and m. 5 of the right-hand as a warm-up exercise
for the right hand to get familiar with the sfretching of hands.
2. Repeat m. 8 ofthe left-hand line, leaving out the last sixteenth
note, to form an exercise for the left hand.
Note Leaming
1. Block notes in groups of two or four.
2. Practice as written the notes in groups of four or six. Hands
should form naturai gestures according to the shape ofthe
melodie pattems.
3. Later, practice phrase by phrase.
Other Literature
1. Practice some pieces from J. S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions to
explore more two-part confrapuntal pieces.
2. Also, Gradus II, No. 4 and Gradus ///, No. 14 are pieces written
in counterpoint.
3. Other easy confrapuntal pieces recommended are, for example.
Alee Rowley's Five Miniature Preludes and Fugues.
4. Guide students to discuss the differences between different
confrapuntal pieces such as how they sound or how different
the rhj^hm is.
Creative Activitv
1. Review the constmetion of the row square.
2. Ask students to write a passage based largely on the prime row
or any one ofthe permutations.
185
186
Preparatory Exercise
1. Repeat mm. 3-5 ofthe left-hand line five times, taking C
up to C-sharp and leaving out the last two notes at m. 5, as
a warm-up exercise for the left hand.
2. Make mm. 7-8 a hand-extension exercise for the left hand.
Transpose the pattem up or down sequentially by steps.
3. Play the right hand cluster up and down the keyboard in
different octaves. Maintain a light drop-lift movement.
Creative Activity
1. Divide students into two groups.
2. Have one group create a simple cluster accompaniment
pattem.
3. Have the other group improvise a legato melodie line.
4. Switch the activity.
187
188
189
190
191
Ear Training
1. Review the intervals of seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths,
sixths, sevenths, and octaves.
2. Play a note to the student and ask them to sing a note
above or below to form any ofthe above intervals.
3. Play different intervals and ask students to sing the upper
or the lower note. Prepare them to be able to sing either
note.
4. Ask students to notate the intervals after they sing them.
Preparatory Exercise on Parallel Thirds
1. Practice hands separately for the parallel thirds at m. 5 to
get used to the drop-lift motion, weight transfer, wrist
movement, and the fingerings.
2. Repeat the measure many times until the students master
the movement.
Creative Activity
1. Give a short familiar tune to the students or have them
pick out their own.
2. Ask them to write an accompaniment by using a two-note
pedal, or some other ostinato pattem, or create on their
own.
192
193
Elements
Hand Span. Similar to No. 14, this piece calls for stretches of
an octave, a seventh, a sixth, and a fifth. Hand size should be
considered before assigning this work. Hands should be able
to comfortably reach the above intervals to avoid muscle
tension during the parallel seventh passages at m. 5 for the left
hand and m. 7 for the right hand.
Voicing
1. Balance the two canonie voices by shaping them
separately.
2. Bring out the top notes ofthe doubl notes to shape the
phrase.
3. Voicing the top note minimizes the stress on the hands.
Drop-Lift Motion
1. Use drop-lift motion to release the tension of muscle.
2. Do the drop-lift motion in a larger unit, not on individuai
notes.
Weight Transfer
1. Use weight transfer during the legato passages.
2. Follow the contour ofthe line to shape the phrases.
Flexible Wrists. Line up the wrists behind the playing fingers
to support them, particularly for the double-note passages.
Rhythm. At mm. 5-8, the altemating rhythmic pattems
between the dotted-eighth-sixteenth and the triplet, and the
triplet and the two-eighth-note unit (m. 8) increase the
difficulty of this piece.
194
195
196
Preparatory Exercise
1. Select two familiar tunes and cut them into fragments.
2. Ask students to play the fragments randomly.
3. Put students into pairs and altemate playing the fragments.
Other Literature'*
1. There are some other aleatorie piano pieces for
introducion or further study of this style.
2. Elementary level:
Adventures in Time and Space, Voi. L, "Needles
and Haystacks" by Lyim Freeman Olson
The Little Avant-Garde: A Piano Methodfor PreSchoolers by Stephen Covello
3. Intermediate level:
Gradus LL, No. 13, and No. 19.
32 Piano Games, XXVIII ("Mountains") by Ross
Lee Finney
32 Piano Games, XXX ("Mobile") by Ross Lee
Firmey
4. Advanced level:
Horizons, Book 2, "If ' by S. Dolin
Creative Activity
1. Ask students to select some ofthe pieces that they
composed earlier (preferably those pieces that are similar
to the style of No. 14 and No. 15).
2. Group students into pairs.
3. Ask them to cut their compositions into fragments and
altemate playing the fragments randomly.
" Ellen R. Thompson, Teaching and Understanding Contemporary Piano Music (San Diego, CA:
KjosWest, 1976), 181.
197
' Carole, Thibodeaux, "Performance Analysis: A System for Increasing in Piano Students an
Awareness of Stylistic Interpretation as Applied to Selected Twentieth Century Piano Music" (Ph.D. diss..
