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David Cope - Musical Primer
David Cope - Musical Primer
By
David Cope
Draft 9/1/07
David Cope 1992, 2007
Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. Basic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
4. Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
5. Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
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 students 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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I will reiterate these three principlesintegration, singing, and everyday
practiceat 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 timesay five minutesdoing 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.
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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11
12
13
14
15
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Sing the music several times softly after hearing it, including what
you have written down.
Sing softly (importantdo 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 musica good thing. As well, students often
think they have written down the correct answer because it
looks right. Importantsing it and make sure that it is correct
(Principle 2).
17
18
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.
19
20
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 needthat 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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23
24
25
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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 lookingthey
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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28
29
30
31
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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 bookthat 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 experienceis 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 Bartk 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
nine
lev
sev
eight nine
ten
lev
two
four
five
sev
two
three five
sev
eight ten
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 everwidening 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
zee four sev zee sev four
0 5 9 0 9 5 +IV6/4
zee five nine zee nine five
11 2 7 11 . . . .
lev two sev lev
0 1 2
1 012
zee one two one
0 1 3
1 013
zee one three one
0
1 4 1
014
zee one four one
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contexts of these harmonies, usually basing such improvisations on motives
from the work being played.
2) A cyclic progression.
37
Bibliography
Cope, David. 2008. Computer Music Analysis. Madison, WI: A-R Editions.
Webster, Daniel. 1991. Webster's College Dictionary. New York: Random House.