david cope - a musical skills primer

8/6/2019 David Cope - A Musical Skills Primer

1/37

A Musical Skills Primer

By

David Cope

Draft 9/1/07

David Cope 1992, 2007


2/37

2

Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1. Basic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2. Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

3. Ear Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

4. Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

5. Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37


3/37

3

Preface

This little primer is designed to help beginning music students with their basic

music skills. It contains twenty-five suggestions that, if followed, can greatly

enhance a students potential for success. These twenty-five suggestions cover

singing, ear training, and sight-reading at the keyboard. Each suggestion has

three levels: the suggestion itself, how to follow this suggestion, and finally, why

one should follow this suggestion. These suggestions result from my teaching of

music theory and analysis and related topics for most of my forty-one years as a

college professor. I hope that readers find them useful.

I wish to thank the thousands of students who unwittingly contributed to this

primer, my fellow faculty from whom I have borrowed so much, and, of course,

music itself, without which our lives would be diminished significantly, and

without which this primer would not have much use. I take little credit beyond

collecting these thoughts into one resource. Certainly some of the ideas

presented here belong to me. However, many more of these ideas belong to

others. I also wish to thank my wife, a professional pianist and teacher, for acting

as a foil for many of the thoughts presented here.


4/37

4

Chapter 1. Basic Concepts

The most important part of music theoryactual musical skillsis often

relegated to a back seat behind textbooks of rules and written exercises. Many

schools actually separate skills from theory courses, allowing them a different

pace, where students end up thinking that theory and skills constitute different

subjects. In this primer, I take the opposite view, that music skills form the

central focus of music theory, and that music theory, to have an effective role in

a musician's lifemaking them serious rather than amateur musiciansmust

integrate all facets of understanding music, considering these facets part of a

single whole, rather than disciplines that can be taught separately and often

disjointedly.

This primer is based on three principles:

1) No matter what instrument we play, or whether we are

performing, listening, or composing music, the various methods

we use at any given time should always be thought of in terms of

their integration into the larger whole of the musical experience.

2) While music consists of many different processeslistening,

composing, and performingthe most precious and important

aspect is singing. Through singing we better understand how to

hear and how to perform and compose music. Singing vitalizes the

most important instrument anyone will ever play, the one

instrument that comes as standard equipment on the occasion of

our birth.

3) While compiling hours of study and practice at a single giventime may seem useful in some endeavors, musical skills will only

improve and have lasting effect if we practice them every day. Five

minutes a day is better than two hours on Saturday, regardless of

the total time differential.


5/37

5

I will reiterate these three principlesintegration, singing, and everyday

practiceat various times throughout this primer. I cannot overstress their

importance.

Several times in this book I will mention the importance of practicing musically.Since this term often appears without definition in books, conversations, and so

on, I will here define it; at least define it as meant in this primer. Webster's

dictionary defines musical as "melodious" (Webster 1991, p. 893) and the word

melodious as "musical" (Webster 1991, p. 845) offering little help. Attempting to

avoid such a polemic, I offer a simple definition of the term musical:

The word musical means that, within the context of a particular

piece of music, logical, intuitive, and physical interpretations agree.

Being logical infers the following of explicit rules. Being intuitive

infers the following of implicit rules. Being physical infers the

following of natural physical laws (referring here to human

performability). A musical passage is therefore one in which the

user of the term finds all of the above criteria acceptable and in

coincidence.

Not wanting to belabor this definition, practicing music is musical only as it

individually fulfills the above criteria (for more information see Cope 2007).

Aside from the drills of which I include a few here, I suggest that students always

use "actual" music (not especially composed exercises) from the literature as

much as possible. Even studying the composer, the analysis of the work, and so

on, is fitting, since this contributes to integration, Principle 1 discussed earlier.

The drills mentioned here often isolate particular problems and suggest solutions

to these problems. Never forget, however, that even drills should be sung

musically and thought of as they belong to "actual" music.

