How the solfege grinch stole Christmas David Newman 2026-09-25 | How the solfege grinch stole Christmas
Things are moving! David Newman 2020-03-26 | I will be moving content from this channel to the one that is still monetized. Links are going to change. I will try and make sure that you can find the new posts.If you want to keep up with new things that I post, go to my other channel and subscribe!youtube.com/channel/UCX6CdqQ1hZ_kX1HOD1yDH3AHere’s where you can find my album!davidnewmanmusic.bandcamp.com/releases
Harmonic analysis with secondary dominants using solfege. David Newman 2019-09-20 | Harmonic analysis with secondary dominants using solfege.
New Album! The Well Trained Ear: Songs to strengthen aural skills David Newman 2019-05-21 | Just a quick check in to introduce my new album of ear training songs! It is currently only available on Bandcamp: http://davidnewmanmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-well-trained-ear-songs-to-strengthen-aural-skillsIt's taken a lot of work to get this album made, while simultaneously teaching full time and singing concerts regularly. Please buy a copy of the album and help support my creative work!
Singalong Solfege #13 David Newman 2019-04-21 | Easter edition, in which we sing Easter Hymn (aka “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”) and have our first (I think?) introduction to the idea of modulation.
Singalong Solfege #12 David Newman 2019-04-07 | In which we learn the solfege syllable “di” and further introduce the idea of tonicization.
Cinderblock Solfege #3 David Newman 2019-04-03 | In which we explore what happens when we put DO on a line instead of a space, and continue to learn the relative
Singalong Solfege #11 David Newman 2019-03-31 | In which we learn two NEW solfege syllables, and begin learning about chromatic neighbor tones. Let me know how you did with this!I encourage you to sing along several times if things seem tricky. It is my hope that many people will realize that they already know what those notes sound like from songs like this.
Cinderblock Solfege #2 David Newman 2019-03-27 | In which we go even further in transferring our understanding of solfege to the notation system we commonly use.
Cinderblock Solfege #1 David Newman 2019-03-20 | First in another solfege series to begin to tie solfege fluency to reading skills. Experienced teachers and readers will see where we are headed with this. Those who are just learning, just sing along with us, and you’ll pick it up as we go.
Singalong Solfege #10 David Newman 2019-03-17 | In which we sing Aura Lee, learn about the supertonic, or ii chord, and also start to discuss chord qualities.
Callback Solfege #8 David Newman 2019-03-13 | A review of the Glover/Curwen/Kodaly hand signs we've been using, and a few practice patterns to develop your skills with solfege and the signs.I misused the term "rhotic" in this video, which actually generally refers to how one treats an r when it is at the end of a syllable... I should have simply said that one can use an "American" R in the syllable "re" or use a flipped R. Many teachers and choral directors prefer the latter for its clarity and its affect on the surrounding vowels.
Singalong Solfege #9 David Newman 2019-03-10 | In which we sing Danny Boy, and talk a little more about harmony and the Cadential 6-4 chord.
Singalong Solfege #8 David Newman 2019-03-03 | In which we sing Home on the Range and learn about the subdominant triad and predominant function. (And also our first peek at a cadential 6-4!)I said I would add links to learn more about the cadential 6-4 chord. But perhaps a simple explanation will suffice. The cadential 6-4 has the same notes as the tonic triad, DO MI and SO, but they behave differently, and this song is a perfect example. The most obvious difference is that we have SO in the bass of the implied harmony. That serves to destabilize the chord, so that MI and DO no longer are happy staying where they are, and want to "resolve" to RE and TI, respectively, to make a dominant triad. But once we reach that dominant triad, RE and TI are again unstable and want to resolve back to the tonic triad. We call it a 6-4 chord (normally written vertically, with the 6 above the 4) because the MI is a 6th up from the bass (SO) and the DO is a 4th up from the bass, a vestige of the practice called "figured bass" which was commonly used in the baroque and classical periods.
Callback Solfege #6 David Newman 2019-02-27 | Today, we play a game of memory and audiation. The game is to audiate and remember longer and longer patterns. Play along with us, and then find a friend who will play the same game with you.
Singalong Solfege #7 David Newman 2019-02-24 | In which we sing "Did You Ever See a Lassie?" and review the function of the tonic triad, and introduce the dominant triad.
Callback Solfege #5 David Newman 2019-02-20 | More call and response solfege with hand signs. This time we talk a little bit about the tendencies of different notes in the diatonic scale.Sorry a couple of hand signs got cut off at the bottom.
Singalong Solfege #6 David Newman 2019-02-17 | In this episode, we sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” aka “God Save The Queen,” and learn a little more about what the solfege syllables represent. We also define an octave.
