Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson entitled "Developing pitch dictation skills." My name is Mr. Norris.

I'm gonna take you through today as we have a look at combining some different techniques that are really accurate melodic dictation.

Our outcome is that I can notate consecutive intervals to complete pitch dictation accurately.

Some keywords.

Interval.

This is the distance in pitch between two notes.

So for example, a 5th or an octave, or a semitone.

A semitone.

This is the smallest interval in most Western music.

So for example, moving from C to C#.

And then tone, which is an interval of two semitones, for example, moving from C to D, so also called a major second.

The first part of today's lesson is looking at identifying consecutive intervals.

Every melody is made up of a series of consecutive intervals.

This five-note melody consists of these four intervals.

We've got an octave, then another octave, then a tone, and then another tone.

And by working out each interval, we can then work out the whole set of notes and work out the whole melody.

So we're gonna have a listen to this four-note melody.

(soothing music) To start off, we're gonna listen to just the first two notes, and I'd like you to use the reference melodies to help you identify just that first interval.

So let's have a listen to the first two notes.

(soothing music) I'll play that one more time.

(soothing music) If you need to, you can pause my video while you're just working out that interval.

So that interval was an ascending minor third.

The melody starts on an A, so we therefore notate this interval like that.

So we'll be going from A to C.

That's our first two notes.

Now we do the same with the next interval.

So now we're looking at the second interval.

Here it is, see if you can work it out.

(soothing music) I'll play you again.

(soothing music) Pause my video while you're working out what interval that is.

So that interval was an ascending tone.

So therefore, if we notate that, we then got a D after the C.

So we've got the first interval from A to C and the second interval from C to D.

Now let's see if we can work out the final interval.

So let's listen to the last one.

(soothing music) Listen again, see if you can work out what interval that is.

(soothing music) And again, pause my video if you need to while you're working this out.

And that interval was a descending 5th.

So we'd notate it going down to G.

So by breaking the melody down like this into individual intervals, we can work out the whole melody.

We worked out the first interval, it was a minor third, so that's from the A to the C.

Then we worked out the second interval, which was a tone.

So that's from C to D.

And then we worked out, the last one was a descending fifth.

So we're going from D down to G, and we put them all together, and we've accurately notated that four-note melody.

Let's practice that process with this different melody.

Let's have a listen to it first.

(soothing music) Now let's break it into interval.

So have a listen to the first interval.

What interval is this? (soothing music) I'll play you again, remember to sing it back to yourself and use the reference songs.

(soothing music) So pause my video while you're just working out what that interval is.

And that one was a descending tone or a major second.

So if the starting note is D, see if you can work out what's the second note gonna be.

We know it's a descending tone.

Pause my video while you work out what the second note will be.

And here, the second note is gonna be C because it's a tone below that D.

Well done if you got that.

Now let's see if we can identify the next interval.

So this is the one that goes from C to the next note.

Let's have a listen to it.

(soothing music) Let's hear it again.

(soothing music) Pause my video and try and work that into the line.

And that one was an ascending fourth.

So if we know that we're on a C, what note is a fourth above C? Pause my video while you work this one out.

Well done then if you identify the next note is gonna be F.

That is a fourth above C.

So we've got the first three notes now.

It's a four-note melody, so we've got one left to work out.

Let's listen to the final interval.

So what note is gonna come after F? Here's the final interval.

(soothing music) Let's hear it again.

(soothing music) And just pause my video now while you're working this one out.

So that final interval was a descending octave.

I'd like to see if you can work out what note is an octave below that high F.

Pause my video while you work this one out.

And the correct answer is a low F.

So there, we've worked out that four-note melody one interval at a time.

Well done if you've got some of those correct.

Let's check your understanding.

When working out a melody by ear, what should we break it up into? Is it bars, beats, intervals, or timbres? And the correct answer is intervals.

So we're breaking it into individual intervals.

What note is a fifth above G? Remember when you're counting this to count G as number one and count up from there.

Pause my video.

And the correct answer here is D.

That is a fifth above G.

Well done if you got that.

Which of these shows a third? Pause my video while you have a look and choose an answer.

And here the answer is option B.

That's an ascending third.

The first one is a tone or a second.

