How To Learn The Language

Of Music

Part I: Foundations Of Musical Thought

Andrew Mullen The Improving Musician

INTRODUCTION

Music as a Language

Although music isn’t a language in the strictest sense, we can certainly

communicate and interact with each other through music.

In order to communicate, we need to have something to say.

In language, we have words, which are given contextual meaning through

the sentences we put them in.

In music, we have patterns, which are given contextual meaning when we

put them in a tonal or rhythmic context.

Once we have patterns (words) and can give them context (sentences), we

can begin to think musically. Thinking in music is called Audiation.

Audiation

The same way that we can visualize an image in our brain, we can “hear”

music. We can have musical thoughts.

But to truly audiate, we must understand the thoughts we are having. This

short book will teach you how to organize your musical thoughts.

Breaking the Music Code

 Believe it or not, music is noise to many people. They hear it as a

collection of sounds, and are not able to hear the individual parts that make

up the whole.

Music has two overarching frameworks:

• Tonality

• Rhythm

Tonality can be broken up into two categories: Melody and Harmony.

To break the code of music, your goal is to learn:

• Rhythm Patterns

• Melodic Patterns

• Harmonic Patterns

To put it another way, you need to learn musical words, which you will be

able to put together to make musical sentences.  

Music as a Second Language

Although there are no direct correlations, think of learning music like

learning a foreign language. You need to know:

• Nouns - you give things or objects a name.

◦ Dog

• Adjectives - you describe the noun.

◦ The big dog.

• Verbs - you do something with or to each noun.

◦ The big dog jumped.

• Adverbs - how are you doing it?

◦ The big dog jumped quickly.

You can’t think in a new language unless you have nouns, adjectives,

verbs, and adverbs.

In order to think musically, you need to know:

• Rhythm

◦ Is the music moving in 2’s? 3’s? Both?

◦ What are the rhythm patterns being used?

◦ What meter are we in? Duple? Triple? Something else?

◦ How much SPACE is between the beats?

• Tonality

◦ What is the Resting Tone?

◦ Are we in Major? Minor? Something else?

◦ What is the underlying harmony? I Chord? V Chord?

(Harmonic Patterns)

◦ What pitches is the melody using? (Melodic patterns)

By learning these basic concepts, you will be able to break the code of

music, and understand what is going on “under the hood.” You will learn

how to audiate, to think musically.

 

Musicianship Level 1

Because music is primarily an aural art, proficiency must first be attained

aurally. Musicianship Level 1 is achieved when one can audiate the aural

foundations of music:

Duple & Triple Meters

Macrobeats, Microbeats and Divisions

Major and Minor Tonalities

I & V, Resting Tone, Melodic Patterns

DIY Guide To Audiation

On The Improving Musician website, there are a series of video lessons

called Audiation Station. These lessons take you through, step by step,

the process of learning to audiate.

These lessons are based on the research of Dr. Edwin Gordon, who

developed a system for learning music called Music Learning Theory.

What follows is a summary of the main concepts covered in the Audiation

Station video lessons leading up to Musicianship Level 1. Use these

summaries in coordination with the videos to teach yourself how to

audiate.

Use the Musicianship Level 1 CD to practice the Rhythm Patterns,

Harmonic Patterns, and Melodic Patterns. Because repetition is the

“mother of all learning,” you will want to reinforce these concepts until they

are ingrained in your audiation, in your musical mind

PART 1: RHYTHM

Rhythm Concepts

Rhythm exists on 3 fundamental levels:

• Big Beats (Macrobeats)

• Little Beats (Microbeats)

• Rhythm Patterns (Melodic Rhythm)

These levels interact with each other in musical space to form the

rhythmic foundation of music.

Big Beats (Macrobeats)

Big beats, also known as macrobeats, are the pulse of music. It is what

you would likely tap your foot to, or the beat you would move to if you were

dancing.

 

Little Beats(Microbeats)

We can take that macrobeat and divide it into either two or three parts. We

call these parts microbeats.