I also suggest that students divide and conquer the music they study. This

dividing and conquering should never be thought of as negating Principle 1

(integration); that is, working on more difficult parts of an assignment does not

preclude working on these parts while considering all aspects of the music. Also,

beginning with a slower tempo and developing the tempo desired is a good


6/37

6

thing, not a bad thing. Most important, one should always internalize music

under study. By internalize here I mean to make it physical as well as mental,

and mental as well as physical.

It is most important that students not think of music as a construction ofnegatives (i.e., rules consisting of what not to do). The carrot offers much more

than the stick in this regard. Even when teaching rule-ridden counterpoint, I find

the best results occur when, rather than giving students twenty rules of what not

to do, I give them five rules of what works. Of course, integrating (Principle 1),

singing (Principle 2), and working everyday (Principle 3) using these concepts

will ultimately create an ideal environment for truly learning musical skills.

Music is a fifty-fifty proposition: fifty percent mental acuity, and fifty percentphysical agility. While these percentages vary from moment to moment, the

very best music results from an overall balance of using the brain and body in

complementary ways. As example, pick five numbers in your mind and try to

remember them. Then spend timesay five minutesdoing something else.

Finally, try to recall these five numbers. Now try the same thing, but as well as

thinking of the numbers, say them out loud. When I try these experiments with

students, they tend to quickly realize the importance of saying the numbers out

loud. This dual process of thinking and saying enables the best of both our

physical and mental worlds to complement one another. This process represents

the key to properly acquiring musical skills.

Finally, I have mentioned the word practice several times in this book. I have

used this word in terms of it meaning not performing in front of an audience,

not in terms of it meaning repeated playings of the same material without

musical expression. This concept of practice represents an extremely important

aspect of the approach taken within these pages. Indeed, for years I have

explicitly told my student to never practice, but rather to make every exerciseor extracted passage of music as musical and meaningful as possible.


7/37

7

Chapter 2. Singing

Make sure to sit and stand properly.Sit and stand in a relaxed but well-postured position.

Singing when too relaxed (bad posture) or tense body positionscan produce poor singing habits as well as bad intonation, badattitudes, and unmusical vocalizations. Work on this postureevery day (Principle 3).


8/37

8

Use numbers when you sing.

Sing evenly using a twelve-base system with movable tonic for

tonality, and a C-base fixed system for post-tonality. Use zee for0, "sev" for 7, and "lev" for 11 (see Appendix A for examples).Though not scale degrees, per se, 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11 for Major keys willquickly represent scale degrees for all Major keys.

Singing movable numbers takes advantage of tonal memory andhelps to sing leaps correctly. Using the twelve-base systemsalso ensures a smooth transition from tonal to post-tonal music(Principle 2).


9/37

9

Every leap can be built from another interval, scale, or arpeggio.

When singing large leaps, especially in non-tonal music, fill in

(measure) other easier intervals, scales, or arpeggios rhythmically.Be sure you know what kind of scale you are using (Major, Minor,etc.) and the tonic of that scale. Eventually you will not need thisapproach and will only use scales when absolutely necessary (seeAppendix B for example).

Singing intervals, scales, or arpeggios between larger intervals(where the scale degree technique has not helped) guaranteesthat intervals will be accurate and not just random (Principle2) .


10/37

10

Drills provide excellent practice for difficulties.

The up/down, interval, and so on, drills provided in the Appendix

C to this primer can provide a valuable resource for gainingsinging skills.

Be sure to sing drills musically, as musically as you would sing apiece of music. Do these drills for a few minutes every day(Principle 3).


11/37

11

Devise your own drills.

Unless a drill hurts or negates something you have otherwise

learned about music, it should be helpful and useful. Sharesuccessful drills with other students and teachers.

Singing drills (Principle 2), no matter their source, andparticularly if they isolate and correct a deficiency of sometype, and especially if they are practiced musically, shouldhelp one progress with ear training and other skills necessaryfor musicianship.


12/37

12

Sing from your diaphragm, not by expanding your chest.

