Skip to main content

Accents: Change



Goal: To hear, sing, play, and differentiate (using the prompt "change”) accents and articulations: staccato, legato, marcato, sforzando, subito, tenuto, fermata, and cesura.


Out of Tempo

All Levels

“Out of Tempo” exercises are not presented separately in Ear Training III and Ear Training IV improvisations. Should any exercise prove difficult performed in tempo, out of tempo versions of the materials in Ear Training III and Ear Training IV can be modeled on Ear Training I and Ear Training II approaches to out of tempo improvisations.

In Tempo

Teacher sets up a tempo, time signature, tonality, rhythms.

Start with one note per measure and add different rhythms as students become more comfortable with the exercise. For more confident students, use non-repeating notes and rhythm patterns.

Beginning

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “When I say change turn accent or articulation x in to accent or articulation y.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “When I say 'change' turn either accent or articulation x or y in to accent or articulation z.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “When I say ‘change’ turn accent or articulation combination in measure one to a different accent or articulation in measure two."
  2. Students do so.
  3. The process continues by alternating combinations of accents or articulations and numbers of measures. For example: accent combination w, x, y, z in measure one becomes accent or articulation combination a, b, c, d in measure two. Each student will then alter the combination and the measure number in which the altered combination takes place when the teacher says “Change.”