University of Oklahoma, 1976), 264-269.
^ For more information on new notational symbols, see Doris Leland Harrel's "New Techniques in
Twentieth Cenfrory Solo Piano Music: An Expansion of Pianistic Resources from Cowell to the Present,"
(D.M.A. thesis, University of Texas, Austin, 1976); and Marjory Irvin's article "A New Look for New
Sounds" C/avier (Aprii 1973): 15-18.
198
Practice Suggestions
199
Other Literature^
1. There are some other piano pieces which explore the
inside ofthe piano:
Advanced level:
"Aeolian Harp," Piano Music by Henry Cowell
"The Banshee," Piano Music by Henry Cowell
"Tiger," Piano Music by Henry Cowell
Fantasy Op. 7(5 by Alan Hovbaness
2. There are some other piano pieces using new notational
symbols:
Elementary level:
Adventures in Time and Space, Voi. I, "As You
Like II!" by Mary Mageau
The Little Avant-Garde: A Piano Methodfor PreSchoolers by Stephen Covello
Intermediate level:
Gradus LL, No. 13, and No. 19 by Samuel Adler
32 Piano Games, I ("Middle, Bottom and Top")
by Ross Lee Finney
32 Piano Games, XXIX ("Windows") by Ross
Lee Finney
Scnes d Enfants, "Cris dans la Rue" by Frederic
Mompou
Advanced level:
Piano Music, "The Tides of Manaunaun" by
Henry Cowell
Creative Activity. Ask students to write a piece incorporating
plucked strings inside the piano as well as notes played on the
keyboard. Ask them also to notate the notes on the score
using the new notational symbols.
Thompson, 177-183.
200
201
Hand Span
1. The piece calls for hand stretches of sixths, sevenths, and
octaves. While mm. 37-46 calls for octaves in the right
hand, mm. 6-7 and 13-15 also contain wide stretches.
2. The left-hand chordal accompaniment spans a sixth.
Consider hand size when assigning this piece.
Rhythm
1. Each section comes with different rhythmic pattems and
problems. Leam the rhythm section by section.
2. Study the changing meters in section two.
3. In the third section, there are asymmetrical rhythmic
groupings ofthe left-hand chords. Practice hands alone
until the rhythm in each hand is mastered.
Drop-Lift Motion
1. Students should leam to drop weight from the forearm for
the fortissimo octave melody section. Teachers should
remind the students to relax the hand by lifting after the
drop.
2. Use drop-lift motions during the two-note slurs in the first
section and the repeated notes in the second section.
Weight Transfer. Follow the direction ofthe lines and shape
the lines by using weight transfer, particularly for the long
melodie right-hand line in the third section.
Flexible Wrists. Wrists should follow the movement ofthe
fingers to support them.
Contraction and Extension of Hands. The piece involves
extension and contraction ofthe hands. Maintain muscular
relaxation by applying weight transfer, flexible wrists, and
drop-lift motions.
202
203
204
205
Rhythm. Practice the three-against-four (m. 14) and the threeagainst-eight (mm. 12-13) pattems.
1. Divide students into groups.
2. Have one group clap the right-hand line rhythm while the
other group claps the one in the left hand. Swttch the
parts.
3. Practice the three-against-four pattem at m. 14.
4. Have each student do the following individually:
a. Set a pulse and clap in triplets for several beats.
Then clap in sixteenths for several beats.
b. Tap both rhythmic groups on the table with the
group of four in the righi hand and the group of
three in the left hand.
e. Each hand should tap its rhythmic group many
times until the tapping becomes secure.
d. Tap the two different groups together.
e. Then play the three-against-four at the keyboard.
f. Repeat steps one to nine for the three-against-eight
pattem (mm. 12-13).
Practice the measures with changing meters.
1. Take the eighth note as the basic unit.
2. From mm. 16-30, practice the aftemating rhythmic
pattems between the measures.
3. Clap or tap rhythmic pattems.
4. Finally play the measures as they are written.
Note Leaming
1. Block the notes into groups.
2. Point out the similarity or repetition ofthe phrases.
Creative Activity. Ask students to pick two to three
compositional techniques that they have leamed in this book
and combine the techniques (ostinato, parallel passages, and
clusters) in writing a new piece.
^
206
APPENDIX C
ANALYSIS TABLES FOR GRADUS III
207
208
Table C I . Continued.
Practice Suggestions
Ear-Training
1. Introduce bitonality by having the student play the melody
while the teacher or another student plays the
accompaniment. Then switch the parts.
2. Divide students into two groups. Altemate in singing the
tune and playing the accompaniment.
Voicing
1. The melody should be brought out and should be in
balance with the two-part accompaniment.
2. One way to make students aware of this is to experiment
with different dynamics: a soft melody with a loud
accompaniment and vice versa.