Microbeats define what meter we are in, and set the rhythmic context.

Movement and Rhythm

Rhythm requires coordination. Be sure you can move to both macrobeats

and microbeats simultaneously. Put the macrobeats in your feet, and the

microbeats in your hands.

Space as a Prerequisite for Time Then, try moving your arms in free-flowing continuous space without beat.

Acknowledging the space between the beats is very important because this

will form the basis for consistent tempo. We superimpose musical time -

that is, pulse - on space.

Watch the Audiation Station video, Introduction to Rhythm Concepts, for

a more detailed explanation.

MICROBEATS • If we divide each macrobeat into two microbeats, we are in

Duple Meter.

• If we divide each macrobeat into three microbeats, we are in

Triple Meter.

Rhythm Patterns

 Once we have defined the first two layers of rhythm - macrobeats and

microbeats - and, acknowledged the space in between, we have rhythmic

context. We have a meter.

Now, we need Rhythm Patterns. Rhythm patterns are the words of

rhythm.

Words “Mary had a little lamb.”

Rhythm Pattern Ba ba Ba Ba Ba ba Ba

Rhythm patterns are generally four macrobeats in length.  

Learning Rhythm Patterns

Aural/Oral

 We begin to learn rhythm patterns, and patterns in general, through a

process called Aural/Oral.

We listen to the pattern (Aural), and then we echo the pattern back (Oral)

using the neutral syllable, “Bah.” We then listen again (Aural) to the sound

we produced to check for accuracy.

When we are a very young child, we learn words in the same way. Our

parent tells us the name of objects - Mommy, Daddy, bottle - over and over,

gently encouraging us to echo the name back to them.

Listen to the Duple and Triple Macro/Microbeat patterns on the following

Audiation Station videos, and echo them back:

Rhythm Lesson 2: Duple, Aural/Oral

Rhythm Lesson 3: Triple, Aural/Oral

These 16 patterns (8 Duple, 8 Triple) will be your first rhythmic “vocabulary

words.”  

Verbal Association - Macrobeats and Microbeats

 Once we can successfully move to macrobeats and microbeats

simultaneously, and echo patterns at the Aural/Oral level, it’s time to label

the patterns with a Verbal Association.

In language, we don’t need this step because we can visually see the

object (Mommy, Daddy, bottle). In music, we need an extra step to label

and organize what we hear.

The most effective system for labeling the layers of rhythm is the Beat-

Function Rhythm Solfege series developed by Edwin Gordon and James

Froseth.

Watch the video, Beat Function Solfege System for a thorough

explanation.

 

Patterns

Listen to the patterns on the following Audiation Station videos, and echo

them back:

Rhythm Lesson 4: Duple, Verbal Association

Rhythm Lesson 5: Triple, Verbal Association

These are the same 16 patterns that you learned at the Aural/Oral level.

Although we have yet to come to the skill of Symbolic Association

(reading musical notation), following are the 16 rhythm patterns

represented in music notation that are now part of your pattern vocabulary.  

VERBAL ASSOCIATION Duple Meter Macrobeats = DU Microbeats = DU DE

Triple Meter Macrobeats = DU Microbeats = DU DA DI

Improvisation

 Once you can successfully echo patterns in both Duple and Triple using

rhythm syllables, it is time to put the syllables to work.

In language, we don’t continue to echo the words our parents and teachers

teach us. We put them together to “improvise” sentences in order to

communicate ideas.

Can you “speak” in this rhythmic language? Can you ask yourself a

rhythmic “question” and “answer” it?

Watch the following lesson on improvising rhythm patterns, where we

explore the concept of Same vs. Different:  Rhythm Lesson 6: Improvisation

 

More Rhythm Functions

 Once you have the foundation of macrobeats and microbeats in Duple and

Triple meters, it is time to begin to audiate more rhythmic functions.

Because rhythm is so multi-layered, there are many rhythmic functions:

divisions, elongations, rests, ties, and upbeats. There are also additional

meters to consider.

