Diatonic Scales with Standard Fingering, concluded
We said in Chapter 8 that two thirds of all scales fall into Group I or Group II. Let us examine the remaining third. To some extent these also fall into groups and some scales are in both groups at the same time, so these are the scales with irregular or mixed fingerings.
In the melodic form of both F# and C# minors, the right hand will play the final note of the highest octave, not with the second finger but with the third, having skipped the second finger; but in the descending scale the second finger will be employed on the seventh degree of the scale and the thumb on the sixth, thus reverting to the proper fingering for the pure form.
The chromatic scale is fingered variously depending on the requirements of the music, but for an extended passage the fingering most favored is:
In this system all black keys are played by the third finger, the single white keys are played by the thumb, and the pair of white keys by 1 and 2. Except where the two white keys occur, the hands will be using identical fingers.
Practice all scales according to earlier suggestions, and in contrary motion as well as in parallel motion. The Group II scales are quite easy to play in contrary motion because the fingering is mirrored. (Finger pairs playing together.) There are two notes on which you may begin chromatic scales and have mirrored fingering. Can you tell which notes these are? Playing in contrary motion is more difficult when the fingering is not mirrored.
Now and then one has occasion to play a whole-tone scale. As we pointed out in our discussion of pedaling, there are only two such scales, beginning on C and Db (or enharmonic equivalents). A whole-tone series constructed on any other note will merely be an inversion of one or the other of the basic two. Their fingering is:
Until now we have used seventh chords by rote, but it is time to take a more analytical look at them. Any triad can be made into a seventh chord by superimposing another third over the two which already form the triad. Thus the chord will have four tones, and the new tone, being a seventh away from the root, will naturally be called the seventh.
Just as we can build triads on each degree of the scale, so can we build seventh chords on each degree.
Let us examine the seventh chords in the key of C major.
Each is made up of thirds but are the thirds alike? In the seventh chord built on the tonic (the I7) the lowest third, C to E, is a major third; above it is a minor third and that is topped by another major third. In other words, a sandwich: bread—ham—bread. Now let us look at the seventh chord on 2. Here we have a minor third first, then a major third and another minor third. Again a sandwich, but this time ham—bread—ham. The seventh on 3 is like the one on 2, but when we arrive at 4 we find a chord like that on 1. Skipping 5 for the moment, let us move on to 6 where we find another chord exactly like those on 2 and 3.
So far, we have found that the chords on 2, 3, and 6 are identical in structure, and that the chords on 1 and 4 are also identical. Now let us look back to the seventh on 5. First comes a major third, above it a minor third and on top, another minor third! Bread—ham—ham. (The seventh on 7, which is minor—minor—major, need not concern us at present since it so frequently is considered an extension or continuation of the dominant seventh chord—a V9 with root omitted.)
So here we have two chords of identical structure—I7 and IV7—which are therefore ambiguous: the seventh chord C E G B which we find on 1 in the key of C major, we can also find on 4 in the key of G major; so, without a key signature or musical context we cannot possibly say to which key it belongs. The seventh chord D F A C is even more ambiguous: it could be on 2 in the key of C major, on 3 in the key of B flat major, or on 6 in the key of F major.
Now consider our unequivocal dominant seventh chord: in each scale there is only one of its kind and it can belong to that one scale alone. Without benefit of key signature or musical context it clearly proclaims the key to which it belongs. For this reason it is the most important of the seventh chords and all the others are referred to as secondary sevenths. The radical difference in the nature of these two types of seventh chords is important to remember, particularly when we consider modulation.
Play the series of seventh chords in every major key. When you construct seventh chords in minor keys, experiment with all three modes.
Seventh chords can be inverted just as triads can, with this difference: having four tones they are capable of three inversions. Again, their figuring is descriptive, fixing on the characteristic intervals in each position.
WARNING: Be careful not to confuse figuring with fingering indications.
