Ear Training With The Music of Radiohead

Ear Training with the Music of
Radiohead
Victoria Malawey
Macalaster College
However you try to describe it, Radiohead makes sense almost im-
mediately—musically, despite complex time signatures, and emo-
tionally, even though the words are often obscure and drenched in
sound.
—George A. Reisch, “Is Radiohead the Pink Floyd of
the Twenty-First Century?”
I
ncorporating popular music in ear-training and music theory classes
is sensible and advantageous. It allows us to supplement tradition-
al examples from the canon, resulting in greater musical diversity,
which keeps classes from becoming predictable and curricula from be-
coming static. In addition, it brings out similarities in musical structure
among seemingly diverse styles. Finally, bringing “real music” into aural
skills training gets away from (or at least can supplement) the atomistic,
non-contextual drilling lamented by some ear-training experts.1
English band Radiohead has been recording high-quality music
for decades, offering eight full-length albums from which to choose
examples appropriate for class. Guy Capuzzo points out that several
Radiohead songs incorporate a number of desirable musical features,
worthy of our study—including, but not limited to, modal mixture and
harmonic structures guided by voice-leading connections by common
tone.2 Many of Radiohead’s songs conform to these and other prin-
1
Gary Karpinski argues for using aural skills training with “real music” as
opposed to instructor-created materials, and furthermore advocates for greater
contextual skills (dictation and sight singing) as opposed to “atomistic skills
such as identifying and singing intervals and chord qualities and inversions”
(“Lessons from the Past: Music Theory Pedagogy and the Future,” Music Theory
Online 6, no. 3 (2000), ¶ 5.4–5.5).
2
Guy Capuzzo, “Neo-Riemannian Theory and the Analysis of Pop-Rock
Music,” Music Theory Spectrum 26, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 186.
28 Indiana Theory Review Vol. 30 No. 2
ciples of common practice Western tonal music. In addition, much
of Radiohead’s music is at once widely accessible yet also surprising-
ly complex in terms of its harmonic content, metric structure, lyrical
content, and voice leading, making their songs ideal for classroom use.
Furthermore, scholars are already analyzing some of Radiohead’s songs
compellingly in scholarly monographs and journal articles (many rel-
evant sources are cited along with the appropriate songs in the course of
this article), which work well as follow-up reading assignments to com-
plement ear-training exercises done in class. In addition, Radiohead’s
songs are readily available for free streaming online via services such
as Rdio (www.rdio.com), Grooveshark (grooveshark.com), and Spotify
(www.spotify.com). This essay seeks to summarize Radiohead examples
appropriate for ear-training activities and to argue for the inclusion of
Radiohead’s music in teaching aural skills and music theory.
This study is a contribution to a small, but useful body of work
by others who have sought out pedagogical examples from popular
music. In an article published in 1990, Justin London offers an analysis
that relates harmonic content with the meaning of the lyrics in Bruce
Springsteen’s “One Step Up” from his 1987 album Tunnel of Love, which
can be used in theory and ear-training classes.3 He argues that examples
from popular music are advantageous because “they provide a means
of connecting what is taught in class with students’ ‘real world’ musical
experiences.”4 E. Michael Harrington presents numerous songs popular
in the late 1980s and early ’90s that use common chord progressions,
extended tertian chords, modulation schemes unique to rock music, and
composite meters, showing the variety of applications such music has
in teaching theory.5 More recently, Stuart Folse analyzes Shania Twain’s
“You’re Still the One” and The Eagles’ “New Kid in Town,” and argues
that incorporating pop music in musicianship classes not only reflects
the changing focuses of academic institutions (growing numbers of pro-
grams in jazz and commercial music) but also takes advantage of stu-
dents’ familiarity with pop songs.6 Similarly, Pandel Collaros identifies
3
Justin London, “‘One Step Up’: A Lesson from Pop Music,” Journal of
Music Theory Pedagogy 4, no. 1 (Spring 1990): 111–14.
4
Ibid., 111.
5
E. Michael Harrington, “Rock Music as a Resource in Harmonic,
Melodic and Metric Dictation,” College Music Symposium 31 (1991): 27–35.
6
Stuart Folse, “Popular Music as a Pedagogical Resource for Musicianship:
Contextual Listening, Prolongations, Mediant Relationships, and Musical
Form,” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 18 (2004): 65–79.
Malawey, Ear Training with the Music of Radiohead 29
pedagogical examples from the Beatles’ repertoire.7 My study differs
somewhat from the work done by all of these authors because I am
focused primarily on generating aural skills activities (as opposed to
“written” analysis activities), although a few examples for the aural anal-
ysis of form and voice leading are included.
The examples offered in this essay are designed for a variety of
undergraduate levels. Activities such as identification of intervals, scale
type, and meter (simple vs. compound) are appropriate for beginners in
fundamentals classes. As students learn about diatonic harmony, they
can take advantage of continued interval identification, chord quality
identification, and melodic dictation. As students advance into chro-
matic harmony, ample chord function identification and longer aural
analysis activities will challenge them. And finally, there are several ac-
tivities that can enhance the study of post-tonal theory, such as scale
identification (octatonic scales) and meter identification (composite
meters).
In what follows, I will describe different types of ear-training ac-
tivities appropriate for this repertory, highlight several representative
examples, and suggest ways the activities cultivate essential aural skills. I
will demonstrate the benefits of using large-scale aural analysis exercis-
es with Radiohead’s “Exit Music (for a Film),” “You and Whose Army?”
“A Wolf at the Door,” “Stop Whispering,” “High and Dry,” “I Might Be
Wrong,” and “A Punch Up at a Wedding.” Finally, I will suggest pos-
sibilities for sequencing these activities within a multi-semester music
theory curriculum.
Interval Identification
Intervals are easy to extrapolate from Radiohead’s vocal contexts.

An instructor can ask students to listen for a particular word or set of
syllables to identify a prominent melodic interval. Figure 1 organizes
the excerpts appropriate for this activity by interval size. One repre-
sentative example appears near the beginning of “Fake Plastic Trees,”
which appeared on Radiohead’s second album, The Bends.8 One music
critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, likens this song’s melody to
7
Pandel Collaros, “The Music of the Beatles in Undergraduate Music
Theory Instruction,” Indiana Theory Review 21 (Fall–Spring 2000): 53–78.
8
This and all of the songs presented in this essay may be streamed online
for free through Rdio (www.rdio.com), Grooveshark (grooveshark.com), or
Spotify (www.spotify.com).
Figure 1. Examples for Interval Identification.
Song /Album Time Intervals
In Limbo introduction M2
Kid A
The National Anthem introduction M3 vs. m3,
Kid A M2
How to Disappear Completely 4:38–4:53 m3
Kid A
You and Whose Army? 2:01 m3
Amnesiac
Morning Bell/Amnesiac 0:00 and 0:11 m3, P1
Amnesiac
Prove Yourself 0:15, 0:21 m3, P5
Pablo Honey (and 0:26)
Dollars & Cents 4:15–4:40 M3 vs. m3
Amnesiac
Like Spinning Plates 2:33–2:39 P4
Amnesiac
2+2=5 0:42–0:49 P4, P5
Hail to the Thief
Fake Plastic Trees 0:16 P4, P8
The Bends
Just 0:44–0:55 Tritone
The Bends
Lurgee 0:55 P5
Pablo Honey
Ripcord 0:42–0:50 P5, P1
Pablo Honey
Feral 0:00–0:27 P5, P1
The King of Limbs
Sit Down, Stand Up throughout; “sit down” at 0:34, m6, m2,
Hail to the Thief c.f. “the raindrops” at 3:03 P4/P5
Nice Dream 0:22–0:40 m6
The Bends
Vegetable 0:19 M6
Pablo Honey
High and Dry 1:09–1:25 M6
The Bends
My Iron Lung 0:54–1:00 M6
The Bends
Karma Police 2:37–3:36 M6
OK Computer
Let Down 2:28–2:48 M7
OK Computer
Bulletproof 1:44–2:06 P8
The Bends
Questions
What melodic interval is prominent in this passage?
What melodic intervals are used predominantly in the bass guitar?
What descending melodic interval is played in this passage?
What melodic interval do we hear on the text, “we ride tonight”?
What melodic interval occurs on “(re)lease me”? What melodic interval occurs on the first
statement of “morning bell”?
What are the various melodic intervals sung on the lyrics “off dead”?
What two harmonic intervals are used in the guitar?
What melodic interval do we hear on the text, “spinning plates”?
What melodic intervals occur on “2 + 2” and “always makes”?
What are the melodic intervals that occur on “plastic”?
What is the descending melodic interval sung on “self (you) do” and “self (just) you”?
What ascending melodic interval is sung on “got strong”?
What melodic intervals are sung on “ripcord”?
What melodic intervals are used in this passage?
What two melodic intervals occur in the song’s recurring three-note motive? At 0:34, what
melodic interval is sung on "sit down"? How does this contrast with harmonic intervals at 3:03?
What is the ascending melodic interval that occurs on “brother” and “protect me”?
What descending melodic interval occurs on “tried hard”?
What ascending melodic interval is sung on “me high” and “me dry”?
What descending melodic interval is sung on “iron”?
What descending melodic interval is sung between “lost” and “myself ”?
What is the largest descending melodic interval played in the guitar?
What ascending melodic interval is sung on “bulletproof ”?

