The Tonal World

Hello Ladies and Gents,

So, the semester is wearing on....next week is week 5 for us! I hope you are all continuing to feel strong and inspired!

Now, here's my little game for this week -- you've all had some experience with one of my favorite Ottman examples, #12.33....it's not that it's the best melody in world history, nor is it the coolest harmonic progression I've ever heard, but it is a good basis for all kinds of exercises.

Rising Level 2's

Day 1: Sing through 12.33 and (if you haven't already) label the chords implied by the last four measures in Roman numerals...ignore inversions for now.

Day 2: Find an example to sing or analyze from either Music for Analysis or Ottman in the key of IV, relative to the key of 12.33.

Day 3: Find an example to sing or analyze in the key of iii (we're skipping vii, natch...).

Day 4: Find an example to sing or analyze in the key of vi.

Day 5: Find an example to sing in the key of ii.

Day 6: Find an example to sing in the key of V.

Rising Level 3's

Day 1: Sing through 12.33...memorize or re-memorize the last 4 measures. Sing them in letter names.

Day 2: Sing the last 4 measures in solfege again, then transpose to the key of IV and sing in letter names. Then, select an example to sing from Ottman that is in the dominant of that key (so, the key that is the V of IV....F was the original key, you went to the key of IV, and now you're going to the V of that...bringing you back home to F)

Day 3: Sing the last 4 measures of 12.33 in solfege, and now transpose them to the key of III (A Major....just so you don't have to mess with switching from minor to major). Then, find an example to sing that is in the V of that key.

Day 4: Transpose the last 4 bars of 12.33 to the key of VI. Then, find an example to sing that is in the V of that key.

Day 5: Transpose the last 4 bars of 12.33 to the key of II. Then, find an example to sing that is in the V of that key.

Day 6: Transpose the last 4 bars of 12.33 to the key of V. Then, find an example to sing that is in the V of that key.

Rising Level 4's

Day 1: Write out the progression for the last four measures of 12.33 in the key given, and play it on the piano (or guitar, if you prefer...I would recommend duplicating the voice leading and inversions used in the example for the right hand and playing the root of the chord with your left hand)

Day 2: Play the progression in the key of IV

Day 3: Write out the progression in the key of vi and play it (using the same numerals, but changing the qualities as appropriate for minor vs. major). Does the progression sound as good in minor as in major? If you'd like to change a chord or two to be more to your liking, you may.

Day 4: Play the progression in the key of ii.

Day 5: Play the progression in the key of iii.

Day 6: Play the progression in the key of V.

Extra fun: improvise your own melody over the harmonic progression....go nuts!

So, these little exercises will quickly take you through a lot of keys and force you to think in 5ths and in absolute note names....which is hard at first, but will absolutely make it easier to think in one key. Enjoy!