Note Leaming
1. Identify the tonai areas and locate the cross relationships.
Play some short five-finger drills on G-sharp minor and A
minor. These are the keys used in the right-hand melodie
line.
2. Block the notes phrase by phrase, for example, mm. 1-5,
to get familiar with the notes and pattems. Repeat them in
different octaves.
Rubato. Introduce or review the idea ofrwflto. Discuss how
the students can altemate the rhythm or tempo by accelerating
or diminishing the tempo. Practice m. 27 to the last measure
for rit., molto rit., and a tempo.
Rhythm. Practice the changing meters by following the steps
below:
1. Ask students to locate ali changing meters.
2. Clap and count each meter separately several times.
Altemate the meters in different ways and clap them
again. For example, clap three duple-meter measures
followed by four triple-meter measures.
3. Finally, clap the rhythm exactly as written on the page.
Altemately, one student can clap the rhythm while the
other plays the tune.
Creative Activity
1. Suggest that students write simple short melody and
accompaniment passages. Use different keys for the two
different parts.
Divide
the students into pair and bave them play their
2.
passages to each other. Or altemate the students to play
the melody and accompaniment.
Transpose the passages into different keys.
209
210
Ear-Training
1. Point out the contrapuntai two-voice texture of this piece.
2. Divide the two voices between the teacher and student or
between students.
3. Altemate playing and/or singing the voices.
Note Leaming
1. Block the notes every two measures according to the
phrases and play them in different octaves.
2. Label the points of imttation and help students to
recognize and understand the relationship ofthe pattems.
For example, discuss the range ofthe notes, the intervals
between the two voices, and the relationship between the
two voices (if they are in parallel motion or contrary).
Preparatory Exercise
1. Play different five-finger scales in staccato.
2. Practice short rhythm drills: use quarter notes and
altemate duple meter and triple meter.
Creative Activity. Suggest that students write short passages
including points of imitation and some canonie passages. The
two voices may be a second apart or a diminished octave apart
as those in No. 2.
211
Pedagogical
Elements
212
Ear-Training
1. Explain the octatonic scale. Familiarize students with the
constmetion and sound ofthe scale. (Another piece that
features octatonic scale is No. 8, Gradus III.)
2. Ask students to play the scale in different registers and to
sing the scale.
3. Have the students constmct octatonic scales on C, C#, and
D and ask them to notate them.
Note Leaming
1. Play some octatonic scales and play them to different
registers. As the students leam the octatonic scales, it
becomes easier for them to recognize the notes and
pattems, to locate and bear dissonances such as the
opening minor second in the left hand and the augmented
sixth in the left hand at m. 9, and to recognize the notes
both visually and aurally.
2. Block the notes phrase by phrase.
Tone Control and Kev Speed. Students may find the
appropriate kind of tone color by experimenting with different
key speeds. Key speed is not to be confiised with tempo.
1. Drop more slowly into the keys to produce a soft but rich
tone.
2. Use a faster keystroke to produce a loud and full tone.
Pedaling. The pedal marking is used more often in Book III
than in the other books ofthe Gradus. Have students
experimenting the effects of using or without the pedal.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Ask students to constmct octatonic scales. Beginning on
different notes.
2. Play the octatonic scales with different key speeds to
explore different tone colors.
3. Practice pedaling by playing the octatonic scale with
pedal. Change the pedal on every note. Then depress the
pedal for the whole scale, exploring the sound.
Rhythm. Practice the syncopation at mm. 2, 3, 18. Take the
eighth note as the basic unit at the beginning and then feel the
syncopated by considering quarter beat.
Creative Activity. Suggest that students write short passages
including octatonic scales and "texture melodies."
213
Samuel Adler, No. 4, Gradus III (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981).
214
215
Preparatory Exercise
1. Create light staccato drills by playing ali white-key fivefinger scales.
2. Pick any tone cluster and play it in different registers.
3. Play short cluster chords sff to experiment with the key
speed. Be sure to relax the muscle after each chord.
Insert small rests after each cluster to ensure that
relaxation takes place.
4. Create short rhythm drills by altemating s, , i, i, i, and s
meters. Do this drill with clapping, verbalizing (such as
saying ta-ta-ta-ta, etc), or walking (change direction with
every meter change).
Creative Activitv.
1. Ask students to create their own pieces by using
"question-answer" formats.
2. Suggest the students to write a simple melody and use
clusters and sevenths as the accompaniment. Altemately,
the teacher can provide a cluster accompaniment and
encourage students to improvise a simple melodie line.
216
217
Ear Training
1. Review the interval ofthe third.
2. Play a note for the student and ask him/her to sing a third
above or below the given note.
3. Play the interval of a third and ask students to sing the
upper or the lower note. Prepare them to be able to sing
either note.
4. Ask the students to notate different kinds of thirds on the
board.
5. Repeat the above activities for reviewing intervals of
fourths, fifths, and sixths.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice the different slur pattems and rhythmic pattems
on top of a table or the lid ofthe piano first before playing
them on the keyboard, particularly for the syncopated
pattem in the section B at mm. 10-11.
