"The Music Box" can create an endless supply of dictation melodies, from a simple three note tune in C major with whole notes to a sixty note atonal melody with a variety of rhythms.
You can change the level of difficulty for your melodies by accessing "Dictation Options" from the "Options" Menu.
"The Music Box" is a great tool for sight singing practice. You can create melodies and view them BEFORE you play them. Then sing from the score. To check your pitch, just click on the note and it will play!
The "chromatic scale" uses all 12 pitches within an octave.
To use the dictation features of "The Music Box" follow three simple steps: 1. Create a dictation sequence with the "New Dictation" button. 2. Play the dictation sequence by pressing the "Play Dictation" button AND write down what you hear. 3. Check your answer by pressing the "View Dictation" button!
You can practice melodic dictation without music paper by using the "Point and Click Dictation". To learn the details, read the Help topic called "Point and Click Dictation".
You can click on the right mouse button to access the "popup" menu - the fastest way to set options for "The Music Box"!
If you are just beginning, select only one interval in the "Select Intervals for Practice" dialog box under "Options". Create the melodic dictation ("New Dictation" button), and Play ("Play" Dictation button). Now just listen and determine if the pitches go up or down.
When you select "All" as the "Key" option in the "Dictation Options" dialog box, the computer will select keys for you randomly.
The best way to improve your ear is to start simple and build up your skill. Begin with just a few intervals and simple rhythms and add complexity as you improve.
In Mozart's short life (1756-1791) he composed over 600 works.
To set the interval choices in "The Music Box", choose "Select Intervals for Practice" under the "Options" menu.
Do you know how many piano sonatas Beethoven composed...click Next Tip for the answer!
Beethoven composed 32 piano sonatas. Extra credit for identifying the Opus number of the sonata refered to as the "Appassionata". Press "Next Tip" for the answer!
The "Sonata Appassionata" of Beethoven is Opus 57 (No. 23 in F minor) written 1804-5.
If you wish, "The Music Box" will provide an extra measure of beats to help you become accustomed to the tempo when taking melodic or rhythmic dictation. Choose "Dictation Options" under "Options" and click the checkbox entitled "Include 1 measure of beats".
In British terminology, an eighth note is called a "quaver". A sixteenth note is called a "semiquaver". Can you guess what a "hemidemisemiquaver" is? Press "Next Note" for the answer.
The British term "hemisemidemiquaver" is the equivalent of a sixty-fourth note.
The fifth degree of the scale is called the "dominant". Triads or seventh chords built on this degree are called the dominant triad and the dominant seventh.
There is only one dominant seventh chord in a major key where as there are three minor sevenths, on the second, third and sixth degrees of the scale.
If you want to practice taking dictation on music paper, "The Music Box" will print out a blank sheet of music paper for you. Choose "Print a sheet of blank music paper" under the "File" menu.
Bach composed Preludes and Fugues for every major and minor key in two books of 24 each.
Augumented triads contain the same intervals in any inversion - major thirds!
The metronome was invented around 1812 by a man named Dietrich Nikolaus Winkler of Amsterdam.
Minor scales come in three varieties: Natural, Melodic and Harmonic.
If you are using "Point and Click" dictation, it is best to begin with half notes or whole notes only, and choose a slower tempo. This will give you plenty of time to listen and still click the note!
If you set your interval choices to major seconds, major thirds and tritones in the "Select Intervals for Practice" dialog box, "The Music Box" will create melodies based on the whole tone scale.
The earliest form of the musical staff had only one line. Staffs have had a variety of numbers of lines, but the use of five lines was common by the 13th century.
Sometimes it is a good idea to choose very contrasting sonorities to learn to distinguish between them. For example, practice only diminished and major chords in the "Triads Practice" dialog box accessed from the "Triads..." choice beneath the "Practice" menu.
Intervals can be associated with famous melodies to help you remember them. The most common example is "Here comes the bride" beginning with a perfect fourth.
When practicing rhythmic dictation, choose an instrument sound that sustains the tone so that you can hear the rests and longer notes accurately. For example, "Trombone".
An Etude is a piece designed to improve technique. Etudes usually focus on a particular aspect of playing such as octaves on the piano.
You can use the "Pitch Recognition" dialog box to practice intervals. Once you have correctly identified a pitch (use the "Answer" button if you like), "Play" a new pitch and determine the correct pitch name by listening to the interval.
When you select "None" as the key option in the "Dictation Options" dialog box, the computer will use accidentals and compose melodies that are not bound to any key.
To create a very complex melody, use the "Select Intervals for Practice" dialog box to check all intervals. Then under "Dictation Options", choose "None" under "Keys", indicate a large number of melodic notes (at least 30 or 40), and a fast tempo. Create a melody and see if you can take it down as dictation...good luck!
"The Music Box" will also create up to 30 random intervals, triads or seventh chords for you to practice. For example, choose "Intervals" as the "Dictation" type and under "Dictation Options" select a slower tempo and about 10 for the number of intervals. Now, as the computer plays, write down what type of interval you hear. Press the "View Dictation" button to check your answer.
If you choose an invalid combination of rhythms and meter, for example, whole notes only in 3/4, "The Music Box" will tell you about the problem in a message box and convert the rhythmic values to eighth notes.
The title above the staff for melodic dictation will tell you the intervals you have selected for practicing. For example, if you have chosen to practice Major Thirds and Perfect Fifths, the title will read "Practicing: M3 P5.
Mozart wrote his first symphony before he was nine years old.
When you are practicing intervals on the "Interval Practice" dialog box, play the high note first and then the low note for variety. For some people, there is a tendency to always play the low note first and then the high note. Remember, in melodies, the intervals go both ways!
When practicing intervals, triads or sevenths in the practice dialog boxes, "The Music Box" will tell you if your answer is correct by displaying a message box. You can turn the message box off by unchecking the check box labelled "Use Message Box".
"The Music Box" displays messages at the bottom of the main window in the Status Bar. For example, after you compose a melody, it will say "Melody successfully composed, select Play for dictation".
Atonal music is defined by a lack of a tonal reference, or key. Paratonality is a blend of atonal and tonal techniques.
"The Music Box" begins melodies on the key note, for example, if you choose the key of C, the melody will begin on C.
The bar line became a regular feature of musical notation in the 17th century.
If you want to practice just tritones, you must choose a key of "None" because within a key, the interval of a tritone only is not available from the tonic. For example, in the key of C Major, the tritone to F# is not valid because F# is not in the C Major scale.
You must choose at least one rhythmic value in addition to "Quarter Rests". "The Music Box" does not want to create a melody consisting of just rests!
"Rock 'n' Roll" describes the music of the 1950's, "Rock" describes popular music of the 1960's.
If you compose a melody using just quarter notes and the slowest tempo is too fast, change your note values to half notes or whole notes.
"The Music Box" well never begin a melodic dictation sequence with a rest!
"The Music Box" is a pretty good composer, considering it is just a computer program!
