Re: reading/dictating by ear
Bert Ligon ( BLigon@mozart.music.sc.edu )
Fri, 16 May 1997 16:05:10 -0400
>On Thu, 15 May 1997, Bert Ligon wrote:
>
>> >I use the first two notes of 'Here comes the bride...' for a perfect
>> >fourth... :)> Pedro
>>
>> The trouble with this concept is that there are six perfect fourths in a
>> major key and only one of them is "here comes the bride."
>>
>> In C major P4= C-F, D-G, E-A, G-C, A-D, B-E. They all sound different and
>> yet are all perfect fourths. Only G-C is "here comes the bride" if we are
>> in C. I tend to hear pitches related to the tonic.
>> _______________________________________
>> Bert Ligon
>
> Interesting how many times that old P4th crops up!, and yes it does sound
>different depending on the degree of the scale it starts on. Is this
>because we are unconsciosly relating the sound against the tonal center of
>the tonic?.
> Notice also how different the 'quality' of an interval can sound when it
>is reversed.
>
> I suppose anything that increases our ability recognize and use melodic
>intervals cannot be a bad thing. I see from the replys that many of us use
>melody fragments as mnemonic device for remembering the sound quality of a
>specific interval. Here are a few I use:
>
>1 b2 You must remember this, a kiss is ....
>1 3 5 Kum By Ya .... (first three notes)
>1 5 The first two notes of the Star Wars theme tune
>1 6 Mamas little baby loves shortening .... (first two notes)
>1 8 7 Some where over the rainbow .... (for the 1 to major 7)
>
>A few more for the chromatic notes would be useful (esp. 1 to b7)
>
> By the way does anybody on the list have the ability to look at a score
>and hum the melody line (with certainty)?
>
>----------- John Brown
Again, here is the problem with tune memorization/interval relationship
learning. "As Time Goes By" does not begin 1-b2, but rather 3-4 (mi-fa).
That relationship is different that the half-step 7-1 (ti-do) with a tune
like "Song is You" or the chromatically embellished 3 of "Stormy Weather."
Almost none of the tunes for remembering 1-6 actually are 1-6. Most of them
are the major 6th interval between 5 and 3 (so-mi). "My Bonnie," "NBC" are
two examples of this problem.
I advocate learning pitches related to tonic. Most of the music in the
world (not just European derived music) is based on tonality. Some home
pitch (tonic) and a pitch a perfect fifth above that note (dominant) are
the most frequent notes. The third (mediant) determines modality, i.e.
major or minor. Go back to the 170 tunes for ear-training and writing
practice that was posted sometime back. Writing and analyzing those
melodies will help understand pitch relationships to tonic, dominant and
mediant.
_______________________________________
Bert Ligon
Director of Jazz Studies
_______________________________________
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Voice: (803) 777-6565
Fax: (803) 777-2151
http://www.music.sc.edu/Departments/Jazz/
bligon@mozart.sc.edu
_______________________________________