2. Practice the altemating thirds in mm. 1-8 on top of a table
or the lid ofthe piano first and then play them on the
keyboard.
3. Practice m. 15 hands alone and away from keyboard on
top of a table or the lid ofthe piano first. Remind the
students to use a small rotational movement ofthe
wrists/hands. As students master the rotational
movement, practice m. 15 at the keyboard and hands
together.
4. Practice downward three-note slur consecutive thirds (for
example, m. 1, last three eighth notes) away from the
keyboard on top of a table or the lid ofthe piano, hands
separately and hands together. It is easier to do them with
the same fingering in each hand.
Rapid Shifts. Practice the shifts silently before attempting to
play the notes at the keyboard.
Creative Activity
1. Ask students to use thirds to create some passages
involving altemating thirds between hands and some
passages including consecutive thirds in the same hand.
2. Ask students to write some other passages to explore the
possibility of using other intervals such as consecutive
sixths.
218
219
220
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice short drills on different five-finger scales in
contrary motion and parallel motion. Start at a slow
tempo and gradually speed up. Make certain that the
wrists are flexible and that they line up behind the fingers.
2. Repeat the drills with different dynamics such as
crescendo, diminuendo, forte, piano, subito forte, or
piano.
3. Practice passages in broken sixths and sevenths (mm. 1415) with rotational motion. Doubl the right hand pattem
with the left hand. Do them ali over the keyboard and in
confrary and parallel motions.
Ear Training
1. Explain the meaning ofthe term "enharmonic."
2. Ask students to play each black note ofthe keyboard and
notate them in at least two different ways.
Note Leaming
1. Play every four notes as a group and block them.
2. Repeat every group several times and do them in different
octaves before practicing the next group.
Fingerings. Experiment with different fingerings and choose
the most efficient set of fingerings.
Creative Activity
1. Write two-line short etude-like passages combining two or
three ofthe foUowings: contrary motion, parallel motion,
rotation motion, scale passages, and/or broken intervals on
sixths or sevenths.
2. In addition, use different keys for each line and provide
some rhythmic variety, for example, dotted rhythms.
221
222
Ear Training
1. Explain the octatonic scale. Familiarize students with the
constmetion and sound ofthe scale. (Another piece that
features octatonic scale is No. 3, Gradus III.)
2. Ask students to play the scale in different registers and to
sing the scale.
3. Ask students to notate the octatonic scale on the board.
4. Ask students to notate the scale enharmonically.
Note Leaming
1. Write out and play octatonic scales starting on C, C#, and
D.
2. Figure out which scale contains the notes ofthe melodie
line, the left-hand ostinato, and the right-hand ostinato.
3. Discuss the intervals used in the melodie line.
4. Block each ostinato pattem and play it in different
octaves.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Drill the left-hand ostinato and the right-hand ostinato.
Make sure that the wrist supports the fingers by lining up
behind them.
2. Play the ostinato figures in dotted rhythms to familiarize
the pattems.
Creative Activity. Create different ostinato pattems using the
octatonic collection. Add a melodie line. Add dynamic
markings.
223
224
Ear Training
1. Introduce or review first inversion triads, comparing it to
the root position triad. (Another piece that features first
inversion chords is No. 13, Gradus III.)
2. Play a series of first inversion triads and emphasize the
parallel thirds and sixths.
3. Ask the students to play first inversion triads on the white
keys.
4. Ask students to notate the triads.
5. Play the triads again. Score the pitches widely apart or
doubl the third ofthe triad at the bass.
6. Play one note and ask student to build a root position or
first inversion triad on top of that note. Then notate the
triads and transpose into different registers.
7. Play a triad (in root position or first inversion) and ask
students to sing any one ofthe three notes. Then notate
the triad and transpose the triad into different registers.
Note Leaming. Figure out what types of triads are used
major, minor, augmented, or diminished. Block the notes
(vertically) and repeat them in different octaves.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Repeat the first phrase of the piece to practice weight
transfer and the movement ofthe wrists and fingers.
2. Practice hands separately first, then hands together.
Rhythm. Changing meters contribute to the complexity ofthe
rhythm, particularly from mm. 12-18.
1. Use the eighth note as the basic unit of beat at the
beginning and feel the rhythm in larger groupings later.
2. Clap the rhythm ofmm. 12-182 + 2 + 2 + 2 for 1 in m.
12, 3 + 2 for i in m. 13, 2 + 2 + 2 for i in m. 14, and 3 + 3
for 4 in mm. 15-18.
3. Repeat step 2, walk in the opposite direction whenever the
meter changes.
Creative Activitv. Students may write their own preparatory
exercise. Also, encourage them to write short passages using
series of first inversion chords.
225
writing.
Pedagogical
Elements
226
Ear Training
1. Explain the intervals of perfect fourths, diminished
fourths, and augmented fourths. Ask students to constmct
these intervals on different notes and have them play the
chords for each other. Altematively, write the first note
and ask the student provide the other note ofthe interval.
