This waltz sounds so Polish, the first part reminds me of a Kujawiak a slow dance done in Poland, the second quicker part is like a mazurka. and it alternates back and forth between the first and the second
I love this. I've studied the theory, looked at entire tonic, supertonic, mediant, (pre) subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading tone/ subtonic, and focused on voice leadings with 4 voices, harmony, inversions, variations of chords etc. and I analyzed this piece as well when learning to play, and it's beautiful music, but also like a puzzle. Theory makes this piece very exciting to study. Please do more content! :D I love the 7 chords, how Chopin in this song (also Waltz 69) he uses 'em. It's such a unique chord from like diminished/major minor etc.. but really love your video on this, subscribed brother
AMAZING video ! I picked up this piece after a long pause from playing, and I'm trying to get into understanding some harmony. This one seems a good start ^^
Thank you! I've just started learning this and I was trying to understand why the dominant and tonic wasn't E and A minor in the first section but this makes so much sense. I've got so much to learn! Thanks again!
Definitely not as VII7, because as a dominant 7th chord it has a function and labeling it as VII7 says nothing about its function. This can be interpreted in two ways (both are correct): 1) as V7/III - in this case the G7 is a secondary dominant, meaning we never left the home key of A minor. 2) as V7 - this looks strange but it would recognize the brief modulation to C major. In this case, the Dm chord from the previous measure would be the pivot chord (IV in the key of Am and II in the key of C major) and from that point the music is no longer in Am, but in C. I personally view this as the second case, where Chopin makes these very brief modulations to C major, only to move back to Am without any preparation and simply returning back to the main theme.
Hello! Great question. What we see on the first section of this piece is every phrase making a cadence in a different key: C major. All the elements of a modulation are present: a pivot chord (the d minor on the second measure); a dominant chord (the G7 on the third measure); and the new tonic (the C chord) on the forth measure. Even if we immediately move back to the previous key (A minor), as it happens here, the modulation still occurred. For a very brief period of time (one single measure long) we are no longer in A minor, but effectively in C major. Chopin then returns to A minor on the following measure, and starts the phrase again.
This waltz sounds so Polish, the first part reminds me of a Kujawiak a slow dance done in Poland, the second quicker part is like a mazurka. and it alternates back and forth between the first and the second
Thanks for the clear explanation of Harmonic analysis helps deepen my understanding of Chopin's Waltz in A minor. 😊❤
Thank you very much for this excellent video! This really help understanding this beautiful composition.
I love this. I've studied the theory, looked at entire tonic, supertonic, mediant, (pre) subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading tone/ subtonic, and focused on voice leadings with 4 voices, harmony, inversions, variations of chords etc. and I analyzed this piece as well when learning to play, and it's beautiful music, but also like a puzzle. Theory makes this piece very exciting to study. Please do more content! :D
I love the 7 chords, how Chopin in this song (also Waltz 69) he uses 'em. It's such a unique chord from like diminished/major minor etc.. but really love your video on this, subscribed brother
Thank you so much. Don’t understand music theory very much myself but I enjoyed your explanation and I want to know more. Amen! God bless you.
Great analysis of such a masterpiece! Thanks for sharing!
AMAZING video !
I picked up this piece after a long pause from playing, and I'm trying to get into understanding some harmony. This one seems a good start ^^
Brilliant tutorial. Thank you for your very clear analysis.
Thank you! I've just started learning this and I was trying to understand why the dominant and tonic wasn't E and A minor in the first section but this makes so much sense. I've got so much to learn! Thanks again!
This is by FAR!!!! the best explanation I have seen so
Much knowledge thank you 🙏🏽 and definitely subscribed
Excellent explanation and video, very useful, thank you!
Great explanation! Thank you so much
Great method! Please more like this!
Thank you for the feedback! We will be posting more for sure.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year thank you for sharing your knowledge
Thank you so much and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well🎄🍾
Amazing explanation, thank you so much. You deserve more subs.
Thank you so much!
This helps a lot man
So would you label the G7 as VII7 or as V7/ III?
Definitely not as VII7, because as a dominant 7th chord it has a function and labeling it as VII7 says nothing about its function.
This can be interpreted in two ways (both are correct):
1) as V7/III - in this case the G7 is a secondary dominant, meaning we never left the home key of A minor.
2) as V7 - this looks strange but it would recognize the brief modulation to C major. In this case, the Dm chord from the previous measure would be the pivot chord (IV in the key of Am and II in the key of C major) and from that point the music is no longer in Am, but in C.
I personally view this as the second case, where Chopin makes these very brief modulations to C major, only to move back to Am without any preparation and simply returning back to the main theme.
Omg Thanks a lot, it
help a lot. I have to present this piece for an exam
That’s so nice to know, hope the exam went well!
This was exactly what I needed, more of this please! GREAT VIDEO!
Thanks for the feedback! We will be posting more videos like this👍
Well explained 👍
Hello, I have a question; why we take the c major as a tonic sometimes and sometimes not? Are we switching between the relative keys?
Hello! Great question. What we see on the first section of this piece is every phrase making a cadence in a different key: C major. All the elements of a modulation are present: a pivot chord (the d minor on the second measure); a dominant chord (the G7 on the third measure); and the new tonic (the C chord) on the forth measure. Even if we immediately move back to the previous key (A minor), as it happens here, the modulation still occurred. For a very brief period of time (one single measure long) we are no longer in A minor, but effectively in C major. Chopin then returns to A minor on the following measure, and starts the phrase again.
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