Twinkle Twinkle - Variations

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! On this hot, hazy, and humid 27th day of the month, I have a song that you've definitely heard before - and probably haven't heard before. On one hand, it's the classic tune "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." On the other hand, it's 12 more ways to play this melody composed by Mozart. Do you think you'll like this better than the original version? I hope you like listening to it!


Listen to the song here
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So, why would a composer take a simple melody and write a 15-minute long song based on that melody? Perhaps they would want to practice their composing skills by expanding a musical idea into a song. Or maybe they wanted to see how far they could take the melody.

A simple idea can be used for a lot of things. For example, let's say you had 26 different shapes. You decide to associate each of them with a sound. You then start stringing them together to see what sounds you can make. When you release your invention to the public, they seem to be excited about the ability to "write down" their ideas. All you need is 26 shapes and you can write anything you want!

So what do you find when you walk into a library? Stacks and stacks of books, all using those 26 letters. They are each saying something different, but using the same idea of writing letters.

In the same way, you could then put together a musical instrument with 12 different sounds. If anyone didn't particularly enjoy writing letters, they could now compose a song by creating combinations of the different sounds. What are you going to find now? Music being performed on stage, boxes full of CDs with music recordings on them, websites with 128 songs on them even though they've only been running for 3 years...

You can see what's happening. There's only a limited set of keys on a piano, but it's possible to do anything with them. So, why wouldn't you try the same thing with a melody?

Do something with it that you haven't done before! See how much you can change up that melody and make it sound like a completely different song. Or maybe it's better to keep the original song obvious and put those other 9 fingers to work. Before you know it, you might have 12 variations on the song - and if you went looking it up, you'd probably find even more.

A simple idea, like the original Twinkle Twinkle, can definitely be used for a whole lot of things. In fact, that sentence was just a prime example. I've already said that a simple idea can be used for a lot of things, and I just found a way to say it differently.

Keep filling your teacup with music!

~Liya