 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2015-07-14 19:07
Hallo
This is a bit off topic, but I am preparing for the aural part of a clarinet exam and have to say whether a particular passage played on the piano (in front of me!) modulates to dominant, subdominant or relative minor. I can't do it! Has anyone got any practical suggestions? Not too technical please or anything which obliges me to keep the tonic chord (played first) in my head...
Many thanks in advance...
Maruja
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Author: Dibbs
Date: 2015-07-14 19:25
I don't know if this will be any help but...
Assuming it's starting in a major key and those 3 are the only possibilities.
The relative minor sounds minor so that should be easy.
The dominant sounds like it might want to go back to the tonic.
The subdominant sounds like its gone off somewhere else.
Failing that, if you want to cheat, watch the bottom note in the pianists left hand.
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2015-07-14 19:36
Erm - what will the bottom note in left hand be? (purely academic reasons, of course...)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-07-14 20:09
I'm assuming you know what those three terms mean?
What are you having trouble with, if you can break it down? Can you hear the tonic note of the new key?
As Dibbs said, if the new key is the relative minor, you shouldn't have any trouble hearing that it's minor.
If you can keep the sound of the dominant of the starting key in your ear (if the piano starts out in C Major, start and keep imagining a G if you can), the new key will either match it or not - if it's major and isn't dominant, then the only one left is subdominant.
You could also pay attention to the actual modulation (but this may qualify as "too technical"). The pivot chord (the one that leads to the new key) to modulate into the dominant will be a II 7 (D7 if starting in C major). The pivot into the subdominant key will be a tonic 7 (C7 starting in C major).
It's an interesting test to include in a clarinet exam. Have they provided instruction and practice of any kind to help you learn to do this?
Karl
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Author: Dibbs
Date: 2015-07-15 13:08
Maruja wrote:
> Erm - what will the bottom note in left hand be? (purely
> academic reasons, of course...)
almost always the root of the chord.
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2015-07-15 14:11
In my day you weren't allowed to be able to see the keyboard as the test was played - may be this has changed.
However I would suggest
Relative minor - As had been said before, I imagine you can hear when the music ends in a minor key.
Subdominant - It's not exactly a musical term but, I find that you can hear a definite "mellowing" as soon as that flattened/naturalised seventh of the original key is introduced becoming the fourth of the new key.
Dominant - Apart for the fact that it's neither of the above, so by a process of elimination it must be the dominant, try to hear that raised fourth becoming the new leading note just screaming at you.
Hope this helps
Vanessa.
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