Divisions in Duple and Triple Meters  For Musicianship Level 1, the last rhythmic function to master is

Divisions.

When you take a microbeat and divide it again, it is called a Division. We

will use the syllable “TA” to represent a division.

Watch the following lessons on Divisions in Duple and Triple meters.

Rhythm Lesson 7: Divisions in Duple Meter

Rhythm Lesson 8: Divisions in Triple Meter

 

Division Patterns

Although we have yet to come to the skill of Symbolic Association

(reading musical notation), following are the 20 rhythm patterns (12 Duple,

8 Triple) with divisions that are now part of your pattern vocabulary.

VERBAL ASSOCIATION Duple Meter Macrobeats = DU Microbeats = DU DE Divisions = DU TA DE TA

Triple Meter Macrobeats = DU Microbeats = DU DA DI Divisions = DU TA DA TA DI TA

 

Moving Forward If that’s all there was to learning rhythm, then learning music would be a

breeze! This is just the tip of the iceberg. However, mastering this material

is the foundation for all future audiation, for all future musical thinking.

If you can “speak” the language of rhythm, then it becomes your property,

and you can in turn make comparisons to anything else you hear.

 

Assessment Finally, do the lesson, Assessment for Musicianship Level 1, to test

yourself. Can you audiate rhythmically?

PART 2: HARMONY

Tonal Context

Music doesn’t exist in a bubble. There are certain organizing principles.

In language, if someone said, “Jump dog very fence apricot canary at” we

would hear each individual word, but the context of the sentence is unclear

at best.

When a cat walks across a piano keyboard and plays a stream of random

keys, those are indeed musical pitches, but they are devoid of musical

context. At least for the cat.

In music, we give pitches context by placing them within a tonality.  

What is a Tonality?

A tonality, to quote Dr. Edwin E. Gordon, of Music Learning Theory fame, is

“defined by its tonal center, which is called a Resting Tone.”

Resting Tone

Each tonality has a resting tone, a place where the music comes to a

logical conclusion.

A resting tone has a musical gravitational force. Think, for example, of “The

Star Spangled Banner.” The last phrase is, “And the home…of the...brave.”

“Brave” is the resting tone. If we don’t get our resting tone, we are

unsatisfied musically.

Organizing The Tonalities

 Music Learning Theory classifies and organizes the tonalities in relation

to their resting tone. To achieve this, we employ a system of verbal

association using tonal solfege.

Watch this video for a thorough explanation: Introducing The Tonalities.

Moveable DO A moveable-DO system, with a LA-based minor, is the most efficient

system to organize the tonalities.

This system is a useful one because the half step relationship between MI

and FA, and TI and DO, always remains consistent amongst the tonalities,

with the single exception of Harmonic Minor.

So, if you are audiating DO as the resting tone, you are in the tonality of

Major. If you are audiating RE as the resting tone, you are in the tonality of

Dorian. And so on.

Much more detailed information, tutorials, and resources on all of the

tonalities can be found at The Improving Musician website.

 

First Steps in Learning

The Tonalities

 Just as we did with rhythm, we need to learn skills and patterns, and will do

it in a systematic way.

When we are first learning to audiate harmonically within the context of a

tonality, we need to have two tonalities to compare.

The first two tonalities that we learn are Major and Minor. These will form

the foundation for all future musical understanding.  

Aural/Oral The first series of lessons will use a neutral syllable. (“Bum”) We use a

neutral syllable before the verbal association because the sound itself

needs to be heard and processed before we give it a label.

In both Major and Minor, you will hear 15 harmonic patterns. You will

engage with the patterns in the following three ways.

1. Sing only the first pitch of each pattern. This forces your musical brain

to keep the first pitch in your memory while hearing additional content.

2. Sing the resting tone after each pattern. This sets up the “question and

answer” aspect of music, and reinforces musical context. Good intonation

as a musician comes from comparing pitches to the resting tone.