The diaphragm (the muscle that separates the upper and lower

body cavities) allows the lungs to expand to achieve a true deepbreath.

Don't hyperventilate, but rather take as much air in ascomfortable and plan for your next breath at an appropriatetime. Practice using your diaphragm every day (Principle 3).


13/37

13

Sing anywhere and anytime.

Do not relegate practicing to a particular time or place, but sing

whenever possible. Sing musically, and sing intelligently.

Singing is a natural state of affairs, not just for songs and operas,or in the shower. Sing to your friends, your enemies, your dog orcat, yourself, whatever. Singing will enhance your ear training,sense of musicianship, and confidence. Singing is probably agood preventive for disease, depression, and cheers everyonearound you as well.


14/37

14

Chapter 3. Ear Training

Sing softly and simultaneously with what you are hearing. Do notwait to sing until after a dictation is complete.

Sing softly (important, do not disturb others) along with the musicduring dictation. You will find that predicting next notes becomesfairly easy, and even if wrong, information gained from theexperience can be very helpful.

Singing internalizes music and allows us to apply all of themeasuring devices of sight singing to help dictation skills(Principle 1).


15/37

15

Really listen to the music before writing anything down.

No matter how tempting it may be to stop because of what you

think you will forget, listen to the full example and write downonly the key elements that particularly strike you when it iscomplete.

When you are writing something down you cannot listen to themusic and are hence wasting dictation time. Music consists ofmany different elements (pitch, harmony, rhythm, timbre,dynamics, and so on). Let these different but interdependentparameters work for you, not against you (Principle 1).


16/37

16

Sing the music several times softly after hearing it, including whatyou have written down.

Sing softly (importantdo not disturb others) after the dictationand while writing it down. Do not do this one during a concertunless you can do it really softly.

This singing allows you to hear the piece many times more thanthe number of times it will be played. You also will continue tointernalize the musica good thing. As well, students oftenthink they have written down the correct answer because itlooks right. Importantsing it and make sure that it is correct(Principle 2).


17/37

17

Notes are not equally important.

Make sure to think about what you are singing (i.e. leaps/scale,

durations, on/off beat, scale degree, highest/lowest notes, and soon). Write only the important notes down first.

Getting the important notes of a phrase can often lead tocapturing the less important notes. Writing the letter "s" forscale, for example, instead of every single note, can lead togetting the whole phrase down rather than just the first fewnotes.


18/37

18

Write music down wherever you hear it, not just from thebeginning.

If you get the first few notes in your mind do not give up on therest after, say, a first or second hearing. Pick up (for example) allthe downbeats, the note of arrival, the last note, location of aconspicuous scale, and so on.

Always writing things down from the beginning only wastesprecious hearings. Taking good dictation should appear insplotches rather than simply notes taken from the outset.


19/37

19

Use logic, not just your ear.

I often give dictation without playing anything. Most classes get theprogression correct. Tonal music (and most non-tonal music) has

succession rules. Use this knowledge of these rules to youradvantage!

Using logic gives you an advantage of being able to predictharmonic progressions and to stop giving answers you think youhear but which are illogical. Logic also allows you to make upanswers that make sense and might be right when you haven'ta clue what's going on (Principle 1).


20/37

20

Play the music just once, allowing the natural reoccurrence of themesto act as repetitions.

Playing music over and over again from the beginning does notenhance the ability to train your ear. Playing parts of pieces overand over actually serves to untrain your ear, and to separate eartraining from the listening experience. Play dictations once.Psychologists will tell you that once is all you needthat onceheard, the mind retains that music; what's difficult is accessing thememory.

Play entire pieces once just as you would hear them in a concertand take dictation so that you increase your ability to trulyhear music on the fly (Principle 1).


21/37

21

Play music for all kinds of instrumentation, rather than on just oneinstrument (e.g., the piano).

Playing music using one timbre can separate one from any butlistening to that instrument's music. Listening to a wide variety ofdifferent orchestrations provides important context.

