Integrated Aural Skills 2019-20
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.
Seventh Chords in Context Please click on the link below to download the review warm-up on seventh chords in context: