Johann Sebastian Bach and the Musical Puzzle Box

What You'll Learn

• Understand what 'theme and variations' means — a musical form where one melody is transformed over and over, like seeing the same face through different mirrors
• Learn what a 'canon' is — a musical round where one voice chases another, and discover that every THIRD variation in the Goldberg is a canon at a different interval
• Discover how the bass line (the lowest notes) of the opening Aria is the secret foundation for ALL thirty variations — the melody changes completely, but the bass stays the same
• Learn what a 'quodlibet' is — a musical joke where Bach sneaks folk songs into the final variation
• Understand that great music often has hidden structures — patterns and rules that your ear feels even when your brain doesn't consciously notice them