the second theme of a Schubert string quartet: Yorke’s voice
mimic[s] the timbre and varied dynamics of a violinist bowing. [...]
Yorke [...] plays his voice the way his bandmates play their instru-
ments, and he has impressively consistent pitch. Radiohead sounds
like an instrumental band that happens to have a singer.9
In this example, the instructor asks students to identify the melodic

intervals sung on the word “plastic” near the end of the excerpt. The
correct answer is an ascending P4 (in this case, E4 to A4) followed by
descending P8 (A4 to A3).
Other examples using vocal cues shown in Figure 1 include
“Sit Down, Stand Up,” “You and Whose Army?,” “Morning Bell/
Amnesiac,” “Prove Yourself,” “Like Spinning Plates,” “2+2=5,” “Just,”
“Lurgee,” “Ripcord,” “Nice Dream,” “Vegetable,” “High and Dry,” “My
Iron Lung,” “Karma Police,” and “Bulletproof.” Some of these songs
demonstrate clever connections between musical content and lyrics in
engaging ways. For example, in “2+2=5,” Yorke sings an ascending P4 on
“2+2” and an ascending P5 on “always makes,” which creatively relates
the intervallic content directly to the lyrics and title of the song.10 In
“Lurgee,” the apex of the song (G4) occurs when Yorke sings the word
“strong,” marking the ascending P5 that prepares its arrival in a power-
ful way. Similarly, “High and Dry” relies on a large ascending leap of a
M6 in obvious word painting of “high,” which is marked also by Yorke’s
expressive delivery of the word on the melodic apex of the song (G # 4).
Frank Samarotto identifies a trope in some popular songs whereby
an “expectancy section” uses ascending gestures and is marked by formal
and tonal incompletion, which is followed by an “infinity section” that
relies on repetition and melodic stasis as a means of completing the
song.11 Samarotto finds such a trope in “Sit Down, Stand Up,” which is
made possible by changes in its intervallic content, among other musical
aspects. Its opening ascending m6 plays a crucial part of hearing expec-
tancy in the song’s opening section (0:00–3:03), which contrasts mark-
edly with the static harmonic perfect intervals Yorke sings on “the rain-
9
Sasha Frere-Jones, “Fine Tuning,” New Yorker 82, no. 19 (26 June 2006):
86–7.
10
Brad Osborn, “Understanding Through-Composition in Post-Rock,
Math-Metal, and other Post-Millennial Rock Genres,” Music Theory Online 17,
no. 3 (October 2011)
http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.11.17.3/mto.11.17.3.osborn.html, ¶ 33.
11
Frank Samarotto, “The Trope of Expectancy/Infinity in the Music of
the Beatles and Others,” presented at the 35th Annual Meeting for the Society
for Music Theory (New Orleans, La., 2 November 2012).
drops” to create a sense of “infinity” in the closing section (3:03–4:20)
of the song. As students identify intervals in this song, they can relate
them to this particular trope, or perhaps devise their own tropes based
on how they experience changing states in the song.
Instrumental riffs are also useful for identifying prominent inter-
vals. Dai Griffiths identifies “The National Anthem” as one of three “os-
tinato songs” appearing on Kid A and Amnesiac.12 As students listen to
this song, they can be asked to identify three distinct melodic intervals
used in the bass guitar riff, which are M3 (F # to D), m3 (F n to D), and
M2 (E to D). Marianne Tatom Letts describes the riff as a “collaps-
ing of intervals” that “underscores the claustrophobic feel of the lyrics,”
which deal with themes of alienation and despair.13 Because the riff is
repeated many times, students will have multiple chances to internalize
the series of intervals. Furthermore, since the intervals (m3, M2, m2) all
share the same bottom note (D), which acts as a common tone among
them, students may more easily compare the sound of these smaller
intervals, which beginning students sometimes mistake for each other.
Other examples using instrumental cues shown in Figure 1 include
“Dollars & Cents,” “How to Disappear Completely,” “In Limbo,”
“Feral,” “Sit Down, Stand Up,” and “Let Down,” all of which rely on
repetition to allow students to more easily extrapolate and identify the
given intervals contextually.
Scale Type Identification
Scale type identification can be useful from the novice level (in
which students identify differences among major and the three minor
scales) to more advanced levels (in which students identify modal and
octatonic scales). Examples for scale type identification appear in Figure
2. All of the examples are largely unembellished or pure, which make
them especially useful for ear training. In Figure 2, I have classified each
example into one of three primary types, which may affect the level
of difficulty of the activity: songs that use (1) a general key collection
12
Dai Griffiths, “Public Schoolboy Music: Debating Radiohead,” in
The Music and Art of Radiohead, ed. Joseph Tate (Burlington, Vermont and
Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2005), 164.
13
Marianne Tatom Letts, Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album:
How to Disappear Completely (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010),
66.
without explicit presentation of a sequential scale or scale fragment; (2)
prominent stepwise scale fragment(s), as well as a general unordered
diatonic collection; and (3) prominent stepwise scale fragments or a
complete scale exclusively.
Just as repetition can make for easier contextual identification of
intervals, it can also be an asset for aural scale identification. “I Might
Be Wrong” (0:17–3:49) uses a repeating riff that emphasizes 1̂ and 3̂,
which define the mode as minor. “Stop Whispering” features a de-
scending fragment of the major scale (1̂–7̂–6̂ –5̂), which is stated twice
at the beginning of the verses. Similarly, the vocal line of the verses
of “I Can’t” states major scale fragments 6̂ –7̂ – 1̂ and 6̂ –5̂–4̂ –3̂ –2̂ twice.
“Thinking About You” emphasizes the stepwise gesture 1̂ –2̂ – 3̂, which
recurs throughout the song’s melody and defines the mode as major.
“There There” gradually introduces the general minor collection with
repeated emphasis on tonic anchors 1̂, 3̂, and 5̂. “I Will” provides an
interesting example of melodic minor. Once students are able to infer
tonic as C # and the overall mode as minor in “I Will,” they may listen
to the vocal part beginning at 1:26, which repeats an ascending step-
wise gesture that uses the raised forms of 6̂ and 7̂, the defining features
of melodic minor. All of these are effective examples, particularly for
beginning students, because they emphasize tonal anchors (1̂ , 3̂ , and/or
5̂) that define the mode as major or minor through repetition.
Repetition of scalar fragments also makes for effective identifica-
tion of modes other than major and minor. For example, “Morning Mr.
Magpie” (0:00–2:04) repeats the mixolydian scalar fragment 5̂–6̂–7̂– 5̂
in the guitar while the lead vocal emphasizes 1̂ and 5̂. In “A Punch Up at
a Wedding,” E is established as tonic through repetition and emphasis
in the bass part, and in the passage beginning at 1:16, Yorke sings an as-
cending stepwise fragment of E dorian (4̂ –5̂ –6̂ –7̂ – 1̂) on “nothing’s ever
good enough for you” and “you’ve come here just to start a fight.” Other
songs reveal modal properties more gradually. “Hunting Bears,” a short
instrumental track from Amnesiac, demonstrates a gradual presentation
of D dorian—at first, emphasizing 4̂, 5̂, 7̂, and 1̂ of the scale, at 0:35 in-
troducing 3̂, and finally at 1:33 articulating the characteristic raised 6̂ to
confirm the mode as dorian. Similarly, the modal content of “Separator”
appears gradually: at the beginning of the song, repeating B bs establish
tonic, Yorke’s melody reaches D (3̂) at 0:27, and soon after at 0:32 Yorke
sings A b (b 7̂ ), which defines the mode as mixolydian.
Other examples reveal their modal properties primarily through
harmonic content. “Lucky,” “15 Step,” and “Lotus Flower,” all examples
in the dorian mode, feature the major subdominant (IV) and minor
Figure 2 . Examples for Scale Type Identification
Song /Album Time Scale Type Classification
Stop Whispering 0:15, 1:19 major (1̂ 7̂ 6̂ 5̂ repeated at Type 2
Pablo Honey beginning of each verse)
Thinking About You throughout major (emphasizes 1̂ 2̂ 3̂) Type 2
Pablo Honey
I Can’t 0:17–0:36 major (6̂ 7̂ 1̂, 6̂ 5̂ 4̂ 3̂ 2̂ at Type 2
Pablo Honey beginning of verses)
I Might Be Wrong 0:17–3:49 minor (emphasizes minor Type 1
Amnesiac tonic triad)
There There 0:00–1:15 natural minor Type 1
Hail to the Thief
I Will 1:26 melodic minor (1̂ 5̂ 6̂ 7̂ 1̂ Type 2
Hail to the Thief sung on “eyes, eyes, eyes”)
15 Step 0:41–1:38 dorian Type 1
In Rainbows
Lucky 1:10 dorian Type 1
OK Computer
Hunting Bears throughout dorian Type 1
Amnesiac
A Punch Up at a Wedding 1:16–1:51 dorian (fragment: 4̂ 5̂ 6̂ 7̂ 1̂) Type 2
Hail to the Thief
Lotus Flower 0:58–2:00, dorian Type 1
The King of Limbs 2:32–3:20
Morning Mr. Magpie 0:00–2:04 mixolydian Type 2
The King of Limbs
Give Up the Ghost throughout mixolydian Type 1
The King of Limbs
Separator 0:00–2:57 mixolydian Type 1
The King of Limbs
Bb –G–A–F #–Bb –A)

