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Scales: Arithmetic

Goal: To focus on whole tone and pentatonic scales.

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. Introduce the whole tone/pentatonic scales starting on C, but move to other starting notes quickly.

Refer to the Scales Smorgasbord for ideas.

Addition

Beginning

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Here's a note. Add the next adjacent note above in the whole tone or pentatonic scale.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Here's a note. Add the next adjacent note below in the whole tone or pentatonic scale.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Here's a note. Add the next adjacent note above and below in the whole tone or pentatonic scale.”
  2. Students do so.

Subtraction

Beginning

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Here are all the notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale. Remove one from the scale and identify which scale degree it is that you are removing.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Here are all the notes of the whole tone/pentatonic scale. Remove two from the scale and identify which scale degrees that you are removing.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Here are all the notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale. Remove three from the scale and identify which scale degrees that you are removing.”
  2. Students do so.

Multiplication

Beginning

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Sing the first two notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale bottom up and top down and repeat x times.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Sing the first three notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale bottom up and top down and repeat x times.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Sing the first four notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale bottom up and top down and repeat x times.”
  2. Students do so.
  3. The process continues until all notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale have been sung bottom up and top down.

Division

Beginning

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Sing all the notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale and divide them in two.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Sing all the notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale and divide in three.”
  2. Students do so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “Sing all the notes of a whole tone or pentatonic scale starting on scale degree x (not the first of the scale) and divide in two or three.”
  2. Students do so.