3. Sing the whole pattern. These 30 patterns (15 Major, 15 Minor) will form

the foundation of your musical vocabulary.

You will learn them first in a familiar order, in a musical sentence, and will

later be able to use these musical words in a different order to create new

musical ideas.

Do these introductory exercises on the following YouTube videos:  

Major Tonality

Tonal Lesson 1: Major, First Pitch

Tonal Lesson 2: Major, Resting Tone

Tonal Lesson 3: Major, Whole Pattern

 

Minor Tonality

Tonal Lesson 4: Minor, First Pitch

Tonal Lesson 5: Minor, Resting Tone

Tonal Lesson 6: Minor Whole Pattern

Once you have absorbed the lesson objectives, you may wish to skip right to the patterns. A CD called Musicianship Level 1 also has the patterns on separate tracks. This is ideal for use in the car, or on the treadmill.  

Labeling Resting Tone

and Harmonic Function

Once we have heard, experienced and echoed the sounds of resting tone,

individual pitches, and harmonic patterns, we need to label these sounds.

Just like in Rhythm, this is called Verbal Association.  

Major TonalityResting Tone

Tonalities are organized by their resting tone. The resting tone in Major

Tonality is DO.

 

Harmonic Functions, I and V

 A melody does not exist by itself. It is supported by underlying harmony. We

will begin by learning the two primary harmonic functions in each tonality.

In major tonality, these primary harmonic functions are

Tonic (I)

Dominant (V)

Most practicing musicians refer to these harmonic functions by their corresponding numeric names, I and V.

Tonic (I) When you audiate combinations of DO, MI, & SO, you are audiating Tonic

Function. We will call this a One-Chord Pattern (I). Or even simpler…

“One.”

Dominant (V)

When you audiate combinations of SO, FA, RE & TI, you are audiating

Dominant Function. We will call this a Five-Chord Pattern (V). Or even

simpler… “Five.”  

Exercises

 Watch the following YouTube videos, and do the exercises.

Tonal Lesson 7: Major, Verbal Association - Resting Tone, I+V

Tonal Lesson 8: Major, Verbal Association - I+V, Name The Function

 

Patterns

 Although we have yet to come to the skill of Symbolic Association

(reading musical notation), here are the 15 Major I & V patterns that are

now part of your pattern vocabulary.

Ideally, you should be able to engage with the patterns in the following

ways:

1. Successfully echo the patterns. Be sure to take an audiation breath

before you sing.

2. After hearing one of these familiar patterns, label the harmonic function

by singing “one” or “five” on the chord root.

3. Memorize and recite the 15 patterns in familiar order.  

Minor TonalityResting Tone

Tonalities are organized by their resting tone. The resting tone in Minor

Tonality is LA.  

Harmonic Functions, i and V

In minor tonality, the two primary harmonic functions are

Tonic (i)

Dominant (V)

Tonic (i) When you audiate combinations of LA, DO & MI, you are audiating Tonic

Function. Just as we did in Major tonality, we will call this a One-Chord

Pattern (i). Or even simpler… “One.”

Dominant (V) When you audiate combinations of MI, RE, TI & SI, you are audiating

Dominant Function. Just as we did in Major tonality, we will call this a

Five-Chord Pattern (V). Or even simpler… “Five.”

 

Exercises

Watch the following YouTube videos, and do the exercises.

Tonal Lesson 9: Minor, Verbal Association - Resting Tone, i+V

Tonal Lesson 10: Minor, Verbal Association - i+V, Name The Function

 

Patterns

Here are the 15 Minor i & V patterns that are now part of your pattern

vocabulary.

 

 

Ideally, you should be able to engage with the patterns in the following

ways:

1. Successfully echo the patterns. Be sure to take an audiation breath

before you sing.

2. After hearing one of these familiar patterns, label the harmonic function

by singing “one” or “five” on the chord root.

