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Sight Singing - Preparation for the Sight Singing Final

The Sight Singing Final has three components:

  • Elements
  • Sightreading
  • Prepared example (in the PDF below).

Click on the link below to download a PDF of the instructions, rubric, and prepared examples for the Aural Skills III Sight Singing Final.

Review: Preparations for the Musical Elements portion

Intervals

Please review the appropriate solfege choices in the table below. Important: you will lose points if, for example, you’re asked to sing a minor seventh and you attempt to perform do, te. It is much more logical to use the contextual solfege sol, fa, which is where we find this interval most often in the melodies and harmonies of diatonic Western music.

Interval Name Abbreviation Recommended Ascending Solfege (Major and Minor Keys)
perfect unison P1 do, do
minor second m2 ti, do; mi, fa; re, me; sol, le
major second M2 do, re; fa, sol
minor third m3 mi, sol; do, me
major third M3 do, mi; me, sol
perfect fourth P4 sol, do
augmented fourth A4 fa, ti
diminished fifth d5 ti, fa
perfect fifth P5 do, sol
minor sixth m6 mi, do; sol, me
major sixth M6 sol, mi; me, do
minor seventh m7 sol, fa; re, do
major seventh M7 do, ti
perfect octave P8 do, do

Click the link below to download the “Intervals in Context” review warm-up.

Triads Please review the principles of identifying and notating triads from Unit 2.

  • The major triad is composed of a stacked major third plus minor third. The two commonest ways it appears in diatonic harmony are as chord I in a major key (do-mi-sol), and chord V (sol-ti-re) in major AND minor keys. It’s also very common for it to appear as chord IV in major keys (fa-la-do).
  • The minor triad is composed of a stacked minor third plus major third. It also occurs within the diatonic scale. In minor keys, it appears most commonly as chord i (do-me-sol). In major keys, it appears commonly as chord ii (re-fa-la)and as chord vi (la-do-mi).
  • The diminished triad is composed of two stacked minor thirds. It functions as chord vii0 in both major and minor keys, as well as chord ii0 in minor keys. In this class, we will always spell this chord ti-re-fa when we are singing it outside of a melodic or harmonic context. Please don’t attempt to spell or sing the diminished triad do-me-se. Not all chords relate to do, and this spelling has no context in diatonic music.
  • The augmented triad is composed of two stacked major thirds. It is relatively rare in diatonic harmony. It doesn’t naturally occur within the tones of the diatonic scale, and sounds very chromatic. For this reason, many learners find it hard to sing. When it does occur, it is usually spelled sol-ti-ri and appears as a chromatic variant of the dominant (sol-ti-re).

Play all triads and their inversions on the piano in a variety of keys. In addition, practice singing this triads workout in a variety of keys.

Triad Singing Workout

Seventh Chords in Context Please click on the link below to download the review warm-up on seventh chords in context: