25 Ear Training – Building Fluency in Melodic Dictation

Characteristics of Melodic Dictations

Classical phrase structure often contains repetitions of motivic material. It also often contains references to tones from certain triads, even if we cannot hear the implied harmonic accompaniment.

When you take a melodic dictation, try to locate the tones of the tonic and dominant triads as your “signposts.” In some cases, the tones of the dominant seventh chord will appear. Recognizing them is hugely helpful when it comes to filling in gaps in your notation of the melodic line. Of course, melodies will also contains stepwise motion. Sometimes the steps are intermediaries that get you from one chord tone to another.

The example below contains a combination of triadic and stepwise movement.

• Notice that in the first measure, we get all three tones of the tonic triad (C major). Do, mi, and sol provide a framework for much of this melody.

• Measure two contains re and mi. Of course, mi was already present as part of the tonic triad. But re is significant too, because it is one of the tones of the dominant triad.

• Measure three outlines a descending V⁷ (sol-ti-re-fa) chord. Here, fa and re have mi between them as an intermediary, and re and ti have do between them. The descending major third ti-sol should be easy to notate.

• The presence of the V⁷ chord implies that the tonic triad isn’t far away. This turns out to be the case in measure five, where it is spelled out in root position and ascending motion. If you have internalized your do, mi, and sol from measure one, this will not be hard to write done.

• The second line begins similarly to the first. If you notice the repetitive nature of the pattern, you can write it down without too much trouble. In fact, if you hear on first hearing that the second half of a melody starts similarly to the first half, you could scribble down a note about this to remind you to fill in the notes later.

• The last two measures outline a perfect cadence. However, the tones of the V⁷ chord appear in different order in the penultimate measure, meaning that we have to be careful to get them in the correct order. If you acknowledge their function as V⁷ early, you can spend the last couple of hearings checking that you have notated them correctly.

• The final measure confirms the tonic triad with do-sol-do. This is a very “strong” way to end a melody.

Tips for Success

• Remember the solfege syllables from the tonic and dominant triads.
  • I = do-mi-sol
  • V = sol-ti-re
  • Sometimes, the major-minor 7 chord, i.e. V7, will be implied – sol-ti-re-fa.

• Before you start, look at your key signature and jot down the pitches that correspond to the solfege you’ve identified.
  • For example, in the key of C major you would write “do = C; mi = E; sol = G” to jog your memory and avoid writing wrong pitches into the staff.

• As always, make sure you have correctly examined your time signature before you write anything down.
  • How many beats are in the measure?
  • What is the beat note?

… and remember …

• Not all melodies start or end on do.
  • Many pieces start with sol-do (for example, “The Eyes of Texas”).
  • Many pieces start with sol-mi (for example, “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”).
  • Further, plenty of melodies finish on mi or sol even when the final cadence implies V-I.

• Practice writing out some well-known melodies that contain the principles we’re working on this week. Some good examples of melodies that utilize the tones of the tonic and dominant triads include:
  • “Glory, Glory Hallelujah”
  • “Jingle Bells”
  • “Skip To My Lou”
  • …and many nursery rhymes and folk songs.

• Once you’ve written your melody, find some public-domain images of other people’s transcriptions, and compare your work with them. Ask yourself where you went wrong, and figure out what you need to work on for next time. Good luck!