Von Cello
Though considered in Medieval times "the devil in music" the tritone is widely used today. Tritone Mischief provides a chance to practice this important interval and the finger patterns it engenders. Long trills, syncopated rhythms and musical satire are featured, along with other bits of mischief.
The Sky is Falling is based on the traditional children's story of the same name about a character known as Chicken Little (aka Henny Penny) who, when hit by an acorn, thought the sky was falling. It employs the chromatic scale depicting falling debris and panic. Later the mood shifts to relief and tranquility. Meter changes occur in a natural way.
The unifying principle of Open Sesame is the fact that the whole piece was composed using only open strings! Open Sesame is a command associated with opening up the doorway to a magical cave. The music creates the feeling that a magical path has been revealed!
The use of the pick by the whole orchestra (optional for bass) is a prominent feature of Let's Jam!. All instruments should be held celtar (guitar) style (optional for bass).
Inspired by Beethoven's 5th, in which he uses a short phrase in a myriad of ways, Give Me Five finds a mini-myriad of ways to incorporate 5, including the time signature.
The mood of Full Scale Assault is one of attack. Technically it explores full scales (up to two octaves) and scale fragments in the Dorian mode.
The narrator tells the joke then the orchestra "acts out" the concept. The first, with its steady dotted rhythm, represents jumping rope. The second imitates a helicopter. Dissonance is used throughout. The third giving the impression of a boat, uses polyrhythms. And the last using chromatics to imitate laughter, has the orchestra itself becoming part of the joke. Intonation and rhythm, and timing (for the narrator) will lead to success.
This piece can't figure out what it is. But this indecision provides the chance to practice moving from the all important F to F# and back. The occasional excursion into Eb provides practice for the low 1st finger. Those familiar will notice quotes from Bach's Little Fugue in C minor. The Bach doesn't fit without incident providing unusual but strangely pleasant harmonies. The piece struggles with tonality until the final chord, which, is neither major nor minor!
This music is meant to sound like the flying meanderings of a bee. As the piece progresses the bee becomes more and more annoying. Finally, the slap on the music stands represents a swat, and the unison glissando represents the dive of the bee to the ground. Is he dead? We do not know. And that is why this piece is called: To Bee or Not to Bee?
Anybody Home? is a theatrical orchestral piece that adds a speaker to the mix. It acts out a scenario of that childhood experience of knocking on the door of a strange house and feeling uncomfortable waiting for a response. It ends with a twist that is sure to surprise the audience. Musically, it explores dissonance in a not too complicated way.