You will notice that the V7 which you first used by rote was a with the fifth (from the root, not the bass) omitted. The more recently introduced V7 (Figures 88 and 89) was in root position, again with the fifth omitted.
The dominant seventh. Let us consider the dominant seventh in some of its varied aspects.
Warmups XXIV, XXV, and XXVI present it in all positions and should be played hands separately, then hands together, in all keys.
WARMUP XXIV
WARMUP XXV
WARMUP XXVI
Three new cadence forms. Let us review the complete cadences which you learned in Chapter 6. You played I IV I V I with the upper voices in all three positions. This pattern presently progressed to I IV I V I. Here are three more possibilities: the first is to change the V to a V7.
The second is to omit the I and move from IV directly to V, always remembering that when chords have no tones in common, the upper three voices move in contrary motion to the (ascending) bass.
The third way is again to omit the I and play a V7 instead of a V.
COMPLETE CADENCES
(in three new forms, with the upper voices in all positions)
Play these cadences in all major and minor keys. You will see that the V chord and the V7 are practically interchangeable. When to use which is determined partly by the melody note and partly by your own taste.
You will notice that the fifth of each of the V7 chords has been omitted. The strong tendency of the leading tone to rise to the tonic and the subdominant to fall to the mediant has led to a formula which says that when both I and V7 are in root position, all chord tones may not be present in both chords. Since the fifth is present in the I chords, the fifth in the V7 chords has been omitted. If the fifth of the V7 were included, the fifth of the I chord would have to be omitted.
Play the examples in every major and minor key.
Harmonizing with dominant sevenths. With your new knowledge of dominant seventh chords comes a corresponding advance in the harmonization of melodies. You doubtless have learned in your harmony course that the leading tone should not be doubled. Nevertheless, up to this point, when the leading tone occurred in the melody and had to be harmonized it also had to be doubled because the only form of the accompanying V7 which was available to you included the leading tone. This was the case in Silent Night, Old Black Joe, Little Minka, Yankee Doodle, and several other songs.
A few of the sight-reading studies also have doubled leading tones. This was done because you were learning to perceive a certain group of notes as a picture or symbol of one particular chord, and to have modified this in any way would have affected the picture—hand-shape—sound syndrome we were striving to establish. In the circumstances, a doubled leading tone was not too reprehensible.
Restated, the rule is that when the leading tone (in the melody) occurs on a beat or portion of a beat which must be harmonized with a V or V7, omit the third of the chord and use the fifth in its place.
Figure 126.
Now go back to the beginning of the book and reharmonize all the songs which have a doubled leading tone. At the same time use, where appropriate, secondary triads, inversions, and new accompaniment forms. Happy Birthday illustrates the use of several of these elements as well as accented non-harmonic tones.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Return also to the sight-reading materials, search out instances of doubled leading tones and make suitable changes. Listen to the peculiar quality of each type of harmonization so that you will be able to distinguish between them.
When you have reviewed the earlier songs—each in several keys—harmonize the following songs, paying special attention to the leading tone.
SKIP TO MY LOU
American Folk Song
IN OLD MADRID
Trotere
GO DOWN, MOSES
Spiritual
The modulatory dominant seventh. Modulation means the smooth (more or less) and conclusive transition from one key to another. Some modulations are so gradual and subtle that the listener scarcely knows one has taken place. Other modulations are effected abruptly with a single chord. Sometimes one moves through several keys before reaching the objective key, and sometimes, when the starting key and the objective key are very closely related (many tones in common) no modulation is needed. This was the case with Little Minka where the melody moved from a minor key to the relative major without benefit of modulation.
As in a chess game, there are various ways of moving to one’s (modulatory) objective. The one criterion common to all is that upon arriving at the objective key, the listener must have the feeling of being established in this new tonality—of having taken up musical residence there. And again, as in a chess game, guessing never succeeds; every move must be plotted in advance.