3. Memorize and recite the 15 patterns in familiar order.

 

Assessment Finally, do the lesson, Assessment for Musicianship Level 1, to test

yourself. Can you audiate harmonically?

 

PART 3: MELODY

Harmony vs. Melody

To audiate tonally, we need to think about music organized in two

directions: horizontally - that is, from left to right, and vertically, up and

down.

Melody moves in a horizontal way, while harmony (our I and V chord

patterns, for example) is organized vertically, up and down, to support and

give context to melodic content.

Eventually, melody and harmony and rhythm intermingle with each other in

many interesting ways, producing intriguing and complex musical textures.

But when we are first learning to audiate - to think musically - it’s helpful to

lay down a simple foundation of melody and harmony, and to isolate the

musical elements.  

Isolating Melody

So far, in our study of tonal audiation, we have been focused on organizing

tonalities by their resting tones, and labeling resting tone and harmonic

function.

Now, let’s learn some basic melodic patterns. As in previous lessons, we’ll

learn them first on a neutral syllable (Aural/Oral), then we’ll add the solfege

(Verbal Association).  

Major Tonality

Watch the following lesson:

Tonal Lesson 11: Basic Melodic Patterns, Major Tonality

Although we have yet to come to the skill of Symbolic Association (reading

musical notation), here are the 10 Major melodic patterns that are now part

of your pattern vocabulary.

Memorize these familiar patterns in their familiar order.

 

Minor Tonality

Watch the following lesson:

Tonal Lesson 12: Basic Melodic Patterns, Minor Tonality

Memorize these familiar patterns in their familiar order.  

Assessment

Finally, do the lesson, Assessment for Musicianship Level 1, to test

yourself. Can you audiate melodically?

CONCLUSIONIf you have successfully navigated Musicianship Level 1, you have the

knowledge, skills, and musical vocabulary to audiate.  

Enduring Understandings The following will serve as a summary of Musicianship Level 1.  

Tonality  • Tonality is audiated based on a Resting Tone

◦ The Resting Tone in Major Tonality is DO

◦ The Resting Tone in Minor Tonality is LA

• We can audiate melodically and harmonically

• In Major Tonality, our primary harmonic functions are

◦ I (Tonic) = DO MI SO

◦ V (Dominant) = SO FA RE TI

• In Minor Tonality, our primary harmonic functions are

◦ i (Tonic) = LA DO MI

◦ V (Dominant) = MI RE TI SI

• We can audiate and sing chord roots to harmonic functions.

• We learn melodic patterns in familiar order. These will serve as the

basis for our initial tonal reading experiences.

 

Rhythm  • Rhythm exists on 3 fundamental levels:

◦ Big Beats (Macrobeats)

◦ Little Beats (Microbeats)

◦ Rhythm Patterns

• Macrobeats define the tempo

• Microbeats define the meter

◦ In Duple Meter, the Microbeats are DU DE

◦ In Triple Meter, the Microbeats are DU DA DI

• To further divide the beat, we use the syllable TA

◦ In Duple Meter, Divisions of microbeats are DU-Ta DE-Ta

◦ In Triple Meter, Divisions of microbeats are DU-Ta DA-Ta DI-Ta

Pattern Taxonomy Following is a reference taxonomy of all the 86 patterns that are now part of

your pattern vocabulary.

For ease of reading, tonal solfege syllables are abbreviated as follows:

DO = d RE = r MI = m FA = f SO = s LA = l TI = t

RHYTHM

 

HARMONIC

HARMONY

MELODY

RESOURCES Musicianship Level 1 CD

This CD includes all of the audio lessons from Audiation Station YouTube series. Ideal for use in the car or during exercise. All of the patterns are on individual tracks.

$10

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Etunes Vol. 1

8 repetitive songs in all tonalities and meters. Use these tunes to get the pitches and harmonic functions of each tonality into your audiation.

$7

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Chucka Chucka Wawa

10 vocal musings in all tonalities and meters. These loops are serve as useful music to play for your child to acculturate him to the language of music.

$8

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