Defining a "Personal Dictation Practice"

Goal: To build fluency connecting the ear mind, fingers and notation

Acuratley notate music away from a music instrument.

Be creative, and inform my compositions: I am primarily a composer. Thus my goal is dually to

accurately describe in music notation what I hear, and additionally explore the malleable nature
of music. Must be a creative exercise that incorporate play, fun and novelty to further inform my
own musical vocabulary and move beyond imitation.

The end goal being artistic creation, musical freedom and self expression

Prepratory steps:

Sing back what was heard. Aim to increase the duration and complexity of musical material
between repeated listenings of audio recording.

Proto notation can be helpful along the way if needed: Longy number, Hats/triangles, Graph
paper etc.

I have included a few examples

Top down approach (no starting notes, or meter)

Have 4 instruments on manuscript paper: 1 piano for dictation, another for analysis, and two
more for creating and documenting variations (plus it looks cool, which is always the most
important aspect of any training)

Select Piece: best to select a work or passage that will stretch ones ability but not beyond. Two
to Four measures is more than enough for a single practice session. Entire compositions need
not be performed. (i.e. study a four bar cadence in Mozart, or single harmony in a measure of
Scriabin etc.) Context should dictate what is selected. The goal is to build successful learning
habits.

1) Dictation of Phrase lengths : Category or repetition vs variation. Chart out the form of
selected example (i.e. A,A,A2, B etc.)

The schemata can become a compositional tool (regardless of genre or notes) See bartok
illustration, and Beethoven

2) Rythmic dictation: Ideally 1 listen then three repetitions from memory. Vocalize (i.e. ta-ta)
using longy patterns

B) Select meter and notate rythmns

C) Perform along with recording.

3) Pitch Dictation: Ideally 1 listen then three repetitions from memory

Vocalize using solfege and di chord procedure of Ploger Method.

4) Analysis and playback:

the classic methods of theme and variation study, motivic analysis and form/structure concepts,
etc., one can deduce (to the best of ones ability) the thought processes represented in the work.

Playing - with repeated instrumental practice, the selected musical material is exactly imitated in
every way, including dynamics, articulation, nuance, time feel, tone coloring and of course, the
rhythms and pitches.

5) from imitation to creation: (dierent keys, meters, tempos, and creating variations)

6) Improvise or write out a new composition that pays homage to the selected work.

Of course the improvisation can be recorded and transcribed if so desired at a later time.

Bonus:

7) Orchestration: This is optional according to one's time. Orchestrate or arrange the work for a
new set of instruments. How would this change the music ? Make idiomatic for the new
ensemble. The goal is make the sound as though the work was always intended for selected
ensemble (i.e. Ravel's orchestrations)