The simplest modulation, as any jazz pianist can tell you, is by means of the V7 chord. Because it is unique among the chords of a given key, it immediately implies the identity of that key. All one has to do is play the V7 of the objective key, resolve to the appropriate tonic, and the new key is established. This is what we did at the end of Venerable Classic when we modulated up one half-step. Between certain keys this is a smooth transition; between others it is crude. But it always works. The basic formula, therefore, is:
I of the original key
V7 of the objective key
I of the objective key
Keep the common tones (other than the bass) in the same voices, play the roots in the bass, and move the other voices to the nearest chord tones. As usual, when there are no common tones, move the three upper voices in contrary motion to the bass.
There are many times when keeping the roots in the bass is not conducive to the smoothest possible modulation but doing so for the present will help keep your thinking straight in a somewhat complex process. You will have to omit the fifth of either the V7 or the final chord since, as stated earlier, all tones of each chord may not be present when both chords are in root position.
Now modulate from
C major to F major (Tonic to a key a perfect fourth higher)
C major to G major (Tonic to a key a perfect fifth higher)
C major to A major (Tonic to a key a minor third lower)
C major to D major (Tonic to a key a major second higher)
C major to B major (Tonic to a key a minor second lower)
C major to E major (Tonic to a key a major third higher)
In all but the last modulation there will be one or more tones common to the first tonic and the modulatory V7.
When you have worked out the suggested modulations starting from a variety of tonics, experiment modulating from every major key to every other major key, then from minor keys to minor keys, from major to minor and from minor to major. Do this with the upper voices in all positions. Always remember that the V7 is the same in both major and minor mode. When you can modulate easily with chords in fundamental position, experiment with inversions.
WARMUP XXVII
(Modulating up half-steps via V7 in major keys)
After you have played this warmup through all major keys, play it through all minor keys.
A different form of this modulation was used in Venerable Classic. Can you identify the difference and explain its function?
Secondary dominant sevenths. Dominant sevenths can be built upon scale degrees other than the dominant. Such chords are called secondary dominant sevenths (sometimes neighbor dominants, or chromatic chords of the seventh, or borrowed chords) because they do not belong to the prevailing scale, or key, but to the key a perfect fifth below the tone on which they are rooted.
For example, the chord D F# A C is a dominant seventh because it has the unique structure of a major triad with an added minor third (minor seventh from the root). As you learned earlier, only one such chord exists in each key and it is always on the dominant. Thus, while the root of our chord is the second degree of the C major (or minor) scale, the chord must belong—however fleetingly—to the scale of G major (or minor), whose tonic is five scale degrees below the chord’s root. In other words, D, which is 2 in the scale of C major, is 5 in the scale of G major, and thus is the fifth of 5. If all this makes you a trifle giddy, go back to the scale of C major. Count up five scale degrees to the dominant—G. Now count up five scale degrees from the G to its dominant and you will find you have arrived at D, which is 2 in the key of C major.
Hence, a V7 rooted on D must belong to G major, and is accordingly expressed V7/V, meaning the V7 of V.
A dominant seventh whose root was the first degree of the scale—C E G B♭—would belong to the key a perfect fifth lower than C, which is F major—or minor; a dominant seventh rooted on the third degree of the scale—E G# B D—would belong to the key a perfect fifth below E, which is A.
The V7 on 4 has been omitted because, although it is a valuable modulatory chord, it is impracticable as a secondary dominant seventh because the tonic to which it belongs is not a member of the prevailing key. The seventh on 5 has been omitted because it is the true and indigenous dominant seventh.
Can you find the keys to which the secondary dominant sevenths in Figure 130 belong? In the case of inversions first identify the root, then find the key a perfect fifth lower.
In case you haven’t already figured out this quick way of identifying the root of an inverted seventh chord, the folowing hint will help: in the interval of the second, the upper tone be the root.Indicate under each V7 the scale degree to which it belongs.
