Tutor profile: Matteo G.

With which verbs one should use the subjonctif tense in Italian?

In Italian, the subjonctif is used mostly to: - speak of things that did not happen; - speak of things of which we are note certain (maybe they happened, maybe not). For this reason, we use it with all the verbs that express a personal opinion and/or are related to the mind rather than the real world. Here are some examples: "Credo che Maria avesse ragione." (I believe that Maria was right.) Here, the verb express a personal opinion: for this reason we have to use the subjonctif in the dependent clause. "Immagino che un vestito rosso le sarebbe piaciuto di più." (I imagine that she would have liked more a red dress.) Here, the verb express an action that takes place in the mind (to imagine) and not in the real world. Therefore, we have to use the subjonctif for the dependent clause.

What's the circle of fifth?

The circle of fifths is a very useful tool that musicians and theorists use in order to understand the relationship between different tonalities. In the circle of fifth the twelve notes of the temperate system are arranged by interval of fifths, ascending clockwise. You can think of it as a kind of musical color wheel. If two tonalities are close, it means they share a good amount of notes, therefore they are perceived as similar and close sounding. If two tonalities are far, they don't share a lot of notes and they are perceived as far from each other. As in a color wheel, far colors will be perceived as clashing between them (dissonant) and close colors will be perceived as close (consonant). By properly understanding the circle of fifths one can have a powerful resource that is extremely helpful to compose and analyze any kind of music.

What's a Sonata form?

The sonata form is a musical form which began developing in the late 17th century. The word sonata comes from the Italian verb "suonare", which means to play an instrument. At first, this word was used to simply name a piece that was played and not sung. It became extremely popular from late 18th century (with the works of Haydn and Mozart, and later Beethoven) up to the very end of the 19th century. The major sections of a strict sonata form would be the following: The exposition, where the two contrasting themes are presented; The development, where the two themes are confronted and transformed musically; The recapitulation, where the two themes are presented again (with the second theme transposed in a different tone); An optional Coda, which brings the piece to an end.