ear training – melodic dictation

Barbara Murphy

Ear training –Melodic dictation

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Inthispresentation,youwilllearnstepstotakemelodicdictation.

Barbara Murphy

Whentakingmelodicdictation,Youneedtoconcentrateonvariousaspectsofthemelody:

• Theoverallsoundofthemelody• Mode– whetheritisinamajororminorkey• Meter• Numberofmeasures• Rhythm• Numberofphrases• Startandendnotes/cadencesofphrases• Howcadencesareapproached• Melodicpatterns(triads,stepwisemotion)• Repeatedparts

Melodic dictation

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Youmightconcentrateontheseaspectsinadifferentorderthanispresentedhere.Thatisokay.Usewhateverorderworksforyou.

Barbara Murphy

First,listentothemelodyuntilyoucansingitback.Clickonthesoundicontohearthemelody.Listentoitseveraltimes.

Sound

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

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Mode-Key

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Next,determineifthemelodyisinamajororminormode.Youmayalreadyknow.Ifnot,listenagain.

Thismelodyisinmajormode.Mostoftenthekeysignaturewillbegiven,sonowyouwillknowthekey.Sincethereare3flatsinthekeysignature,thekeyofthismelodyisEbmajor.

Eb:

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Next,listentothemelodyandtrytodeterminethemeter.Howmanybeatsareineachmeasure?Iseachbeatdividedinto2(simplemeter)or3(compoundmeter)?

Meter

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Inthismelody,eachmeasurecontainsthreebeatsandeachbeatisnormallydividedinto2.Therefore,thismelodyisintriplesimplemeter.Wewillwritethismelodyusinga3/4timesignature.

Eb:

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Nowthatweknowthemeter,wecandeterminethenumberofmeasures.Listentothemelodyagaincountingthenumberofmeasures.

Number of measures

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Inthismelody,thereare8measures.Addbarlinestomake8measures.

Eb:

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Next,listentotherhythmofthenotes.Youcannotatetherhythmusinganymethodyouwant.

Rhythm

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Eb:

Forexample,youcanputdashesabovethestafftorepresentthenotesareinthemeasure(atypeofmeta-notation)andturnthesedashesintorhythmicvalueslater.Trythisandthenclicktoseetheresult.

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Rhythm

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Eb:

Nowturnthesedashesintorhythmicvalues.

Thecorrectrhythmicvaluesforthismelodyare:

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Phrases

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Eb:

Onceyouhavetherhythmicvalues,youcanconcentrateonthepitches.

First,listenfortheformofthemelody.Isitone,two,ormorephrases?Howmanymeasuresareineachphrase?

Inthismelody,therearetwophrases– onefrommeasure1-4andthesecond,measures5-8.

Barbara Murphy

Phrase Start and Endings/Cadences

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Next,determinethenotesthatstartandendthephrases.Whatisthebeginningnoteofeachphrase?Theendingnote?

Inthismelody,boththefirstandthesecondphrasebeginontonic(Eb).Thefirstphraseendsonwithscaledegree2inthemelody(F)withahalfcadence(aVchord),whilethesecondphraseendsontonic(withanauthenticcadence).

Eb:

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How cadences are approached

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Now,howarethefinalnotesofthephrasesapproached?

Inthismelody,theFattheendofthefirstphraseisapproachedbystepfromabove,whiletheEbattheendofthesecondphraseisapproachedbystepfrombelow.

Eb:

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How cadences are approached

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Onceyouhavefiguredouthowthecadencesareapproached,startfromthebeginningortheendofthephrasestofigureouttheotherpitches.Inthismelody,itmaybeeasiertoworkbackwardsfromtheendofthephrases.Listentohowthefirstphraseendingisapproached.

Thefirstphraseinthismelodyendswith5descendingnotesstepwisebeforeastepuptotheGinmeasure4.Therefore,measure2endonCanddescendstoFbeforeitgoesbacktotheGandfinalFofthephrase.

Eb:

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How cadences are approached

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Thesecondphrasedoesnotendthesameasthefirstphrase.Listentotheendofthesecondphrasetodeterminehowtheendingisapproached.

Measure6endsonthesamenoteasmeasure2(C),descendstwosteps(toBbandA),butthendoesnotcontinuestepwise.Instead,itdescendsinatriadicpattern,goingtoFbeforetheDattheendofmeasure7.

Eb:

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Melodic patterns and repeated parts

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Nowwecanturnourattentiontothebeginningsofthetwophrases.Listentothefirsttwomeasures.

Measure1startswithatonictriad.

Eb:

Barbara Murphy

Melodic patterns and repeated parts

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Nowwecanturnourattentiontothebeginningsofthetwophrases.Listentothefirsttwomeasures.

Measure1startswithatonictriad.

Eb:

Measure2isanothertriad– startingonFandendingontheC(whichwealreadyknow).Thefirsttwomeasuresmakeasequence.

Barbara Murphy

Melodic patterns and repeated parts

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Finally,listentomeasures5-6.Comparethesemeasureswiththefirsttwomeasures.

Measures5-6arethesameasmeasures1-2.Nowwehavethewholemelody.

Eb:

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Check your answer

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Finally,listenagaintomakesureeverythingiscorrect.

Eb:

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Insummary,whentakingmelodicdictation,usethestepsusedabove:

• Sound:Listentothemelodyuntilyoucansingitback.• Mode:Decideifthemelodyisinamajororminorkeyanddeterminethekey(giventhekeysignature).• Meter:Determinethemeterandwriteinthetimesignature.• Determinethenumberofmeasures.• Notatetherhythm,firstinameta-notation(dashesorotherindicators)andthenrhythmicvalues.• Determinethenumberofphrases.• Notatethestartingandendingnotes(cadencesofphrases).• Determinehowcadencesareapproached.• Listenformelodicpatterns(triads,stepwisemotion)andrepeatedfigures.• Checkyouranswer.

Melodic dictation

Ear Training – Melodic dictation

Youcandothesestepsinaanyorder– aslongastheorderworksforyou.NowtrysomeofthemelodiesonMusicTheoryMaterials.utk.edu

Barbara Murphy

ThispresentationwascreatedbyBarbaraMurphy,Ph.D.

TheUniversityofTennessee,Knoxville

OpeningmusiccomposedbyClaireTerrell

CreativeCommonsAttribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0

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Ear training – Melodic Dictation