Class 8

In today's class we transcribed a song from memory and began analyzing a hymn. Both of these exercises combine a lot of what we've learned from all previous classes -- such as key signatures, intervals, chords, etc. To me, this is where the rubber meets the road. As you keep practicing skills like transcribing and analyzing music, you will become more comfortable with the language aspect of music. Some day I hope it becomes second nature to you so that you can think and "speak" in the musical language.

In transcribing music, it is important to recognize the tonal center of the song, which is the tonic, or first scale degree. Then you can relate all the other pithes to it and to each other. We will be doing some more transcription from memory soon.

Roman numeral analysis is a much more scientific exercise. I haven't yet formalized any set of steps for analyzing a piece of music, but this might help you if you're having some trouble:

1. First write down (somewhere on the page) all of the diatonic triads of the key the song is in. This will help you unscramble the notes of each chord.
2. Figure out if the chord has three notes or more than three notes. Three notes equals a triad, so one of the pitches is being doubled. Ignore the doubled pitch and then figure out what chord it is.
3. If there are four pitches, think dominant 7th. It could be something else, but it is most likely a dominant 7th (meaning it is a V chord).
4. Figure out the inversion. The inversion is determined by the bass note. No exception. If the bass note is on the root, the entire chord is in root position, et al.

Also be on the lookout for notes that are hanging over. Any note that is sounding counts as part of the chord.

I talked to some of you about your thoughts on the class so far and whether or not to continue next semester. I got good feedback and am definitely thinking about continuing next spring. There is so much left to learn, and I don't claim to know it all. But there is a lot left we could learn and compose. I'll keep you updated.

One more thing. Some of you mentioned you won't be here the Monday of Thanksgiving week. Let me know if you'll be here or not. Either email me or leave a comment or text me (859-2298). Thanks!

Josh

P.S. Here's a link to the homework.