And option C is a four.

So well done if you chose the correct answer B.

So question one in task A, we're gonna notate this four-note melody.

We're gonna break it into these steps and we'll work through this together.

So here's the four-note melody.

Let's hear it in its complete form.

(soothing music) And now for step A, we're gonna listen to the first two notes.

What is the interval here? (soothing music) I'll play you it two more times.

Here's the first interval.

(soothing music) And the third time.

(soothing music) So work out what that interval is.

And then you can also do step B, which is to notate that interval on the stave after that note there.

So pause my video while you do steps A and B.

Now let's move on to step C.

We're gonna listen to the second and the third notes.

What's the interval here? (soothing music) Let's hear that again.

(soothing music) And for the last time.

(soothing music) So finish working out what that interval is, and then you can also do step D to notate that interval on the stave as well.

Pause my video while you do that.

And finally, let's look at the third interval.

So this is notes three and four.

Let's have a listen.

(soothing music) Let's hear that again.

(soothing music) So working at this interval, here it is for the last time.

(soothing music) Now complete steps E and F to work at that third interval, and then notate the fourth note on the stave.

You can pause my video while you do that.

Okay, let's move on to question two.

I'm doing the same thing with a contrasting four-note melody here.

Let's have a listen to the melody in its complete form.

(bright percussive music) And now we're gonna have a look at the individual intervals.

You can see on the stage at the bottom there, we're starting on a high F.

So let's hear the first interval.

(bright percussive music) Let's hear that again.

(bright percussive music) Trying to work out what interval this is.

Here it is for the third and final time.

(bright percussive music) And now pause my video while you finish off working out that first interval and notate that on the stave below.

So steps A and B.

Now let's look at steps C and D.

So we're gonna listen to notes two and three, and try and work out this interval.

Here we go.

(bright percussive music) Here it is again.

So the second interval, what is it? (bright percussive music) Third and final time.

(bright percussive music) Okay, so pause my video while you finish off step C and D to notate that second interval.

And now let's move on to the third and final interval.

So this is notes three and four.

What is this interval? This is step E.

(bright percussive music) Let's hear it again.

(bright percussive music) And for the third time.

(bright percussive music) So you finish off steps E and F to finish off this melody, pausing my video while you do that.

Okay, let's review this task.

So the first question was this one.

This was the melody.

(soothing music) The first interval was an ascending minor third.

(soothing music) And if we know the starting note is E, then that second note, as we can see on the stave down there is gonna be G.

Well done if you got that.

The second interval was an ascending fourth.

That was this.

(soothing music) And if we're writing an ascending fourth from G, the third note is gonna be C.

So our first three notes are E, G, and then C, all ascending.

And then the third interval was this one, (soothing music) which was a descending semitone.

So if we're doing a descending semitone from C, our final note is gonna be B.

So the complete melody is E, G, C, and B.

Really well done if you manage to identify any or all of those.

It's quite tricky doing this.

And the other thing when we're doing it this way as well is that if you get, for example, the first interval incorrect, it then throws your other answers off as well.

So give yourself some credit for parts A, C, and E, even just for identifying the correct intervals, even if the notation that you wrote down wasn't quite accurate.

Let's look at the second example.

That was this one.

(bright percussive music) Our first interval was a descending semitone.

(soft percussive music) And because we're starting on F, that means the second note is gonna be E.

This was our second interval, (bright percussive music) which is a major third and it's descending as well.

So that means our third note is gonna be C 'cause that's the third below E.

And then the final interval was this one, (bright percussive music) which is an ascending tone.

So if we're doing an ascending tone from the note C, it's gonna end up on D.

So a complete melody looks like we can see there, F, E, C, D.

Again, even if you're not getting the notation absolutely spot on, give yourself credit for steps A, C, and E if you've got those intervals correct.

And hopefully, if you did make some errors, you've got some ideas as to where those errors are coming from, so you know what you need to be practicing.

Second part of this lesson today is looking at completing pitch dictation.

To accurately notate the pitches of a melody, we can combine these different strategies.

Start by identifying the melodic shape, then identify the first interval by singing it back and comparing it to reference melodies.

Notate the first interval, so we're taking it one interval at a time.