The National Anthem 1:57–2:18 octatonic (fragment: A–G– Type 2
Kid A
These Are My Twisted Words 0:08–1:04 octatonic (fragment: G–F #– Type 3
(single) E–E b –D b –C)
Just 0:06–0:16, octatonic (OCT02) Type 3
The Bends 0:55–1:05,
1:44–1:55,
2:47–3:09
Morning Mr. Magpie 2:04–2:14 octatonic (fragment: G–F– Type 2

The King of Limbs A b –F–E–G)
tonic (i) chords prominently, which are hallmarks of their modal iden-
tity. Likewise, “Give Up the Ghost” alternates D major (I) and C major
(bVII), a typical mixolydian chord structure in rock music.
Very few rock bands use the octatonic scale, and consequently
Radiohead’s use of the scale within the genre of rock is exceptional. The
most explicit and unambiguous use of the octatonic scale can be found
in “Just,” which scholar Paul Lansky describes as “complex, pushing tra-
ditional tonal functional relations to the edge of a cliff.”14 Because of
its straightforward presentation, “Just” functions well alongside more
standard examples from the twentieth-century canon for the introduc-
tion of the octatonic scale in post-tonal theory classes. “These Are My
Twisted Words” (0:08–1:04) repeats a descending stepwise octatonic
fragment (G–F # –E–E b–D b–C) over a static C major harmony. The
song as a whole is tonal because it has a clear pitch center (C), but
its tertian-based harmonies reflect some aspects of the octatonic scale,
such as extensive mode mixture (play with E and E b, both pitches in
the OCT01 collection), use of D b (b2̂) in the repeating bass guitar riff,
and occasional appearances of the D major triad at 2:05, 2:50, 3:10, and
4:26, which subtly hearkens back to the F # from the OCT01 collection.
In addition, octatonic subsets in “The National Anthem” and
“Morning Mr. Magpie” result from the use of mode mixture within an
otherwise tonal context. Osborn identifies such an octatonic passage
in the ondes Martenot melody in “The National Anthem” at 1:57.15
Hearing a tonic of D, the melody eerily hovers around 5̂ (A), embel-
lished by b 6̂ (B b), 4̂ (G), and # 3̂ (F # ) to create a subset of the octatonic
collection. A vocal melody using a similar octatonic subset occurs in
“Morning Mr. Magpie” (2:04–2:14) with a tonic of C.
Meter Identification
The examples that appear in Figure 3 work toward developing the

skill of meter perception. “Paranoid Android” and “I Might Be Wrong”
are two representative examples among many that illustrate simple
quadruple meter, which can be contrasted with “Nice Dream,” “Sulk,”
“Subterranean Homesick Alien,” and “How to Disappear Completely,”
which provide examples of compound meter.16
14
Paul Lansky, “My Radiohead Adventure,” in The Music and Art of
Radiohead, ed. Joseph Tate, 168–76 (Burlington, Vermont and Aldershot,
England: Ashgate, 2005), 171.
15
Brad Osborn, “Kid Algebra: Radiohead’s Euclidean and Maximally
Even Grooves,” presented at the 35th Annual Meeting for the Society for
Music Theory (New Orleans, La., 2 November 2012).
16
Letts characterizes the meter in “How to Disappear Completely” as
somewhat ambiguous. She writes, “The bass line presents a ‘two against three’
Figure 3. Examples for Meter Identification
Song /Album Time Meter Type
Paranoid Android 0:00–2:09, simple quadruple
OK Computer 3:36–5:40
I Might Be Wrong throughout simple quadruple
Amnesiac
Nice Dream throughout compound quadruple
The Bends
Sulk throughout compound quadruple
The Bends
Subterranean Homesick Alien throughout compound quadruple
OK Computer
How to Disappear Completely throughout compound quadruple
Kid A
Morning Bell throughout composite (in 5)
Kid A
Everything In Its Right Place throughout composite (in 5)
Kid A
15 Step throughout composite (in 5)
In Rainbows
These Are My Twisted Words 1:42 composite (in 5)
(single)
Paranoid Android 2:09, 3:16 composite (in 7)
OK Computer
2+2=5 0:00–1:22 composite (in 7)
Hail to the Theif
In addition, Radiohead’s music uniquely offers more than a few

songs in easily perceivable composite meters. For example, a special op-
portunity occurs with “Morning Bell,” which appeared in two differ-
ent versions—one on Kid A and another on its sister album Amnesiac.
feel (dotted quarter notes that can be heard in 6/8 rather than in 3/4 meter of
the vocal line) against the ‘fast three’ feel (3/4) of the guitar’s rhythmic pattern,
which also contribute to the feeling of being out of time” (Resistant Concept
Album, 75). I do not hear this song as being “out of time”; on the contrary, I hear
it as a fairly clear example of compound meter. This type of texture, with 2:3
cross rhythms within an overarching compound meter, seems to be common
in popular music spanning various genres. Examples of this phenomenon
include Duncan Sheik’s “Hymn” (2006), Audrye Sessions’ “Awake” (2009),
Atlas Sound’s “Criminals” (2009), Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” (2004), Dave
Matthews’ “Stay or Leave” (2003), John Mayer’s “Daughters” (2003), Namoli
Brennet’s “Boy in a Dress” (2002), and Sinead Lohan’s “No Mermaid” (1998),
to name a few.
Biographer James Doheny comments on the metric differences between
the two versions of “Morning Bell”:
There’s a real rhythmic difference between the two tracks. In the

version on Kid A, each changing chord “toll” is expressed as a bar
of five skipping beats, the irregular number of beats, quick tempo
and shuffling groove helping to float things along and mask the
“tolling” quality. In [the version on Amnesiac], each harmonic toll is
transformed into a two clanging Lennon-esque crotchets . . . or half
of a much slower 4/4 bar. [ . . .] The chords last for about the same
time, even though the effect is utterly different.17
Not only does the Kid A version of “Morning Bell” feature a local com-
posite meter of 3+2, but what is even more compelling about this song
is how larger levels of meter are similarly asymmetrical. Nested, hierar-
chical levels of composite meter, which mirror each other, are unique to
Radiohead. The hypermeter, as articulated through repeating harmonic
patterns, is also 3+2 in this song. There are three repetitions of a two-bar
oscillation of A minor and C # minor followed by two repetitions of
another 2-bar oscillation of G major and D major. Figure 4 illustrates
the song’s asymmetrical hypermeter as articulated by harmony as it
occurs in its first iteration (0:08–0:29); this harmonic structure is re-
peated throughout the song.
Figure 4. Harmonic Design and Hypermeter of “Morning Bell” on

Kid A
• 3 2 •
• 0:08 0:10 0:12 0:14 0:17 0:19 0:21 0:23 0:25 0:27 •
Am C # m Am C # m Am C # m GM DM GM DM
After students successfully identify the metric properties of the

Kid A version of “Morning Bell,” the instructor may play the version
that appeared on Amnesiac, which in Letts’ words “exorcises the song’s
driving rhythm.”18 After comparing the two versions, students may be
instructed to describe the differences between the two versions, not
only in terms of metric difference, but also differences in orchestration,
17
James Doheny, Radiohead Back to Save the Universe: The Stories Behind
Every Song (New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002), 124.
18
Letts, Resistant Concept Album, 147.
timbre, and dynamics. The version that appeared on Amnesiac is best
characterized as a slow simple quadruple.
Chord Identification
Two types of chord identification are possible with Radiohead’s

music. One type focuses on individual chord types and is appropriate
for fundamentals and musicianship classes. Examples for identifying
chord quality appear in Figure 5. While listening to these examples,
students identify the quality of triads, seventh chords, and some extend-
ed tertian sonorities, focusing more on the individual sonority and less
with chord function within a harmonic progression. To illustrate, for
a basic musicianship class, one can use “Faust Arp” from In Rainbows
to compare the qualities of minor and major. In this example, we hear
B minor repeated several times followed by its parallel major triad, B
major. The effect of the changing mode is immediate and helps stu-
dents make the critical connection between what they hear and what
we teach (in this case, spelling and recognition of major and minor
triads). A similar example is found in “Dollars & Cents,” the chords of
which music critic Jon Pareles describes as “waver[ing] between major
and minor, perpetually unsettled.”19 Because both examples linger upon
parallel major and minor sonorities and compare them in direct succes-
sion, “Faust Arp” and “Dollars & Cents” are uniquely effective examples
for beginning ear-training students. Likewise, the other examples listed
in Figure 5 emphasize chord quality by lingering upon the sonority in
question, which is an advantage this specific repertory offers.
The effectiveness of Radiohead’s music goes beyond simple dem-
onstrations of individual sonorities, however. In fact one hallmark
of Radiohead’s style is its remarkable richness in terms of harmonic
content. As students progress to more advanced levels of musicianship,
they can begin to identify chromatic chords with strong functional roles
within harmonic progressions. This activity develops several essential
listening skills, including identification of scale-degree function in bass
lines and inference of tonic. Several examples are given in Figure 6.
19
Jon Pareles, “Recordings,” review of Radiohead Amnesiac, Rolling Stone
no. 871 (21 June 2001): 74–77.
Figure 5. Examples for Chord Quality Identification
Song /Album Time Chord Quality
Faust Arp 0:02 and 0:11 minor and parallel major
In Rainbows (Bm, BM)
Dollars & Cents 4:15–4:40 major and parallel minor
Amnesiac (BM, Bm)
You 0:00 Mm7 (E7)
Pablo Honey
Bullet Proof . . . I Wish I Was 0:14 mm7 (Am7),
The Bends MM7 (CM7)
Sail to the Moon 0:00 MM7 (AM7)
Hail to the Thief
(Em7, F # m7, AM, GM7)

