Unit 1-2: Chord Dictation & Shuttles

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Evaluate their level of proficiency in hearing chord changes, recognizing differences between I, IV, and V, hearing triad quality, basslines, and determining the key of an excerpt, and describe strategies for building proficiency.
Demonstrate proficiency in transcribing two-chord progressions that incorporate I, IV, and V chords.
Demonstrate proficiency in sight-reading melodies with skips between I, IV, and V chords; and harder rhythms with 16th note subdivisions.
Improvise a simple melody over a I-IV or I-V shuttle.
Outline a personal plan for improving chord dictation skills over two weeks.

Preparation for Class

Read:

Read the following selections from Chenette's Foundations of Aural Skills:

- Arpeggiating Chords
- Improvising a Melody to a Chord Progression
- Review the following (as needed) from Aural I to review strategies for chord dictation:

Watch

Tonic & Dominant in "Sweet Surrender"
Cynthia Gonzales (5 mins.)

Watch John Denver's "Sweet Surrender" and try to sing along with the tonic and dominant chords using the solfège provided.

Explore

Using a Chord Player: Use one of the online chord players to the left to construct a I-IV or I-V shuttle. Let the progression loop while you internalize the sound of the chords. Try to sing the bassline with solfège, arpeggiate the chords, or improvise with chord tones.

Try out the "Do-Ti" test and the "Do-Ti Extension Test" from the reading. Does it help you aurally distinguish between the chords?

Reference Aids

Handout 1: Common Chords (Stephanie Acevedo),

Handout 2: Advanced Chart with Voicing (Philip Tagg)

Quick Reference: Triads & 7th Chords (Sarah Louden)
Lead sheet notation isn't standardized. There are commonly multiple ways of notating chords (see the chords below with more than one symbol above).

This is a chart displaying various chord types written on a grand staff, separated into three main sections: Major Triads, Minor Triads, Diminished Triads, and seventh chords (Major 7, Dominant 7, Minor 7, Half-Diminished 7, and Fully-Diminished 7). Major Triads (top left): Includes the chords: C (root position), C/E (first inversion), and C/G (second inversion). Each chord is written on a grand staff, showing both treble and bass clefs. The notes for the C major chord are C, E, and G in different inversions. Minor Triads (top center): Includes the chords: Cm (root position), Cm/Eb (first inversion), and Cm/G (second inversion). The alternative notations C- and C-/Eb are also shown. Each chord consists of the notes C, Eb, and G, with different voicings depending on the inversion. Diminished Triads (top right): Includes the chords: C° (root position), C°/Eb (first inversion), and C°/Gb (second inversion). Alternative notations Cdim, Cdim/Eb, and Cdim/Gb are provided. Each chord consists of the notes C, Eb, and Gb in different positions. Seventh Chords (bottom section): Major 7 (leftmost): CΔ7, CMaj7, and Cma7 notations are listed. The chord comprises C, E, G, and B. Dominant 7: Notated as C7, it consists of the notes C, E, G, and Bb. Minor 7: Notated as Cm7, C-7, or Cmi7, the chord includes C, Eb, G, and Bb. Half-Diminished 7: Notated as Cm7b5 or Cø7, the chord consists of C, Eb, Gb, and Bb. Fully-Diminished 7: Notated as C°7 or Cdim7, it includes C, Eb, Gb, and A. Each chord is displayed with corresponding noteheads on the treble and bass clefs, showing precise voicings and inversions. The chord types are labeled in blue text below the staves, with explanatory shorthand like “M7 or MM7” for Major 7 or “hd7 or ø7” for Half-Diminished 7.

Quick Reference: Scale Degrees & Diatonic Chords

This is two staffs. The top staff is in bass clef with an F-sharp. The following triads are notated: G, A minor, B minor, C, D, E minor, F-sharp diminished, and G major. Beneath each chord is the solfege syllables and their corresponding scale degrees (under G reads do, scale degree 1; under A minor reads re, scale degree 2, etc.). Finally, under each chord is the corresponding Roman numeral. It reads: G - I, A minor - ii, B minor - iii, C major - IV, D major - V, E minor - vi, F-sharp diminished - viio, and G major - I. The bottom staff shows the triads G minor, A diminished, B-flat major, C minor, D minor, D major, E-flat major, F major, F-sharp diminished, and G minor. The corresponding solfege, scale degrees, and Roman numerals are as follows: G minor - do, 1, i; A diminished - re, 2, iio; B-flat major - me, flat-3, bIII; C minor - fa, 4, iv; D minor - sol, 5, v; D major - sol, 5, V; E-flat major - le, flat-6, bVI; F major - te, flat-7, bVII; F-sharp diminished - ti, 7, viio; G minor - do, 1, i

This is a diagram demonstrating figured bass notation for inverted triads. The diagram features three triads written in standard notation in the key of F major. A treble clef is displayed, and the key signature includes one flat (B♭). Triads: The first triad is in root position, with notes F, A, and C stacked vertically. The second triad is in first inversion, with notes A, C, and F stacked vertically. The third triad is in second inversion, with notes C, F, and A stacked vertically. Figured Bass Notation and Bass Position: The root position triad is labeled I and corresponds to the bass note F (root). The first inversion triad is labeled I⁶, indicating the bass note A (third). The second inversion triad is labeled I⁶₄, indicating the bass note C (fifth). To the right of the triads, a label reads: "Figured Bass notation for inverted triads" in italicized text.

