I thought it might be nice to scratch some notes down here so that my write-up will be easier next time.<\/p>\n
Today’s random note composition was # 296. There were some odd bits and then a nice 5 note phrase. I figured out that it was in Ab minor. After that I had a really hard time trying to understand what the palette of diatonic chords was. Seeing E and B and having to call them Fb and Cb was really confusing.<\/p>\n
I re-spelled it as G# minor instead of Ab minor, but was still stuck.<\/p>\n
Then I transposed the whole thing up a half step but by that point that just sounded wrong! And I was more than an hour deep. So I scribbled something down and called it a morning. I visualize the piano lab at the community college and picture the prof shooing us out after 90 min. “Just write it down and go to your next class”<\/p>\n
I feel embarrassed \/ ashamed that a key signature with a lot of accidentals is such a road block. I remember telling my piano prof. that for me it’s like the circle of 5ths was on an island with the key of C up top in the sunshine and as you add more sharps \/ flats you go into increasingly deep water until finally you’re in the sunless depths with Cthulhu. She snorted at me. I guess for her it’s like using the entire alphabet — no reason to be afraid of the letters W X Y and Z?<\/p>\n
I hate trying to read music with sharps and flats, but I have to admit the physical sensation of grabbing a cluster of black keys is very cool. I like the sound of playing all 5 of them at once.<\/p>\n