Group 2

Natalie Peh K. 309 first movement is an excellent choice. What's useful about it, too, is that no matter what level you're at, you can get something out of it – whether you're just identifying harmonies and cadences, or if you 'graduate' to analyzing the form of the work.

And I hope you get to that A-flat Chopin Mazurka. One of my favorites, and lots of beautiful nuances that would be nice to analyze. We may need to visit this piece no matter how far you get with the Mozart!

Ben Laude Thanks, Ben.  I'll start looking through those pieces, analysing the Mazurka could also be very helpful, as I'm still working on learning it. 

Natalie Peh Why don't you start by taking a stab at labeling harmonies in the first 21 bars of K. 309. Lots to talk about already there!

Ben Laude hi Ben, I’m attaching my first attempt at analysis using Roman numerals. I have highlighted the notes that look like accidentals to me, hoping I’m on the right track. 

Natalie Peh This is a good start! This opening phrase sounds so simple, and yet the harmonies are deceptively tricky. You're certainly on the right track. Here are some comments/questions to help you rethink a few things in your analysis so far:

• First of all, as I'm telling others, it's wise to put your analysis below the staff. Harmony is determined from the bottom up, so it's helpful to see the the roman numerals below the left hand.
• Bar 2: You've zoomed in a bit too far if you're labeling those 16th notes as "V7." You're right on some level: if Mozart intended a quick harmony change there, a V7 chord would sound best, even though we're missing the root and 3rd of the harmony. But here's a test: play the first two bars without those 16ths. It's basically the same music, isn't it? Nothing structurally is changed, and therefore those notes should be considered as a kind of ornament. They're very quick, they come on the middle of beat 2, so it's a weak position in the measure, and they're neighbor notes to the C major triad. Therefore, I would just write roman numeral I one time for the first two bars, and either ignore the F and D, or you can highlight and label them as "NCT" (non chord tones).
• Bar 3: Isn't it interesting that there's no C in this bar? And yet, I agree that the first chord is still the tonic – the C established in the first two bars is so strong, it is implied in bar 3 – our ears carry it over. Seeing the E in the bass, you could label this as a first inversion I chord if you want to be precise. The short hand for that is I6 ("One-six"). Why do you think we write a 6 for 1st inversion chords?
• No what about that C-sharp in the left hand?? We've got a surprising accidental already here in bar 3. You wrote "vi", but a vi chord in C major is an A minor triad. Here, we have not only C-sharp, but a G. This could be analyzed a couple different ways, but for now, it's most practical to hear this as Mozart passing from I in bar 3 to V7 in bar 4, and he embellishes that passing motion using what we call "neighbor tones": The A in the right hand is an upper-neighbor to G, while the C-sharp is a chromatic lower-neighbor of the D we're moving to in bar 4. You could also imagine that C still ringing in the bass from bar 2, in which case you could hear the C-sharp as a "chromatic passing tone" between C and D.
• Then in bar 4, you're correct to label it as V7. I would apply that one label to the whole measure, rather than adding "V." The F is very strong on the first 2 beats of bar 4, and is still ringing in our ears in the second half of the bar.
• Bar 5: You could highlight the grace note F, which is another non chord tone, technically called an "accented passing tone." It's "passing" because it's connecting the G in the previous measure to E. And it's "accented" because it occurs on the beat.
• Bar 6: You're absolutely right to label as ii and highlight the C-sharp and E! Both are non chord tones. Interesting that, again, we're getting C-sharps in our C major piece! Something to keep in mind.
• Bar 6-7: Technically that ii chord is in first inversion, so we write "ii6." This is reinforced in bar 7 and we prepare for a cadence. It's important to note that the "I" chord in bar 7 actually has what we call a "dominant function." Think of it as a V chord with two upper neighbor tones E and C resolving down to D and B. It's okay to write "I", but you really need to include the inversion here. There's a G in the bass, which makes it 2nd inversion. So, this is sometimes labeled I6/4 ("One six-four"... the 6 and 4 should be stacked with no line in between). But more importantly, you should know that this is called a "cadential six-four."
• In bar 11, you're correct to highlight the F-sharp as a non chord tone. Just like Mozart slides up from C to D through C-sharp, here he's sliding from F to G (with a leap up to A) through F-sharp. It's a chromatic passing tone.
• Bars 13 and 14 contain two examples of "tonicization," which is a fancy way of saying that we very briefly pretend like some chord is the tonic other than our C major chord. In bar 13, it is not correct to write "v." Yes, there is a G in the bass, but there is also a B-flat and a C-sharp. You're right that it's diminished! Look where it resolves: just as you write, it's ii (D minor). So, you should think of the diminished chord as coming from the D minor chord scale. It would be viiº7 in D minor (the fully-diminished chord built on the 7th scale degree C-sharp), so you would label this as viiº7 / ii  ("seven fully-diminished seven of two"). This chord "tonicizes" d minor for a moment, and then in bar 14 Mozart tonicizes the IV chord, F major. You labeled the downbeat of 14 as "I7," but there's no C, and how do you account for the B-flat? Hint: apply the same logic as I did in bar 13, but not using the chord scale of F major.
• Bars 15-17 are pretty good: IV is correct, but 16 is a C major chord, so what roman numeral should that be? (Also, note that in both measures the bass motion moves between first inversion and root position.) Bar 17 is a ii-V, with a cadential 6/4 on the "I" chord (which is functioning here as an embellished dominant chord).
• I love bars 18-20! Mozart could have omitted them, right? Why didn't he just go straight to bar 21? It's a wonderful effect, because after the cadential 6/4 in bar 17 we think we're cadencing in C major but NO: Mozart insists on repeating bars 15-17 again, almost the same (with a could more decorations in the right hand). This is a subverted cadence, because cadential 6/4s don't usually move to IV. So, when we here those right hand octaves again, maybe play them even more demandingly and insistently! And this makes the arrival finally at bar 21 so satisfying.

