Ear Training, level 3B (Adduci)

Welcome to the MUSC 3B page!

Please choose one of the following sections:

1. A collection of ear-training links from around the Web.
2. The greensheet and other administrative documents
3. Handouts given in class.
4. Weekly homework assignments.
5. extra dictation practice, taken from the Common-Practice literature.

Web Links

This section contains links to internet sites designed to help you with music theory and ear training. The Internet is a fantastic resource for self-driven learning!

• Cengage website: from here you can download the dictation software that comes on the CD for the 3rd edition Horvit dictation textbook. If you are having trouble with your CD, try getting the software from this website instead. Follow the link, then click on "Updated Resources & Help" on the left. The file is in .zip format, so you will need the free WinZip utility to open it.
• www.musictheory.net - interactive, self-grading practice on music fundamentals; also, you can print free staff paper here.
• www.metronomeonline.com - turn your computer into a metronome.
• www.teoria.com - an excellent resource - interactive lessons and dictation exercises.
• Online Flash games for ear training (in addition to the above). There are many simple pitch and rhythm games available online. Here are three websites that I like:
  • Memory game (www.zefrank.com) - like the children's game Memory, you turn two cards over and try to find the matching pitches.
  • Pitch matching (www.themelodymaster.com) - this game plays a pitch, and you must then find it on a virtual keyboard. I recommend also guessing the intervals you hear between pitches that the game plays, for an extra layer of ear training practice.
  • Theta Music Trainer (www.trainer.thetamusic.com) - this website hosts dozens of musical games, from pitch to rhyhtm to intonation and beyond. Playing the games requires a free account, which gives access to the basic levels of each game. Purchasing a full account (around $50 per year) gives access to all levels, plus score tracking, etc. I recommend the "Parrot Phrases" and "Tonal Recall" in particular.
• The Interval Song, a YouTube video by Django Bates that illustrates all of the intervals between P1 and P8.

Greensheet

This section includes the greensheet and any other class policy documents.
Left-click to view, right-click to download.

• Fall 2014 Greensheet
• Important note about your dictation textbook!
  • The 4th edition of the Horvit text, "Music for Ear Training," is exactly the same as the 3rd edition, with only two changes:
    1. Page 4, #6-10 (Unit 1, Major and Minor Thirds, Quiz 2): these intervals have been changed in the 4th edition. We will not use this quiz in MUSC 3B.
    2. Unit 26 (examples from 20th century literature) has been added to the 4th edition. We will not use this unit in MUSC 3B.
  • Apart from that, the two editions are identical. This means that you can use the 3rd edition text for this class, and also the third edition music software (see "Links" section, above).

Handouts

This section contains copies of the informational handouts given in class.

1. (8/25/14) Chromatic Solfege handout, listing all solfege syllables for the ascending and descending chromatic scale, including enharmonic equivalents.
2. (8/25/14) Scales from Do, giving the solfege syllables for all scales required for MUSC 3B.
3. (8/25/14) Intervals in Major (Complete) - including all intervals, not just those that start from "Do".
4. (9/3/14) A handout listing well-known songs that use intervals of different sizes.
5. (9/8/14) Three Parts for One Singer, a "multitasking" etude involving solfege and Curwen/Kodaly hand signs.
6. (10/29/14) LISTENING EXERCISES! To practice the technique of "audiation" (hearing music internally while observing it visually), follow one line of a score while listening to a recording - can you draw that individual line out of the overall texture?
   1. Haydn, String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 33 No. 4 (Hob. III:40), third movement
      • Score
      • Recording
   2. Haydn, String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 33 No. 2 (Hob. III:38), second and third movements
      • Score (violin II and viola parts only)
      • Movement 2 Recording
      • Movement 3 Recording

Assignments

This section contains copies of each weekly assignment sheet,
showing what to practice for the following week.

Welcome to the online dictation training area for MUSC 3B!

Below you will find several musical examples for you to practice transcribing. For each example, there is a recording (in .mp3 format), a dictation template (giving starting positions), and the solution (showing the correct transcription). The template and solution are in .jpg format (images) - they will look odd until you print them out.

For level 3B, the dictation exercises focus primarily on chromatic tonal dictation (2-4 voices).

To practice your dictation skills, first print out the template of an exercise, and then listen to the recording as many times as you want while you notate what you are hearing. Once you have written down as much of the example as you can, check yourself against the solution I have provided.

Try not to look at the solution until you have dictated absolutely everything you can hear - the point is to improve your skills, so if you constantly refer to the answer you won't get as much benefit from the exercise.

Nintendo Section

This section features examples from the soundtracks of old 8-bit NES games. They make great dictation exercises, because they tend to have only four tracks ("voices") - melody, countermelody/harmony, bassline, and rhythm.

Start by trying to figure out the meter, and then the rhythm of each voice. Sometimes deciding on a time signature can be tricky - this music tends to use fairly complicated rhythms. However, most Nintendo music is in quadruple meter and can be notated in 4/4 time. If the meter is unclear, there are probably syncopations or quarter-note triplets being used.

This .pdf file is a blank template for all of the Nintendo exercises. Print the template out and use it for your dictation practice.

1. Castlevania 3 (unknown stage) - the music for the Castlevania series features intricate basslines and complicated, syncopated rhythms.
2. Castlevania 1 - Stage 1 - my favorite Nintendo track. The tune is not hard to figure out, but the rhythm is very hard to notate accurately.
   • Bonus Track! Here is an orchestrated version of the Castlevania theme - in the style of Hungarian (Transylvanian???) folk music and featuring my favorite instrument. The rhythms have been smoothed out a bit. How many instruments can you identify and notate?

Classical, Film and Game Section

1. "A New King" from Thor, score by Patrick Doyle (2011)
   • Medium: strings, playing a Bach-style chorale (with a lot of octave doubling). This excerpt is the first sixteen bars of the track, and is a contrasting period of two eight bar phrases. Each eight-bar phrase is itself a period of two four bar phrases. Each four-bar phrase is built of two-bar "question" and "answer" segments as well. This sort of 2+2 / 4+4 / 8+8 organization is typical of common-practice music.
   • Recording
   • Partial Solution
2. "The Normandy Reborn" from Mass Effect 2, score by Jack Wall and David Kates (2009). The first half of this track is easier; in the second half the texture thickens and the piece becomes more difficult.
   • Medium: synthesized orchestra (but very high quality synth).
   • Recording
3. "The Lady's House" from Baldur's Gate, score by Michael Hoenig (1998)
   • Medium: SATB chorus, using modal/medieval stylistic influences. The inner lines can be difficult to hear because the voices are closely spaced.
   • Template
   • Recording
4. "Love Theme" from While You Were Sleeping, score by Randy Edelman (1995)
   • Medium: small orchestra with piano.
   • Recording
5. "Cora" from Last of the Mohicans, score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman (1992) - [first 1:00 only]
   • Medium: small string orchestra + English horn
   • Template
   • Recording
   • Partial Solution, full score (mm. 1-18 only)
   • Partial Solution, grand staff (mm. 1-18 only)
6. "Medjai Commanders" from The Mummy Returns, score by Alan Silvestri (2001) (excerpt)
   • Medium: orchestra (strings, brass, percussion). This excerpt is in 4/4 time, with a quarter-note pickup in the timpani (roll).
   • Recording
7. "General Lee at Twilight" from Gettysburg, score by Randy Edelman (1993)
   • Medium: small orchestra (strings, woodwinds and percussion). Enjoy the non-Picardy cadential resolutions!
   • Recording