Saturday, August 2, 2008

PARALLEL FIFTHS RULE!

So do Parallel Fourths and Parallel Octaves!

This video makes me want to write an entire hymn tune on nothing but parallel fourths, fifths, and octaves. Enjoy!
Peace,
BMP

2 comments:

Jason Pennington said...

HEHEHE! Paral-L fifths and octaves were big-time no-no's for Dr. Mueller back in my theory days. Even more of a transgression for Mrs. Hickson. Then, counterpoint challenged all that, and 12-tone theory blew it all to hell. It's fun to come up with a 12-tone matrix, but I just can't seem to sit and enjoy the music it generates. LMAO!

JP

Brian Michael Page said...

My theory days in high school was the same thing. NO PARALLEL FIFTHS AND NO PARALLEL OCTAVES was the rule we were given. Walter Piston's Harmony book was the golden rule (we didn't use it in class, but our lessons pretty much derived from it).

When I got to Berklee (aka Bezerklee), that attitude changed for almost everyone there, since Berklee is a lot more jazz oriented. If you wanted classical orientation, Boston Conservatory was only a couple of blocks away on the Fenway.

BMP