Micro Lesson 295: "C Minor" Medieval Melody


Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 295"

This Micro Lesson covers a, "C Minor," melody line that highlights the sounds and melodic effects of the music of Medieval Times. 

The melody applies both, "C Minor," scale and the sounds of the, "C Minor," Arpeggio to bring about the strong minor effect of the phrases. 

In measure one, the melody begins by running across the, "C Minor," arpeggio in the 10th position. At the top of this arpeggio we add a rapid 16th-note triplet idea spinning on, "G and Ab," tones. The technique used is called "legato," better known as the, "hammer-on and pull-off," concept. 

In measure two, double-stop chords punch the time rendering the sound of the, "Bb," major chord, (the keys VII-chord), and pulling the melody back to the sound of the tonic, "C Minor," color once again. 

In measure three, we re-cap the initial arpeggio line, except this time we do so down an octave in the 3rd position. Here our, "C Minor," arpeggio is performed once again using much of the same melodic and rhythmic context. 

In our final fourth measure we apply more double-stops that follow several chords of the key. Here the highlighted chords move rapidly with the small two-note chord ideas. 

Coverage in this measure carries through the chords of, "Ab, Eb and Bb," major. The phrases in this melody move rapidly, so be sure to memorize all of the note locations and have the passages move seamlessly prior to turning on a metronome and building up the speed /tempo. Enjoy!

Micro Lesson 295: "C Minor" Medieval Melody