Although a secondary dominant seventh belongs, officially, to another key, it does not effect a modulation because it generally resolves immediately to a chord belonging to the prevailing key. The starred chord in the accompaniment to Jingle Bells is an example: it is a V7 built on the supertonic and so is a V7 of G—a V7/V, but it resolves to the V7 of C—the prevailing key.
JINGLE BELLS
J. Pierpont
1822-1893
The pattern I V7/V V7 I which occurred in the accompaniment to Jingle Bells is so frequently encountered as to be almost a cliché.We present it in Figure 131 with the chords in their complete form.
Play it first with your right hand until you get the feel of it, then play it an octave lower with your left hand. At Figures 132 and 133 it is divided between the hands in slightly different ways. Which version was used in the accompaniment to Jingle Bells? Play these patterns as written, then strum them.
Since a V7 is exactly the same in both major and minor modes, you may play these patterns through all major and minor keys and the only chords which will vary with the mode will be the first and last—the tonics.
The Accompaniment to Perpetual Motion illustrates how the V7/V is used in minor mode. Play it in all minor keys.
ACCOMPANIMENT TO “PERPETUAL MOTION”
Secondary dominant triads. Major triads on 2, 3, and 6 of major keys, and on 1, 2, 3, the raised 6, and the natural 7 of minor keys may be considered secondary dominants and used in place of secondary dominant sevenths in some circumstances, particularly when the seventh of the chord occurs in the melody as in Turkey in the Straw, Home on the Range, and My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. (Play the last two songs by ear.)
Figure 134 shows some variations of the progression which you may use when you are accompanying a right-hand melody with your left hand. All may be adapted to the accompaniment patterns you have learned. A and b utilize the V7/V In c and d a V/V is employed.
In accompanying the songs, use a secondary dominant or secondary dominant seventh where the note is starred. Use all appropriate styles of accompaniment, including fancy strumming.
TURKEY IN THE STRAW
American Square Dance Tune
(Playing the chords on the “off” or weak beats gives a characteristic rhythmic effect to this tune. Anyone in the class who is not playing should clap on these beats.)
DIXIE
Dan Emmett
1815-1904
(Dixie is another tune which can be chorded on the “off” beats.)
SHORT’NIN’ BREAD
American Folksong
In strumming, when the V7/V is for only one count duration, play the hands together.
Half cadences. Examining the accompaniments for Jingle Bells, Perpetual Motion, and the new songs, you will notice that the combination V7/V V7 occurred at the end of a section although not at the end of the composition. When a dominant harmony falls at the end of a phrase or period or section and gives the feeling of a momentary resting point in the musical journey, it is called a half cadence. The V7/V V7 is a form of half cadence and has a strong tendency to occur at rest points in a song.
Dominant ninths and secondary dominant ninths. You may have wondered, as you harmonized Turkey in the Straw and Short’nin’ Bread, why the V7/V was called upon to harmonize the third degree of the scale, since this tone is not part of the chord. If, however, you add another third to your seventh chord so that it becomes a ninth chord, you will find that your “non-affiliated” melody tone is in reality this ninth of the chord.
If you add a ninth to a true V7 (on the dominant) the new tone will be the sixth degree of the scale (the upper four tones of the V9 are the same as the leading tone seventh referred to on page 180); a ninth added to a V7/IV would be the second degree of the scale, and so on.
These ninths may be, and sometimes should be, figured as ninths—V9 or V9/V or V9/IV—and incorporated into the harmony. More often the tone constituting the ninth appears as a melody tone, or as an inner voice which very likely resolves to another tone of the same chord and thus sounds more like a passing tone or appoggiatura than part of the basic harmonic structure. The following examples come toward the end of a suggested harmonization of Swanee River.We say “toward the end” because it is well to keep harmony simple at the beginning and save the spicier effects (secondary dominant ninths, in this case) for the latter sections or repeats.
Now go back to Swanee River and harmonize it, using your new chords. Can you find other songs where a secondary dominant seventh or a dominant ninth would be suitable?