2. Play different kinds of intervals and ask students to
identify the fourths. Identify the other intervals also if
possible.
3. Play the fourths in different registers ofthe keyboard.
4. Play a note for the student and ask him/her to sing the note
a fourth above or below the given note.
5. Play the interval of a fourth and ask students to sing the
upper or the lower note. Prepare them to be able to sing
either note.
6. Ask them to notate different kinds of fourths on the board.
Note Leaming. Locate ali main notes first, and then add the
grace-notes. Remind them the interval of fourths between the
main notes and the grace notes.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Pick any fourth in the piece. Practice rotation movements,
between the notes that form the fourths, away from the
keyboard on top of a table or the hd ofthe piano. As
hands become familiar with the motion, play the notes at
the keyboard.
2. Practice aftemating the grace-note pattems between the
hands as in mm. 8-10, mm. 11-13, and mm. 19-21. Use
drop-hft motions.
3. Repeat the above exercise at piano, forte, and fortissimo.
Creative Activity. Create short passages with plain melodie
lines and repeated notes. Notes may be altemated between
the hands or played hands together. Finally, add grace-notes
to the melodie line. Students may explore different intervals
with the grace-notes and discuss the different effects.
227
228
Table c u . Continued.
Practice Suggestions
Preparatory Exercise
1. Away from the keyboard on top a table or the lid ofthe
piano, practice the pattems at m. 8. Choreograph the
drop-lift and rotational motions.
2. At the keyboard, practice the paftems at mm. 8-13.
Maintain flexible wrists.
3. Practice the quick shifts silently at mm. 6-7, mm. 12-13,
mm. 21-22, mm. 22-24, and mm. 25-26. Practice
dropping weight when moving hands to the sides.
4. At the keyboard, practice the rapid shifts mentioned in
step 3.
Rhythm. Pay special attention to the rests at mm. 22-24.
Count in sixteenth notes to maintain precision.
Note Leaming. Block the notes into groups and practice them
in different rhythms, for example, dotted rhythm.
Creative Activity. Suggest that students write short exercise
involving rapid shifts which explore the extremes ofthe
keyboard.
229
230
Ear Training
1. Divide students into two groups.
2. Play simple two-voice cross-rhythmic pattems and
aftemate parts between the groups.
3. Ask the students to notate the rhythmic pattems.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Divide students into two groups.
2. Have one group clap the half note as the basic pulse of
each measure. Have the other group clap the different
rhythmic pattems in the piece such as the quarter-note
pattems, quarter-note triplets, and eighth-note quintuplets.
3. Altematively, group the students in pairs. While one
student claps the half note as the basic pulse, the other
student should clap one ofthe voices in the piece. Switch
parts.
4. Then do the rhythm as written with one hand on the
keyboard and the other hand on the lap. For example, tap
the right-hand line on the lap while playing the left-hand
line on the keyboard. Altemate the activities between the
two hands.
Metronome Marking. Instead of setting the metronome to 88
to a quarter note, reset the metronome to 44 to a half note. Il
is easier to handle the triplets and quintuplets in this way.
Conducting. Have one hand conduci the basic pulse while the
other hand plays the different rhythmic pattems on the
keyboard.
Creative Activity. Ask students to vmte different rhythmic
pattems such as quarter-note triplets, eighth-note triplets,
eighlh-note quintuplets, half notes, and quarter notes. Then
combine the pattems and assign the pattems to two different
lines.
231
232
Elements
Practice Suggestions
triad.
3. Divide students into three groups and bave each group
sing one note ofthe triad.
4. Ask the students to play and notate different firstinversion triads.
5. Pair students to play different first-inversion triads
simultaneously in a slow tempo. The two sets of triads
may be played in different registers ofthe keyboard to
explore the sounds featured in piece No. 13.
6. Introduce students to second-inversion tiiads.
233
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice m. 1 five times for flexible wrist movement. Lift
the hands between triads to maintain relaxation of hands.
Do the exercise away from the keyboard, on top of a table
or the lid ofthe piano, and hands alone first.
2. Play the triads again with pedal. Practice the timing ofthe
pedal change. Change the pedal for each triad.
3. Practice the exercise without pedal first. As the hands get
used to the motions, play them at the keyboard with the
pedal.
Leaming by Pattem. Play different first-inversion triads and
notice how they are shaped. Leam the feel ofthe firstinversion triads. Leam to identify the root ofthe chord,
which, in Ibis piece is almost always the soprano. Above ali,
avoid note-by note reading in finding chords.
Creative Activity. Ask students to use different first inversion
triads to write passages. Suggest that they explore different
distances between the hands.
234
Adler's Notes
Compositional
Techniques
Pedagogical
Elements
235
Ear Training
1. Play short rhythmic pattems similar to those in No. 14 and
ask students to repeat the pattems by clapping.
