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Explore polytonality (a la Charles Ives) by playing a simple melody at the piano (or another instrument) whiles a friend plays that same melody in a different key. Try several different combinations of key relationships. Describe each combination; which seem more consonant or more dissonant? |
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| 2 | |
Charles Ives is sometimes linked with New England Transcendentalists like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Read some of Ives' writings (especially Essays Before a Sonata) and see if you can place his theories within that perspective. What did he think music should do and why? |
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| 3 | |
Create your own prepared piano by using some of the devices mentioned in this chapter. Compose (or improvise) a short work using these new sounds. How does this sort of sound alteration change your concept of what the piano can or should do? |
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