In-Class Activities

Improvisation

Improvisation Exercises: Try the melodic improvisation exercises in Developing Musicianship through Aural Skills (available online through the library)
- - Improvisation II: Dominant Chords (pp. 193–195)
Melodic Improvisation over I and V: Using the chord grid as a visual guide for your solfège, improvise a melody over a I-V or I-IV shuttle. Start by just singing one chord tone per measure, moving as smoothly as possible to the next chord tone. Then, try skipping between two or more chord tones per measure or arpeggiating the chords in each measure. The entire class can improvise simultaneously, or you can break into groups or sing solo. A chord player is provided below for use as a backing track for your improvisation.
- - Chord Grids: I - V - I - V or I - IV - I - IV
  - Chord Players:
    - - I - V - I - V (in Bb major, arpeggiations, 4/4) or i - V - i - V (in A minor, arpeggiations, 4/4)
      - I - IV - I - IV (in AM, waltz, 3/4) o r i - iv - i - iv (in Bm, tango, 2/4)
      - Or, search for a backing track on Youtube, like one of these: I - V (Country track in G) or I - IV (Jam Track in E)
  - Experiment with different styles, tempos, keys, and progressions:
    - - Click the +/- buttons next to "Key Change" to quickly transpose the key up or down.
      - Click the "Instr" and "Style" settings at the top to change the style or instrument.
      - Try a different progression like I - I - I - V, or I - I - V - I . Just drag a chord down from the palette to replace it.
      - Or, try another chord player like Musicca Chord Player or ChordChord.
  - For a variation, try the Improvisation Train exercise introduced in Unit 1-1 here.
Rhythmic Improvisation Subdivisions in Simple Time: (See the activity from Lesson 1-1 to continue with work on subdivisions in simple time)

Sight Reading

Melodic Sight-Reading: Sight-read melodies in all sections, focusing on examples with subdivisions and dotted 8ths.
Rhythm Sight-Reading: Continue sight-reading rhythms in the section "Dotted 8th Notes."
- - Try performing the rhythms over the top of a familiar pop grove in simple time (From Trevor de Clercq's Index of Rhythm Grooves)

Sight Singing: Chord Skips with 7 and 2

Sight Singing: Chord Skips with 4 and 6

Rhythms: Subdivisions in Simple Time

Aural ID and Dictation

2-Chord Dictation with I, IV, and V. Review strategies from the reading for hearing chord changes and basslines. The anthology pages to the right include examples of songs that shuttle between I & V or between I & IV. Listen to the songs and transcribe both the chords and the harmonic rhythm in the format below, using both Roman numerals and chord symbols:
- - Ex 1: | I | I | V | V | and | A | A | E | E |
  - Ex 2: | I V | I V | I | V | and | D A | D A | D | A |
  - Before you begin, determine the key of the song together: Sing tonic, then compare the tonic note to C4 on the piano.
  - Instructor note: The instructor's anthology includes solutions for this exercise.
Major & Minor Triads: Review strategies for hearing the difference between major and minor triads. Practice by listening to chord loops that use all of the diatonic major and minor triads.
- - Click the link to "Maj/Min Triads" to the right. Navigate to the tab at the bottom for: ii, vi (no ii), and or vi & ii. These progression incorporate only I, ii, IV, V, and vi chords in major and minor. Don't worry about chord ID, just notate the chord quality and harmonic rhythm.
    - - Ex : | M | M | m | M |

Aural Anthology: Chord Dictation with I & V

Aural Anthology: Chord Dictation with I & IV

Maj/Min Triads

Assignment

Assignment 1-2

NEXT STEP

Next Lesson: Large-Scale Listening & Form

Additional Practice

Auralia:
- Chord Progressions: Levels 1a–1c, 3a–3b
- Chord Recognition: Level 1a
- Key ID: Level 1
- Note Recognition: Levels 3a, 4a
- Pop Chord Progressions: Levels 1a, 1b
- Rhythm Dictation: Level 5b
- Rhythm Element Dictation: Levels 2c, 2d
- Solfege ID: Level 4
- Tuning: All Levels
- Two-Part Rhythm Dictation: Levels 6a–6b
Musition:
- Rhythm Tapping: Level 4b

Want to learn more?

Reading and Improvising from Nashville Number Charts: Check out this video by Dr. C to practice with Nashville numbers.

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