Putting It All Together
135 Harmonic Dictation Exam Review
General Guidelines for Success
- On the first hearing, listen to overall color of harmony, noticing chromatic tones, cadence types, pre-cadential chords, etc. Are there secondary dominants? Augmented sixth chords? Neapolitan chords? Borrowed chords? Irregular resolutions? Make some analytical predictions.
- On the first and second hearings, write the bass notes in as soon as possible. This voice will determine not only the chord, but the inversion. Further refine your analysis predictions.
- On the first, second, and third hearings, write in the soprano notes. These are useful as a confirmation of predicted harmonies, or a clarification between two possible different outcomes.
- On the final hearing, check your work according to principles of harmonic progression and voice-leading, and use the clues from the soprano and bass voice to eliminate possible wrong answers. The final hearing is also a good time to check whether dominant chords have a seventh degree, for example.
Chord Progression Rules
Review and memorize the rules of chord progression. This will save you a great deal of time figuring out your Roman numeral analysis.
Major Keys
Minor Keys
Procedures for Identifying Harmonic Progressions
Root movement
Review the rules of root movement in the table below:
| Bass Notes | Likely Chord Pattern |
|---|---|
| do, re, mi | I-V6/4-I6 OR I-V4/3 OR I-viio6-I6 |
| do, re, sol | I-ii-V |
| do, mi, fa | I-I6-IV |
| do, mi, sol | I-I6-V |
| do, fa, re | I-IV-ii |
| do, fa, mi | I-IV-I6 |
| do, fa, sol | I-IV-V OR I-vi-ii6 |
| do, sol, la | I-V-vi |
| do, la, fa | I-vi-IV OR I-vi-ii6 |
| do, ti, do | I-V6/5-I OR I-V6-I |
In previous chapters, we studied these rules in context in piano practice. Review the following examples at the piano, paying special attention to root movement:
Secondary Dominants
Neapolitan Chord
- Commit the solfege of the Neapolitan chord to memory: fa-le-ra. Remember, the Neapolitan chord always appears in first inversion.
- Sing the Neapolitan chord procedure:
Play the Neapolitan chord on the piano to hear how it functions in context. Take careful note of how the voice-leading works.
Chords of the Augmented Sixth
Memorize the solfege of the three types of augmented sixth chord, and the salient features of each:
- Italian sixth = le-do-fi (only 3 tones)
- German sixth = le-do-me-fi (enharmonic equivalent of the major-minor seventh chord, though greatly different in solfege and function!)
- French sixth = le-do-re-fi (composed of a partial whole tone collection, and therefore very dissonant)
- Sing the augmented sixth chords, using the tones of the scale to navigate your way from pitch to pitch:
Play augmented sixth chords on the piano to hear how they function in context, noticing how the voice-leading works in each instance.
Borrowed Chords
- Memorize the possibilities for borrowed chords: therefore, in major keys, iio, ii∅7, ♭III, iv, ♭VI, viio7, etc.
- Practice the following progressions on the piano to easily recall the ways in which we can borrow chords from the parallel mode:
Irregular Resolutions
Remember, irregular resolutions are comparable to a deceptive cadence, but in the context of a secondary dominant. Practice this example of what they sound like:
