ear training – melodic dictation
TRANSCRIPT
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
Barbara Murphy
Mode-Key
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Next,determineifthemelodyisinamajororminormode.Youmayalreadyknow.Ifnot,listenagain.
Thismelodyisinmajormode.Mostoftenthekeysignaturewillbegiven,sonowyouwillknowthekey.Sincethereare3flatsinthekeysignature,thekeyofthismelodyisEbmajor.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
Next,listentothemelodyandtrytodeterminethemeter.Howmanybeatsareineachmeasure?Iseachbeatdividedinto2(simplemeter)or3(compoundmeter)?
Meter
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Inthismelody,eachmeasurecontainsthreebeatsandeachbeatisnormallydividedinto2.Therefore,thismelodyisintriplesimplemeter.Wewillwritethismelodyusinga3/4timesignature.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
Nowthatweknowthemeter,wecandeterminethenumberofmeasures.Listentothemelodyagaincountingthenumberofmeasures.
Number of measures
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Inthismelody,thereare8measures.Addbarlinestomake8measures.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
Next,listentotherhythmofthenotes.Youcannotatetherhythmusinganymethodyouwant.
Rhythm
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Eb:
Forexample,youcanputdashesabovethestafftorepresentthenotesareinthemeasure(atypeofmeta-notation)andturnthesedashesintorhythmicvalueslater.Trythisandthenclicktoseetheresult.
Barbara Murphy
Rhythm
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Eb:
Nowturnthesedashesintorhythmicvalues.
Thecorrectrhythmicvaluesforthismelodyare:
Barbara Murphy
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:
Barbara Murphy
How cadences are approached
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Now,howarethefinalnotesofthephrasesapproached?
Inthismelody,theFattheendofthefirstphraseisapproachedbystepfromabove,whiletheEbattheendofthesecondphraseisapproachedbystepfrombelow.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
How cadences are approached
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Onceyouhavefiguredouthowthecadencesareapproached,startfromthebeginningortheendofthephrasestofigureouttheotherpitches.Inthismelody,itmaybeeasiertoworkbackwardsfromtheendofthephrases.Listentohowthefirstphraseendingisapproached.
Thefirstphraseinthismelodyendswith5descendingnotesstepwisebeforeastepuptotheGinmeasure4.Therefore,measure2endonCanddescendstoFbeforeitgoesbacktotheGandfinalFofthephrase.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
How cadences are approached
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Thesecondphrasedoesnotendthesameasthefirstphrase.Listentotheendofthesecondphrasetodeterminehowtheendingisapproached.
Measure6endsonthesamenoteasmeasure2(C),descendstwosteps(toBbandA),butthendoesnotcontinuestepwise.Instead,itdescendsinatriadicpattern,goingtoFbeforetheDattheendofmeasure7.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
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:
Barbara Murphy
Check your answer
Ear Training – Melodic dictation
Finally,listenagaintomakesureeverythingiscorrect.
Eb:
Barbara Murphy
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