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi 0:07–0:33 mm7, M, MM7
In Rainbows
Blow Out 0:00 mmM9 (Em9)
Pablo Honey
House of Cards 0:00 add9 (Fadd9)
In Rainbows
Figure 6. Examples for Chord Function Identification

Song /Album Time Chromatic Chord
Planet Telex 0:12–0:38 V 7/IV and borrowed iv
The Bends (progression: I–IV–V 7/IV–iv)
My Iron Lung 0:22 and throughout borrowed iv
The Bends
Subterranean Homesick Alien 0:14 and throughout, borrowed iv
OK Computer also at 4:07
No Surprises introduction borrowed iv
OK Computer
Morning Mr. Magpie 2:34–2:36, borrowed iv
The King of Limbs 2:48–2:50
You 1:12–1:24 borrowed I (cf. I and i)
Pablo Honey
Lucky 1:34 augmented sixth chord
OK Computer
Subterranean Homesick Alien 4:10 N (progression: I–v–N–V)
OK Computer
A Wolf at the Door 0:05 N6
Hail to the Thief
Creep throughout chromatic mediant (III) or
Pablo Honey V/vi and borrowed iv
Backdrifts 1:28–1:40 chromatic mediant (b III)
Hail to the Thief
Predominant borrowed chords are featured prominently in
“Planet Telex,” “My Iron Lung,” “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” “No
Surprises,” and “Morning Mr. Magpie.” The minor borrowed subdomi-
nant is especially effective in the introduction of “No Surprises,” a song
that Nadine Hubbs has characterized as a “major-mode song of almost
naïve simplicity.”20 Here, however, the expressive use of borrowed iv pre-
vents the song’s harmony from becoming too pedestrian. One might
even draw upon this in the aural skills exercise: the instructor asks
students to identify the type of chromatic chord featured in the song
and then offer their own commentary on its expressive significance in
the song as a whole, after also providing them with the song lyrics. To
enhance class discussion, one might draw upon philosopher and histo-
rian George A. Reisch’s interpretation of “No Surprises”:
At first, Yorke seems to offer a parody or satire, strung together out

of political and cultural clichés about home security, and routine:
bring down the government, [ . . .] they don’t speak for us
a job that slowly kills you, bruises that won’t heal.
No alarms and no surprises; such a pretty house and such a
pretty garden
Yet wrapped in the plinkety-plink-plink music of a nursery rhyme
or music box, the lyrics become less sarcastic . . . and more a study
in the political infantilization—by cliché, chit-chat, conventional
wisdom, and routine—of adults either unable or unwilling to live
freely and creatively.21
In this song we witness the ironic juxtaposition of several seem-

ingly incongruent elements—a music box texture and instrumentation
juxtaposed with traditional rock instruments, the slightly out-of-tune
key of F major juxtaposed with inflections of F minor through the use
of borrowed iv—which could be seen to parallel the juxtaposition of
contrasting themes in the song lyrics, such as pretty houses and gardens
with negative aspects of routine, loss of freedom and creativity, and un-
happiness that may result from participation in a capitalist society. Of
course, no song will necessarily appeal to all students, but the lyrics of
20
Nadine Hubbs, “The Imagination of Pop-Rock Criticism,” in Expression
in Pop-Rock Music: Critical and Analytical Essays, 2nd ed., ed. Walter Everett,
(New York and London: Routledge, 2008), 226.
21
George A. Reisch, “Is Radiohead the Pink Floyd of the Twenty-First
Century?” in Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive, ed.
Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch (Chicago and LaSalle, Ill.: Open
Court, 2009), 7.
“No Surprises” and other songs by Radiohead—with themes ranging
from a critique of political and economic societal structures, self-re-
flection and self-awareness, to themes of isolation, alienation, love, and
loss—may resonate with some traditional college-age students (18–22
years old), just as they are coming of age, experiencing a period of self-
discovery, and developing social awareness.
Music by other rock bands sometimes uses borrowed predominant
chords, but very few rock songs feature linear chromatic chords most
often associated with late nineteenth-century Romantic art music, such
as the augmented sixth and Neapolitan, which are present in several of
Radiohead’s songs. Thus Radiohead’s music provides instructors with
a unique opportunity to explore such chromatic chords in the genre of
mainstream rock music. “A Wolf at the Door” features the Neapolitan
sixth chord in D minor. This example is effective because the N6 is
situated in between tonic and dominant harmony, and the chords are
arpeggiated so students can latch onto individual scale degrees, such as
b2, which marks the N6. The Neapolitan is also featured at the end of
“Subterranean Homesick Alien.” The harmonic syntax in this excerpt is
unusual (I–v–N–V), but the last three chords of the progression provide
harmonic support for a loosely constructed sequence in the lead guitar
melody, transcribed in Example 1. This chromatic sequence preserves
rhythm and general melodic contour. Although the minor dominant
triad is atypical, the motion from the Neapolitan to the major dominant
triad is normative. The inflection of Neapolitan harmony in this song
might be seen as a nod to the otherworldly, which relates loosely to the
“aliens [that] hover” in the song’s lyrics.
Example 1. Transcription of “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” 4:12–

4:27, lead guitar
Ab
#
Dm D
& 68 n œ . œ œ œ bœ bœ œ bœ
œ. œ ˙. ˙.
GM: v N V
Songs that feature repeating harmonic progressions with chro-

matic chords are effective for ear training since the built-in repetition
gives students multiple opportunities to identify the chord progression.
“Creep,” which appeared on Radiohead’s debut album Pablo Honey
and the song that marked Radiohead’s mainstream success, features
such a progression: G major, B major, C major, C minor. This can be
interpreted as either I–III (chromatic mediant)–IV– iv (borrowed iv)
or as I–V/vi–VI/vi (deceptive resolution)–iv in G major. Both inter-
pretations are equally feasible, and this example can illustrate that
there are multiple ways to hear a passage. The interpretation as I–V/vi–
VI/vi–iv highlights the connection between the second and third
chords, emphasizing chord function as a deceptive resolution of a sec-
ondary dominant. The interpretation as I–III–IV–iv brings attention
to the common tone (B) connection between the first two chords and
the borrowing in the last two chords (IV becomes iv).22 This interpreta-
tion makes sense especially in the chorus sections of the song, where
Yorke’s lead vocal hovers around B over the first three chords, moving
through B b and G only with the last chord. Smooth voice leading that
emphasizes same note and stepwise chord connections is a hallmark of
Radiohead’s style and offers a unique opportunity to explore standard
voice-leading procedures in the genre of rock, which is unavailable with
many other rock songs.
Many scholars and critics have commented upon this progression.
Alex Ross remarks upon “the regal turn from G major to B major,”
stating that “no matter how many times you hear the song, the second
chord still sails beautifully out of the blue.”23 Doheny describes the word
painting that occurs on the last two chords of the repeating progres-
sion—the change from C major to C minor, claiming that it makes “a
deliberate mockery of the word ‘special’ in the process.”24 Capuzzo ana-
lyzes the progression in terms of its Neo-Riemannian transformations,
highlighting voice-leading connections by common tone.25 Advanced
students might be enriched by reading Capuzzo’s article on transforma-
tions in “Creep” as a follow-up assignment after doing the aural chord
identification exercise in class to better understand the relationships of
22
In either interpretation, the second chord (B major) provides consonant
support for a passing F-sharp (from G to E) in Yorke’s lead vocal melody in
the verses.
23
Alex Ross, “The Searchers: Radiohead’s Unquiet Revolution,” New
Yorker (20 and 27 August 2001): 112–23.
24
Doheny, Back to Save the Universe,18. He argues also that the repeat-
ing progression “provides a steady platform on which the drama of the song is
played out by its other constituent elements: lyrics, melody, intonation, perfor-
mance, dynamics and orchestration, etc.” (15). Doheny describes this progres-
sion further as a “passacaglia—the chord pattern itself with those major/minor
chord shifts, overlapping of lyrical and musical phrases to dramatic effect, etc.”
(18).
25
Capuzzo, “Neo-Riemannian Theory,” 186–7.
the chords and their relationship to meanings of the lyrics. Capuzzo
argues that the repeating chord progression “creat[es] a musical analog
to the song’s obsessive lyrics” and further identifies an ascending chro-
matic line (5̂– # 5̂– 6̂ or D–D # –E) “that ‘creeps’ up” and then retreats back
down by step to b 6̂ (E b ) to invoke “self-pity” implied by the lyrics.26
Melodic Dictation
Although other examples are possible, I have selected six excerpts

suitable for melodic dictation, which appear in Examples 2–7. These
excerpts range in difficulty level from diatonic (Examples 2–5) to chro-
matic (Examples 6–7). Most use repetition or sequence, which add co-
herence to the excerpts, but they also feature syncopation, which can be
especially challenging for novices. In a study on melodic dictation, Gary
Potter concludes, “Rhythmic understanding is absolutely imperative in
dictation.”27 Therefore, students should be encouraged to transcribe the
rhythm first before attending to or notating pitch content. For begin-
ning students, it may be helpful to discuss the rhythmic structure after
the first hearing so that they can correct their rhythmic errors and use
the remaining time to focus on pitch content exclusively.
In spite of the tricky syncopation in some of the excerpts, students
may be aided by providing the lyrics prior to the dictation. This is an
advantage of dictating texted melodies. These can be given beneath the
staff as in Example 2, which gives students a rough idea of the metric
placement of the syllables. Or an incipit of the text may be given, as
in Examples 3 and 4, which may provide some assistance to students.
Or, the lyrics may be provided separately, as in Example 5, or not at all,
which would provide maximal challenge.
The skill of inferring tonic will be developed if the starting notes
are not given prior to the dictation, especially in examples that do
not start or end on tonic, as in “Nude” (Example 3), “Electioneering”
(Example 5, which starts on 7̂ and ends on 1̂ , but 1̂ is not harmonized
with the tonic triad), “Optimistic” (Example 6), and “Subterranean
Homesick Alien” (Example 7). Example 7 is particularly challenging
because the tonic triad is never articulated. Inference of scale-degree
function results when students identify the half cadence at the end of
the example, which allows them to relate the implied harmony of the
second bar as a Neapolitan, a chromatic predominant function before
the half cadence implied in the final bar.
26
Ibid., 186.
27
Potter, “Successful Dictation Strategies,” 66.
Example 2. Melodic Dictation, “Nice Dream,” 0:22–0:40