Then repeat steps two and three.

So that's working out the intervals for every consecutive interval afterwards.

Check your answer by matching it to the melodic shape visually and singing it back.

So once you've written down all your notes, go back to step one, think about the overall melodic shape, sing it to yourself, and see if it matches and fits with what you originally came up with.

When the rhythm of the missing notes is given, you have to make sure that the notated notes match the correct rhythmic values.

So you might have a question like this where the rhythm is written above the stave.

Make sure when you are writing your notes in, so you're choosing your pitches that you match the rhythm above.

So in this example, there we've worked out these pitches and we've matched the rhythm that is notated above the stave.

Let's have a listen to this five-note melody.

It starts on a C.

(bright tuneful music) Now we've got the rhythm provided above the stave there and we're gonna have a go at working out the first interval.

So let's see if we can work this out.

(bright tuneful music) I'll play it one more time.

What's this interval? (bright tuneful music) Take a few seconds to work it out.

And that interval is a descending semitone.

So based on that, what's the second note? We know we're starting on C.

What would the second note be? Pause my video while you work this one out.

And well done then if you identify the second note would be a B.

That is a semitone below C.

So that would be our second note.

And as you can see there, we've drawn a quaver because that matches the notated rhythm above the stave.

Let's work out the next interval.

(bright tuneful music) So pause my video while you work out that interval.

So this one was a descending major third.

We've already established that we've got a C and a B.

So what's the third note gonna be a major third below B? Pause my video while you work it out.

And that third note then is gonna be G.

That is a third below B.

Let's do the third interval.

Let's have a listen.

(bright tuneful music) And again.

(bright tuneful music) And the third time trying to work out this interval.

(bright tuneful music) And pause my video while you finish working out that interval.

And that one was an ascending tone.

So I've already got these three notes.

What's the fourth note gonna be? It's an ascending tone.

So it's a tone above G.

Pause my video and see if you can work out the fourth note.

And well done if you identified that would be an A.

So that's the next note.

It's a tone above G.

And you'll notice, all four notes we've drawn so far match the rhythm that's notated above the stave.

Let's work out the final interval.

So it sounds like this.

(bright tuneful music) Final time.

(bright tuneful music) So pause my video while you're working that interval out.

And this one was a descending fourth.

So I've already got these four notes.

We need to know the last one.

So what is the descending fourth below that A? Pause my video while you work it out.

And the correct answer is E.

So we've now worked out the complete melody by breaking it into those individual intervals and we've made sure we copy the rhythm above the stave really accurately as well.

Let's check your understanding.

What is this interval? Have a listen.

(soothing music) I'll play you it again.

(soothing music) I'm doing final time working out this interval.

(soothing music) You can.

pause my video while you work this one out.

Okay, well done if you identified that was a tone and it was an ascending tone as well.

Let's have a go at this one.

What is this interval? (bright piano music) I'll play you it again.

(bright piano music) And third and final time.

(bright piano music) Pause my video while you finish working that one out.

And that was a fourth, again, an ascending fourth.

Well done if you managed to get that correct or even well done if you manage just to rule out some of those bigger intervals like the six and the seven.

Which melodic shape best matches this melody? Let's have a listen.

(bright piano music) I'll play you it two more times.

Here it is for the second time.

(bright piano music) And third and final time.

(bright piano music) So if you need to, you can pause my video while you finish working that one out.

Now and the correct answer here was that first option there, slightly descending at the start, ascending, and then descending to finish.

And it was all a conjunct movement in that example.

So for task B, we're gonna bring together all these steps.

We're gonna work out and notate the notes of this melody.

Here are the steps.

Identify the melodic shape, then identify the first interval by singing and comparing it to the reference melodies.

Notate the first interval and then repeat that for each consecutive interval.

Finally, check that your final answer matches the melodic shape visually and by singing it back to yourself as well.

So compare it to the original melodic shape you came up with and check that it fits.

For this one, we're gonna break it into individual intervals.

So here's the whole melody.

And you can see there we're starting on a C and we've got our notated rhythm above the stave.

Let's have a listen to the whole melody.

(gentle piano music) Let's hear the whole melody two more times.

(gentle piano music) And final time to hear the whole melody.

