A Musical Skills Primer

By
David Cope

Draft 9/1/07

© David Cope 1992, 2007

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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
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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 student’s 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.
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Chapter 1. Basic Concepts

The most important part of music theory—actual musical skills—is 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 life—making them serious rather than amateur musicians—must
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 processes—listening,

composing, and performing—the 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 given

time 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.
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I will reiterate these three principles—integration, singing, and everyday

practice—at 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
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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 of

negatives (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 percent
physical 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 time—say five minutes—doing 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 exercise
or extracted passage of music as musical and meaningful as possible.
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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 positions

can produce poor singing habits as well as bad intonation, bad
attitudes, and unmusical vocalizations. Work on this posture
every day (Principle 3).
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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” for
0, "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 will
quickly represent scale degrees for all Major keys.

Singing movable numbers takes advantage of tonal memory and

helps to sing leaps correctly. Using the twelve-base systems
also ensures a smooth transition from tonal to post-tonal music
(Principle 2).
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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 this
approach and will only use scales when absolutely necessary (see
Appendix B for example).

Singing intervals, scales, or arpeggios between larger intervals

(where the scale degree technique has not helped) guarantees
that intervals will be accurate and not just random (Principle
2).
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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 gaining
singing skills.

Be sure to sing drills musically, as musically as you would sing a

piece of music. Do these drills for a few minutes every day
(Principle 3).
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Devise your own drills.

Unless a drill hurts or negates something you have otherwise

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

Singing drills (Principle 2), no matter their source, and

particularly if they isolate and correct a deficiency of some
type, and especially if they are practiced musically, should
help one progress with ear training and other skills necessary
for musicianship.
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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 deep
breath.

Don't hyperventilate, but rather take as much air in as

comfortable and plan for your next breath at an appropriate
time. Practice using your diaphragm every day (Principle 3).
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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 or
cat, yourself, whatever. Singing will enhance your ear training,
sense of musicianship, and confidence. Singing is probably a
good preventive for disease, depression, and cheers everyone
around you as well.
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Chapter 3. Ear Training

Sing softly and simultaneously with what you are hearing. Do not
wait to sing until after a dictation is complete.

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

Singing internalizes music and allows us to apply all of the

measuring devices of sight singing to help dictation skills
(Principle 1).
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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 down
only the key elements that particularly strike you when it is
complete.

When you are writing something down you cannot listen to the
music and are hence wasting dictation time. Music consists of
many different elements (pitch, harmony, rhythm, timbre,
dynamics, and so on). Let these different but interdependent
parameters work for you, not against you (Principle 1).
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Sing the music several times softly after hearing it, including what
you have written down.

Sing softly (important—do not disturb others) after the dictation

and while writing it down. Do not do this one during a concert
unless you can do it really softly.

This singing allows you to hear the piece many times more than
the number of times it will be played. You also will continue to
internalize the music—a good thing. As well, students often
think they have written down the correct answer because it
looks right. Important—sing it and make sure that it is correct
(Principle 2).
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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 so
on). Write only the important notes down first.

Getting the important notes of a phrase can often lead to

capturing the less important notes. Writing the letter "s" for
scale, for example, instead of every single note, can lead to
getting the whole phrase down rather than just the first few
notes.
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Write music down wherever you hear it, not just from the
beginning.

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

Always writing things down from the beginning only wastes

precious hearings. Taking good dictation should appear in
splotches rather than simply notes taken from the outset.
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Use logic, not just your ear.

I often give dictation without playing anything. Most classes get the
progression correct. Tonal music (and most non-tonal music) has
succession rules. Use this knowledge of these rules to your
advantage!

Using logic gives you an advantage of being able to predict

harmonic progressions and to stop giving answers you think you
hear but which are illogical. Logic also allows you to make up
answers that make sense and might be right when you haven't
a clue what's going on (Principle 1).
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Play the music just once, allowing the natural reoccurrence of themes
to act as repetitions.

Playing music over and over again from the beginning does not
enhance the ability to train your ear. Playing parts of pieces over
and over actually serves to untrain your ear, and to separate ear
training from the listening experience. Play dictations once.
Psychologists will tell you that once is all you need—that once
heard, the mind retains that music; what's difficult is accessing the
memory.

Play entire pieces once just as you would hear them in a concert
and take dictation so that you increase your ability to truly
hear music on the fly (Principle 1).
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Play music for all kinds of instrumentation, rather than on just one
instrument (e.g., the piano).

Playing music using one timbre can separate one from any but
listening to that instrument's music. Listening to a wide variety of
different 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 at
least once every day (Principle 3).
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Sing up and down harmonies in order to hear the chord-type and

function.

Practice with a simple repetitive rhythm singing the various

functions and progressions. One can get very fast at this, allowing
for active singing while listening with harmony as well as melody.

It is very important to be able to sing everything you hear. It

becomes easier to measure and understand as you internalize it
(Principle 2).
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Write softly and carry a big eraser.

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

Students often waste incredible amounts of valuable time

erasing; this time could be spent in writing down the right
answer.
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Take dictation from anything.

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

Try to avoid always taking dictation in the classroom or at a

particular time reserved for such things. Listen all of the time,
and try to decipher what you hear.
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Conducting or otherwise physically involving yourself in the music as

well 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 music—the
only way to truly enjoy the music as well as develop good solid
skills.

Conducting patterns can reveal meter, help to schematicize the

melody, and indicate how to logically decipher the harmony.
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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 your

hands.

Looking at your hands takes time, causes more mistakes and

makes you lose your place in the music when you look back up.
The keys don't switch places when you are not looking—they
stay in the same places even in the dead of night. Get the feel
for these distances and stop looking down!
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Do not stop when making mistakes.

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

wrong—correctness will improve with practice.

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

Go only as fast as you think you can to sight read the music
effectively—speed will increase with practice.

Keeping a steady tempo (initially set by you) is critical for

sight reading. You will eventually be able to sight read at the
tempo indicated by the composer; for now, set your own tempo
and follow it evenly no matter what! Always look through the
piece completely before beginning to find the hardest parts and
gauge the best tempo with which to begin.
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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 that
eventually will become difficult to break (Principles 1, 2, and
3).
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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-cycle

progression (see Appendix D), and so on, will prove highly useful.

Drills solve fingering and other mechanical problems for

nascent keyboardists. Drills should always be played
musically and involve simultaneous singing, (Principle 2).
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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 them

on the keyboard. Work on these drills for a few minutes every
day (Principle 3).
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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 book—that 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—is 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 Bartók 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 integrate
your 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
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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 their
integration 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.
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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).
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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 1 014

zee 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 the
common tones and simple closed position of the upper chords. Realizing such
figured basses involves including bits of melodic improvisations within the
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contexts of these harmonies, usually basing such improvisations on motives

from the work being played.

2) A cyclic progression.
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Bibliography

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

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