Secondary sevenths. Secondary sevenths in both major and minor keys have many merits and functions but it will be enough if we consider two or three ways in which you can use them.
First, play Warmups XXIV, XXV, and XXVI using each of the secondary sevenths, including that on the leading tone, as the basic chord. This will accustom your ears to the sound of all the inverions and familiarize your hands with the shape of the chords. Do this in all major keys, and in all forms of the minor.
One very strong chord in either major or minor is the ii7 in any position, followed usually by a V7 or i (I).
When you harmonize the second degree of the scale with a IV or iv chord, as in Go Down, Moses, this is the harmony you are using. Play this progression in all major and minor keys and in all positions and inversions.
What are the other chords in Figure 137?
Probably the most often heard secondary seventh is the vi which occurs at the end of many popular songs and arrangements. This is, of course, the first inversion (or second position) of the seventh chord on the submediant, but rather than approach it in this roundabout way, you may more easily consider it a tonic triad with a sixth added—the “added” sixth actually being the root of the seventh chord.
The chord occurs more frequently in major mode than in minor mode, but in the melodic form, and alternating with a V, it constitutes the first few measures of a most famous song. Can you identify it?
All secondary seventh chords may be used in this very simple and practicable way. The Accompaniment to Warmup XlVa is composed of such chords and its transposition will be made far easier by thinking of the chords as triads with added sixths rather than as secondary sevenths in their first inversion. This is true also in harmonization and improvisation, since the chords are usually used to accompany melody tones which could be harmonized equally well by the triad without the sixth.
ACCOMPANIMENT TO WARMUP XIVa.
In the Mystery Tune we have a situation similar to that in the Accompaniment to Warmup XIVa: a series of secondary sevenths masquerading as triads with an added sixth. The “Tune,” which you should write in—when you find it—was part of your early repertory and was harmonized with only I and V7. Now, in this vastly more sophisticated arrangement, the accompaniment consists entirely of triads with added sixths. The left hand of the secondo maintains a double pedal point, or organ point, on the tonic and dominant, while the left hand of the primo carries on its own little basso ostinato on the fifth and sixth scale degrees—all quite independently of what goes on in the right hand of the secondo, or in the melody itself, for that matter.
This type of accompaniment is applicable to many melodies and imparts color and texture to an otherwise prosaic little tune.
MYSTERY TUNE
Arr. M. S. McLain
Chromatic alterations. Heretofore our secondary triads and sevenths have been composed of scale tones, but modifications are possible by making use of chromatic alterations, which means that individual tones may be sharped or flatted (as in the secondary dominants and dominant sevenths). This is done sometimes to imply a change of mode (major—minor), sometimes to aid in a modulation, sometimes to provide a color change, sometimes to secure better voice leading, and sometimes merely to humor the composer.
An augmented triad on the tonic of a major key leads smoothly to IV, taking the place of V7/IV (the twelfth measure of the Theme from Freischiltz in Chapter 7 has a good example of this). On the dominant an augmented triad leads back to the tonic, substituting for a V7 (see Figure 147). Play Figure 139 in all major keys.
A diminished triad on the raised tonic can lead to the V7.
Almost any diminished triad can fit agreeably into a melodic line.
All secondary sevenths can be changed to dominant sevenths: that on the leading tone of a major key requires a change of two half steps in one voice or one half step each in two voices, but the other chords require only one voice to move only one half step. Can you discover which voice should move, and where, in each chord?
The harmonic minor also gives us that chameleon chord, the diminished seventh (on the leading tone) which so effortlessly takes on the color of other keys. Lowering any of its tones a half step converts it to a different V7 and in this way can usher in a new key. Only the chord spelling needs adjusting to conform to the new tonality.
Experiment with a number of diminished seventh chords, lowering each voice in turn, identifying the V7 chord and resolving it to its appropriate tonic. Such adaptability makes the diminished seventh a valuable modulatory chord in both major and minor keys. (In the former it is, of course, a chromatically altered chord.)
