Modulating Melodic Dictations

Melodies and Contexts

In all types of music, tonicizations and modulations occur. A piece of music that only stayed in one key would be very boring! As we advance in melodic dictation, you will learn to identify when a tonicization or modulation is about to happen from chromatic tones in the melodic line. Even when you can only hear the melody and no harmonic parts are present, we can hear an implied harmony because the melodic tones will come from tones of the secondary dominant of the key that is about to be tonicized.

In this example from a Lied by Franz Schubert, Todesmusik D. 258, we can see that the last part of the excerpt can be analyzed as belonging to the home key – F major – or the new key, C major.

Tips for Success

When you write down a melodic dictation, always listen out for chromatic tones that might indicate a shift to a new key. It is particularly useful to listen for ti of the new key, because that indicates a dominant-tonic progression. Always try to locate a pivot – a note that could belong to the key signature of either key – and change your solfege concept to that of the new key from that point onwards.