## j
V # 12
Cadence: ____
8 œ
They love me like I was a brother They pro-tect me Listen to me
Answer Key:
## j j j j j œ. Œ. ‰ j j œ œ. Œ. ‰ œ œ œ œ œ. Œ. Œ
Cadence: HC
8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Jœ
V # 12 œ œ œ J J J J
They love me like I was a brother They pro-tect me Listen to me
Example 3. Melodic Dictation, “Nude,” 2:45–3:11
# # # 12
Cadence: ___
& # 8 Œ.
#œ.
You'll
##
Answer Key: Cadence: HC
& # # 12
8 Œ. œ j ˙. œ. œ œ œ ˙. Ó.
#œ. œ. œ. œ. #œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ
You'll go to hell for what your dir-ty mind is think - - - ing
Example 4. Melodic Dictation, “Street Spirit,” 0:14–0:27
V 44 œ œ
Rows I
KEY: ___
j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œj œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Answer Key:
V 44 œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ
Rows of houses all bear-ing down on me I can feel their blue hands touch-ing me
KEY: Am
Example 5. Melodic Dictation, “Electioneering,” 1:03–1:15
4
&b 4 ˙
Lyrics: I go forwards, you go backwards
And somewhere we will meet
Answer Key:
& b 44 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ‰œ
j ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w ˙.
Œ
I go for-wards, you go back - wards and some-where we will meet
Example 6. Melodic Dictation, “Optimistic,” 0:00–0:26
#
& # 44 ..
# 4
Answer Key:
& # 4˙ œ . œj ˙ Ó n˙ œ . # œj ˙ Ó ..
Example 7. Melodic Dictation, “Subterranean Homesick Alien,”

4:12–4:27
#
& 68 n œ .
Cadence: ___
#
Answer Key:
& 68 n œ .
Cadence: HC
œ œ œ bœ œ. bœ œ bœ
œ ˙. ˙.
As with any dictation activity, the instructor can adjust the amount
of given information from class to class, or even individual to individual
within a single class, depending on ability level. Karpinski encourages
the practice of giving students only the tonic and the beat unit before
beginning a dictation so that they have to determine the meter, mode,
starting pitch, and other essential musical information.28 All of the tem-
plates above may be modified to give as much or little musical informa-
tion as desired.
Karpinski offers a formula for generating the number of hearings
appropriate for melodic dictation based on the number of memorable
chunks the melody contains: “To calculate an appropriate number of
playings for a dictation, divide the number of chunks it contains by the
limit of the listener’s short term memory (in chunks) and add one extra
playing.”29 Following this model, Figure 7 suggests the number of hear-
ings appropriate for each example.
28
Karpsinki, Aural Skills Acquisition, 99.
29
Ibid.
Figure 7. Suggested Number of Hearings for Melodic Dictations
Number of Number of
Chunks / 2 Hearings
Example 2 3/2 +1= 2 or 3
Example 3 4/2 +1= 3
Example 4 4/2 +1= 3
Example 5 3/2 +1= 2 or 3
Example 6 2/2 +1= 2
Example 7 3/2 +1= 2 or 3
Aural Analysis
Similar to what London dubs “applied ear-training,” aural analysis

synthesizes a number of listening and notation skills on a large scale,
including dictation (or transcription); recognition of musical processes,
such as sequence, ostinato, syncopation, and repetition; and identifi-
cation of structural features, including phrases, form, and cadences.30
These exercises also develop perception of meter and pacing, scale-de-
gree function, harmonic function, and voice-leading connections. Aural
analysis brings together interval, scale, meter, and chord identification
and shows how these phenomena function within the songs’ broader
musical contexts.
Radiohead’s songs and the excerpts that follow are particularly
suitable for aural analysis because they are immediately engaging, short
enough to allow for multiple complete playings within a portion of a
single class period, and they synthesize sophisticated harmonic and
melodic processes relevant to most ear-training classes. Yet in spite of
their relative brevity and immediate accessibility, the songs possess the
capacity to sustain listeners’ attention over the course of multiple listen-
ings due to their complexity with regard to harmony, melody, timbre,
meter, and lyrics. In addition, some theorists have begun to analyze
some of these songs in scholarly articles and monographs, which can
enhance discussion in class or function as follow-up reading assign-
ments.31
30
London describes “applied ear-training” as a pedagogical activity where
students notate recorded music by ear and identify prominent harmonic pro-
gressions (“One Step Up,” 114n3).
31
See, for example, Hubbs, 215–37; Letts; and Osborn, “Understanding
Through-Composition,” ¶ 33–35.
Aural analysis allows students at various skill levels to be challenged
through multiple, layered tasks involving different musical parameters.
In this type of exercise, all students need not complete all tasks, but
those looking for additional challenges will not be disappointed. This
type of exercise is also flexible; instructors can cater questions to suit
the topic at hand or whatever problem areas students need to practice
most. The ultimate goal of any ear-training program is to have students
successfully convert sound into notation and notation into sound, to
draw explicit connections between what we teach in music theory and
how we train their ears, or between what Michael Rogers calls “Mind
Training” and “Ear Training.”32 Aural analysis makes explicit these con-
nections.
For this activity, students are given a worksheet, such as the one
shown in Example 8, which asks questions about an excerpt of “Exit
Music (for a Film).” Students may be given a number of different things
to complete as they listen to the example. First, they may transcribe
the pitches and rhythm of the vocal line (lyrics are provided so that
students can follow along). Second, they may notate the bass line and
determine the key and harmonic function of the chords in the passage.
Third, students may answer additional questions about the passage
regarding melodic sequence, chromatic chord function, and different
harmonizations of scale-degree 5̂. When I have used this example in
classes previously, sometimes I give students a choice as to what they
should focus on first, and other times I instruct them specifically as to
what to focus on (melodic dictation in some cases, harmonic function
in others). Because this activity is more involved than a simple melodic
or harmonic dictation, it may require more than four hearings or addi-
tional time between hearings to complete a set of given tasks. Adapting
Karpinski’s model for determining the number of hearings based on
the number of chunks, it would be reasonable to play this example 5 or
6 times.33
32
Michael R. Rogers, Teaching Approaches to Music Theory: An Overview
of Pedagogical Philosophies (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1984), 8.
33
Ibid., 99. This excerpt can be divided into 9 discernable chunks.
Following Karpinski’s formula: (9 / 2) + 1 = 5.5, five or six hearings would be
appropriate.
Example 8. Aural Analysis, “Exit Music (for a Film),” 2:50–3:50
Worksheet:
Given the pre-formatted staff, provide the following upon listening to the
excerpt several times:
• Pitches, with correct rhythm, of the vocal line (lyrics are given below to
help you follow along)
• The bass notes, written in whole notes, on the bottom staff
• The implied key of the passage
• Roman numerals beneath the staff, summarizing the harmonic functions
you hear
• Corresponding lead-sheet symbols above the staff
Lyrics:
“You can laugh a spineless laugh
we hope your rules and wisdom will choke you
Now we are one in everlasting peace
we hope that you choke/ that you choke”
Then consider the following questions.

