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 with V7: 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 - V7 - I - V

  • Chord Players: 

    • • I - V7 - I - V  (FM, 4/4) or i - V7 - i - V (Dm, 4/4)

  • Experiment with different styles, tempos, keys, and progressions: 

  • For a variation, try the Improvisation Train exercise introduced in Unit 1-1 here. 

Syncopated Rhythms: Select a time signature (2/4, 3/4, or 4/4), then improvise syncopated rhythms using the rhythm grid below. Use the rhythmic syllables specified by your instructor and conduct while you improvise. For additional practice, take turns doing call and response (with your instructor or a classmate) or building rhythm improvisation trains using the rhythmic cells in the grid. (See Lesson 1-1 for activity instructions for improvisation trains or call-and-response). 

• • Rhythm Grid with Takadimi syllables

  • Rhythm Grid without rhythmic syllables

Chord Dictation I, IV, V: Continue chord dictation practice with I-IV and I-V shuttles from Lesson 1-2 here. 

Melodic Dictation: Review strategies for melodic dictation, incorporating ideas from the reading. Work through one of the melodic dictation examples in the Aural Anthology here, incorporating skips between I and V. 

Listening for 7th Chords: Build 4-bar progressions that incorporate Maj7, m7, or Dom7 chords. Use either I & V or I & IV, adding a 7th to one or more chords. Listen to the progressions played by your instructor or work with a partner, building your progressions in a chord player for your partner to aurally ID. Transcribe Roman numerals and chord notation, using correct harmonic rhythm. Here are a few sample progressions in C: 

• • Ex 1:  |  I   |  V7   |   I  |  V  |   and    |  C  |   G7  |   C  |   G  |

  • Ex 2:  |  I7   |  IV7   |   I7  |  IV  |   and    |  Cmaj7  |   Fmaj7  |   Cmaj7  |   F  |

  • Ex 3:  |  i   |  iv   |   iv7  |  i  |   and    |  Cm  |   Fm  |   Fm7  |   Cm  |

Transcribing 7th Chords in"Kiss Me": Transcribe the chord progression used in the verse of "Kiss Me" by Six Pence None the Richer. The whole verse only uses two chords (either I and IV or I and V), but some of these chords are colored with 7ths. Transcribe the chord progression with numerals and lead sheet notation, using correct harmonic rhythm. What do the 7ths add to the song? Try singing the song with triads instead to compare.

• • YouTube (0:19–0:39)

  • Once you've completed your transcription, work out the melodic material. Up until the last measure of the verse, there are only 3 pitches used in the melody. Determine which scale degrees you hear. Sing back the melody using solfège while your instructor (or a classmate) blocks the chords out on the piano. 

Listening for Verse-Chorus Form: Navigate to the song form page in your Theory Anthology to find examples of verse-chorus songs for form ID. This spreadsheet includes an additional list of examples for form ID. 

• • Listen to the song and diagram the overall form, labeling sections by type as a verse (V), prechorus (P), chorus (C), postchorus (Z), bridge (B), intro (I), or outro (O). 

  • Discuss aural strategies for differentiating between sections. 

Listening for Song form in "He Thinks He'll Keep Her": Listen to "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" by Mary Chapin Carpenter and diagram the song form by ear. Does this song include a prechorus? Why or why not? Discuss what aural cues you're using to differentiate the song sections by ear.