I realize this is a whole lot to digest! It's okay if it doesn't all make sense. See if you can revise bars 1-21 based on my comments. And let me know if you have any specific questions! I'm happy to clarify.

Ben Laude thanks very much for the comments. I have learnt so much from this exercise. I have revised the chord notations for bars 1-21 in the attachment. 
 

Bar 3- your question on why the shorthand for noting a first inversion is I6, is it because once inverted, E and C are a sixth apart?

Bar 14- is the first chord iii dim?

Natalie Peh Hi Natalie. Let me start with your two questions:

1) Correct. When you invert the triad, the 3rd (E) is now in the bass and the root (C) moves a 6th above it (reducing everything to simple intervals less than an octave).

Just so you're aware, "6" is actually a shorthand for 6/3. The 3 represents the interval from 3rd up to 5th, but it was already there in root position, so we leave it off when identifying 1st inversion.

2nd inversion, on the other hand, is abbreviated with both 6 and 4.

2) Good guess! You are technically right, since it's a diminished chord built on the 3rd scale degree in C major. But musically and functionally, it is incorrect.

Based on your correct analysis of bar 13, you should be able to get this. If this:

is viiº7 of ii (technically they're inversions, so what should the figures be),

then apply the same logic here:
 

and you should be able to get it. (By the way, IV should be capitalized. It's a major triad. Also, it's in first inversion so you should add the 6).

The rest of your analysis is much better! A few more things you can polish up on this page (without redoing):

• Bars 4 and 11 are inverted seventh chords, so writing 7 next to the V is actually imprecise. What do you think the figures should be?
• Bracket bars 7 and 17 to look at later, because although you're technically right about the I6/4 - V7, Eric Wen is going to discuss how it's even more musically convincing to analyze that I chord as a decorated V chord. Don't worry if that makes no sense for now, but stay tuned!
• Bar 15 you got your roman numeral wrong. Look again, and account for the inversion in the first half of the bar.
• Bar 17 the ii chord is inverted.
• The first beat of bar 20 could actually be analyzed as a ii7 chord in first inversion (ii6/5), because of that C in the left hand. In root position, it would be stacked: D F A C

I think you're ready to move on! Why don't you go up to bar 32 next?

Ben Laude hi Ben, 

I’ve put in the inversions notation for bar 13:

And the pattern being similar in bar 14, I hope this is correct:

As for bars 22 to 32, couldn’t quite make up my mind about when it happens, but it looks like there is modulation to G major? I had it pegged at earlier than when I have now marked, but have settled on the current notation. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.

Natalie Peh vii6/IV is correct!

For 22-32:

• Yes! It's a modulation to G. And, given that it's a classical sonata in a major key, you should be expecting a modulation to the dominant key, and that's exactly what you get. It's not until Beethoven that you really get anything besides modulations to V (like in the Waldstein Sonata, where he modulates to III).
• Use label secondary dominants from 25, but I hear the modulation as having already happened. I'd write "G:" under 25 and label the harmonies as Vs and Is.
• This modulation is confirmed in bar 32, which ends with a half cadence (a brief cadence on V of the key you're in).  You can even write "HC" for Half Cadence. It's structurally important, also, because it signals the transition to our second theme (and the first main theme in the new key... everything before was transitional material).
• You roman numerals once you start analyzing in G are correct. Now, you should be able to continue to the end of the exposition. It's actually more straightforward than the first page, I think.