1. There is a melodic sequence in this melody. Where does this occur?
mm. 1–5
On the staff, bracket and label the primary melodic material of this se-
quence in its first statement, as well as the leg(s) (partial or complete)
that follow the initial statement.
2. What is the effect of the chord in m. 4?
Deceptive Resolution
(worksheet continues on next page)

Example 8. (continued)
3. There are chromatic chords in mm. 2 and 6 of this excerpt. In each case,
what are their functions?
m. 2: Secondary Dominant
m. 6: Predominant (Neapolitan)
4. How does the chord in m. 5 relate to the chord in m. 6?
Dominant (V) of Neapolitan
5. How many different ways is scale-degree 5 harmonized in mm. 9–12?
In four different ways (i, V, III, and IVadd9)
6. What type of chromatic chord concludes this excerpt?
Borrowed I (Picardy third)
Dictation Answer:
Hubbs summarizes the form, voice leading, and harmony of “Exit

Music” compellingly and draws connections between the narrative
portrayed in the song and its musical characteristics, including com-
pound melody and polyphonic structure.34 Having students read her
three-page analysis could enhance their understanding of the song after
completing the aural analysis in class. In particular, she focuses upon
this very excerpt, the bridge of the song, describing its textural changes
and situating its formal function within the song as a whole. She writes:
The aural landscape is charged and swelling with the addition of

the drum set, and a new mien for the voice—full and expansive, and
soaring over a higher plane. [ . . . ] Whereas previously (in sections
34
Hubbs, “Imagination of Pop-Rock Criticism,” 226–9.
A and B both) the vocal melody had traced a stepwise descent, that
of section C is characterized at the surface by large leaps downward
and upward. But just beyond the surface, this vocal line too can be
seen as a stepwise ascent, only now proceeding on two distinct levels
that descend in parallel sixths. It is, in other words, a polyphonic
(or compound) melody: a single line implying two distinct voices.35
The song lyrics are particularly dark and invoke ideas of lovers
secretly escaping (“today we escape”), codependence (“I can’t do this
alone” and “now we are one”), and murder (“we hope that you choke”).
The lyrics of the first half of the bridge section address the lovers’
unnamed antagonist (“You can laugh a spineless laugh; we hope your
wisdom and rules choke you”), which corresponds with the melodic se-
quence that implies compound melody. Hubbs argues that as the lyrics
shift (“now we are one in everlasting peace”), the coming together of
the voices implied by compound melody musically depicts the theme of
coming together in the lyrics.36
As shown in mm. 8–12 in the Example 8 Answer Key, Yorke’s
vocal melody lingers on F # 4, which functions as the climatic apex of the
song, and this pitch is re-harmonized in five different ways (over F # 7 in
m. 8, B minor in m. 9, F # major in m. 10, D major in m. 11, and Eadd9
as a suspension in m. 12). Instructors could also emphasize the un-
derlying voice-leading structure, a descending 5-line that occurs in the
last half of this excerpt (a possible voice-leading reduction is given in
Example 9). In fact, the entire song can be read as a descending 5-line
as Yorke emphasizes 5̂ (F # 3) at the beginning of the song.
Example 9. Voice-leading reduction of “Exit Music (for a Film),”

3:20–3:50
35
Ibid., 228.
36
Ibid.
The worksheet and answer key for aural analysis of “You and Whose
Army?” appears in Example 10. Music critic David Fricke describes
this song as “begin[ning] as a bleak piano prayer, like John Lennon’s
‘Imagine’ via Nina Simone, then erupt[ing] with eccentric radiance—all
in a little more than three minutes.”37 The worksheet for this song offers
several questions regarding meter, sequence, interval identification, and
chromatic harmony. This song is particularly engaging because texture,
instrumentation, form, and harmony interact in interesting ways. If we
attend primarily to instrumentation and texture, the song can be parsed
into two large sections: 0:00–1:48 marked by Yorke’s intimate vocals,
closely miked, and accompanied by gentle, sustained backing vocals and
a sparse guitar accompaniment. This first section features a circle-of-
fifths sequence and as Letts points out, an unusually ambiguous to-
nality (in her words, “although the progression here sounds stable, it
has no one tonic upon which to rest”).38 At 1:48 through the end of
the song, the drums and piano are added for a fuller texture as Yorke’s
vocals become more robust. This section features striking contrast in
terms of harmony: C # emerges as a clear tonic, which is reinforced by
its emphasis in Yorke’s vocals and the repeating four-chord progression
(open fifth chord on C # [I] – E [bIII] – F # [IV] – C # [I]). Yorke’s vocal
melody emphasizes the m3 between C # and E n (b 3̂) particularly on “we
ride tonight,” and interacts with the harmony articulated in the piano
and guitar for a hybrid modal pitch collection (combining C # dorian
and mixolydian).
As a follow-up activity to the worksheet for “You and Whose
Army?” the instructor might assign Letts’ brief, but detailed analysis
of how this song fits in the overall scheme of Amnesiac and how voice,
instrumentation, harmony, and form relate to the song’s political im-
plications.39 Letts argues that Yorke’s singing mimics the vocal style of
WWII ballads and suggests that it “evokes the rise of global brands at
the end of WWII,” which in turn gave way to “consumer capitalism as
the way of the world.” She further identifies a contradiction between
the anti-consumerism sentiments evoked in this song and Radiohead’s
participation within the music business; in her words, “the band simul-
taneously decries the capitalist culture and thrives within it.”40
37
David Fricke, “Radiohead Warm Up; With a New Disc, the Band
Shows Its Intimate Side ‘(Amnesiac),’ Rolling Stone no. 869 (24 May 2001): 21.
38
Letts, Resistant Concept Album, 137.
39
Ibid., 137–40.
40
Ibid., 138.
Example 10. Aural Analysis, “You and Whose Army?”
Worksheet:
While listening to this song, answer the following questions.
1. What type of meter best characterizes the song? Simple quadruple

2. What type of harmonic sequence do we hear at the beginning of the
song? Circle-of-Fifths
3. What type of process do we hear in the melody with the words, “come
on” at 0:37? Melodic Sequence
5. How are the scale degrees 1- b7-6-5 (sung on “ghost horses”) harmo-
4. What melodic interval do we hear on the text, “we ride tonight”? m3
progression: I- bIII-IV-I
nized near the end? Represent the progression with a Roman numeral
6. Is this a typical harmonization of this pitch pattern? Yes
chromatic? bIII
7. Assuming that this passage is in a major key, which of these chords is
8. What type of chromatic chord is it? Chromatic Mediant

9. What type of harmonic function does it serve? Extends tonic function
The worksheet and answer key for “A Wolf at the Door” appears
in Example 11. The excerpt conforms to conventions found in common
practice classical music, and as such it uses the N6 as a chromatic pre-
dominant and emphasizes linear connections, such as V42 resolving to I6.
It is somewhat unusual to encounter the N6 in the genre of rock, and
perhaps even more unusual to encounter it with voice-leading proce-
dures associated with common-practice harmony, which makes this a
compelling example. In addition, the arpeggiated texture of this passage
and its slow harmonic rhythm make it ideal for classroom use. After the
instrumental introduction which comprises this aural analysis activity,
Yorke delivers the lyrics of this song at a frenetic pace, which creates
textural tension as his delivery is juxtaposed with the slower moving
compound meter and harmonic rhythm articulated by the accompany-
ing rock instruments.
Example 11. Aural Analysis, “A Wolf at the Door,” 0:00–0:16
Worksheet:
Transcribe as much as possible of the first sixteen seconds of this song (0:00–
0:16). Provide the key, time signature, and measure lines. Be sure to notate
both the arpeggiated chordal parts as well as the bass, which begins in m. 3.
After completing the transcription, provide a Roman numeral analysis of the
implied harmonies beneath the staff and answers the questions that follow.
1. What type of meter best characterizes this song?

Compound duple or quadruple; or simple triple
2. There is a chromatic chord in this excerpt. Where does it occur? m. 3
3. What is the harmonic function of this chord? Predominant
4. Describe the voice leading of the bass line. The bass line moves solely
by step.
5. Is this a standard technique in common practice tonal music? Yes
6. What are the implications for this type of bass line in terms of chord
voicing?
The use of a stepwise bass line allows for inverted chords and greater
contrapuntal interest than a series of root position chords.
Dictation Answer:
Example 12. Aural Analysis, “High and Dry”
Worksheet:
1. On what words does Thom Yorke sing the highest note(s) of the song?
“High” and “Dry”
2. What scale degree occurs on the melodic apex? Scale degree 3
3. What mode best characterizes this song? Major
4. What type of meter best characterizes this song? Simple quadruple
5. What are the scale degrees of the repeating bass line in the verses?
2̂–4̂–1̂
6. What kind of cadential motion is implied by the last two scale degrees
of this repeating bass line? Plagal
Example 13. Aural Analysis, “Stop Whispering,” 0:00–1:04
Worksheet:
Given the pre-formatted staff, provide a time signature and notate the
pitches, with correct rhythm, of the vocal line upon listening to the excerpt
several times. The vocal part begins after a fifteen-second introduction.
Lyrics are given below to help you follow along.
Lyrics:
“And the wise man say I don’t want to hear your voice
And the thin man say I don’t want to hear your voice
And they’re cursing me, and they won’t let me be
There’s nothing to say, and there’s nothing to do
Stop whispering, start shouting / Stop whispering, start shouting”
Example 13. (continued)
Then consider the following questions.