Play music for orchestra, string quartet, marching band, voices,and so on. Always sing with the music (Principle 2). Do this atleast once every day (Principle 3).


22/37

22

Sing up and down harmonies in order to hear the chord-type andfunction.

Practice with a simple repetitive rhythm singing the variousfunctions and progressions. One can get very fast at this, allowingfor active singing while listening with harmony as well as melody.

It is very important to be able to sing everything you hear. Itbecomes easier to measure and understand as you internalize it(Principle 2).


23/37

23

Write softly and carry a big eraser.

Use a pencil (only) with a good eraser. Write softly so erasing, andso on, takes little time away from singing, listening and writing

correct answers.

Students often waste incredible amounts of valuable timeerasing; this time could be spent in writing down the rightanswer.


24/37

24

Take dictation from anything.

Elevator music, birds, and so on, can prove valuable in practice foryour ear.

Try to avoid always taking dictation in the classroom or at aparticular time reserved for such things. Listen all of the time,and try to decipher what you hear.


25/37

25

Conducting or otherwise physically involving yourself in the music aswell as singing will help ear training skills.

Conduct, tap your foot (quietly), or otherwise engage yourself

with the music helps to involve your entire being in the musictheonly way to truly enjoy the music as well as develop good solidskills.

Conducting patterns can reveal meter, help to schematicize themelody, and indicate how to logically decipher the harmony.


26/37

26

Chapter 4. Keyboard

Do not look at your fingers unless leaping a large distance (over an

octave).

Use a lobster bib, piece of cardboard, or anything to cover yourhands.

Looking at your hands takes time, causes more mistakes andmakes you lose your place in the music when you look back up.The keys don't switch places when you are not lookingtheystay in the same places even in the dead of night. Get the feelfor these distances and stop looking down!


27/37

27

Do not stop when making mistakes.

Keep going at a steady pace even if many of the notes are

wrongcorrectness will improve with practice.

Stopping for mistakes causes the music to stop and hence sightreading to stop. This starting and stopping ruins sight reading(Principle 1).


28/37

28

Go slowly and evenly.

Go only as fast as you think you can to sight read the music

effectivelyspeed will increase with practice.

Keeping a steady tempo (initially set by you) is critical forsight reading. You will eventually be able to sight read at thetempo indicated by the composer; for now, set your own tempoand follow it evenly no matter what! Always look through thepiece completely before beginning to find the hardest parts andgauge the best tempo with which to begin.


29/37

29

Set high goals.

From the beginning, try to accompany someone rather than

learning to sight-read alone.

Keep going! If you cannot keep up, then leave notes out;improvise, allow yourself to make mistakes. Try not to stop;this only sets a pattern of stopping and apologizing thateventually will become difficult to break (Principles 1, 2, and3) .


30/37

30

Keyboard drills, especially transposition at sight and pattern playing,will help non-keyboardists to hone their skills.

Drills such as realizing figured bass, memorization of the fifth-cycleprogression (see Appendix D), and so on, will prove highly useful.

Drills solve fingering and other mechanical problems fornascent keyboardists. Drills should always be playedmusically and involve simultaneous singing, (Principle 2).


31/37

31

Drills provide excellent practice for difficulties.

Practicing all kinds of scales using appropriate fingerings will help

when attempting to sight read these scales in musical context.

Be sure to sing these drills musically, as well as playing themon the keyboard. Work on these drills for a few minutes everyday (Principle 3).


32/37

32

Chapter 5. Integration

Integration requires that those involved with music making consistently and

constantly use every facet of their musicianship: the physical, the mental, the

intuitive, and so on. Principle 1 of this bookthat no matter what instrument we

play, or whether we are performing, listening, or composing music, the various

methods we use at any given time should always be thought of in terms of their

integration into the larger whole of the musical experienceis the most critical

basis for success as a musician, no matter whether that musician takes the form

of a composer, performer, or listener.

