Improvising Musical variations on a theme..

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I  have often thought how enjoyable it is, and how freeing, to improvise; the chance to go off at a different angle and away from the rigid rules of theory and let go.

And then there's variation form, of course, and if you combine the two elements of improvising with variation, it can be very exciting.

One of the most well known tunes for developing variations upon is the tune Farinell's ground [La Follia similar] or same.. It was developed and varied upon for many hundreds of years by many composers. [ CPE Bach, Corelli, and others did variations on tune]..There's hardly anything to the simple bars of the piece itself, after which you can add your own notes as so wished!  It has almost an inbuilt chromaticism to the notes, and at first can look very mundane; but try it out and there's a lot hidden in that material.

Here is a copy [photo image] of my sketch of that simple theme, And also a link to my own attempts at playing variations on it recently! [video January 2022].

Have a go at adding your own variations on the theme; lets see what happens? There could be an interesting number of different ways of playing it? Be interesting to hear the many varied ways it can sound; by others on the net site?

 

 

 

[Jim2010]

This is one of my favorite musical themes. "Farinell's Ground" is the English title of La Folia ( La Follia, La Folia, Follies, Folies du Portugal or Folies d'Espagne (depending on what country you are in). Composers have been writing variations of it for hundreds of years.

 

My favorite set of variations is by Arcangelo Corelli, here performed by Frans Brüggen, recorder; Anner Bylsma, violoncello; Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord. It is a good source of ideas and inspiration for variations.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuz9eBkUWlY

 

 

[richard]

Hi 

 

Is there a reason you keep your thumb under the strap. Is something too big, or something too small.

 

I believe it works better to have your thumb not in the strap so it can rest near and easily hit the air button without too much contortion, and disruption of the music.

 

Richard

[Clive Thorne]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:40 PM, richard said:

Hi 

 

Is there a reason you keep your thumb under the strap. Is something too big, or something too small.

 

I believe it works better to have your thumb not in the strap so it can rest near and easily hit the air button without too much contortion, and disruption of the music.

 

Richard

I've got to agree. All the "whole hand" jumping to get the air button looks like very hard work to me.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Clive Thorne

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Thanks for your interest in my topic of Farinell's ground. Firstly, I loved hearing the audio submitted of the recorder, harpsichord ( Corelli) versions; I greatly admire the performers (Bruggen, and Leonhardt) Bruggen, to me, really showed how good a recorder can sound, in the right hands, and partly rescued it from its more misunderstood image by people generally.

As for my thumb all inside the strap; I have always done this, and it's something that doesn't affect how I play, it might look awkward, but it's just the way that suits me best. And actually the leather strap does not get worn down with use, as it's not tightly adhered to the hand. ( Only last year redid strap after 22 years of constant use. The hand is much freer in movement, and you could, if you wished even use thumb on buttons too ( not usual)! More relaxing for hand, I believe, as between notes, I can rest the tendons more easily.

It's sometimes good to stretch the rules a bit ( like the sample of audio someone put on here earlier on) with the man electrifying his concertina!  Like one with electric guitar...!

My Thumb inside.? Yes, .It might look an odd way of doing things; but, despite appearance,  is less straining on the hands overall! (At least for me it is).

[Anglo-Irishman]

I'm a great friend of La Folia! I haven't tried it on the concertina yet, but it's a mainstay of my solo banjo repertoire. On a fretted stringed instrument, you have the advantage that the left hand only has to play the same chord sequence over and over again (with minor alterations now and then), while the right hand varies the rhythm, tempo and lushness/sparseness.

However, I haven't "written" a "set of variations for 5-string banjo." I just have the chord sequence off by heart, and a basic slow and fast version, a block-chord version and an arpeggiated version. The rest is truly improvised - no two performances are ever the same! I also use La Folia as a series of etudes to practice different right-hand techniques.

 

A favourite use for La Folia is at birthdays of friends - most of whom, like myself, are senior citizens. I cite a German proverb: "Alter schützt vor Torheit nicht" (Age does not save you from folly). And the Spanish for "die Torheit" is "la Folia!"

 

My favourite orchestral version is the one by Geminiani, plyed by the Swiss ensemble Chaarts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oy_EcAYbnY

 

Cheers,

John

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I also believe Vivaldi did some variations of La follia as well. Or at least I have record with some very varied versions of similar tune 

[Jim2010]

A great many composers have written variations (150 according to one source). Here is a link to an article that lists some of them.

 

https://www.allmusic.com/composition/la-folia-mc0002395552?1643496629245

 

Wikipedia mentions a few more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folia

 

Here is a link to the Vivaldi arranged by the Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x-6LPQXbeA

 

The sheng is credited as the inspiration for the invention of concertina, accordion and harmonica. Others here know much more about that than I do.