Ben Laude I tried to record a video of the exposition of the sonata.

https://youtu.be/WxpIlwsfmko

I tried as much as possible to note the harmony as I went along, especially in the first half that we analysed earlier. 

Ben Laude Ben, on another note, thanks for the valuable feedback and instruction. 

Kerstin Can't go wrong with Moonlight 1st movement! I'm excited for that. It's actually a very instructive piece to analyze harmonically, because the broken chords make ID'ing the harmonies very clear and we can focus on the modulations and chromatic slights of hand - and the whole coda - that make the piece so mysterious.

Which part of the 2nd Scherzo? Also a good choice overall (and there's the interesting question: is it in B-flat minor or D-flat major? Why do we define keys based on where they start rather than where they end? But let's start with a specific passage. Let me know what you're interested in.

Ben Laude 

Hi Ben! Thanks for your answer. I watched your Basic Theory Course some weeks ago. Very interesting and I learned a lot. Chopin Scherzo I want to start with bar 65 - this passage, because I have trouble to get the left hand in my mind. Your are right, there is not much b flat minor in the whole piece. Let’s see how far we can come. I hope my English is good enough. 
Have a nice day.

Kerstin 

Some questions already on first page. In bar 10 we are in e- minor. Should I use the scale degrees of e -minor? Otherwise makes no scene.  

Kerstin Re: Chopin, good - I was hoping you would say that part. We'll look at that passage up until it returns to the opening material. But, Beethoven first.

Kerstin In the Moonlight, that E minor chord is the beginning of a transformation in the music's tonality. It's not necessarily the destination. Play from measure 9 and I think you'll notice that the music doesn't settle in E minor, but passes through that harmony on the way to a new key.

You need to zoom out a little bit and look ahead a few bars. Where is the next place the music "cadences"? That is, where is the next time you feel a strong resolution in new key? Listen/look for a "V-i", a dominant chord resolving to a new tonic.

Once you find that new arrival point, you can then retrospectively observe that E minor must belong to the scale degrees/chord scale of that new key. Only then can you make sense of it!

But let's back up a bit, because there's a lot more going on in the first 9 bars that you've indicated in your analysis. Here are some comments/questions to help you rethink it:

• First, theorists often use lowercase roman numerals for minor trials, so I would write "i" instead of "I." Also, I recommend putting the roman numerals below the staff. It seems like you're looking more at the right hand than the left hand, but actually harmony is determined from the bottom up, so it's good to label things down there.
• There's a B octave in the bass of bar 2. How would you make sense of that note with the c-sharp minor triad above it?
• VI is correct in bar 3, but I think it's important to make sure it's capitalized. You're in a minor key, so the six-chord is major.
• Bar 3, beats 3-4: Yes, it's a D major chord. But this is a bigger deal than you're making it!!! How can there be a D-natural in C-sharp minor (whose scale contains a D-sharp)?? It should actually be labeled bII (flat-two), since the D-sharp is "flattened" to D-natural, and a triad is built on that lowered root.
• Also, what note is in the bass (left hand) of that D major triad? It's not D, which means we have some kind of inversion. Can you identify it?
• Bar 4: yes, it starts with a V7 chord on beat 1, and it is correct to think of that whole measure as a "dominant" function. But it's important to notice the details: Beethoven uses a different harmony on each beat of bar 4. See if you can make sense of those chords.
• Bars 6: You're correct that the harmony is dominant, but (1) there's is a seventh, so the harmony is actually V7; and (2) to be even more precise, there's a B-sharp in the bass, so it's not a root position V7 chord. Can you tell if it's first, second, or third inversion? (Seventh chords have three inversions.)
• Bars 7-9: You label these like we stay in C-sharp minor. Does it sound like we're still in a minor key when we reach bar 9? It seems we've moved somewhere new. What key have we moved to, and where exactly do you think the modulation happens? There's a trick to labeling modulations that I'm happy to show you, but first, see if you can tell where things begin to shift to this new key.

Ben Laude 

Hi Ben! It is more complicated than I thought in the first place. The B in the 2. bar is the seventh in c sharp minor, but for me is also a passing tone to the A. The D I didn’t get really. The bass line shows normal cadence, but the D …

Bar 4 is okay. Bar 7 doesn‘t sound minor . Modulation to E major starts. And bar 10 the modulation to b minor ( bar 15) starts. I don‘t know how to write it down and also bar 12 is very special. Very interesting to dive in.

