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Part A

Melody and chord dictation

.

(1) MELODIC TRANSPOSITION: Begin with sight singing the given melodies in several keys.Then follow the same sol-fa names, play the tunes in another key.

(The 11-year old Liszt visited Beethoven. Liszt played some pieces, but the master gave no comment but

asked him to transpose a Bach fugue at sight. Liszt played as asked without a mistake Beethoven thenpraised Liszts understandingin music.)

(2) HARMONIC DICTATION:a.

D+ d s l t d d m r t d

I I IV V I I I ii V I

b.

A+ m m m f r d d d t d

I I I ii V I IV I V I

c.

G+ s m d f r d r m r d

I I vi ii V I V I V I

Question (c) tests your ability to dictate a treble melody, and the ability to hear the 3 rdminor

chord as a vi chord. The other minor chord we are used to is ii, which does not contain the

tonic.

Part B CADENCE (musical punctuations)

(1) To create a cadence, two different chords are required. Take notes that the principal wayto create a cadence is moving from a chord without leading tone to a chord with the tonic,

and vice versa:

(2) Type of cadencesImperfect cadence = [,] or [?]

I V [in minor key, iV]

IV V [in minor key, ivV]

ii V (not use in minor key)

Perfect and Plagal cadence = [.] or [!]

V I [in minor key, Vi]

IV I [in minor key, ivi]

Deceptive/Interrupted cadence = [;]

V vi [VI in minor key]

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Cx^rprpn .CADENCESAND STIITPLE ARMONISATION.

Clnrilsavailablc: Major hcy: I,II,IV, V, W.Minot kcy: I, IV, V, VLI' cadencesare points of rest- musical punctuation. Four kinds are tobe considered, iz. Perfect,Plagal, Interrupted, 'and Imperfect.

-_-,?:,-Ih",per{e9 cadence, r full close,s V followedby I, and is the musicalequrvarentol a full stop.- It is- he usual meansof concludinga sentence,andshould be arranged hythmically from weak to .trnne.------""Ex. 24.

Note that in everycase he leading-noteises o the tonic (sec hap.2, para.l l (r) .3. The.plagal cadence s IV followed by I, and is another form of final cadence.Its rhythm is also weak to strong.

Ex. 25.

This cadence is sometimes used to follow V-I at tbe end of a selrrence,as a kind of small coda : the " Amen " at the end ol a hymn is an example. I

'Occubndlv thc 6nrl toaic cbord ol e oioor.het pa3sagc es its 3rd medomejor (u bcrc).Thir podu6cr tbc "Tiercc dc Picardic.; ---

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4. The interrupted cadence s V followed by VI, and is non-final. It is themusical equivalent of a comma, and may occur in the cottrseof a sentence,butnot at i ts end. Its rhythm rnay be strong to weak or weak to strong accordingto context. Refer also to chap. 2, para. 12 (d.Ex . 26 .

5. The imperfect cadence.or half-close.appears n various forms, but i tssccond chord must be V. The following are tlrc forms at Present available :Major keys: I-V, ILV, tV-V, VLV.Minor keys: I -V, IV-V, VI-VNote lhat II-I' is not aaailable n the minrtr hey.This cadence is a musical semi-colotr.and is frequcntly used in the courseof a sentence.at the end of a subsidiary phrasc. The rhythm may be weak tostrong o. 51roDg o weak according to context.

N ote .{pplication of chap. 2, pua. 12 (f l .. \pplication of chap. 2, para. 12 (Cl,

{i . The above examples.24 to 27) do not exhaust the possiblearrangements,rf the upper parts ; they mercly show some of the possibil i t ies. It is left to thertudcl)t to discoverothers. The clrord-progressionsorming the various cadencesmrrst tre rnenrorised.

(a)(b)

Ex. 27.

L4

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Erercises: (l) Write perfect cadences n the keys of G, B flat and E major, andB, F sharp, and F minor.(2) Write plagal cadenccs n the keys of A, E f lat and D flat major,and C, C sharp, and E minor.(3) tA'ri te internrpted cadenr:esn the ke1'soI F, B, and E flat major,and G sharp, R flat, and D minor.(4) Write various forrns of the imperfect cadence n the keys of D,A flat. and I; slrarp major, and A, G, and E flat minor.In every case write the bass frrst, with root-indications, and give at leasttwo arrangementsof the upper parts.

