Taking a tune down
Melodic dictation — hear a tune, write it down — is every skill in this stage working together. It has a fixed order that every method teaches, and following the order is most of the battle.
The three passes, always in this order
- Rhythm first. Before a single pitch, take down the rhythm (
taking-a-rhythm-down) — where the notes are. You'll fill in what they are afterward. Trying to get pitch and rhythm at once is how people freeze. - Contour. Mark the shape — up, down, same — and circle the leaps. Now you have a skeleton: the right number of notes, in the right rhythm, going the right directions.
- Scale degrees. Find the tonic (it's usually the last note, or the most stable one).
Then fill in each note as a degree, using the pulls to check (
the-tendency-tones). Sing the phrase back in numbers before you commit — if you can sing it, you have it.
Then play it
The last step turns dictation into playing by ear: once you've sung the phrase in numbers,
put it on the violin (degrees-on-the-fingerboard — each degree already has an address).
Writing it and playing it are the same act now.
The level ladder
| Level | Melody |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3–4 notes, stepwise, in the tonic triad, one key (G) |
| 2 | 5–6 notes, steps + one small leap; still major |
| 3 | a full phrase; a tendency tone or two; D and A major |
| 4 | two phrases; a wider range; C major and E minor |
| 5 | a short whole tune; one chromatic note |
Full drills at the-dictation-drills.
Try it
Try
Drone on G. Have a 4-note phrase played (or shuffle your own). Take it down in the three passes — rhythm, then contour, then degrees. Sing it back in numbers. Then play it. Check against the original. If you missed a note, which pass failed — did you mishear the rhythm, the direction, or the degree?
The usual mistake
Going for pitches first, or going for pitch and rhythm simultaneously. The order is rhythm → contour → degrees, every time; each pass makes the next one easier. The other mistake: not singing the phrase back before writing or playing it. If it won't come out of your mouth, you haven't heard it yet — listen again.