1. Steve Reich: 3rd Movement (fast) from Electric Counterpoint
GCSE Music Revision 2014
Area of Study 2:
Steve Reich: 3rd Movement (fast) from Electric Counterpoint

2. Steve Reich: Context & Background
Through the 20th Century composers aimed to push music in new & interesting directions
Minimalism emerged after art forms such as expressionism (Schoenberg)
Composers explored new ways of writing music down e.g. scores with little or not detail
Instruments were in unconventional ways e.g. being hit, plucked, bowed or immersed in water!

3. Steve Reich: Elements of Minnimalism
Drones – a ling, continuous note or constantly repeated note often low pitch
Ostinato or loops – repeated cycles of musical ideas. The shortest are known as cells
Phasing – two almost identical parts which go out of sync with each other gradually
Metamorphosis – gradually changing from one musical idea to another, usually one note at a time
Layering – adding new musical parts, usually one at a time
Note addition - starting off with a very simple ostinato and gradually adding notes as the pattern repeats
Note Subtraction – starting off with a complex ostinato and gradually removing notes
Rhythmic Displacement – playing a musical phrase so that accents fall in unexpected places
Augmentation – extending the durations of a rhythmic pattern
Static Harmony – One long chord which changes only very gradually, if at all

4. Steve Reich: As a composer
Born in New York in 1936
His music is rhythmically complex with much repetition
Famous for the ‘phasing technique’
Music is highly demanding to perform
Studied African drumming in 1970 which influenced compositions such as Drumming & Clapping Music

5. Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint
Electric Counterpoint was written in 1987
The piece is the last in a series of 3 pieces for soloists playing to pre-recorded multi track tapes
Commissioned for Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny
The performance features 12 recorded guitar parts & two bass guitars as well as the live part
The performance requires precise timing and a high level of accuracy
The ‘backing track’ (recorded guitars) allows notes addition and other development techniques to be used that would not be possible with a standard tape loop

6. Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint Section A
Timing
Description A 1
0 – 42s
One bar ostinato played by guitar 1 (pre recorded) followed by the live guitar part using 3 notes of ostinato one
building gradually using addition technique
Guitars 2, 3 and 4 enter played variations of the ostinato forming a “Four part guitar canon”
When all the parts have entered the live guitar starts the resultant melody
The piece is in 3/2 time with a cleat triple metre
Hints of E Minor 2
43s – 1:05
Bass guitar is introduced
Two bar ostinato is introduced gradually
Two bass guitars are panned to the left and right speakers
Live guitar continues the resultant melody 3
1:05 – 2:05
Live guitar introduces a new idea
Guitars 5, 6 and 7 introduce new sequences
The live guitar plays interweaving chords between the parts of guitars 5 - 7 4
2:06 – 2:16
The live guitar returns to the resultant melody

7. Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint Section B & Coda5
2:16 – 2:31
A startling change of key to C minor signals the start of section B texture remains the same 6
2:32 – 2:46
The key shifts back to B minor
In this section the metre changes to 12/8
The bass plays a new ostinato 7
2:47 – 3:01
The key returns to C minor
The metre changes every 4 bars 8
3:02 – 3:32
Return to E minor
Shifts in key and metre become more frequent
Bass guitars start to fade out with guitars 5 - 7
Coda 9
3:32 – 4:24
The texture has now returned to the “four part guitar canon”
Shifts in key continue until the pieces settles in E minor
The piece ends with a crescendo to a final E Minor chord played by all remaining guitar parts