7. HeRiroNrserroN oF lt lnoorrs.The fol lowing paragraphs give what help is possible at the present stage,but it must be remembered hat everything written must be tested by the earas to its musical eflectiveness.8. Of the available chords, any one may follow any other one, taking intoaccount the points nrentionedbelow.L Avoid II-l ; the effect is ungainly.

10. Roots of chordsa 4th or a 5th apart always give strong chord-progression.l l . Roots fall ing a 3rd are good, either weak to strong or stro ng to weak.

Ex. 28

12. Roots rising a ilrd are good strong to weak, but poor weak to strong.

Ex. 29 .

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13. No cadenceshould he immediately precededby its secondchord. Thus,the perfect cadenceshould not be precededby I, nor the interrupted (V-VI) byVI, nor any form of the inrperfect by V. Otherwise the effect of the cadencc smarred. The following are all poor :

Ex. 30. (u)

(a) Perfect cadenceprecededby I-(6) Interrupted cadenceprecededby VI(c) Imperfect cadenceprecedcdby V.t he o t he r hand t he {o l l ow i ng re good :

E x . 3 l

[n each caseV-l is zol precededby I ; and the same principle applieswiththe other cadences, xcept ing he plagal , which, as al ready stated, occasional lyfol lows he perfect .g iv ing the progression - I - lV-I . This is perfect lygood.t4. I t is also undesi rable o ant ic ipate he f i rst chord of a cadence. Thelef fswingending o a sentence ouldbe harmonised s shown:

E x 3 2v l l

) )I

Jv_ l

(c )b)

Ont b ta)

16

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But this is poor, since V is insisted on too much. A better harmonisationwould be I I -V-I , as at Ex.3l (a). The sameprinciple appl ieswi th al l cadences.15. No chord may be repeated weak to strong, except at the beginntng of.a sentence16, If a melody note is repeatedor tied, try to get change of chor d on rherepetit ion. This is essentialweak to strong, brrt is not always-possible trong toweak.17. Avoid V-I except at beginning or end.18. The complete bassshould always be put in first, adding root-indicationssimultaneously. Start by inserting the bassol the f irst chord (which wil l be either

I or V), and that of the t inal cadence normal ly V-I , but may be IV- i ) .19. As the remainder o{ the bass ls added, a warch must be kept forconsecutives.For example, f the harmonisationof the melody below hasprogiessedas shown :

Ex. 33

The next note to be treated (D) can belong o either II or v. But I l wil l giveconsecutiveoctaves n'i th the precedingbeat:

Ex. 34.

So V is the only possibil i t l ' .20. Bear in mind the constitutionwith, as these are alt good progressions,whether as actual cadencesor nbt. Forgot as far as:

of the various cadencesalready dealtand may be used freely (except V-1,1example, n the nrelody above, having

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Ex. 35.

We find that the ensuing C can be harmonisedas either I, IV, or VI, andwe nced not hesitate to use VI, folkrwing V, since we already know that V-Vlis a satisfactory progression, being the interrupted cadence. In any case, V-I isundesirable (ser para. l7), while V-IV wil l give consecutive5ths.21. It is useful to jot down at the side of the exer cise he actual chordsavailable, so that it rnay be clearly and easily seen what are the exact possibilitiesfor the harmonisation of each individual note of the melody. The process s thento try each possible bass-note in turn, excluding those which would pro

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1ffi(a) Plagal cadence use the Tierce dc Picardie.(D) Use I for both these notes.(c) Use VI for both these notes. A new.phrase may bcgin with the chordon which the preceding one ended, even though there be a barl inelntervcnrng.(d) Perfect cadence.

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? 4

4

ii

V

V

I

?

I V ii

V I

IV ii V

I

? I

V vi ii

V I

IV V

I

?

I

V vi ii

V I

IV V

I

Step 1: determine all cadences

Step 2: find out remaining harmonies

Here we encounter a real problem. The soprano "A" cannot be harmonized effectively

by either I or IV; both will create unwanted parallel interval: use of I will create //8ve

with the ii chord on the third beat; use of IV will create //5th with first beat.

SOLUTION: we are FORCED to use vi even we still want to stick with the first principle:

use I, IV, ii and V only.

I (//8ve)

IV (//5th)

The range of the bass is limited to a sixth. In general, do not make a voice part leaping too much.

Step 3: fill up the inner parts; alto first and try to make it move in a consonant interval with the soprano. make necessary changes.