2. This excerpt uses just two alternating chords. Assuming the key of D
major, what are these two chords? D major & G major
3. Assign these two alternating chords Roman numerals: D: I & IV
4. What is the common tone or scale degree that these two chords share?
D or 1̂ (do)
5. What scale degree occurs on the melodic apex of Thom Yorke’s vocal
part? 5̂ (sol)
6. What is the apex note in the key of D major? A
Dictation Answer:
The worksheet for “High and Dry” (Example 12) is appropriate for
students still learning the basics. It emphasizes identification of scale-
degree function, mode, and meter within a diatonic context and does
not require any transcription. Its melodic apex on 3̂ occurs aptly when
Yorke sings the words from the song’s title, “high” and “dry.” The apex is
an appropriate word painting of “high,” whose higher frequency (G # 4)
is further emphasized by its approach of an ascending M6, as well as
Yorke’s beautiful tenor falsetto. Repetition in this song also gives begin-
ning students ample opportunity to process and identify its repeating
bass line (2̂ – 4̂ –1̂) and the plagal harmonic motion associated with it.
“Stop Whispering” is entirely diatonic, and its worksheet
(Example 13) focuses on aspects of melodic dictation, meter identi-
fication, and harmony. The extended length of the dictation on this
Example 14. Aural Analysis, “I Might Be Wrong”
Worksheet:
1. What is the opening interval of this song? Ascending P5

2. Which of the following processes are at play in this song? (Circle all that
apply.)
a) melodic sequence b) harmonic sequence c) ostinato
d) imitation e) syncopation f ) planing
3. What mode best characterizes this song overall? Minor
4. A different mode is implied in the introduction; what mode best charac-
terizes just the introduction (0:00–0:16)? Dorian
worksheet resembles more of a transcription activity (requiring more

than 3 or 4 close hearings), though instructors may extract shorter
segments for melodic dictation of more modest lengths. Throughout
most of this song, two chords (D and G major) alternate, providing
a somewhat static harmonic backdrop for a melodic line that empha-
sizes stepwise motion and arpeggiation of the tonic triad on the song’s
hook (on the lyrics, “stop whispering”). Similar to “High and Dry,” the
apex note of this song (A4) occurs as part of a word-painting technique
when Yorke sings the text, “shout,” which is also emphasized by a loud
dynamic and longer duration at the end of the refrains.
The worksheets for “I Might Be Wrong” (Example 14) and “A
Punch Up at a Wedding” (Example 15) focus on identification of os-
tinati, mode, and meter. Letts offers a brief analysis of lyrics, form,
groove, and harmony of “I Might Be Wrong,” which could serve as a
possible follow-up reading assignment for the exercise in Example 14.41
In her analysis, Letts relates the meaning of the song to Radiohead’s
ironic relationship to its audience, whereby the band is at once reliant
upon capitalism and the consumption of their musical art as a com-
modity, yet also ostensibly vehemently opposed to this capitalist culture
of consumerism upon which their participation in the music business
is based. After the introduction (0:00–0:16) in D dorian, repetition in
this song clearly establishes a sense of minor—the repeating riff in the
bass articulates D (1̂), G (4̂), and F (3̂) as Yorke’s vocals emphasize A (5̂).
41
Letts, Resistant Concept Album, 140–43.
Example 15. Aural Analysis, “A Punch Up at a Wedding”
Worksheet:
1. What mode best characterizes this song overall? Dorian

3. What process is used throughout most of the song in the bass part and
piano (LH)? Ostinato (or riff )
4. Which of the following processes in the vocal part(s) are used at 4:16–
4:36? (Circle all that apply.)
a) melodic sequence b) harmonic sequence c) ostinato
d) imitation e) syncopation f ) planing
Bonus Question: Considering the overall mode of this song (named in ques-
0:45? #3̂
tion #1), what chromatic scale degree do we hear in the vocals in 0:39–
And in 0:45–0:50? b2̂
G # and F n
Assuming E is tonic, name the pitches of these chromatic notes:
Like Examples 12 and 13, “I Might Be Wrong” (Example 14) is ideal

for beginning ear-training students because its use of repetition pro-
vides multiple opportunities for identifying the musical processes at
play in the song.
Throughout “A Punch Up at a Wedding” (Example 15), E is es-
tablished as tonic through repetition in the piano and bass, and its
primary melodic material is derived from the dorian collection. The
song’s lengthy introduction presents an opportunity for hearing several
pitches that are outside of the diatonic dorian collection, including
modal mixture (G # instead of G n ) in 0:39–0:45 and a delightfully dark
b 2̂ inflection in 0:45–0:50 as Yorke sings “no, no, no . . .” A clear stepwise
melodic ascent articulates the dorian mode explicitly when Yorke sings
“nothing’s ever good enough for you” at 1:16.
The templates for “You and Whose Army” (Example 10), “High
and Dry” (Example 12), “I Might Be Wrong” (Example 14), and “A
Punch Up at a Wedding” (Example 15) do not involve notation unlike
the ones given for “Exit Music” (Example 8), “A Wolf at the Door”
(Example 11), and “Stop Whispering” (Example 13), but much can be
gained from developing non-notational aural skills. Michael Rogers
writes:
Some programs restrict all training to notation and music reading:
traditional dictation and sight singing. When notation is not used,
activities are often of the conventional recognition type: verbal
naming of intervals, scales, chords, meters, and cadences. There is,
however, a much wider range of non-notational exercises and lis-
tening experiences [. . .] Aural analysis of whole and real composi-
tions or movements is the most obvious place to start.42
Although transcription and dictation skills are essential goals for

any ear-training program, the non-notational examples (Examples 10,
12, 14, and 15) are useful for several reasons: (1) they require students to
synthesize and apply specific theoretic concepts quickly as a supplement
to notational examples, (2) they can function as challenging ear-train-
ing activities for students who have not yet mastered pitch and rhyth-
mic notation, such as those in fundamentals classes, (3) the non-nota-
tional examples encourage students to conceptualize aural phenomena
without using the aid of dictation, (4) and finally, the non-notational
examples require less class time than the examples involving notation
and can work in a pinch for a brief in-class example.
Suggestions for Sequencing
There is great diversity in undergraduate music theory curricula

in the U.S., which vary widely in terms of sequence, length, and overall
design. With this caveat in mind, I offer Figure 8, which summarizes
the activities described in this essay (by Figure or Example number) ap-
propriate for five different levels of ear training: (1) rudiments, (2) dia-
tonic harmony, (3) chromatic harmony through secondary dominants,
(4) advanced chromatic harmony, and (5) post-tonal ear training.
Another way of thinking about sequencing in more general terms
is to organize activities in terms of two broad stages for ear training, as
Rogers describes:
This first stage of ear training is concerned with the accurate per-
ception and labeling of individual events: the quality of an interval,
inversions of a chord, etc. The other stage involves the comprehen-
sion of musical relationships and for teaching purposes implies—
almost demands—a holistic approach.43
42
Rogers, Teaching Approaches, 146.
43
Ibid., 101.
60
Scale Type/ Chord ID Chord ID Melodic Aural

Course/Level Interval ID Mode ID Meter ID (Quality) (Function) Dictation Analysis
Rudiments of Music Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 5,

Ex. 12 (#1–3);
(music fundamentals, Fig. 1, all major & simple & major &
Ex. 14 (#1, 4)
remedial, review of basics) minor compound minor
Fig. 3, Fig. 5,
Ex. 10 (#1–4);
Diatonic Ear Training Fig. 1, all Fig. 2, all simple & major, Exx. 2–5
Exx. 12–15
compound minor, Mm7
Figure 8. Model for Sequencing
Chromatic Ear Training Fig. 5,

Exx. 12,
(diatonic harmony through all seventh Exx. 2–5
14–15
secondary dominants) chords
Chromatic Ear Training Fig. 5,

Exx. 8–11,
(advanced chromatic seventh Fig. 6, all Exx. 6–7
Indiana Theory Review Vol. 30 No. 2
15 (#5)
harmony and modulation) & ninth chords
Fig. 3,
Post-Tonal/20th- and 21st- Ex. 15
Fig. 1, all Fig. 2, modes composite
Century Ear Training (modal)
meters
In these terms, “first-stage” activities include identification of
intervals, scale type/mode, and chord quality, as given in Figures 1, 2
and 4. These activities are generally more appropriate for beginners
in rudiments and diatonic harmony classes. “Second-stage” activi-
ties include meter identification, chromatic chord function identifi-
cation, melodic dictation, and aural analysis, found in Figures 3 and
5 and Examples 2–15. These activities generally work best at higher
levels (chromatic harmony and beyond). Even with this broad classi-
fication in mind, however, the “first-stage” activities I have listed blur
this bipartite distinction because all of the activities are contextual.
Conclusion
I offer the Radiohead examples in this study as a means to supple-

ment (but certainly not replace) other time-tested contextual examples
available in several creative and useful ear-training texts on the market,
some of which include popular genres as part of contextual listening, but
not the music of Radiohead.44 When used in conjunction with other ex-
amples from the preexisting literature, Radiohead’s music can enhance
and broaden students’ ear-training experience because of its wealth of
correspondences between lyrics and music, its elegant voice leading, its
aural immediacy, and its accessibility despite its harmonic complexity,
which is perhaps unmatched in the output of any other contemporary
mainstream rock band.
Furthermore, there is yet an ineffable power in the music of
Radiohead that makes it all the more effective for classroom use.
Musician Dave Matthews speaks on the power of Radiohead’s music:
Their music talks to you, in a real way. It can take you down a quiet
street before it drops a beautiful musical bomb on you. It can build
to where you think the whole thing will crumble beneath its own
weight—and then Thom Yorke will sing some melody that just
cuts your heart out of your chest. There’s a point on the album
Kid A where I start feeling claustrophobic, stuck in a barbed-wire
44
Two recently published texts with a wealth of interesting examples
include Gary Karpinski, Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing (New York
and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007); and Joel Phillips et al., The Musician’s
Guide to Aural Skills: Ear Training and Composition, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (New York
and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 2011).
jungle—and then I suddenly fall out and I’m sitting by a pool with
birds singing. Radiohead can do all of these things in a moment,
and it drives me fucking crazy.45
If we can teach our students how specific musical elements and

aural phenomena bring about emotive effects and drop such “beau-
tiful musical bombs,” then we truly succeed at teaching aural skills.
Radiohead’s music is certainly not the only rock music that can be ef-
fectively incorporated into ear-training classes, but it is an excellent
place to start for instructors who seek additional ear-training examples
of high-quality rock music, or for those who are curious as to how to
incorporate such music into the classroom.
Bibliography
Capuzzo, Guy. “Neo-Riemannian Theory and the Analysis of Pop-Rock

