Music Theory Ear Training and Sight-Singing Syllabus

Ear Training and Sight-Singing syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Ear Training and Sight-Singing in Music Theory, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Pitch and Interval Recognition

   3 topics

   • Hearing Melodic Intervals
   • Hearing Harmonic Intervals
   • Interval Singing
2. 2

   Chord and Quality Identification

   3 topics

   • Identifying Triad Qualities by Ear
   • Identifying Seventh Chords
   • Hearing Inversions and Bass Lines
3. 3

   Melodic and Harmonic Dictation

   3 topics

   • Single-Line Melodic Dictation
   • Two-Part Dictation
   • Harmonic Progression Dictation
4. 4

   Sight-Singing

   3 topics

   • Solfege Systems
   • Singing Diatonic Melodies
   • Singing Chromatic and Modulating Melodies

Ear Training and Sight-Singing flashcards for Music Theory

18 of 50 cards from the Ear Training and Sight-Singing deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the difference between a melodic interval and a harmonic interval?

   A melodic interval occurs when two pitches sound successively (one after the other); a harmonic interval occurs when two pitches sound simultaneously.

2. List the number of half steps in each simple interval from minor 2nd through perfect octave.

   m2 = 1, M2 = 2, m3 = 3, M3 = 4, P4 = 5, tritone (A4/d5) = 6, P5 = 7, m6 = 8, M6 = 9, m7 = 10, M7 = 11, P8 = 12 half steps.

3. Give a common reference-song association for each ascending perfect interval (P4, P5, P8).

   P4 up: "Here Comes the Bride"; P5 up: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (first two notes of the leap); P8 up: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

4. What reference songs are commonly used to recognize an ascending major 6th and an ascending minor 6th?

   Major 6th up: the NBC chimes or "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean"; minor 6th up: the theme from "Love Story" or "The Entertainer" (the leap in the opening).

5. State the rule for inverting an interval: what happens to the number and the quality?

   The interval numbers of an interval and its inversion sum to 9 (e.g., a 3rd inverts to a 6th). Quality flips: major becomes minor, minor becomes major, augmented becomes diminished, diminished becomes augmented, and perfect stays perfect.

6. Which melodic interval spans exactly half an octave, and what is its frequency ratio in equal temperament?

   The tritone (augmented 4th / diminished 5th), spanning 6 half steps. Its equal-tempered frequency ratio is $\sqrt{2} \approx 1.414$, since it is half of the $2{:}1$ octave: $(2^{1/12})^{6} = 2^{1/2}$.

7. In equal temperament, what is the frequency ratio of one semitone?

   Each semitone has the ratio $2^{\frac{1}{12}} \approx 1.0595$, so twelve semitones multiply to exactly one octave: $\left(2^{\frac{1}{12}}\right)^{12} = 2$.

8. Give the approximate just-intonation frequency ratios for the perfect octave, perfect fifth, perfect fourth, and major third.

   Octave $= 2{:}1$, perfect fifth $= 3{:}2$, perfect fourth $= 4{:}3$, major third $= 5{:}4$. Simpler ratios generally sound more consonant.

9. In ear training, which harmonic intervals are classified as consonant and which as dissonant?

   Consonant: P1, P8, P5 (perfect consonances) and M3, m3, M6, m6 (imperfect consonances). Dissonant: M2, m2, M7, m7, and the tritone. The P4 is dissonant against the bass in tonal counterpoint but consonant otherwise.

10. When hearing a harmonic third, how do you distinguish major from minor?

    A major 3rd (4 half steps) sounds bright, open, and stable; a minor 3rd (3 half steps) sounds darker, softer, or more melancholy. Singing from the bottom note up to the top note and counting scale steps confirms the size.

11. What acoustic phenomenon helps you hear that a harmonic interval is slightly out of tune?

    Beats: periodic fluctuations in loudness whose rate equals the difference between the two frequencies, $f_{beat} = |f_{1} - f_{2}|$. In-tune perfect intervals minimize beating.

12. Why are the perfect fifth and octave usually the easiest harmonic intervals to identify by ear?

    Their simple frequency ratios ($3{:}2$ and $2{:}1$) cause strong overlap of overtones, producing a smooth, hollow, highly blended sound; the two tones almost fuse into one.

13. What is a reliable strategy for singing an unfamiliar interval accurately?

    Fill in the interval mentally with stepwise scale motion (e.g., to sing a M6 up from do, think do–re–mi–fa–sol–la), or relate the target note to a reference song or to its position in a known chord, then sing the outer notes alone.

14. How should you approach singing a compound interval such as a major 10th?

    Reduce it by an octave to its simple equivalent (a M10 = octave + M3), sing the simple interval, then displace the top note up an octave. Compound interval = simple interval + 7 to the number (10 = 3 + 7).

15. When singing intervals, what does it mean to 'anchor to the tonic,' and why is it useful?

    You relate both notes of the interval to scale degrees of an established key (e.g., hear a m6 as mi up to do). Keeping a tonal frame is more reliable than judging isolated interval size.

16. Name the four triad qualities and give the interval structure of each (in terms of stacked thirds).

    Major: M3 + m3 (P5 frame); minor: m3 + M3 (P5 frame); diminished: m3 + m3 (d5 frame); augmented: M3 + M3 (A5 frame).

17. When identifying triad quality by ear, which chord member distinguishes major from minor, and which distinguishes diminished from minor?

    The third distinguishes major (bright) from minor (dark); both share a perfect fifth. The fifth distinguishes diminished from minor: the diminished 5th makes the chord sound tense and unstable, versus the stable P5 of minor.

18. Describe the characteristic sound of a diminished triad and of an augmented triad.

    Diminished: tense, dark, unstable, 'shrunken'—contains a tritone between root and fifth. Augmented: unsettled, dreamlike, 'stretched'—symmetrical (all M3s), evoking the whole-tone sound, with no perfect fifth to ground it.

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