Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's music lesson.

I'm Miss Mansell, and I'm gonna be guiding you through today's lesson.

Let's get started.

Today's lesson outcome is I can play the broken chord accompaniment part to "Fur Elise." Here's some keywords for today's lesson: Broken chord: when the notes of the chord are sounded, one at a time.

Root: the main note of a chord and what the chord is named after.

Octave: an interval of eight notes; octaves and music have the same name, for example, C to C on the keyboard.

And downbeat: the first and strongest beat of the bar.

Today's lesson is on learning the accompaniment for "Fur Elise".

It's in three parts, the broken chord accompaniment, both parts together and performing the full piece.

Let's get started with the first part, the broken chord accompaniment.

The accompaniment of "Fur Elise" uses broken chords.

Broken chords are when the notes of a chord are sounded one at a time.

Watch this video of the melody being performed with the accompaniment.

Have a think about how many notes are there per broken chord? And what is the shape of the broken chords? Have a watch of the video.

(piano playing "Fur Elise") (piano continues playing "Fur Elise") "Fur Elise" uses the following broken cord pattern: the root, the fifth, and the octave.

So you can see in the base clef there, the A, which is the root, the E, which is the fifth and the A, again, up the octave.

Watch the video to see that on the keyboard.

(A, E and A notes play) You can see when you play it, you use your fifth finger for the A, second for the E, and your thumb, again, for the A.

You might find you have to move your hand a little bit more for this than the demonstration video because that's an adult size hand, and your hands might be a little bit smaller.

Once you know this pattern, you can find the root to play the correct chord.

The opening A section of "Fur Elise" uses two different chords, A minor and E in the following order.

The A minor, E and A minor, then A minor, E and A minor.

So again, you can see that written, the A, E, and A for the A minor chord and E, B, and E for the E chord.

Watch the video and you'll be able to see the chord changes and have a listen to the counting pattern.

<v Piano Teacher>One, two, three, one, two, three.

</v> One, two, three, one, two, three, One, two, three, one, two, three.

One and two, three, one and two, three, one and two, three, one, two, three.

<v ->When you get to the middle B section,</v> that uses two extra chords, so we've already had A minor and E.

The B section also uses C and G.

So you can see those on the screen.

So C, which is C, G, C, and G, G, D, G.

(piano plays note sequence) Let's do a quick check for understanding.

Which image shows the correct broken chord shape for the A minor chord? Is it A, B, or C? Have a look at the keyboards and decide.

If you've got A, well done.

That note starts on an A, so that's the broken chord shape for the A minor chord.

B is starting on a C, and C is showing a different chord pattern.

So that's showing A, C and G, which is not the right chord.

Which is the correct rhythm for the broken chord pattern? Have a listen to pattern A.

<v Piano Teacher>One, two, three.

</v> (piano plays three note sequence) <v ->T[Miss Mansell] Then B.

</v> <v Piano Teacher>One, two, three.

</v> (piano plays three note sequence) <v Miss Mansell>And now C.

</v> <v Piano Teacher>One, two, three.

</v> (piano plays note sequence) <v ->Which one do you think is the correct rhythm?</v> Did you get B? If so, well done.

So we're gonna do Task A, that's going to be learning the broken chord pattern for "Fur Elise." So the steps we're gonna take are: practicing the A minor chord to the E chord, then practicing the A section and then the B section.

So the success criteria for this looks like: finding the root note of each broken chord, using your left hand, fingers five, two, and one for each pattern.

You should practice slowly at first, but aim to play each with a pulse.

So it's better to start off really slowly and be able to play to a steady pulse than it is to start off quick and have to slow down.

Here's the chords for the A section, so the A minor E, A minor pattern, and then the B section, which has got the additional C and G chords in it.

And here's how to play the chords.

So you can see the finger patterns for each one of those chords, A minor E, C, and G.

How did you get on? Reflect on your broken chord performance so far.

How does it meet the success criteria? Are you able to find the root and broken chord pattern of the following chords? So the A minor E, C, and G chords? Can you do the pattern with the correct fingers? Are you able to play the A section to a steady pulse and the B section to a steady pulse? Reflect on your performance and maybe note down your thoughts.

Let's move on to part two of our lesson.

Both parts together.

The A section of "Fur Elise" has an extended melodic phrase before the chords start.

Have a quick watch of the video.

(piano plays melodic sequence) You will notice that it starts on the third beat of the bar.

So those two squiggly lines, do we remember what they are? Those are our crotchet rests.

So there are two beats of rest before we start on the three.

And then you've got a whole bar of three before the chords start on the second bar.

Other than the opening motif, it follows a similar pattern throughout.

So you've got this A section after the opening motif.

Have a watch of the video.

(piano plays A section chord sequence) And then the B section.

Watch that video.

(piano plays B section chord sequence) The melody is written in a way that the long note lands on the downbeat with the left hand cord.

When the right hand is busy, the left hand is resting and vice versa.

So both hands aren't really playing at the same time.

So to put both parts together, you can practice the opening motif and chord entry first.

Then practice the first three chords with just the long melody note.

