Author: Dutchy
Date: 2008-01-05 16:04
I think that some of the more rarified discussion here is ignoring the main point of Barret, which is simply to educate beginners. I was upstairs working on No. 39 just now, and it struck me that it's a perfect example of this. It does what it was designed to do: it serves to introduce advanced concepts in a piece longer than an 8 or 16-bar technical exercise.
--key signature of 4 sharps. There's a challenge for the beginner, right there. Virtually everything a beginner has encountered thus far has been in Bb, Eb, Ab, G, C, D, or F.
--BUT: it's actually in C#minor, thus reinforcing the concept, already covered by this time, of a "relative minor" key, but with (gasp!) four sharps. Psychologically quite tricky to think about, for a beginner.
--Double sharps. Again, tricky.
--And, just to make it even more challenging, they don't happen just once a measure and then you can forget about it; no, they repeat during the measure, so you have to actually remember that that F# is still an F##, or a G natural. If I hadn't already had piano extensively, my head would be exploding about now.
--Accidental sharps not on those old familiars, like F or G or C, but on A and B. You who are already deeply immersed in advanced music may forget how challenging it can be, first, to visualize what an A# or B# must be, and then to play it every time it comes around.
--Three and four measures before the end, there's a combination of duples and triplets. Again, my extensive piano and choir background stands me in good stead here, but a 13-year-old would be stumped for a while, to get the rhythm right. And again, all of you old hands find this boring, but some of us out here have never had to deal with this before.
--And of course, once you get the actual notes figured out, then you're faced with the correct alternation of slurring and staccato. Those of you who do it without thinking, remember those of us who still have to stop and think about it.
So, don't be too quick to write off Barret just yet. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif) As long as there are beginners who are bored with Go Tell Aunt Rhodie and need something more challenging than a 16-bar exercise, but aren't ready for Ferling & Co., there will be a need for Barret.
And actually, I think they're pretty tunes, too. So there. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
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