Music.” Music Theory Spectrum 26, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 177–99.
Collaros, Pandel. “The Music of the Beatles in Undergraduate Music Theory

Instruction.” Indiana Theory Review 21 (Fall–Spring 2000): 53–78.
Doheny, James. Radiohead Back to Save the Universe: The Stories Behind Every
Song. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002.
Folse, Stuart. “Popular Music as a Pedagogical Resource for Musicianship:

Contextual Listening, Prolongations, Mediant Relationships, and
Musical Form.” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 18 (2004): 65–79.
Frere-Jones, Sasha. “Fine Tuning.” New Yorker 82, no. 19 (26 June 2006): 86–7.
Fricke, David. “Radiohead Warm Up; With a New Disc, the Band Shows Its
Intimate Side ‘(Amnesiac).’” Rolling Stone no. 869 (24 May 2001): 21.
Griffiths, Dai. “Public Schoolboy Music: Debating Radiohead.” In The Music

and Art of Radiohead. Edited by Joseph Tate, 159–67. Burlington, Vermont
and Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2005.
Harrington, E. Michael. “Rock Music as a Resource in Harmonic, Melodic and

Metric Dictation.” College Music Symposium 31 (1991): 27–35.
45
Dave Matthews, “The Immortals-73: Radiohead” Rolling Stone, no. 972
(21 April 2005): 80.
Hubbs, Nadine. “The Imagination of Pop-Rock Criticism.” In Expression in
Pop-Rock Music: Critical and Analytical Essays, 2nd ed. Edited by Walter
Everett, 215–37. New York and London: Routledge, 2008.
Karpinski, Gary S. Aural Skills Acquisition: The Development of Listening,

Reading, and Performing Skills in College-Level Musicians. Oxford and
New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
———. “Lessons from the Past: Music Theory Pedagogy and the Future.” Music
Theory Online 6, no. 3 (2000). http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.00.6.3/
mto.00.6.3.karpinski_frames.html. Accessed 27 February 2012.
———. Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing. New York and London:
W. W. Norton & Co., 2007.
Lansky, Paul. “My Radiohead Adventure.” In The Music and Art of Radiohead.
Edited by Joseph Tate, 168–76. Burlington, Vermont and Aldershot,
England: Ashgate, 2005.
Letts, Marianne Tatom. Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album: How to
Disappear Completely. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.
London, Justin. “‘One Step Up’: A Lesson from Pop Music.” Journal of Music
Theory Pedagogy 4, no. 1 (Spring 1990): 111–14.
Matthews, Dave. “The Immortals-73: Radiohead.” Rolling Stone, no. 972 (21
April 2005): 80.
Osborn, Brad. “Kid Algebra: Radiohead’s Euclidean and Maximally Even

Grooves.” Presented at the 35th Annual Meeting for the Society for
Music Theory (New Orleans, La., 2 November 2012).
———. “Understanding Through-Composition in Post-Rock, Math-Metal,

and other Post-Millennial Rock Genres.” Music Theory Online 17,
no. 3 (October 2011) http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.11.17.3/
mto.11.17.3.osborn.html. Accessed 14 April 2013.
Pareles, Jon. “Recordings.” Review of Radiohead Amnesiac. Rolling Stone no.

871 (21 June 2001): 74–77.
———. “With Radiohead and Alone, a Sweet Malaise.” New York Times (2 July
2006): section 2, column 2, 1.
Phillips, Joel, Paul Murphy, Elizabeth West Marvin, and Jane Piper
Clendinning. The Musician’s Guide to Aural Skills: Ear Training and
Composition, 2nd ed., vol. 2. New York and London: W. W. Norton &
Co., 2011.
Potter, Gary. “Identifying Successful Dictation Strategies.” Journal of Music
Theory Pedagogy 4 (1990): 63–71.
Reisch, George A. “Is Radiohead the Pink Floyd of the Twenty-First Century?”
In Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive. Edited by
Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch, 3–14. Popular Culture and
Philosophy, vol. 38, series ed. George A. Reisch. Chicago and LaSalle, Ill.:
Open Court, 2009.
Rogers, Michael R. Teaching Approaches to Music Theory: An Overview of

Pedagogical Philosophies. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1984.
Ross, Alex. “The Searchers: Radiohead’s Unquiet Revolution.” New Yorker (20
and 27 August 2001): 112–23.
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Beatles and Others.” Presented at the 35th Annual Meeting for the
Society for Music Theory (New Orleans, La., 2 November 2012).
Discography
Radiohead. Pablo Honey. Capitol Records 0777 7 81409 2 4. CD. 1993.
———. The Bends. Capitol Records 7243 8 29626 2 5. CD. 1995.
———. OK Computer. Capitol Records 7243 8 55229 2 5. CD. 1997.
———. Kid A. Capitol Records 7243 5 27753 2 3. CD. 2000.
———. Amnesiac. Capitol Records 7243 5 32764 2 3. CD. 2001.
———. Hail to the Thief. Capitol Records 7243 5 84543 2 1. CD. 2003.
———. In Rainbows. TBD Records 88088-21622. CD. 2007.
———. “These are My Twisted Words.” 2009. Available from http://www.

gorillavsbear.net/2009/08/17/mp3-radiohead-these-are-my-twisted/.
Accessed 10 June 2011.
———. The King of Limbs. TBD Records TICK001CD. CD. 2011.

Malawey, Victoria, "Ear training with the music of Radiohead", Indiana theory review 30/2
(Bloomington, IN: fall 2012), 27-64.
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Ear Training with the Music of

Intervals are easy to extrapolate from Radiohead’s vocal contexts.

What melodic intervals are used predominantly in the bass guitar?

What descending melodic interval is played in this passage?

What melodic interval do we hear on the text, “we ride tonight”?

What two harmonic intervals are used in the guitar?

What melodic interval do we hear on the text, “spinning plates”?

What melodic intervals occur on “2 + 2” and “always makes”?

What are the melodic intervals that occur on “plastic”?

What ascending melodic interval is sung on “got strong”?

What melodic intervals are sung on “ripcord”?

What melodic intervals are used in this passage?

What descending melodic interval occurs on “tried hard”?

What descending melodic interval is sung on “iron”?

What descending melodic interval is sung between “lost” and “myself ”?

What is the largest descending melodic interval played in the guitar?

What ascending melodic interval is sung on “bulletproof ”?

In this example, the instructor asks students to identify the melodic

Scale Type Identification

Bb –G–A–F #–Bb –A)

Morning Mr. Magpie 2:04–2:14 octatonic (fragment: G–F– Type 2

The examples that appear in Figure 3 work toward developing the

In addition, Radiohead’s music uniquely offers more than a few

There’s a real rhythmic difference between the two tracks. In the

Figure 4. Harmonic Design and Hypermeter of “Morning Bell” on

After students successfully identify the metric properties of the

Two types of chord identification are possible with Radiohead’s

(Em7, F # m7, AM, GM7)

Figure 6. Examples for Chord Function Identification

At first, Yorke seems to offer a parody or satire, strung together out

In this song we witness the ironic juxtaposition of several seem-

Example 1. Transcription of “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” 4:12–

Songs that feature repeating harmonic progressions with chro-

Although other examples are possible, I have selected six excerpts

Example 2. Melodic Dictation, “Nice Dream,” 0:22–0:40

Example 3. Melodic Dictation, “Nude,” 2:45–3:11

Example 4. Melodic Dictation, “Street Spirit,” 0:14–0:27

Example 5. Melodic Dictation, “Electioneering,” 1:03–1:15

Example 7. Melodic Dictation, “Subterranean Homesick Alien,”

Similar to what London dubs “applied ear-training,” aural analysis

Then consider the following questions.

(worksheet continues on next page)

Hubbs summarizes the form, voice leading, and harmony of “Exit

The aural landscape is charged and swelling with the addition of

Example 9. Voice-leading reduction of “Exit Music (for a Film),”

1. What type of meter best characterizes the song? Simple quadruple

6. Is this a typical harmonization of this pitch pattern? Yes

8. What type of chromatic chord is it? Chromatic Mediant

1. What type of meter best characterizes this song?

Example 13. Aural Analysis, “Stop Whispering,” 0:00–1:04

Then consider the following questions.

1. What is the opening interval of this song? Ascending P5

worksheet resembles more of a transcription activity (requiring more

1. What mode best characterizes this song overall? Dorian

And in 0:45–0:50? b2̂

Like Examples 12 and 13, “I Might Be Wrong” (Example 14) is ideal

Although transcription and dictation skills are essential goals for

Suggestions for Sequencing

There is great diversity in undergraduate music theory curricula

Scale Type/ Chord ID Chord ID Melodic Aural

Rudiments of Music Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 5,

Chromatic Ear Training Fig. 5,

Chromatic Ear Training Fig. 5,

———. Kid A. Capitol Records 7243 5 27753 2 3. CD. 2000.