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Lesson 49 Focus: Triplets and New Time Signatures
Week 49 begins with a formal study of the C major chord progressions you've learned about in terms of arranging; in the fourth main book, you'll brush up on scale degrees and family chords, moving on to a series of exercises that use the Roman numeral chord system, or figured bass, instead of the chord symbols you've previously been working with. Duane guides you through songs like "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" by way of this notation system, reviewing several arrangement techniques. You'll then move on to a new set of keyboard pointers designed to help you practice a number of skills, including chord recognition, finger dexterity, legato and staccato phrasing and complicated rhythmic patterns.
Next in the lesson is a formal introduction to triplets, a technique you've briefly covered during several arrangement lessons. Duane teaches you their note values and how to recognize and play them before guiding you through an exercise to get used to triplets and their rhythms. You'll get more practice with triplets by way of a new song that includes a bass accompaniment entirely composed of eighth note triplets and then another, a classical march, composted of 4/4 triplets with new rhythm patterns. This song, however, doesn't function only as a triplet exercise; Duane uses it as a sight reading test, asking you to run through the song hands together before attempting it any other way.
The lesson's next section includes a brief lesson in G major chord progressions, which you've already covered during arrangement techniques, and a formal introduction to the key of E minor. After a reviewing harmonic minor scales and their tetrachords, Duane teaches you the fingerings needed to play this scale and solidifies your knowledge with a set of keyboard pointers to exercise those fingerings and the scale's family chords.
Week 49 comes to a close by introducing two new time signatures: 3/8 and 6/8. You'll learn how to recognize and count these time signatures and try your hand at a few practice songs to get the feel for them.
Review by Mollie Wells
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