Increasingly Complex Rhythms
30 Sight Singing Instructions
Sight Singing Instructions
General Guidelines
As always, take careful note of the clef, the key signature, the time signature, and so on.
- What is the beat note?
- How many beats are in the measure?
- Where are do, mi, and sol, and other “signposts”?
- How is the beat divided?
- Sing and conduct confidently, aiming for a steady tempo, fluent solfege, and excellent intonation.
Melodies Containing Chords ii and IV
In common chord progressions, the dominant is typically preceded by a pre-dominant chord. The most common pre-dominant is IV (or, in minor keys, iv), though ii6 (which contains the same bass note, fa) is very common too. In this assignment, you should expect to sing a lot of fa, la, re (or, in minor keys, fa, le, re, the tones of chord iiø6), as we explore what the tones from these triads sound like in context.
Usage of Chord IV in Second Inversion
Another place we regularly find chord IV is in its second inversion as part of the “pedal 6/4,” one of the three specific uses of the 6/4 triad in harmony (the other two being the passing 6/4 and the cadential 6/4, which we will study in future chapters).
- Chord IV can also precede chord I in the plagal cadence. Part of developing professional-level musicianship is understanding the harmonic progressions indicated by basslines. We will sing several of these in this chapter’s sight singing assignment. You will notice that the basslines of duets often contain large leaps; it is normal for learners to find these hard to audiate and sing. When you take some time to analyze the chord progression, this will take some of the difficulty out of them.
- The “pedal 6/4″ is often found as a variant of chord I in harmonic progressions such as the one that accompanies “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (see below). This week, we will sing duets that demonstrate this harmonic progression.
“Baa Baa Black Sheep” (English nursery rhyme)
