23 Sight Singing Instructions

Intervals Warm-Up

It is not difficult to sing simple intervals in ascending or descending motion as long as you have a context-based method for doing so.

• For example, if you are asked to sing an ascending minor third, you will recognize this as the two upper notes of a major triad – mi and sol.
  • Taking the given pitch as mi, you can create a major triad context yourself by audiating the opening of the American folk song “Skip to My Lou,” which begins on mi and outlines the major triad.
  • Therefore, if you imagine yourself singing “Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou” the “My Lou” part of the phrase will give you mi and sol.

Some intervals may seem more difficult than others. Many learners find it difficult, for example, to articulate descending intervals.

• If you are asked to sing a descending major third, mi-do, you can use “Skip to My Lou” again (mi, do).

• Alternatively, you can give yourself an intermediary step by inserting re. Try audiating another well-known folk song, “Hot Cross Buns” (mi, re, do). Once you have confidently found do, you can remove re and simply sing “mi, do.”

Review the chart “Making Contexts for Intervals,” that we previously studied in “Introduction to Intervals.”

For more inspiration, listen to this Spotify playlist of intervals in context.

Rhythms in Compound Time

The definition of compound time is that the beat is divisible by three. This is why the numerator of compound time signatures refers to the divisions of the beat note rather than the number of beats in a measure. Remember that any time signature with a numerator of 6 is conducted in 2. By the same token, a numerator of 9 indicates that we should conduct in 3, and a numerator of 12 that we should conduct in 4.

The rhythmic exercises for this chapter’s sight singing require you to familiarize yourself with some of the common divisions and subdivisions of the beat in compound time. For accuracy’s sake, practice with the metronome, both in subdivisions and in “big beats.”