Four Lessons
for harpsichord or piano

Work no. 121
2018

The title refers to harpsichord Lessons from 17th–18th century English publications. Those were intended for keyboard enthusiasts, teaching them various playing techniques. My four tiny lessons are also suitable for beginners, but there's also ear training involved for listeners who don't have much experience with counterpoint. Each piece cycles through a single short melody, which is repeated over and over again with no changes at all (except an occasional octave transposition). The second voice does what it can to obscure the repetition. Ideally, the listener will be able to learn to switch between hearing both voices independently and hearing them together.