127 Sight Singing Assignment

Tone Rows (For Reference)

Row 1: Exercise

In this exercise, some of the tones are enharmonically respelled for ease of interval singing. The last note of measure 1 and the first note of measure 2, for example, are enharmonically equivalent.

Row 2: Exercise

In this exercise, watch out again for enharmonically equivalent pitches.

Atonal Melodies by Second Viennese School Composers

Conduct and sing on “la” (do not attempt to use solfege: it doesn’t work here!). If you have trouble getting from note to note, create an exercise for yourself like the warm-ups above, moving between notes through their intervallic relations. Once you are familiar with the shape of the melody, aim to sing it with fluent, lyrical phrasing.

Anton Webern, 5 Lieder aus Der siebente Ring Op. 3, No. 2

The next example comes from Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck. This composition is not actually twelve-tone, as it predates the codification of Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique. This excerpt is freely atonal, though Berg’s quasi-Romantic style recalls many earlier styles of music.

Alban Berg, Wozzeck Op. 7, Act I, Scene 3 (adapted)

The next excerpt utilizes the 12-tone technique, but Berg arranges the row in a way that suggests diatonicism. Use your experience in singing diatonic music to find your way from note to note.

Alban Berg, Der Wein (1929)