- In the previous reproduce a note exercise you practised singing a note immediately when you heard it.
- Confidence in reproducing a note is required before moving on to this next step.
- This next step is a more advanced skill that is specifically useful for sight-singing.
- This exercise requires you to remember a note in your head for a short period before singing it.
- It requires what might be called a "musical memory".
- The secret is to try to hear the note still going on "in your head".
- You probably already do this without realising - if you ever, in good-natured teasing of your brother/sister/partner/child, mimic an exclamation they make, you probably do it at the same pitch.
- This is certainly more difficult than just reproducing a note, so do not get discouraged if you cannot do it at first.
- If you have trouble, go back to the "reproduce a note" exercise and try waiting until the note finishes before singing it, then slowly increase the gap.
- This skill is very useful in sight-singing because it often happens that the note you need to sing was sung a few notes before, or was heard in the accompaniment or in another part a little before you need to sing it. You need to remember that note and sing it in the right place.
Exercise (please read the comments on how to do these exercises, and what is needed):
- Listen to the note, but sing it only when you hear the "cymbal" noise.
- In each file there are 12 notes sounded, and each note is played twice:
- first long for you to listen to it;
- then short after the cymbal noise for you to check your pitch again.
- If you have got used to the previous exercise, you may find yourself singing the note as soon as you hear it - try not to - try to sing it "in your head", not with your voice, and only sing it out when you hear the cymbal noise.
- Once you have got used to this, you can practise in everyday situations:
- If you hear a note from a bell ringing, or from the brakes of a lorry, try singing the note "in your head" first before you sing it out loud.
- See how long a gap you can make between hearing the note and singing it.
- It is easier to build up confidence if it is something you can try sounding again yourself, because then you can check whether you were right.
- If you have something in your day-to-day activity that you come across regularly that makes a musical note, try this order:
- Sing the note that it makes every time you hear it;
- Sing the note several seconds after you hear it, trying to hear it "in your head";
- See how long you can make the gap;
- Try singing it when you have gone on to another activity and have forgotten the note;
- Try predicting it before you hear it.
You may just find that you can sometimes (or always) sing a note before you hear it, in other words, you can remember a musical note in your "long-term" memory, rather then just for a few seconds. Some people can do this without any effort - this is a form of "perfect pitch", which can be a huge advantage in sight-singing. This type of perfect pitch can (I believe) be developed, or learnt, by some people.
