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Easley Blackwood Jr.

 

 
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Easley Blackwood Jr.
 
 
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Easley Blackwood, (born April 21, 1933), the son of Easley Blackwood Sr.
Easley Blackwood Sr.

Easley R. Blackwood , the father of Easley Blackwood Jr., invented the Blackwood convention used in bidding in contract bridge. From 1968 to 1971 he was executive secretary of the American Contract Bridge League....
, is a professor of music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, a concert pianist, a composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 of music, some using unusual tunings
Musical tuning

In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* #Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* #Tuning systems, the various systems of Pitch used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical basis....
, and the author of books on music theory
Music theory

Music theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composer techniques....
, including his research into the properties of microtonal tunings and traditional harmony.

Blackwood was born in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the Capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, Indianapolis , Indiana the Unigov, at 795,458 in 2006....
. He studied piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 there and was doing solo appearances at the age of 14 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana.Annually, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performs 200 concerts for over 350,000 people....
. After studies at many places (including Yale University
Yale University

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher education in the United States and is a member of the Ivy League....
, where he earned his Master of Arts
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 degree) in the United States, he went to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 to study from 1954 to 1956.






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Easley Blackwood, (born April 21, 1933), the son of Easley Blackwood Sr.
Easley Blackwood Sr.

Easley R. Blackwood , the father of Easley Blackwood Jr., invented the Blackwood convention used in bidding in contract bridge. From 1968 to 1971 he was executive secretary of the American Contract Bridge League....
, is a professor of music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, a concert pianist, a composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 of music, some using unusual tunings
Musical tuning

In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* #Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* #Tuning systems, the various systems of Pitch used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical basis....
, and the author of books on music theory
Music theory

Music theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composer techniques....
, including his research into the properties of microtonal tunings and traditional harmony.

Blackwood was born in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the Capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, Indianapolis , Indiana the Unigov, at 795,458 in 2006....
. He studied piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 there and was doing solo appearances at the age of 14 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana.Annually, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performs 200 concerts for over 350,000 people....
. After studies at many places (including Yale University
Yale University

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher education in the United States and is a member of the Ivy League....
, where he earned his Master of Arts
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 degree) in the United States, he went to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 to study from 1954 to 1956. His teachers include Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organ , and ornithology. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris at the age of 11 and numbered Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupr? among his teachers....
, Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and Conducting....
, and Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was an influential French composer, conducting, and music professor. An outstanding music educator at the highest level, she taught many of the most important composers and conductors of the 20th century....
. For forty years, from 1958 to 1997, Blackwood taught at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park, Chicago neighborhood of Chicago. Although an older university by the same name existed prior to its founding, the modern University of Chicago credits its founding to the oil magnate John D....
, most of the time with the title of Professor. He then became Professor Emeritus at the University. He is still teaching classes.

Blackwood's initial compositions were not particularly unconventional although in them he employed polyrhythm
Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. Polyrhythms can be distinguished from irrational rhythms, which can occur within the context of a single Part ; polyrhythms require at least two rhythms to be played concurrently, one of which is typically an irrational rhythm....
 and wide melodic contours. This early music by Blackwood has been characterized as in an atonal yet a formally conservative style. In 1980-81 Blackwood shifted rather abruptly to a new style, releasing Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media. For these pieces, he used microtonality to create unusual equal tempered musical scale
Musical scale

In music, a scale is a group of musical note collected in ascending and descending order that provides material for or is used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony....
s. Blackwood has explored all equal temperaments from 13 through 24, including 15-ET
15 equal temperament

In music, 15 equal temperament, called 15-TET, 15-equal division of the octave, or 15-ET, is the Temperament scale derived by dividing the octave into 15 equally large steps....
 and 19-ET
19 equal temperament

In music, 19 equal temperament, called 19-TET, 19-equal division of the octave, or 19-ET, is the Temperament scale derived by dividing the octave into 19 equally large steps....
. Although Blackwood recorded most of these pieces with a synthesizer, his "Suite in 15-Note Equal Tuning, Op. 33" was performed live on a specially constructed guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
. His compositional style moved toward a late-19th-century tonality; he has likened its harmonic syntax to Verdi, Ravel, and Franck.

As a performer at the piano, Blackwood has played diverse compositions and has promoted the music of Charles Ives
Charles Ives

Charles Edward Ives was an American musical modernism composer. He is widely regarded as one of the first American composers of international significance....
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music and Conducting....
, and the Second Viennese School
Second Viennese School

The Second Viennese School is the term generally used in English language-speaking countries to denote the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, Austria, where, with breaks, he lived and taught between 1903 and 1925....
. In addition to his solo piano performances, Blackwood is pianist in the chamber group Chicago Pro Musica, largely comprised of members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Blackwood is also known for his book, The Structure of Recognizable Diatonic Tunings, published 1986. A number of recordings of his music have been released by Cedille Records (the label of the Chicago Classical Recording Foundation) beginning in the 1990s.

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