Diatonic Melodies 1
The tempos of the illustrations below are for study purposes. Once comfortable with singing the melody, sing in an appropriate tempo. Note that the tempo of the playback can be changed:
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Refer to appropriate major diatonic interval drills and minor diatonic interval drills.
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Count and clap the rhythms.
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Speak the syllables with proper rhythms.
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Sing at a slow tempo while quietly tapping the beats to maintain the pulse.
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It is strongly suggested that students transcribe each of the melodies into a reduced, shorthand notation that shows the rhythms and syllables.
For example:
(The Glinka melody has the same rhythms for the first and second phrase.)
These skeletons serve two purposes that help the student acquire strong musicianship skills:
- To aid in memorization
- To quickly transpose a melody into any key and into any clef
Students interested in jazz, where the transposition of tunes is common practice, will especially benefit from mastering this technique.
It is recommended that the student use this technique to memorize at least 20 of the melodies from all the Diatonic Melodies sections.