Playing a Bach partita, a Chopin ballade, or a Bartk Mikrokosmos should not

take place in a vacuum separate from one's knowledge of these composers' lives,

letters, thoughts, other music, and so on, and integrating this knowledge along

with singing and practicing every day (Principles 1, 2, and 3). Understanding the

harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, timbral, formal, structural, and other aspects of a

work practiced should be a normal process rather than an extraordinary process.

Integrate this information as much as possible with whatever you do musically.

Drills are valuable as are practicing for proper tempo, and so on. However,

music only really occurs when integrating every facet of one's understanding of

a work. No single aspect of practicing should ever occur without this integration.

As I stated in chapter 1 of this primer, singing is the most important process for

learning musical skills. Ear training will never improve without physically joining

with the music through singing. Singing while performing will enhance every

aspect of one's performing skills as well as produce more musical results. Singing

is the path to success as a musician. While this may sound trite or simplistic, or

both, it cannot be overstated or re-stated too often. Singing as you integrateyour musical knowledge every day, will increase the intensity of every aspect of

your life, musical and otherwise.

As much as I have stressed performance skills in this primer, I want to remind

musicians that skills in written theory are extremely important as well. These


33/37

33

skills range from reading music proficiently, to being able to recognize chord

types and functions (in tonal music) and sets (in post-tonal music) at sight. Skills

in writing counterpoint, sonata-allegro forms, and so on, also contribute

significantly to the complete musician. My apparent bias expressed in these

pages towards performance skills is based on the apparent lack of theirintegration with what many apparently feel are the more important written and

compositional skills in today's collegiate theory courses. Integration of all facets

of music will ultimately produce the best musicians.

In the first chapter of this book I wrote the following words that I repeat here

because of their importance:

Finally, I have mentioned the word practice several times in this

book. I have used this word in terms of it meaning not

performing in front of an audience, not in terms of it meaning

repeated playings of the same material without musical

expression. This concept of practice represents an extremely

important aspect of the approach taken within these pages. Indeed,

for years I have explicitly told my student to never practice, but

rather to make every exercise or extracted passage of music as

musical and meaningful as possible.

I cannot over-emphasize this point. Practicing without expression is not only a

wasted opportunity, but it establishes habits that become harder and harder to

break, the more one engages in them. A musician must make music with every

sound and silence available.


34/37

34

Appendices

Appendix A. Twelve-based note number/names:

zee one two three four five six sev eight nine ten lev

Major Scale (movable tonic)

zee two four five sev nine lev

Natural Minor scale (movable tonic)

zee two three five sev eight ten

Appendix B. Measuring example using scales:

Appendix C. Singing Drills:

1) Up/Down Drill (go up and down the chromatic scale).

0 1 - 2 0 11 - 2 0 2 + 2 0 10 + 2 0 3 - 3 . . . .zee one m two zee lev m two zee two M two zee ten M two zee three m three

2) Tonal interval drill (go up and down in different modes and keys; use ever-widening intervals).


35/37

35

0 2 + 2 2 4 + 2 4 5 - 2 5 7 + 2 7 9 + 2 . . . .

zee two M two two four M two four five m two five sev M two sev nine M two

3) Around the Horn drill.

4) Octatonic drill.

5) Ear-training drill.

0 4 7 0 7 4 +I 0 5 9 0 9 5 +IV6/4 11 2 7 11 . . . zee four sev zee sev four zee five nine zee nine five lev two sev lev

6) Set theory drill.

0 1 2 1 012 0 1 3 1 013 0 1 4 1 014zee one two one zee one three one zee one four one

Appendix D) Keyboard Drills:

1) Figured bass example with realization given in quarter notes. Note thecommon tones and simple closed position of the upper chords. Realizing suchfigured basses involves including bits of melodic improvisations within the


36/37

36

contexts of these harmonies, usually basing such improvisations on motivesfrom the work being played.

2) A cyclic progression.


37/37

37

Bibliography

Cope, David. 2008. Computer Music Analysis. Madison, WI: A-R Editions.

Webster, Daniel. 1991. Webster's College Dictionary. New York: Random House.

david cope - a musical skills primer

Documents