2. Play short melodie pattems in five-finger range and ask
students to repeat them on the keyboard.
3. Then ask them to transpose or invert the pattems.
4. Play one ofthe two imitative melodie lines and ask
students to sing the other line. Altematively, divide
students into two groups and have each group sing one of
the voices.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Review different kinds of scales such as octatonic scales
and whole-tone scales.
2. Play a one-octave scale hands together with different
dynamic levels. Switch the emphasis by sometimes
bringing out the right hand, the left hand, or both.
3. Write short phrases using a combination of scales and play
them.
Other Literature
1. Practice some pieces from J. S. Bach's Two-Part
Inventions to acquaint students with the contrapuntai style.
2. Alee Rowley's Five Miniature Preludes and Fugues is
another set of pieces showing the contrapuntai style.
Creative Activity. Ask students to write short motifs and
extend them into short passages using different contrapuntai
devices such as canonie imitation, inversion, augmentation,
and diminution.
236
237
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice weight transfer with five-finger notes.
2. Hold the first note with the thumb and play the other notes
in succession away and back toward the thumb. Practice
hands alone at first.
3. Hold the first note with the fifth finger and play the other
notes in succession away and back toward the fifth finger
in the same hand. Practice hands alone at first.
4. Use down-up motions with the wrists to reduce tension in
the hands.
Note Leaming
1. Practice the piece phrase by phrase and hands alone.
2. Play the lines without the long pedal tones to reduce hand
stretches. Add the long pedal tones at a later stage.
3. Block the notes at every measure and repeat them at
different registers.
Creative Activity. Write a four-part passage with pedal tones
in the inner or outer voices.
238
Table C. 16. Gradus III, No. 16. "A Bit of Twelve-Tone Music"
Adler's Notes
"This twelve-tone piece is built on the row A B*' B F* E D* C A''
ft is used both harmonically and melodically."
Compositional
Techniques
19
Ilo 111 16
14 13 IO 18 17
12
A
P9
Bb B
F#
E
D# C
Ab G
D
C#
P8
Ab A
Bb F
D# D
B
F#
C# C
G
P7
G
Ab A
E
D
C# Bb F# F
c B
PO C
C# D
A
G
F# D# B
Bb
F
E
P2
D
D# E
B
A
Ab F
G
F#
C# C
P3
D# E
F
C
Bb A
F# D
C#
Ab G
P6
F# G
Ab D#
C# C
A
F
E
e Bb
PIO Bb e
C
G
F
E
D# D
C# A
Ab
PII B
D#
E
e C# Ab F# F D Bb A
P4
E
F
F# C#
B
A
Ab
Bb G
D# D
P5
F
F# G
D
D#
Bb A
C
B
Ab E
PI
C# D
D# Bb
B
F# F
Ab G
E
C
Rll R12 R13 RIIO RI8 RI7 R14 RIO RI 11 RI6 RI5
G D C" F.
15
F
E
D#
Ab
Bb
B
D
F#
G
C
C#
A
RI9
R5
R4
R3
R8
RIO
Rll
R2
R6
R7
RO
RI
R9
' In here, the labeling used corresponds to the pitch-class integers, in which PO representing C, PI
representing C#, etc.
239
240
Table C I 7 . Gradus III, No. 17. "More Fun with '12 Tone'
Adler's Notes
"A different row, A E B A" C E'' G F" F D B*' C", gives us an altogether
different sound because of its rather 'consonant' makeup. Study 16 and 17
carefully to understand that ali twelve-tone music does not sound alike."
Compositional
19
14 111 18 IO 13
HO II
17 16 15 12
Techniques
P9
P2
P7
PIO
P6
P3
Pll
PO
PI
P4
P8
P5
A
D
G
Bb
F#
Eb
B
C
C#
E
Ab
F
E
A
D
F
C#
Bb
F#
G
Ab
B
Eb
C
B
E
A
C
Ab
F
C#
D
Eb
F#
Bb
G
Ab
C#
F#
A
F
D
Bb
B
C
Eb
G
E
C
F
Bb
C#
A
F#
D
Eb
E
G
B
Ab
Eb
Ab
C#
E
C
A
F
F#
G
Bb
D
B
G
C
F
Ab
E
C#
A
Bb
B
D
F#
Eb
F#
B
E
G
Eb
C
Ab
A
Bb
C#
F
D
F
Bb
Eb
F#
D
B
G
Ab
A
C
E
C#
D
G
C
Eb
B
Ab
E
F
F#
A
C#
Bb
Bb
Eb
Ab
B
G
E
C
c#
D
F
A
F#
C#
F#
B
D
Bb
G
Eb
E
F
Ab
C
A
RI
R6
Rll
R2
RIO
R7
R3
R4
R5
R8
RO
R9
' The labeling used in here corresponds to the pitch-class integers, in which PO representing C, PI
representing C#, etc.
241
' Michael L. Friedmann, Ear Training for Twentieth-Century Music (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1990), 4-5.
