Directions and explanations
Lesson 1d
First, if you have been experiencing any difficulty playing the .wav files
within this lesson, go
HERE
for a better understanding of the process required to play these files.
Lets review some of what's been covered in the lesson. If you've followed along
through the entire lesson, please note that I've updated the discussion of the
music theory involved in the creation of the Minor Pentatonic Scale
HERE. You may want to go there and have a
look, and then use your browser's "back" button to return to here.
Take a look at the
graphic below and notice that I've displayed the
same image as in the previous portion of the lesson except without the staff
containing the standard musical notation. Some of you may decide that this is
the way you may wish to create a record of your musical compositions, while
others may decide to learn the standard musical notation as well, and include
that with their NAF tablature. Although both decisions are fine, those that
also choose to learn the standard musical notation and include it with their
compositions can share their music with a much wider audience. Later in the
lessons I'll offer a sound file which is a recording of the NAF along with
another one of my instruments such as the classical guitar, piano, sax, orchestral
(silver) flute, or even an african style drum known as a djembe. To share such
a composition with others, I'll include both the NAF tablature and standard
musical notation. If I include the african drum in the piece, I'll also include
the special tablature for that instrument.
Some of you may remember in the beginning of the lesson that I said
"... study will be of the second movement of the piece, which is known as
"Largo". This may have been a little confusing since I didn't offer an explanation
at the time. It may appear as though the piece actually has two names. The use of
the word Largo, is actually a reference to the style in which the section of the
piece is to be played. Largo means the same thing as "very slow and broad". In the
process of rearranging it for the NAF, the style in which it is played is no longer
Largo. In Dvorak's piece, this is a section of that piece that is to be played in
a Largo style. I'll discuss more about this and other definitions later in the lesson.
When creating your tablature, it's best to give as much information as possible
about what type of instrument the tablature is for. In the example here, I've
designated it as NAF and 5-hole. There are many styles of flutes so it is best
to specify NAF in this case. Also there are variations in the hole pattern, so
it's best to indicate the number of holes the flute has. Another thing that I've
only touched on, is the fact that not all NAF flutes are tuned to the same type
of scale. The most commonly used scale for the 5-hole NAF is the Minor Pentatonic
scale. That was discussed extensively in lesson_1c
HERE.
You may want to go there and review for a better understanding.
Due to the complexity of the issue, I've also created a new pictorial
HERE.
to better explain how the scale relates to your flute tuned to the Minor Pentatonic
scale
However, there are others, so it's also a good idea to indicate that in the
tablature. Of course it's also important to indicate which key the piece is to
be played in. Although the tablature as shown with no other music notation staff
can be played in any key, it's useful information to the user. There should always
be an indication of the key when there is another musical notation staff containing
notes on the same page, since both instruments need to be played in the same key.
It should never be assumed that the NAF player has the ability to read the key
signature that is always present on standard music notation staff, anymore than it
should be assumed that the player can know the timing of the piece by the type of
notes on the standard music notation staff.
Those of you who have seen other versions of tablature may have noticed that the
forms currently available don't supply the user with all of the information needed
to perform the piece as it was intended. That is why I attempt to (and encourage you
to) include as much information as possible within the tablature. It can be more
than just a little frustrating to see tablature presented as a pictorial of flutes
depicting the notes by the applicable holes being shown as covered or uncovered, with
no information concerning how long to hold each note, or the required ornamentation
(such as ripple, stacatto, etc) required to play the piece as it was intended. Some
of the current forms of tablature for the NAF includes the normal musical notes above
the NAF flute tablature. However, a player who knows nothing about musicl notes or
their timing, hasn't a clue what kind of timing to give to each note displayed by
the fingering patterns within the NAF tablature. Those who know how to read the normal
musical notation above the NAF tablature, probably wouldn't need the tablature in the
first place.
The use of vibrato isn't something that needs to be indicated in the tablature. However
I will be adding the symbols for that later in the lesson. Although vibrato is often
left to the descretion of the player, it is nice to have a means to indicate within the
tablature, certain places where the use of vibato would greatly enhance the playing of
the piece, since vibato has a very strong influence on the performance of a particular
piece designed for this style of instrument. I suggest that everyone playing the NAF
should practice vibrato until they can do it with ease. When I first began to play wind
instruments, I thought that I had to be born with a special ability in order to create
the vibrato. I thought it required a special type of vocal chords or something, since I
would see the throat of a singer vibate which is something I was certainly unable to do.
I would marvel at singers, and musicians that could perform such a feat with ease. It
required a lot of research on my part before I was convinced that I could learn to do
it just as well as anyone else, and I have. So don't get discouraged if it doesn't come
to you right away. Like anything, it takes practice. The practice is worth it, since the
use of vibrato will greatly enhance your playing of this style of instrument.
First two measures of Largo (from Symphony No. 9) arrangement
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Playing a .wav file
Please note that whenever you click on the link to play a .wav file within
this lesson, that it will take a while for the file to be transferred to your
computer. If using certain browsers, a separate little window will open that
will just sit there for a while looking like nothing is happening. However
the data is actually being transferred to your computer in the background
and will eventually start to play. Patience is required, especially for the
larger files which could take 5 minutes or longer to transfer. The smaller
ones usually do so in a couple of minutes depending on the speed of your modem.
Other browsers will ask you if you want to save the file to your computer. If
you answer yes, it will be transferred, and then you can click on the file and
it will play in your computer's media player.
If your browser displays a little window to play the .wav file, you can still
save the file to your computer's hard-disk for playing later. To do that, all
you have to do is right-click within the window that has the playing controls.
If in Windows, a drop-down menu will appear with an option to save the file.
Use the normal file saving process common to this type of Windows menu.
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