3.20 Melodic deviation

The exercise melodic deviation recognize a follow-up exercise of the exercise Chapter 3.19 Recognizing melody.

The purpose of this exercise is to learn to hear the difference between two melodies. One melody is played and the other melody is notated. The melody played deviates from the notated melody, by only one tone. Discover the wrongly played note.

Exercise melodic deviation

Ear Training exercise 3b: melodic deviation. Being able to hear a wrongly played note.

Example question

In the next melodie a wrong note is played:

Which note is played incorrectly?

Practical steps

Sing the notated melody to train your inner hearing abilties. Pay particular attention to:

• the tonic of the melody.
• the ascending and descending shape of the melody.
• small or large skips in the melody.
• the use of triads.
• identical notes.
• the leading tone, especially in a minor key.

Then play the melody and notice that:

1. the tonic A (minor) is being played in the third and fourth measure (try to remember how this note sounds).
2. in the second measure the triad E - G# - B is being notated. This is the fifth degree with a raised seventh tone G# (leading tone in the harmonic minor scale).
3. the leading tone G# is notated in the second and third measure.
4. try to hear if the G# in the third measure sounds as the leading tone (this note is a leading tone and is not the wrong note being played).
5. try to hear if the G# in the second measure sounds as the leading tone (this note is not a leading tone, but the natural seventh tone G and is the wrong note being played).

Answer: the wrong note being played is the note G# in the second measure. A G is being played.