Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman,
and today we're going to be doing a melodic dictation challenge.
A dictation is when you write down something that you hear.
Like, if someone gave a speech:
Four score and seven years ago...
and you heard that speech and wrote it down.
and seven years ago...
Then that's called dictating my speech.
In music we practice dictation so you can develop the very useful skill of hearing a song
and then writing it down so you can play it or share it with someone else.
To do our dictation activity today,
I recommend that you use
the printable worksheet for this lesson, which is found in the materials for this unit
available from our website.
Another option would be to simply find some blank staff paper. That could work too.
Last of all, you'll need a pencil.
Make sure it has an eraser, because we all make mistakes, right?
That's part of how we learn.
Press pause if you need a moment to get your worksheet and pencil,
and then let's get started with our melodic dictation challenge.
Okay, let's do this first melodic dictation challenge together as a kind of practice.
How it's going to work is
I'll always give you the starting clef and the first note
of the melody that you're supposed to dictate. If you're just using blank staff paper,
then you'll need to draw in the treble clef and this first note.
If you're using the worksheet that you can download from our website, that's already given for you.
Then you're going to hear a melody like this:
And your job is to try and write that melody down.
The first note is drawn for you.
So let's listen to that melody and see if we can figure out how it goes.
Listen one more time.
Now, why don't you take a stab at it.
Try and draw what you heard,
and in a few seconds I'll show you the correct answer and you can see how you did.
Here's the correct answer. We had:
DO DO RE RE MI FA SO
Now, check your answer and see how you did.
Again, this one was just practice,
so if you need to erase anything and fix it that's totally fine.
Mistakes are always aloud.
Good, now can you sing the letter names? What's the first note?
If you said G you're correct.
Let's sing all the letter names while you point on your page, go:
G G A A B C D
Great.
Now that was our practice round. Let's try another one together.
For our next melodic dictation challenge, we'll be in the treble clef starting on middle C.
So press pause if you need some time to draw that,
or if you're using the worksheet it should already be there on your page for you.
Now, listen to the melody. I'll play it two times, and you try and write down what you hear.
Here goes:
Try and write that down.
Here it comes again:
Try and write those notes down.
In a couple seconds,
I'll put the correct answer up, so if you need some more time to draw, just press pause.
Here comes the correct answer:
Here's the correct answer for that melodic dictation challenge.
Will you check your notes and see if yours match?
A few tips about drawing notes: Here I have a C D
Remember with D it's important that it just barely touches, but does not cross this line.
It's like it's stuck to it, like a drop. D is for drop about to fall.
Okay, so there there's a D. C D C D C D E
Okay, let's point to each note and sing the letter names.
I'll point on my notes,
and you point to the notes that you just drew.
First notice C, say the letters, go:
C D C D C D E
Great, let's try another one.
Alright, this time we'll be in the bass clef,
and can you tell me the note we're starting on?
if you said C, or bass C, you're correct.
So we're starting on bass C this time,
and your job is to listen and
draw the notes that you hear. Here goes:
Remember, there are no skips. It's all steps or repeats. That's my clue.
Here comes the melody again.
In a few seconds the correct answer will appear, so if you need more time just press pause.
Here it comes.
Here's the correct answer for that challenge.
It was C D E D C C C.
in case you need to fix anything, just press pause, erase and fix.
It's always fine to make a mistake as long as we learn from it, right?
So,
once you have it fixed,
then point and let's sing the letter names. Starts on C.
Point with me and sing, go:
C D E D C C C
Great, let's try another one.
Okay, we're in the bass clef once again.
Can you tell me the name of the starting note?
If you said ground G, you're correct.
It's around this low ground G.
Once again, remember that there are no skips. It's all steps or repeats.
Here's the melody. Listen and write it down.
Try and write that down.
Here it is again:
The correct answer will appear in a few seconds.
Here's the correct answer.
Press pause if you need to fix any of them.
We have a G A B C D E D.
Now, can you point on your notes and let's sing it in solfège and we'll start on DO.
We'll put DO on G, ready, go:
DO RE MI FA SO LA SO
Did you remember that a step above SO is LA?
SO, let's sing those last three notes again start on SO, go:
SO LA SO
Good job! Let's try another one.
Can you tell me the starting note for this melodic dictation challenge?
If you said bass F you're correct.
We've got our bass F and we're going right through the bass F line.
Now, this one
my clue is there will be a skip.
There will be exactly one skip so be on the lookout for it.
Here's this melody:
Another clue that might help with this one is to think of it in solfège.
It starts on DO,
and then try to imagine the solfège in your mind as you hear it.
You can also kind of make a recording in your mind,
So if you need to listen to it again, you can just play that recording in your mind as you're trying to write it down.
Here, I'll play the melody one more time.
See if you can make a recording as you listen so you can play it back as many times as you need.
Now write it down.
the correct answer will appear in a few seconds
Here's the correct answer.
Check your answer and see how you did.
Now let's sing
the solfège together. We'll start on DO.
F is DO this time. Ready, go.
DO DO RE RE MI MI DO
Great job. let's try one last challenge.
Can you tell me the starting letter name for this challenge?
If you said flag F you're correct.
We're on this high flag F.
Now, this one there won't be any skips, they'll just be repeats and steps.
So listen carefully, here's the melody:
Here it is one more time.
The correct answer will appear in a few seconds so just press pause if you need more time.
And here's the correct answer:
If you made some mistakes along the way,
that's great. Remember, we learn from our mistakes.
Can you actually point and say the letter names by yourself once? Try it.
The first note's F. Go:
Now let's say it together.
F F E D C C C
Great job.
Nice work on today's melodic dictation challenge.
I hope you'll continue to practice your listening and dictation skills on your own.
One great way to get more practice is by using any of our ear training games,
Like Mystery Melodies, which can be found in the game section of our website.
As you develop your musical listening skills,
you'll get better and better until you'll be able to hear a song,
then just sit down and play it!
As always, thanks for watching, and see you next time!
Mr. Hoffman? I'd like a turn to do a Mystery Melody.
Okay, here's one for you. This one will start on treble G.
Okay.
What?
There.