Extended Playing Techniques in the 20th Century -In progress

Extended Techniques in the Music of the 20th&21stC

This post is concerning the use of the Extended Playing Techniques you need to know for your courses, within the music of the 20th Century.

Pay attention to the sound and the representation in scores - you may be asked to identify techniques in music.

If you are advanced higher, you should be scrutinising scores for extended playing techniques when analysing music. This post will assist you in developing your skill here.

A list of the techniques you need to know for your SQA Music exams:

• Pizzicato
• Con Sordino
• Col Legno
• Harmonics
• Tremolando
• Double Stopping
• Flutter-Tonguing

In this string quartet by Maurice Ravel, there is an abundance of pizzicato and double-stopping, and at several points you see tremolando marked both ways.
Enjoy it. Follow the score as you listen and note where these extended techniques are used.

In this trio by Claude Debussy you can see and hear Harp Harmonics and the viola starts Con Sordino. Watch out for the effects.

This song from West Side Story contains an example of flutter tonguing on the trumpet (around 57 seconds to 1 minute- sounds raspy and shrill):

Double Stopping: Konzertstucke for Viola and Piano; Double Stopping. 

Start the video at 2 minutes 34 - this is where the printed music begins. The area between the pink lines ends at 2mins 57.
(Remember, Double Stopping is when a stringed instrument plays two notes at once!)

Harmonics:

This piece is Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. At 1 minute 43 the strings begin a section of muted (con sordino) harmonic arpeggios.

The score is on the video. Skip to 1m43 and observe the eerie effect created by using both these techniques together.