Dictation

How to approach a dictation

- A 4-bar melody will be played 3 times

-Have a short-hand way of marking down rhythm

-During first listening aim to get the time signature and the rhythm jotted down in short-hand above the stave

-During second listening write in short-hand the melody underneath the stave, noting where there are steps, skips, and leaps, and write down on the stave straight away afterward

-You will be given the tonic triad before the melody plays; make sure you keep track of doh and soh and mark where the melody comes back to these points

-The best way to practise dictation is to practise sight-singing

Transposition and intervals:

You will be asked to transpose a melody up or down a given interval and write the tune in a new key (Major keys transpose to major keys, minor keys transpose to minor keys)

- When transposing up, use the major or minor scale of the tonic note of the key you are starting from to make sure you are moving it up accurately to the new key. (Eg. Up a minor 7th from the key of C major, start on the tonic note C, and figure out which is the 7th note in the C minor scale, natural minor not harmonic or melodic)

- The only interval that is an exception to this is the 2nd, as the major 2nd occurs in both the major and minor scale; you must memorise the number of semitones: Major 2nd: 2 semitones, minor 2nd: 1 semitone, augmented 2nd: 3 semitones, diminished 2nd: 0 semitones.

- Remember that the perfect 4th 5th and 8ve occur in both the major and minor scales- An augmented interval is a semitone wider than a major or perfect interval- A diminished interval is a semitone smaller than a minor or perfect interval- When transposing down, as you need to figure out intervals from the scale of the lowest note, use

inversions to calculate the key you are moving to, then recheck your conclusion by going up the scale of the new key and check that you land on the original key.

- Inversions: Major 6th – minor 3rd

Major 3rd – minor 6th

Major 7th – minor 2nd

Major 2nd – minor 7th

Perfect 4th – perfect 5th

Augmented 4th – diminished 5th (inverts to itself, doesn’t actually need to be inverted as it splits the octave in half)

-Example of how to invert down: In the key of G major, to move the melody down a minor 6 th, invert this and go up a major 3rd from G, you get B. Start the melody in B major, in a lower register on the stave. To recheck this, start from the note B and go up 6 in the scale of B natural minor and you will reach G.