12 Weeks
Level 4
3-Credit Tuition
$1,545Non-Credit Tuition
$1,290Ear Training 4 is the final ear training course that is designed to help you learn essential musicianship skills applicable to all styles of music: the ability to accurately recognize, imagine, remember, and notate musical sounds, and the ability to read music notation. Through guided practice of ear training techniques, your musical perception and performance will become more accurate and you will become more fluent in translating sound into notation and notation into sound. The techniques for learning ear training—moveable-Do solfège, conducting, counting systems, and dictation techniques—are time-tested aids for the development of these musicianship skills. The skills you will learn will be useful in composition, arranging, production, learning new repertoire, bandleading, improvisation and musical interaction in performance, and improved music perception in listening.
You’ll learn chromatic syllables through core melodic motives, forming the basis of melodic reading, melodic dictation, and the study and recognition of common harmonic models. In addition to chromaticism, you will also explore advanced rhythmic concepts and continue your study of common harmonic progressions that will now include secondary and substitute dominants.
When you successfully complete Ear Training 4, you will have developed sight-singing and dictation skills, giving you mastery of rhythms in 3/2, 6/4, 5/4, 5/8, 7/4, 7/8, and changing time signatures; and of metric modulations, double-dotted notes, 4:3 polyrhythms, divided triplets, quintuplets, and sextuplets. You will be able to perform, recognize, and transcribe complex rhythms and chromatic melodies accurately using moveable-Do solfège syllables and conducting patterns. You will be able to recognize and transcribe chords with tensions, chromatic chord progressions involving secondary dominants, modulating chord progressions, and some secondary II-V progressions and substitute dominants.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- perform, recognize, and transcribe metric modulations, double-dotted notes, 4:3 polyrhythms, divided triplets, quintuplets, and sextuplets
- perform, recognize, and transcribe complex rhythms including rhythms in 3/2, 6/4, 5/4, 5/8, 7/4, and 7/8
- perform, recognize, and transcribe chromatic melodies accurately using moveable-Do solfège syllables and conducting patterns
- recognize and transcribe chords with tensions, chromatic chord progressions involving secondary dominants, modulating chord progressions, and some secondary II-V progressions and substitute dominants
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Review of Ear Training Fundamentals
- Sight-Singing Methodology
- Tonic Sol-Fa Notation
- Systematic Practice Method for Sight-Singing
- Rhythm: Review
- Assignment 1: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 2: Review of Major Key Harmony and Minor Key Melody
- Tendency Tone Pairs
- Sight-Singing Methodology
- Minor Key Review
- Review of Cadential Patterns and Major Key Harmony
- Rhythm: 6/8 Conducting Pattern ‘In Six,’ Quarter Note Triplets
- Assignment 2: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 3: Introduction to Diatonic Chromaticism: Fi and Se
- Melody: Sol-Fa Exercises, Melodic Reading
- Harmony: V7/V
- Rhythm: Sixteenth Note Patterns
- Assignment 3: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 4: Further Exploration of Chromatic Pitches Fi and Se
- Melody: Sol-Fa Exercises, Melodic Reading
- Harmony: V7/V
- Rhythm: Double Dotted Quarter Notes and Four-Over-Three
- Rhythm: Simple Meter and Subdivision
- Real Music: ‘Jackie-ing’ by Thelonious Monk
- Assignment 4: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 5: Chromatic Pitches Li and Te
- Melody: Sol-Fa Exercises, Melodic Reading
- Harmony: V7/IV
- Rhythm: 3/2 and 6/4 Meters
- Assignment 5: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 6: Further Exploration of Chromatic Pitches Li and Te
- Melody: Sol-Fa Exercises, Melodic Reading
- Harmony: V7/IV
- Rhythm: 6/4 Meter
- Real Music: ‘Chronology’ by Ornette Coleman
- Assignment 6: Midterm Exam
Lesson 7: Chromatic Pitches Si and Le
- Melody: Sol-Fa Exercises, Melodic Reading
- Harmony: V7/VI
- Rhythm: 5/4 Meter
- Real Music Focus: ‘Lingus’ by Snarky Puppy
- Assignment 7: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 8: Further Exploration of Chromatic Pitches Si and Le
- Melodic Studies
- Harmony V7/VI
- Real Music Focus: ‘Don’t Know Why’ by Norah Jones
- Rhythm: 7/4 Meter
- Real Music Focus: ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ (Cannonball Adderly’s Solo)
- Assignment 8: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 9: Chromatic Pitches Ri and Me
- Melodic Studies
- Real Music Focus: ‘In Walked Bud’ by Thelonious Monk
- Harmony: V7/III
- Rhythm: 5/8 Meter 3+2, 2+3 Grouping
- Assignment 9: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 10: Further Exploration of Chromatic Pitches Ri and Me
- Melodic Studies
- Real Music Focus: ‘Walkin’’ by Miles Davis Sextet
- Harmony: V7/III
- Rhythm: 7/8 Meter 2+2+3 and 3+2+2
- Rhythm 9/8 Even and Odd Groupings
- Assignment 10: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 11: Chromatic Pitches Di and Ra
- Melodic Studies
- Real Music Focus: ‘Evidence’ by Thelonious Monk
- Harmony: V7/II
- Rhythm 10/8
- Rhythm: Introduction to Metric Modulation
- Real Music Focus: ‘The Dance of Eternity’ by Dream Theater
- Assignment 11: Perform and Transcribe
Lesson 12: Introduction to Pivot Modulation
- Melodic Studies
- Harmony: V7/II
- Rhythm Final Prep
- Rhythm 11/8 and Other Odd Groupings
- Rhythm: Metric Modulation with Changing Pulse
- Assignment 12: Final Exam
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
For Berklee Online students: Completion of Basic Ear Training and Ear Training 2 or equivalent knowledge and experience is required and passing score on the Ear Training 4 Self-Assessment.
Berklee Completion Students: ET 211 Ear Training 3, ET 223 Ear Training 3, or an equivalent Berklee College of Music ear training course: Ear Training 1 and 2 and a passing score on the Ear Training 4 Self-Assessment.
Students should be able to:
- Match pitch vocally
- Read and notate basic rhythms (whole notes, half notes, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths) in time signatures of 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8
- Identify and notate pitches in treble and bass clef
- Notate major and minor scales in C, F, G, B♭, D
- Recognize simple major key harmonic patterns including the I, IV, and V chords
Recording
- Students are required to record video for their assignments. Options for recording video include:
- Smartphone
- Digital camera
- Webcam (using either video recording software, or the video recording tool that is built into the learning environment)
- Students are required to record themselves and save the recording in MP3 format. You will have a tool to use for this purpose inside the learning environment. Alternatively, you can use software such as GarageBand (Mac), Audacity (PC), or any DAW.
Software
- Students are required to create notation and submit it in PDF format. Options include:
- Notation software (recommended option), such as Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore (free), etc.
- Handwritten notation captured by a digital camera or a scanner can be used in lieu of notation software.
Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author & Instructor
A Berklee College of Music faculty member since 1987, Daryl Lowery was born and raised in the Metropolitan New York area. Since coming to Boston to study at New England Conservatory he has recorded and/or performed with such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie Byard, the eclectic Ran Blake and Boston R&B legend Ellis Hall as well as a member of Al Kooper’s band for more than two decades. His critically acclaimed original music is available on all major music streaming services.
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Ear Training 4 can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