242
243
244
Preparatory Exercise
1. Repeat m. 1 five times as a warm-up exercise for the
broken-chord pattem.
2. Play m. 11 five times as a warm-up exercise for the blockchord pattem. Practice both legato and staccato.
3. Maintain muscular relaxation throughout the exercise by
using drop-lift motions, keeping the wrist flexible, and
using weight transfer.
Ear Training
1. Review major and minor triads. (The major and minor
triads are introduced in No. 15 and No. 19 of Gradus L.)
2. Ask students to play and then sing different triads. Work
with parallel major and minor triads to help students leam
about the raising and lowering ofthe thirds.
3. Ask students to notate the triads.
4. Play one note and ask students to build a triad on top of
that note. Then notate the triad and transpose the triad
into different registers.
5. Play a triad and ask students to sing any one ofthe three
notes. Then notate the triad and transpose the triad into
different registers.
Creative Activity. Ask students to use different triads to write
short passages. Suggest that they put different triads of
different keys together.
245
Table C.20. Gradus ///, No. 20. "A Five Finger Rumble"
Adler's Notes
"A typical kind of quick ostinato study. Use the pedal frequentiy to
get some 'blurred' effect."
Compositional
The texture and fritone melody of this piece resemble Debussy's
Techniques
Fireworks.
There are two sections and a codetta.
The piece use only five-note ostinato pattems on the white keys,
except at mm. 13, 20, and 21.
Section A mns from mm. 1-12, the five-note ostinato figure is set
against the left-hand octatonic collection E-F-G-G#-A#-B-C#-D.
In mm. 6-12, the left-hand line emphasizes the E-flat minor
pentatonic scale.
In section B (mm. 13-19), the ostinato moves to the left hand and
defines the B section.
In mm. 15-17, the octatonic melodie content ofmm. 1-5 retums.
The B-flat in m. 17 indicates a retum to E-flat minor pentatonic.
The codetta contains a five-finger descending E-flat melodie minor
scale against a five-finger ascending B-flat minor scale.
Drop-Lift
Motion. Use drop-lift motions to execute the ostinato
Pedagogical Elements
figures.
Flexible Wrists. The recurring ostinato figures cali for circular
motions ofthe wrist. Line up the wrists behind the playing fingers
to support them.
Weight Transfer. Use weight fransfer to produce legato.
Key Speed. For louder dynamics, use faster key speeds.
Pedaling. Adler suggests frequent use ofthe pedal to create some
"blurred" Impressionistic sound.
Preparatory
Exercise
Practice Suggestions
1. Play m. 1 five times as a warm-up exercise to practice circular
motion ofthe wrists. Doubles the right-hand part in the left
hand three octaves below.
2. Practice moving in both similar and confrary motion
3. Maintain muscular relaxation throughout the exercise by using
drop-lift motions, keeping the wrist flexible, and by using
weight fransfer.
Ear Training
1. Review the octatonic scale and the pentatonic scale.
2. Ask students to play and sing the scales.
3. Ask students to notate the scales.
Creative Activity. Ask students to create their ostinato figures.
Suggest that they use octatonic and pentatonic scales in their
compositions.
^
^
246
APPENDIX D
ANALYSIS TABLES FOR THE SENSE OF TOUCH
247
248
249
250
Ear Training
1. Vary the rhythm of phrases in this piece and ask students
to identify and notate the differences.
2. Play short melodie patterns in a five-finger range and ask
students to repeat them exactly, transposing them into
other intervals or inverting the pattems.
3. Play one hne ofthe two voices and ask the student to sing
the other line. Divide students in half and have each
group sing one ofthe lines.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Introduce the G-major scale and the fingering of this scale.
2. Add dynamic levels to the scale.
3. Vary the rhythm, playing the scale in quarter notes, in
eighth notes, in triplets, or using dotted rhythms.
Note Leaming
1. Block the notes every measure or every half measure and
repeat them up and down the keyboard.
2. Leam the notes hands separately in small units. Put the
smaller units together and practice phrase by phrase.
Other Literature
1. Practice some of J. S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions to
explore more two-part contrapuntai pieces.
2. No. 14, Gradus III and No. 4, Gradus II are other pieces
written in counterpoint. They are more challenging than
Ibis piece.
3. Some other easy contrapuntai pieces recommended are,
for example. Alee Rowley's Five Miniature Preludes and
Fugues.
Creative Activity. Ask students to write short motifs and
extend them into short canonie pieces.
251
252
Preparatory Exercise
1. Practice the trill figures using different fingerings, for
example 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4, 4-5.
2. Use rotation in executing trill pattems.
3. Add dynamic levels (such as those found in Ibis piece:
pp,p, mff cresc, and dim.) to the trills.
4. Repeat the first half of the right hand in m. 15 five times
and do the same for mm. 12-14 ofthe left band. Practice
the stretch by applying weight transfer, flexible wrists, and
pivoting.
