5.21 Melodic deviation

The exercise melodic deviation recognize a follow-up exercise of the exercise Chapter 5.20 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 5b: 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 B (minor) is being played in the first, second and fourth measure (try to remember how this note sounds).
2. in the first and second measure, the skip from B (to G) to F# (tonic - fifth) is notated.
3. in the third measure, the descending notes from D to C# to B (third - tonic) is notated.
4. try to hear if the fifth F# in the second measure is being played (this note is the fifth F#).
5. try to hear if the descending notes from D to C# to B in the third measure are being played. The C# in the third measure sounds as the leading tone and is the wrong note being played.

Answer: the wrong note being played is the note in the third measure, C#. An A# is being played, the leading tone.