Resources for Analysis of Classical Pieces

[crimson]

I'm not sure whether this topic belongs into this section or in the Links section or someplace else, but I was wondering if any such web sites exist that have some classical pieces analyzed, and where one could read the analyses. I'm interested in honing my skills in analysis and it would be nice if I could read example analyses alongside listening to the actual pieces.

I know that Wikipedia does have information about many pieces but I'm interested in a bit more in-depth analysis, like where the form and compositional devices etc. are analyzed also.

Perhaps it would be best to get some books on the subject, but it just came into my mind if there are any websites for that, too. I was unsuccessful in finding such sites on a quick search. Also, feel free to post suggestions about good books on classical music analysis here, or any other relevant information.

[Shiva]

This has also been suggested to be included in the music encyclopedia, but I've never heard of a guide of how to analyse a piece of music.

I would try to look at each aspect of the piece in turn, so firstly the melody and then the harmony etc comparing them with what you would expect for a piece of that era.

[MaestroX]

If you sit tight one of the apendix lessons of the Guide To Music Notation and Terminology will be an analysis of a Beethovan sonata I'm sure you can pick up a few hints there.

[Thorolf]

The best way to learn how to analyse music is to read good analysises.

If you analyse music the way you analyse poems writing papers at high school, you're on the right track!



Regards

[stevel]

Originally Posted by crimson

Perhaps it would be best to get some books on the subject, but it just came into my mind if there are any websites for that, too.

Crimson,

On one level, analysing music is an "active" thing, much like taking lessons on an instrument - it's far easier if you can sit down with someone and work through things, so you can learn from their experience.

This IS an Theory section, so I don't see anything wrong with you asking analysis questions here! If you do, you should provide a link to the music you're analyzing so everyone can see it.

One thing I want to caution about - many people think "analyze" means to identify the key, and name the chords. There's more to it than that though. You should talk about form, how the work adheres to or deviates from standards, and so on.

But, in most cases, here are the steps you go through, at least for CPP Tonal music:

1. Identify the key.
2. Look through the music and identify any obvious sections (double bar-lines, repeats, etc.).
3. Look to see if there are any obvious sections of music in keys other than the main key - you may have to do this later, but if you can find anything obvious - like the B section in the key of the Dominant, that can cut down on some work.
4. Start to figure out what chords are there. Hopefully you already understand Roman Numeral analysis.
5. If you can't get a chord, skip ahead - sometimes it's good to work backwards from the end of a phrase, section, or movement.
6. You should identify Non-Chord Tones concurrently with chords.
7. Once your chords, NCTs and modulations are analyzed, you should go back and look for large-scale movement: tonal progressions, prolongations, non-functional passages, and so on.
8. You should look at rhythmic and melodic elements (not just harmonic) and identify motives or patterns. In some types of works a Motivic melodic analysis might demand it's own analysis - and in something like a Fugue, it may even take precedence over a harmonic analysis.

That's enough to get you started :-)

Why don't you post some simple pieces with your analysis, and we can see how you're doing.

Best,
Steve

[crimson]

Thanks everybody for the replies.

stevel: I think I will post some of my own anyalyses here for you sometime, but currently I'm so new to the whole thing that I think I'll try to learn from a few books first.

I ordered the books Form in Tonal Music: An Introduction to Analysis + Anthology for Musical Analysis by Green & Burkhart. I thought it would be good to know at least something before I try to make my own analyses. Although I think I would get somewhere with your instructions alone. But when I get the books, I'll have some scores to analyze, not just recordings. I'm totally not yet good enough to analyze from recordings alone. I understood the books have some pieces that haven't been analyzed beforehand so I'll get to try my hands on analyzing on my own.

But I totally agree that it would be far easier to learn this stuff with the help of others who can point out mistakes etc., so I will likely post some of my own analyses here as soon as I get those books and have gained at least a slight understanding (or misunderstanding) of what needs to be done.

[stevel]

Originally Posted by crimson

I ordered the books Form in Tonal Music: An Introduction to Analysis + Anthology for Musical Analysis by Green & Burkhart.

The Burkhart (sp?) is THE classic anthology for analysis in university level courses. It's a very nice collection of works from various centuries.

