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Chapter 15 - Aural Skills 3: Harmonic Dictation

Skills Required for Successful Harmonic Dictation

  • Understanding the relationship of chords to the tonal center

  • Discriminating between chord qualities and recognizing inversions

  • Recognizing familiar melodic patterns (linear movement) in the melody and bass and their placement

  • Recognizing and notating cadences

  • Understanding the norms of the common-practice style

  • Three harmonic areas or functions

    • Tonic - I and vi

    • Subdominant or Predominant - IV and ii or ii7

    • Dominant - V or V7 and vii° or vii°7

  • Other harmonic truths:

    • Root position chords are considered strong

    • The supertonic and leading-tone chords are commonly found in first inversion

    • The supertonic in first inversion is a strong subdominant harmony

  • Second inversion and sometimes first inversion harmonies are often used to prolong stronger harmonies. There are four basic ways to prolong a harmony:

    • Passing harmonies

    • Neighbor harmonies

    • Arpeggiated harmonies

    • Cadential harmonies

  • Harmonic progressions move from tonic to subdominant to dominant to tonic (T-S-D-T)

  • Dominant harmonies don’t move to subdominant

  • Chromatic chords prolong the harmony they lead to

  • Significant harmonic function changes usually occur on strong beats

  • When the bass line is conjunct, harmonies are generally being prolonged

  • When large skips or leaps occur in the bass it often signals a change of function

Connecting the Dots Between Hearing and Notating

  • Understanding what commonly ends a phase

    • Understand that only I, V, or vi can be the last chord

    • Understand cadential patterns (bass and soprano)

    • Listen for basic patterns in the bass line

    • Be able to aurally identify cadences

    • Understand what harmonies are implied from knowing the bass line

  • Understanding what commonly begins a phrase

    • Return to tonic

    • Listen for basic patterns in the bass line

  • Understanding what commonly occurs in the middle of a phase

    • Common subdominant function

    • Possible use of chromatic harmony

    • Possible use of inverted chords

    • Listen for common basic patterns in the bass line

Implied Harmonies

  • This is a list of what harmonies are implied from knowing the bass line

Recognizing and Notating Cadences

  • Cadence - The way phrases end.

  • Most common bass line endings

    • So-So-Do

    • Fa-So-Do

  • With Fa-So-Do in the bass, these are the common melodic patterns:

    • ii6-V7-I can harmonize with Re-Re-Do; IV-V-I can’t because there’s no Re in the IV chord.

    • IV-V-I can be harmonized with Do-Ti-Do, but not Do-Re-Do.

    • ii6-V or V7-I can be harmonized with Re-Re-Do or Re-Ti-Do.

Recognizing and Notating the Mid-Phase

  • These are common progressions, implied harmonies, and other elements that might be featured in the middle.

  • The middle section uses inversions if the bass is moving stepwise.

HC

Chapter 15 - Aural Skills 3: Harmonic Dictation

Skills Required for Successful Harmonic Dictation

  • Understanding the relationship of chords to the tonal center

  • Discriminating between chord qualities and recognizing inversions

  • Recognizing familiar melodic patterns (linear movement) in the melody and bass and their placement

  • Recognizing and notating cadences

  • Understanding the norms of the common-practice style

  • Three harmonic areas or functions

    • Tonic - I and vi

    • Subdominant or Predominant - IV and ii or ii7

    • Dominant - V or V7 and vii° or vii°7

  • Other harmonic truths:

    • Root position chords are considered strong

    • The supertonic and leading-tone chords are commonly found in first inversion

    • The supertonic in first inversion is a strong subdominant harmony

  • Second inversion and sometimes first inversion harmonies are often used to prolong stronger harmonies. There are four basic ways to prolong a harmony:

    • Passing harmonies

    • Neighbor harmonies

    • Arpeggiated harmonies

    • Cadential harmonies

  • Harmonic progressions move from tonic to subdominant to dominant to tonic (T-S-D-T)

  • Dominant harmonies don’t move to subdominant

  • Chromatic chords prolong the harmony they lead to

  • Significant harmonic function changes usually occur on strong beats

  • When the bass line is conjunct, harmonies are generally being prolonged

  • When large skips or leaps occur in the bass it often signals a change of function

Connecting the Dots Between Hearing and Notating

  • Understanding what commonly ends a phase

    • Understand that only I, V, or vi can be the last chord

    • Understand cadential patterns (bass and soprano)

    • Listen for basic patterns in the bass line

    • Be able to aurally identify cadences

    • Understand what harmonies are implied from knowing the bass line

  • Understanding what commonly begins a phrase

    • Return to tonic

    • Listen for basic patterns in the bass line

  • Understanding what commonly occurs in the middle of a phase

    • Common subdominant function

    • Possible use of chromatic harmony

    • Possible use of inverted chords

    • Listen for common basic patterns in the bass line

Implied Harmonies

  • This is a list of what harmonies are implied from knowing the bass line

Recognizing and Notating Cadences

  • Cadence - The way phrases end.

  • Most common bass line endings

    • So-So-Do

    • Fa-So-Do

  • With Fa-So-Do in the bass, these are the common melodic patterns:

    • ii6-V7-I can harmonize with Re-Re-Do; IV-V-I can’t because there’s no Re in the IV chord.

    • IV-V-I can be harmonized with Do-Ti-Do, but not Do-Re-Do.

    • ii6-V or V7-I can be harmonized with Re-Re-Do or Re-Ti-Do.

Recognizing and Notating the Mid-Phase

  • These are common progressions, implied harmonies, and other elements that might be featured in the middle.

  • The middle section uses inversions if the bass is moving stepwise.