That's Mozart to Me!

This year 2006 is a significant milestone to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lovers as the musical world celebrates his 250th birthday anniversary. A lifelong Mozart enthusiast, I believe Mozart was the most comprehensively gifted musician who has ever lived. This piece is another one of my tributes to the Wunderkind.

Recently, a friend's question took me by surprise. "What's your favorite Mozart music?" She knows how I feel about Mozart, the only composer I consider "immortal." In fact, I've loved the master's music from childhood even before I knew anything more about his life. I looked at my friend, speechless. She repeated her question, while my thoughts maneuvered some answers.

"Hmm, not an easy question," I said, "I simply love his music."

"Surely you have a favorite," my friend replied, this time more persistent.

"Well," I said, "I love his Clarinet Concerto, Flute and Harp Concerto, and Quintet for clarinet and strings. Of course, I also love his quartets."

My friend stayed silent for a while before asking me about piano concertos.

"Piano concertos? I love them all. Ok, ok. Ill name one. Piano Concerto No.21. You'll probably know this by 'Elvira Madigan', popularized by the movie of the same title. Thats actually the Andante movement of the concerto."

"Oh yeah? So it's Mozart's, huh?" my friend mused and added, "there was a time when I was crazy about that music after seeing the film, I even wanted it played in my elegy."

"Then I also love the symphonies. There are No. 40 and 41 simply called Jupiter. Oh, you can also include No. 39."

I was now unstoppable; noticed my friend turned very quiet, intently looking at me with my passionate enumeration of Mozart's music, one after the other.

"Oh, can I also add his violin concertos and sonatas? Yes, and his Requiem. By the way, it's not fair if I don't include my favorite operas, ok?"

"I'm sure you'll include Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, and The Marriage of Figaro," my friend once again interjected.

"They're all fantastic but my top choice for opera is actually The Magic Flute." My friend didn't push the issue anymore. Made me wonder if I satisfied her very first question.

Oh, I do love and admire a lot of other composers, among them, Schubert, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, some days even Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. But only Mozart can fill the emptiness. Other composers are too dangerous for me. They give me turbulence and upheaval instead of gently touching my soul. I need no criteria or tonal design analysis to support Mozart's greatness. The pure delight and enjoyment that flow into my being is enough.

So much has been written of this composer. To me, he was the most comprehensively gifted musician who has ever lived. This year, two and a half centuries after his birth, millions of people throughout the world continuously play and listen to his music. While there had been other prodigies, none has approached his ability to combine a dazzling musical imagination with a total mastery of style and form, unified by his strong musical personality. He combined the perfect musical blending of the German knowledge, Italian art, and the French elegance.

Mozart belonged to the Classical period of the latter half of the 18th century. He began to play the harpsichord at the age of three and to compose at the age of five. His musical education began when he was four, along with his older sister Anna Maria. He also played both the violin and viola to soloist standard. Sadly, he died at the young age of 35.

This paramount composer never had good health, and his life was filled with difficulties. Yet, there was hardly any evidence of this in his compositions. We do not hear any raging or angry sounds in his music. His love of fun and lively disposition that enabled him to carry gracefully his cares of genius came from his mother.

To all Mozart lovers out there, what can I say about our fixation with the music of this short-lived and long-gone beloved composer, who wrote his music for a world so different from our own? That it makes us happy? That it touches our innermost being? That it gives us a glimpse of our higher power? Yes!

Join me to a toast in remembering the 250th birthday of this composer who gave us so much in his short-lived life of 35. To celebrate Mozart's birthday last 27th of January, I chose listening to Clarinet Concerto in A, K.622 with its ethereal perfection, one of the immortal's last works, just a month before his death. I find the mood of the second movement that of profound melancholy. Finally, I honored him with Jupiter Symphony, the culmination of his symphonic output - powerful yet gentle, elegant yet romantic, intense yet tender.

The music of Mozart brings me closer to God and nearer to beauty. I thank Mozart for his gift of music.