Watch the video to see what we mean there.

(piano plays opening motif sequence) Did you see that you are playing the left hand broken chords and then essentially the first beat of each bar in the right hand? Then you can practice the first three chords with the full melody.

Have a watch of the video to see how to do this.

(piano plays melodic chord sequence) And then you can put the whole of the A section together.

Do all of this very slowly at first, but with even quavers.

So what we mean by that is you should be playing everything at roughly the same speed.

Don't start off really quickly because you're likely to have to slow down and it won't make it even.

And then follow the same process for the B section.

Let's do a check for understanding.

True or false? The left hand broken cord pattern starts in the correct place in this clip.

(piano plays chord sequence) That's true.

If you've got that, well done.

There were four beats of melody before the broken chords start and they land on the downbeat, so that's the first beat of the bar, when the melody plays a long note.

So let's do Task B.

That's gonna be practicing putting both parts together.

So practice the opening motif up to the first chord, then practice the next three bars of the A section, and then practice the B section.

So your success criteria for this is practice the downbeats first, practice very slowly at first and keep those quavers even.

Remember, we want a fluent performance and it's much better if you start slowly.

And here's the full score of "Fur Elise." How did you get on? Reflect on your performance so far.

How did it meet the success criteria? Can you play the opening motif to land on the first chord accurately? Are you able to play the downbeats, the chords with a single long note in the melody? Is your performance played to a steady pulse? Slow, but with even quavers is better.

Reflect on your performance and maybe make some notes.

Let's move on to part three of our lesson, performing the full piece.

Performing a piece like "Fur Elise" takes time to develop fluency and confidence.

This comes from becoming familiar with the difficult sections and practicing those particular sections.

Watch the video of this performance and see what you think.

(piano plays "Fur Elise" at varying speeds) (piano plays "Fur Elise" at varying speeds) What did you think of that performance? There was a bit of a lack of fluency.

So in the B section, this could be the two chords C and G or the different shape of the melody line catching the player out, and returning to the A section.

So remember that breaking down how we practice is important.

So in this case, the performer could practice middle section, you could do hands separately to become comfortable with the chord changes, and then put both parts together again slowly.

And the opening motif was a bit inconsistent, so you could also practice this on its own.

Considering how we use dynamics, rubato and develop a sense of rhythm is also important as we develop as performers.

We're gonna look more in depth at these things.

We can consider this even if we are still working on our performance becoming fluent.

This allows us to make music and think past only the notes, because music isn't just about playing the right notes.

There's often not a right or wrong way to be expressive in a performance, but a good guide is to keep it subtle.

How does the performer use dynamics and rubato in this performance? Have a listen.

(piano plays "Fur Elise" expressively) (piano plays with varying speeds and expressions) What did you think? You could have said there's a slowdown, so that's a rallentando, and a diminuendo, that's getting quieter, at the end.

The main motif is played quite slowly, and then the rest of the phrase is played slightly quicker to make the time back.

The performer also shows a sense of rhythm by stressing the downbeats.

None of this added expression disrupts the flow of the music, it adds to it.

So that's what you always want to remember when thinking about expression.

It needs to add to the music When you are adding expression, consider where you can add dynamics and rubato to shape the performance.

You can play repeated phrases quieter, or add a diminuendo towards the end of the phrase, as that works well.

With rubato, give back what you take.

Try slowing down towards the end.

Keep it subtle and slightly stress the downbeat to show a sense of rhythm.

True or false? We can only add expression to a performance once we can play it fluently.

What do you think? If you've got false, well done.

Knowing a piece well enough to perform it fluently can make it easier to think about expressive elements.

But adding expression as we work through a piece helps us to make music and think about more than just the notes.

Another true or false.

Adding as much rubato and dynamic change as possible will add to the expression in a performance.

Is that true or false? It's false.

If you've got that, well done.

It's usually best to keep the changes subtle.

So small changes in dynamics and tempo help to keep the music flowing.

Let's do Task C.

So practice playing the full melody with broken chords and consider how you can add expressive elements to your performance.

So here's some success criteria.

We want you to develop fluency in your performance.

You'll want to master section A before moving on to section B.

Practice at a tempo where you can keep to a pulse.

So remember, you probably want to start slowly.

Use a change in dynamics and use of rubato to add expression.

And emphasize the downbeat to show a sense of rhythm.

How have you got on? Reflect on your final performance.

How did it meet the success criteria? Is your performance accurate? How do you know? Is it fluent? How have you added expressive elements to your performance? And do you show a sense of rhythm by emphasizing the downbeat? Have a think about how your performance has gone.

Maybe write down some of your thoughts.

Let's summarize today's lesson on learning the accompaniment for "Fur Elise." We have learned to play the accompaniment of "Fur "Elise" and practiced both parts together.

The broken chord accompaniment pattern for "Fur Elise" is three notes: the root, the fifth, and the octave.

The pattern is always played on a downbeat.

We can use expressive elements such as dynamics and rubato to add expression to a performance.

Emphasizing the downbeat helps to show a sense of rhythm.

Thanks for joining me for today's lesson.