Kerstin Hi Ben! I have another question. In German C sharp minor and E major are called Paralleltonart (English: parallel key). 
Has it the same meaning? Or means parallel key C major and c minor ?

Kerstin 

Hi Ben! Had a longer train trip today and time analyzing a little bit more. Got the D major in Beethoven. Is the Neapolitan Chord. And I did Chopin too. Looks easier for me than Beethoven. When it goes to other keys, I don‘t know what number I should write.

Kerstin 

Kerstin said:
The B in the 2. bar is the seventh in c sharp minor, but for me is also a passing tone to the A.

 You're right! It should be analyzed as a passing tone, and not the seventh of the triad.

Kerstin said:
Got the D major in Beethoven. Is the Neapolitan Chord.

 Yes!

Kerstin said:
Bar 4 is okay.

 Pretty good. When I was in school, I would have more or less analyzed it the way you did and it would have been acceptable. But there's a better way to think about it. An enlightened theorist would just call the whole measure "V" - including what appears to be a I chord - and then track the alterations above it using figures.

Something like this (easier if I could write it, but I can't at the moment)
7   6/4  7/5/4-3(sus)
V

Kerstin said:
Bar 7 doesn‘t sound minor . Modulation to E major starts.

Good. The way to write it down is, first, to identify the "pivot" chord: the chord that belongs both to C-sharp minor and E major that is used to make the modulation feel smooth. You could argue the pivot chord is the F-sharp minor triad, but I feel like the modulation really begins with the downbeat C-sharp minor chord. Seems like you hear it/feel it that way too, since you said it doesn't sound minor.

So, first of all, in your analysis you should begin by writing "C#m" before the first roman numeral in bar 1. Then, in bar 7, finish the C-sharp minor passage with roman numeral i, then right underneath that write "E: vi" since C-sharp minor is vi in E. The, proceed to the right and keep labeling, now in the new key. You can circle the entire downbeat of measure 7 and write "pivot."

In bars 8-9 we cadence in E. Can you label them?

Kerstin said:
And bar 10 the modulation to b minor ( bar 15) starts.

Yes, I agree. So, do the same thing: That E minor chord is the "pivot chord" sort of... it's not in E major, but you could say that it's just lowercase roman numeral i in E, and then stop labeling in E and write (Bm: iv), since E minor is iv in B minor, and then keep going.

Kerstin said:
I don‘t know how to write it down and also bar 12 is very special.

Not only 12, but 11-12. I'd love to see how Eric Wen analyzes this. It might seem like these harmonies are not apart of B minor, but there's a way to hear them/label them as if they are. Leave it alone for now, but please remind me/Nicole/Eric to revisit these two bars.

From beat 4 of bar 12 though bar 15, I think you could finish the analysis in B minor.

Glad you've already got to the Chopin! I will take a look at it later, but I want to look at other participants' submissions first. We'll have plenty of time.

Ben Laude 

Thanks a lot. You are great.

Ben Laude Kerstin Looking at bar 12 quickly, I would say the downbeat C major is a pivot chord of sorts--it functions in 2 different keys (E minor and B minor) and was briefly tonicized by the chord in m. 11. In B minor the C major chord is bII, or the Neapolitan (we don't actually know why it's called this other than it got popular in Naples at one point?). The B bass is passing on the way to the A# that is part of B minor's V7 chord. The Neapolitan adds an interesting color, particularly in minor keys where you don't have to alter as many pitches with accidentals. 

Nicole That's interesting. I was thinking about the C major chord as a Neapolitan, although it's not in first inversion and passes back through and E minor chord (iv in the key we're moving to), which would be uncharacteristic.

Also, good point about E minor being more of a tonic than I was giving it credit for. It's somewhere in between a modulation and a tonicization. Really, it's like a bridge key that allows Beethoven to access this haunting move to a C major triad (in a C-sharp minor piece!!). Also, he sort of sets up our ear for an E minor cadence in bar 12, no? The A# diminished chord upon first hearing could be heard as viiº7/V in E minor, and he could have resolves it to V7 and cadenced in E minor in bar 13. So YES, I think we were sort of in E minor, which – if we just thinking of it as the minor tonic of where we came from, in Schubertian/Romantic terms, it's like we never left E major! I dunno. Also, the ensuing passage hardly commits to B minor. There's still more hints at E minor.

But what a breathtaking sleight of hand by Beethoven! It's making me realize why this piece sounds so magical and has such enduring popularity.

Kerstin what do you make of this discussion? You've picked a pretty radical piece, it turns out!