Tel Asiado is an Information Technology professional turned writer, author and consultant. Employed by multi-national organizations in information technology, computing and consulting, she has several years of varied experience as project manager, business solution manager, process and information analyst, and as a business writer. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, course credits in MBA majoring in Computer Management, and a diploma in Internet Marketing and Small Business. Her writings also reflect her passions for inspirational/motivational and Christian insights, and classical music. Visit one of her websites: http://inspiredpen.4t.com

Guitar Lesson - Mode Mysteries

It's true that most guitarists ignore the theory side of things, and it's no surprise - the majority of sites and books out there don't exactly make it look..."fun".

OK, so it can never really be fun, but for those guitarists who actually care about progressing, it's essential to know theory. A good place to start is by learning the 7 modes on your guitar. This lesson article will introduce them. You can then use the free resource that follows if you wish.

The best way to think of modes are as scales. These scales, like the pentatonic or major scale can be mapped out on the fretboard. Think of the modes as "flavours" of the major and natural minor scales.

The 7 modes are, in order:

1. Ionian - this is just the "major scale", but it's also the first and most important mode in western music.

2. Dorian - a flavour of the natural minor scale

3. Phrygian - a flavour of the natural minor scale with a Spanish flamenco feel

4. Lydian - a flavour of the major/Ionian scale

5. Mixolydian - a flavour of the major/Ionian scale built around dominant 7th chords.

6. Aeolian - the natural minor scale the other minor modes are based around

7. Locrian - the odd one out. Diminished scale.

Now, the reason we have a particular order for these modes/scales is because when you put them together in that sequence using the intervals of the major/Ionian scale, you get one big scale. Let me explain...

Say you wanted to solo over the E major chord. You could just select the first mode, Ionian, because it's a major mode. You need to find the root note of the E major chord (E) and start whatever mode you want to solo over it from that root note (of course, you don't have to START the solo on the root note, just make sure you start on a note that's within that scale - the SCALE starts on the root note).

Because we've chosen Ionian, the intervals of that scale are as follows...

1 W 2 W 3 H 4 W 5 W 6 W 7 H 1

W= Whole step (2 fret interval) H= Half step (1 fret interval)

What's interesting is you can use the note intervals of WHATEVER mode you're playing and use each note as a starting point for the next mode in sequence - e.g....

If you were playing Dorian over a minor chord, the next mode is Phrygian - because it's the next mode, it starts on the 2nd note of Dorian!

If you were playing Lydian over a major chord, the next mode is Mixolydian, so because it's the next mode, it starts on the 2nd note of Lydian.

So What Does This Mean?!

It means once you know which "flavour"/mode you want to solo over a chord, you can follow the sequence of intervals in that mode and suddenly, all the other modes in sequence at those intervals become part of that same flavour and scale!

E.g.

- Play "A Dorian" over the A minor chord

- The 2nd note in A Dorian is a whole step higher, so it's B

- The mode after Dorian is Phrygian

- Therefore, you can play B Phrygian over A minor and it will sound like Dorian!!!

This is the relationship between the modes and their intervals that many guitarists fail to see, they just learn the boxed mode shapes and don't realise how they all tie in together.

It's all about the intervals...

- Learn the intervals of each mode (e.g. we looked at 1st mode Ionian's intervals above)

- Learn the order of modes, so you'll know which mode applies to each note in each mode (this does take some time)

e.g. picking a random one out the air... What mode starts (has its root note on) on the 4th note of Phrygian?...

- Phrygian is the 3rd mode

- the 2nd note of Phrygian is the root of the next mode, Lydian

- follow the order of modes to the 4th note...

The answer is: Aeolian

I know, I know, it's kind of obvious why a lot of guitarists just cannot be bothered, but I promise you, learning the modes is so so beneficial because not only will you learn to add "flavour" to the same old major/minor lead guitar, but knowing this also leads onto being able to write songs at the snap of your fingers and have a visual map of each mode scale all up the fretboard - no more box playing!

So do invest some time into learning the modes and how they work. You'll only understand how important they are once you learn them! It's weird that way!

Mike Beatham runs a free easy to follow guitar lessons site. For clear mode diagrams and audio plus other guitar theory lessons, visit http://www.fretjam.com/guitar-theory-lessons.html.

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