Creative Activity. Suggest that students write short warm-up
exercises for this piece. Address problems of trills,
altemating notes, or hand stretches.
253
254
Note Leaming
1. Leam the notes measure by measure, then phrase by
phrase.
2. Block the notes and move them to different registers.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the phrases in terms of pitch range, rhythmic
pattems, dynamics, and different touches.
2. Ask students to write a short piece with similar treatment.
3. Suggest that they use different registers ofthe keyboard
and explore the dissonances. Use some non-traditional
meters (such as 1 and s).
255
256
Elements
Practice Suggestions
257
258
Ear Training
1. Review the major and minor triads. Introduce diminished
and augmented triads.
2. Ask students to play and then sing different diminished
and augmented triads.
3. Ask students to notate the triads.
4. Play one note and ask student to build a triad on top.
Then notate the triad and transpose the triad into different
registers.
5. Play a triad and ask students to sing any one ofthe three
notes. Then notate the triad and transpose the triad into
different registers.
6. Introduce the seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth
chords.
7. Group students in pairs and ask them to play the different
chords to each other. Notate their chords.
Preparatory Exercise
1. Divide the piece into small units, for example, mm. 1-2
and mm. 3-4.
2. Leam the pattems one unft after another.
3. Observe variable dynamics during practice.
Note Leaming
1. Leam the notes measure by measure and then phrase by
phrase.
2. Block the notes and move them into different registers.
Creative Activity
1. Discuss the triads and chords in this piece.
2. Ask students to write a short piece exploring the different
triadic, seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords.
259
260
Elements
5.
Practice Suggestions
261
' Stefan Kostka defines aggregate as any statement of ali twelve pitch-classes presented withm a
fairly short period in atonal music regardless of order or duplication. See Stefan Kostka, Materials and
Techniques of Twentieth-Centwy Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989), 197.
262
Preparatory Exercise
1. Use mm. 1-4 as a warm-up exercise for the altemating
clusters between hands.
2. Repeat mm. 1-4 in different octaves.
3. Play five-finger scales in the right band for one octave
accompanied by random clusters in the left hand.
Note Leaming
1. Practice the piece in small units, for example, mm. 1 -4,
mm. 5-10, and mm. 11-14.
2. Play the cluster notes slowly. Gradually work up to
tempo.
3. Leam the notes in the cluster chords first. Then leam how
to shift from cluster to cluster.
Creative Activity.
1. Explore clusters ali over the keyboard.
2. Suggest that students write a piece with a melody with
cluster accompaniment.
263
APPENDIX E
A GRADED LIST OF ADLER'S GRADUS AND
THE SENSE OF TOUCH
264
A graded list of Adler's sixty-eight pieces in Gradus and The Sense of Touch is
constmcted in reference to the difficulty levels described in Jane Magrath's The Pianist 's
Guide to the Standard Teaching and Performance Literature} The grades range from
level 1 to level 10. Table 1 is reproduced from Magrath's book. It explains how the
grading system works. The graded list suggests how to sequence the pieces and provides
a general idea ofthe relative difficulty ofthe pieces as comparing to standard works
found in the piano repertoire. The graded list serves as a general reference and
comparison, not a factual grading.^
' Jane Magrath, The Pianist's Guide to the Standard Teaching and Performance Literature (Van
Nuys, CA: Alfred PubHshing Co., Inc., 1995).
^ Ibid., vi.
265
10
Kuhlau and Diabelli Sonatinas; Bach easier Two-Part Inventions; Bach Little
Preludes; Dello Joio Lyric Pieces for the Young
Moderately difficult Bach Two-Part Inventions; Beethoven easier variations
sets; Field Noctumes; Schumarm Album Leaves, Op. 124; Schubert Waftzes;
Turina Miniatures
Easier Bach Three-Part Inventions; easier Haydn Sonata movements; easiest
Mendelssobn Songs Without Words; easiest Chopin Mazurkas
Bach Three-Part Inventions; Chopin Noctumes; Beethoven Sonata, Op. 49, 79;
Mozart Sonata, K. 283; Muczynski Preludes
Ibid., xi.
266
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8
No. 9
No. 10
Level
Pieces
No. 11
No. 12
No. 13
No. 14
No. 15
No, 16
No. 17
No. 18
No. 19
No. 20
Level
No. 1
7
No. 2
5
No. 3
7
Pieces
No. 11
No. 12
Level
No. 4
8
No. 13
7
No. 5
5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8b
7
No. 9
No. 10
7
No. 14
No. 15
No. 16
No. 17
No. 18
No. 19
No. 20
9
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8
No. 9
No. 10
Pieces
No. 1
Level
Pieces
No. 11
No. 12
No. 13
No. 14
No. 15
No. 16
No. 17
No. 18
No. 19
No. 20
Level
* Nos. 8 and 8a are not included in the list since they are the matrix square and the "preliminary
exercise.
267
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8
Level
268