Experiment also with other chromatic alterations in these chords; you will be rewarded by some interesting and beautiful effects. The Accompaniment to Warmup XXI features a number of such chords.
ACCOMPANIMENT TO WARMUP XXI
Fingering for Seventh Chord Arpeggios
All forms of seventh chord arpeggios are governed by the same fingering rules. If the arpeggio starts on a white key, the ascending left hand will play 5 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1. The ascending right hand will play 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5. All fingers are used—the left hand beginning with the fifth finger, the right hand ending with the fifth finger. If the arpeggio starts on a black key, put thumbs on the first white key and play all other fingers (except 5, which is not used) in order. This applies to inversions as well as root positions.
Write out arpeggios in the various forms and mark in the correct fingering.
Your vocabulary will now consist of primary and secondary triads and dominant and secondary sevenths with their inversions, all styles of accompaniment to this point, and all species of non-harmonic tones. Thus, you have many resources at your command—or perhaps not quite at your command. To deal knowingly with all these elements, together with balanced phrases, melodic lines, voice leading, and all the rest, may seem like trying to juggle twelve plates at once. To help you in this feat let us make use of chord patterns as a basis for improvisation.
To begin with, the chord patterns of any of the songs or pieces you have had can be used for improvisation. They can be used as they are or modified in any way you wish.
If you are creating your own chord patterns, it is best, for music of this relatively simple texture, to end with a tonic harmony and to introduce some form of cadence midway along. This could be a full cadence or a half cadence, and if you have learned about a deceptive cadence (V vi) in your harmony course, you could use that. Also, the harmony may or may not change regularly.
You will find it useful to retrace your steps by first using only block chords in the bass and chord tones in the melody, then “fleshing out” these dry bones with gradual additions—unaccented passing tones, broken chord bass, accented non-harmonic tones, and so on. Figure 143 shows such a development step by step.
Accented non-harmonic tones, and change of mode
Here are some other chord patterns with suggestions for melody note-values. Work out more patterns of your own. Use all of your present vocabulary including cadence forms. Improvise on each pattern in several versions and keys.
Now try to improvise in this manner without a prearranged pattern. You may be permitted, of course, a second or two in which to collect your thoughts.
A useful device in improvisation is the sequence, which consists of the repetition of a short figure at successively higher or lower pitches. Naturally, if the figure and its accompaniment were to be repeated exactly—interval for interval—you would soon be out of the original key. This is one form of sequence but it is not recommended here. Much better is to remain within the key, merely moving the figure up or down a scale degree.
One engaging feature of the sequence is that during its course a number of rules may be broken. Among them are those relating to the leading tone, which may be doubled or led down in compliance with the pattern of the sequence.
Figure 145.
One rule which may not be ignored in a sequence is that against parallel fifths and octaves. You have probably learned in your harmony course that these are a particular threat in a scalewise sequence of first inversions. The pattern in Figure 146 provides a practically fail-proof solution to the problem. If you continue up a second octave you will see that the order of intervals in the left hand is reversed (third-sixth instead of sixth-third) so it can be adapted to almost any situation where a scalewise series of chords of the sixth is required. Play it up and down two octaves in every major and minor key.
All improvisation is fun but here are two kinds which will afford you more than the usual amount of amusement.
The first makes use of the Boogie Bass. To start, try it on the tonic chord as in Minor-Major Boogie, then extend it to include the IV and V chords as in Gaslight Boogie. No one will have to tell you what to do about the melody; it can be a free-swinging, no-holds-barred happening.
The second kind of improvisation involves two players at two pianos. For this, a prearranged chord pattern is a necessity because one player strums while the other player improvises a melodic line with one or both hands. This is great fun in class when done on a rotation basis; each strummer in turn becoming “melody man” while another strummer takes over. Obviously, no stumbling or hesitation is possible here. If you find this so diverting that you can’t bear to stop at the end of eight measures, repeat the entire pattern, or plan at the outset for sixteen or more measures. If two pianos are not available, two players can improvise at one piano.
