Aural Development and pattern exercises
I choose aural development as an umbrella term for all activities in music education that are connected with the label solfege or ear training, such as rhythm, sight singing, dictation, harmonic listening (chords, chord sequences) and the like.
Whatever activity is chosen, the principal aim is demonstration of musical awareness by playing/singing/notating/reading/navigating in pitch space and demonstrate a musical time awareness. Whenever possible musicking should be used; playing/singing musical concepts and connected patterns.
Focus in my lessons was primarily on tonal-modal material (many students nowadays start their higher music education being musically low-literate, which is a pity).
Working with patterns & principles is essential because this is in line with human perception (Gestalt principles).
In practice that means:
- Whenver possible use the the instrument to work with patterns and musical concepts (singers who refused to use an instrument had to sing on note names in my lessons).
- For harmonic listening: move (as soon as possible) beyond recognizing isolated chords and intervals. Offer them as a musically coherent pattern of two or more "sonorities" and pay attention to the movement of voices/parts.
- For melodic and harmonic listening: use musically coherent patterns like a motif, a subject (theme/soggetto), a sequence.
Common patterns are memorized and applied in different contexts.
Work is done with three types of patterns (and their combinations):
- melodic
- melodic-harmonic
- rhythmic
A way to approach this is to make use of the Partimento practice. Partimento is not reserved (anymore) for keyboard players. Nowadays there are plenty opportunities to use the principles of it, also in 19th century and later idiom, also for players of melodic instruments. Tips:
- Job IJzerman - Harmony, Counterpoint, Partimento https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190695019/
- Lieven Strobbe - Tonal Tools (YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tonaltools4088)
- Robert de Bree - The Scroll Ensemble (YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheScrollEnsemble)