Re: reading/dictating by ear

Kevin Johnsrude ( (no email) )
Fri, 16 May 1997 15:54:54 +0000

On 16 May 97 at 10:11, JP.BROWN wrote:
>...I see from the replys that many of us use
> melody fragments as mnemonic device for remembering the sound quality of a
> specific interval...

I've probably mentioned this before, but I carry a set of chromatic
pitch pipes with me and rehearse different intervals. I sing the
interval and then check myself against the pitch pipes. I started with
chord intervals (1, 3, 5, b7), then added scale tones and now am
working on accidental scale intervals (+5, -5, etc.). I do them up and
down and now I'm working on singing the numbers on license plates and
phone numbers. The reason I use these instead of sheet music is that
the pipes are in my pocket and I use them when I'm running errands and
I can't practice my instrument.

> By the way does anybody on the list have the ability to look at a score
> and hum the melody line (with certainty)?

Yes, but slowly and with pauses for sometimes running up and down the
scale.

Cheers,
Kevin

"The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."
- Robert Louis Stevenson