In choosing your chord patterns don’t overlook Figures 108 and 109 in Chapter 8. This can be prolonged almost indefinitely and finally terminated by a cadence. Decide in advance whether a plagal or authentic cadence will sound best.
A slight but agreeable variation in Figure 109 is shown in Figure 147 at the asterisk.
The accompaniment need not always be strummed; the two secondo accompaniments given in Chapter 8 can be adapted to different chord patterns. Don’t be afraid to introduce unaccented passing tones in the bass to achieve a smoother line than might result from chord tones alone.
THOSE BROKEN OCTAVES!
Daniel Gottlob Türk
1756-1813
WALTZ IN B FLAT MAJOR
Franz Schubert
1797-1828
When playing a waltz bass, keep your little finger extended and rather rigid and play all the low, first beat notes with it. Do not use it on the second and third beats unless the intervals involved are too large to be played comfortably with other fingers. By keeping the fifth finger extended and saving it for the low notes, the distance which the hand must travel is minimized.
ELFIN DANCE
Edvard Grieg
1843-1907
- Determine whether or not leading tones have been doubled as you listen to someone else harmonize a song.
- In a random series of seventh chords played in root position, tell which are dominant sevenths and which are secondary sevenths. The series may include the leading tone seventh.
- As seventh chords in various inversions are played, tell what the inversion of each is and how it should be figured.
- Choose a scale in the lower register of your singing voice, play the tonic and sing the tones of the I7 chord; play the supertonic and sing the ii7 chord. Do the same on each degree of the scale.
- Distinguish between the seventh chord to be found on 1 and 4, and that to be found on 2, 3, and 6. You may hum or sing the chord tones if you wish, before making a decision.
- Play chords which your teacher will “dictate” to you from another piano. These will include dominant and secondary sevenths as well as triads.
- “Dictate” on your piano chords for your classmates to play. Use dominant and secondary sevenths and all triads.
- Continue to work on any of the exercises in earlier chapters which you still find difficult.
- Devise exercises for your classmates and yourself to strengthen areas which you feel are weak. (Rhythm, chord-recognition, melodic memory, following lowest voice, identifying notes in soprano part, and so on.)
- Play the first part of Jingle Bells by ear.
- Play and harmonize Away in a Manger, Cielito Lindo, Dark Eyes, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, and Home On the Range by ear, and in all keys.
Review and Suggested Assignments
- Define the following terms and symbols:
seventh chord; dominant seventh; secondary seventh; modulation; tonality; chromatic alteration; chromatic chord of the seventh; secondary dominant seventh; secondary dominant; V7/V; V7/IV; added sixth; borrowed chords; neighbor dominants; off beat.
- Give correct fingering for the inversions of the seventh chords.
- What constitutes a “close relationship” between keys?
- Change every secondary seventh chord in a given key to a V7 chord and resolve it to its appropriate tonic.
- Which seventh chord cannot be converted to a V7 by moving one voice a half step?
- In the key of B♭ major, what is the root of a V7/V, a V7/IV, a V7/ii?
- How many ways can you find to convert a leading tone seventh in a minor key to a dominant seventh?
- In Figure 148 which note is the fifth of the chord? Which note is the root? How should the chord be figured?
In Figure 149 which note is the third of the chord? Which is the seventh? How should the chord be figured?
- Play all the chord progressions in Figures 98 through 102 adding a sixth to each triad. Play them in all major keys and starting from all positions. For this, each right-hand chord will have four rather than three tones.
- Use fancy strumming to accompany Jingle Bells, Turkey in the Straw, Home on the Range, Dixie, The Caissons, and Short’nin’ Bread.
- Construct chord sequences eight measures long which include secondary sevenths, then improvise melodies to go with them.
- Sight-read every day in a grade school song book from one of the standard music series.