(gentle piano music) So make sure you've got an idea of the melodic shape now.

And now let's hear the first interval.

So try and work this out, and notate it.

This is steps two and three for the first interval.

(gentle piano music) I'll play you that for the second time.

(gentle piano music) And the third time.

(gentle piano music) And the final time for the first interval.

(gentle piano music) Pause my video while you're finishing steps two and three for that first interval.

So you're gonna be drawing the first note on the stave after the C.

You can pause my video now.

Now let's do the second interval.

So this is the second and third notes in the melody.

Let's have a listen.

(gentle piano music) And again.

(gentle piano music) And for the third time.

(gentle piano music) And fourth and final time.

(gentle piano music) So work at that interval and draw the third note in the melody.

You can pause my video now.

Let's look at the third interval.

So now we're looking at first of the two crotchets at the end of the melody.

Here are notes three and four in the melody.

(gentle piano music) So work at that interval, and then you're notating the fourth note of the melody, pausing my video.

And finally, let's look at the last interval.

So this is gonna be notating that final crotchet.

Here are the fourth and fifth notes.

(gentle piano music) Pause my video while you work that out and then finish off that melody.

So notate in each note, making sure you copy the rhythm above the stave.

Pause my video now.

Let's move on to question two.

And here, we're gonna do the same thing.

And this time you're gonna work it out, but you're gonna have to isolate each interval in your head because there are no separate clips for the intervals.

So listen to it, I'm gonna play you lots of times, and make sure that you're trying to break it into individual intervals, working out melodic shape, working out and notating each interval one at a time.

Give this your best shot.

This is a tough question, but I think it's really good to try a challenging one like this.

So here's the melody.

I'll play you it 10 times.

(gentle piano music) For the second time.

(gentle piano music) Let's hear it for the third time.

(gentle piano music) Let's hear it for the fourth time.

(gentle piano music) Now for the fifth time.

(gentle piano music) And the sixth time.

(gentle piano music) And the seventh time.

(gentle piano music) And eighth time.

(gentle piano music) You're gonna hear it two more times.

Here we go.

(gentle piano music) And for the final time.

(gentle piano music) So pause my video now, try and finish off notating that melody.

Okay, let's review this task.

So these were the notes of the first melody.

It sounded like this.

(gentle piano music) Our first interval was a descending semitone, and then we did an ascending semitone.

It jumped up a fifth and then it descended by a minor third at the end.

Really great effort if you managed to get those notes there.

And even if you're just getting the melodic shape, so the rough outline of the descending and ascending, the smaller intervals and the larger intervals, that's great.

At this stage, it'll just take you more practice to become more accurate.

For question two, this was our melody.

It sounded like this.

(gentle piano music) So this is really difficult working it out without the individual intervals, but this is a more realistic impression of what more dic-dictation is like.

It starts with that ascending pattern and then it does a big jump down and another ascending pattern.

So again, even if you didn't get every single pitch correct, well done if you've got the melodic shape right, the rough outline, and also if you manage to copy the correct rhythm from above the stave.

That's really important when we're doing these kind of questions.

Okay, let's review today's lesson.

Notating a whole melody can be done by breaking it into a series of consecutive intervals.

Here are the steps.

We identify the melodic shape.

We identify the first interval by singing it back and compare it to the reference melodies.

We notate the first interval and then we repeat this for each consecutive interval for the length of the melody.

And then finally, we check our answer by matching it to the melodic shape visually and singing it back.

So comparing it to what we originally came up with.

When we're given the rhythm, we should be careful to accurately copy it in the notated pictures.

So when those notes are written above the stave, make sure we're copying that rhythm exactly with the pictures we are putting in.

So that's the end of today's lesson, a challenging lesson.

Pitch dictation or melodic dictation, when you first start trying it, is a notoriously intimidating and challenging thing.

So as I've said a few times, don't feel disheartened if you're not getting 100% accurate answers yet.

This is something that takes a lot of practice and a lot of repetition to really get proficient at it.

So stick with it, keep practicing, and just make sure you are using these strategies and these processes really systematically, and you will get more accurate, more proficient at it.

Thanks for your efforts and thanks for taking part, and I'll see you in another lesson.