If you are interested in Tonal music (for which the Anth. above is also useful) - which is what most people tend to be speakeing of when we're talking about analysis, you should see if you can get your hands on the following texts:

Schoenberg, Harmony
Piston, Harmony
Aldwell & Schachter (harmony text, forget the exact name - "Harmony and Voice Leading" maybe?)
Gauldin (ditto, but I think it's "Structural Functions in Tonal Harmony" etc.).
Kostka & Payne, Tonal Harmony
Clendenning & Marvin, (something like "The Musician's Guide to Harmony")

If you're interested in a historical perspective, Rameau's Treatise on Harmony is also nice to have, but more as a curiosity than a practical analysis tool.

Of the above:
Schoenberg - very wordy, hard to read, older style. But GOOD.

Piston, very readable, still used by many colleges.

A&S, probably the #2 book in use in the states. Good, readable, thorough, focuses on concept, rather than specificities.

Gauldin, very similar to the A&S, and better IMO, except that Gualdin is getting up there in years so the language sounds a little like a book written prior to the 60s - in other words, modern, with not-so-modern language. He compiles the best aspects of A&S, and K&P.

K&P, probably the #1 book used in the stated. focuses on specificities (i.e. the things you need to know to analyze) than concept (note, that is not a good or bad thing, simply a different approach). Some people don't like the K&P because it seems too "rule oriented" (or because they used it in a theory class they hated, or failed) but the information is pretty much right on.

The C&M is a newer text - they're on the faculty with Gauldin. What's interesting about their approach is they "genericize" a lot of things which makes the usually overly-specific concepts used for tonal analysis apply to a broader spectrum of music, which is refreshing. Really well-done IMO.

I list all of these because I feel that none of them covers the exact same material, and all of them exhibit subtly different approaches that will teach you different things. Too many people for instance only have experience with one text and they think that's all there is to analysis. IOW, none of these are "complete" - each makes a nice supplement to the other, and reinforcement of the other.

If I had to narrow it to only 3, I would choose, Piston, A&S, and K&P - they are the most "modern" (the Piston is older, but has been continuosly updated) - they would give the you broadest set of approaches while all still being "mainstream".

Best,
Steve

[crimson]

Hum, well, since the box with the question mark at the top of Music-Web kept nagging that I should post something, I decided to make this pointless post

I took a break from Music-Webbig in order to improve my music skills, and that turned out to be quite a long break. I waited and waited for my analysis books, and finally, a few weeks ago I got some of them. I now have the Green & Burkhart books, but haven't even opened them yet. However, I managed to find some introductory analysis books in finnish, which is a small wonder. They even seem to be good ones, and I've read some way through the first one of three. It's probably no use posting the books' names here, since there seems to be so few finns on the board, but I'll list them just in case some finn wanders here:

- Musiikin kieli 1: Perustiedot
- Musiikin kieli 2: Sävellysmuodot
- Musiikin kieli 3: Tyylipiirteet

These books contain just the information I was looking for, about the features of many musical forms, and how to analyze them. And it is remarkable that I was able to read and understand the first one a good many chapters before getting stuck, even though my music-reading is minimal. Eventually it became apparent that I really need to be able to read music in order to get the most out of those books, so now I'm on that path, learning to read music. And I think I have found a good tool for that, Practica Musica 5. It's a computer program that lets you play in midi and then checks wheter you played the correct notes. It starts from the basics and moves up. So far it has been very nice.

It may take some time before I'll start analyzing any pieces, but I think I'm moving forward, slowly but steadily.

[Ron Ofir]

It's a computer program that lets you play in midi and then checks wheter you played the correct notes

Interesting. Does it also teach & check rythm?

But when I get the books, I'll have some scores to analyze, not just recordings.

Scores are actually not that hard to get for most well-known music. Just Google for it ("BWV 1048 sheet" for example) or look in free-scores and sites alike.

P.S: You haven't answered neither my e-mail nor my PM yet. Is there something wrong or have you just been slacking around?

[crimson]

Interesting. Does it also teach & check rythm?

Well, I haven't gotten that far with the exercises yet, but I think it does. I have to say it's a very handy and fun way to learn. You can just pick up your midi keyboard and start playing the exercises.

Thanks for the free score tips. What I meant in the older post was more like that with analysis books with scores, I could look at some examples and see how the pieces should be analyzed etc. But that free-scores site is a very nice site to keep in mind. Especially now that I have a more compact sized keyboard that can be placed in front of my computer, it will be nice to be able to look at scores on the screen and play them.

P.S. I sent you a PM