Callback Solfege #4 David Newman 2019-02-13 | This continues a call and response solfege series, supplementing the singalong solfege. Instead of singing whole songs, we'll just do brief melodic snippets. Just listen and repeat!These exercises will help train your brain to recognize melodic fragments and their corresponding solfege, as well as improve your ability to learn and recall melodies. As we continue the series, we'll add more notes and longer phrases.In this series, we use Curwen/Kodaly hand signs, which add a kinesthetic component. Learning the signs will give you an additional way for your brain to process the information, helping you learn more quickly and effectively. If you don't want to try to use the signs, don't worry... you can still benefit from singing along.Thanks to my daughter, Anya, for helping out. (She knows the signs better than I do...)We'll try and post a new video in this series each Wednesday.Please let us know if you found this helpful!
Singalong Solfege #5 David Newman 2019-02-10 | Fifth in a new series of videos designed to teach solfege to absolute beginners by singing simple, familiar songs on solfege as a way of introducing and reinforcing the syllables. Later videos will build on these skills as they become more familiar.In this video, we'll sing Yankee Doodle. No new concepts to discuss, but you might pay attention to which sections of the song hang around the tonic triad and which sections do not. The ones that do probably sound more stable to your ears, while TI and RE both feel unstable, and leave us wanting to go back to DO. That tension and resolution is part of what can make music enjoyable.
Callback Solfege #3 David Newman 2019-02-06 | This continues a call and response solfege series, supplementing the singalong solfege. Instead of singing whole songs, we'll just do brief melodic snippets. Just listen and repeat!These exercises will help train your brain to recognize melodic fragments and their corresponding solfege, as well as improve your ability to learn and recall melodies. As we continue the series, we'll add more notes and longer phrases.In this series, we use Curwen/Kodaly hand signs, which add a kinesthetic component. Learning the signs will give you an additional way for your brain to process the information, helping you learn more quickly and effectively. If you don't want to try to use the signs, don't worry... you can still benefit from singing along.Thanks to my daughter, Anya, for helping out. (She knows the signs better than I do...)We'll try and post a new video in this series each Wednesday.Please let us know if you found this helpful!
Singalong Solfege #4 David Newman 2019-02-03 | Fourth in a new series of videos designed to teach solfege to absolute beginners by singing simple, familiar songs on solfege as a way of introducing and reinforcing the syllables. Later videos will build on these skills as they become more familiar.In this video, we'll look at Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and introduce the concept of the tonic triad.
Callback Solfege #2 David Newman 2019-01-30 | This continues a call and response solfege series, supplementing the singalong solfege. Instead of singing whole songs, we'll just do brief melodic snippets. Just listen and repeat!These exercises will help train your brain to recognize melodic fragments and their corresponding solfege, as well as improve your ability to learn and recall melodies. As we continue the series, we'll add more notes and longer phrases.In this series, we use Curwen/Kodaly hand signs, which add a kinesthetic component. Learning the signs will give you an additional way for your brain to process the information, helping you learn more quickly and effectively. If you don't want to try to use the signs, don't worry... you can still benefit from singing along.Thanks to my daughter, Anya, for helping out. (She knows the signs better than I do...)We'll try and post a new video in this series each Wednesday.Please let us know if you found this helpful!
Singalong Solfege #3 David Newman 2019-01-27 | Third in a new series of videos designed to teach solfege to absolute beginners by singing simple, familiar songs on solfege as a way of introducing and reinforcing the syllables. Later videos will build on these skills as they become more familiar.In this video, we'll look at Happy Birthday to You, and introduce the concept of the tonic.
Callback Solfege #1 David Newman 2019-01-23 | As a supplement to the singalong solfege series, this is the start of a call and response solfege series. Instead of singing whole songs, we'll just do brief melodic snippets. Just listen and repeat!These exercises will help train your brain to recognize melodic fragments and their corresponding solfege, as well as improve your ability to learn and recall melodies.We're also going to use Curwen/Kodaly hand signs, which add a kinesthetic component. Learning the signs will give you an additional way for your brain to process the information, helping you learn more quickly and effectively. If you don't want to try to use the signs, don't worry... you can still benefit from singing along.Thanks to my daughter, Anya, for helping out. (She knows the signs better than I do...)We'll try and post a new video in this series each Wednesday.Please let us know if you found this helpful!
The Four French Nasal Vowels David Newman 2019-01-22 | Kinesthetic hand gestures to learn and remember the four French nasal vowels, based on sounds that American English speakers already know.Note that not everyone agrees on the IPA for these vowels. I choose to write the nasal o as [õ], though some may use [ɔ̃]. I also err toward the more closed sound of it, mostly for the value in differentiating it from [ɑ̃].Regardless, one should remember that IPA is only a starting point for clear, unaccented communication. Hopefully, this will give the beginning learner a leg up in forming the sounds, and differentiating between them.
Singalong Solfege #2 David Newman 2019-01-20 | Second in a new series of videos designed to teach solfege to absolute beginners by singing simple, familiar songs on solfege as a way of introducing and reinforcing the syllables. Later videos will build on these skills as they become more familiar.If you are an absolute beginner and want to improve your musical literacy, this is the video series for you!If you teach beginners, or have students who need to reinforce their skills, this ought to be a good resource to share with them.This series will always use functional solfege, where do is the tonic.As a singalong, I am relying on the listener to intuitively understand octave equivalency. I will try to keep things in a key that will be comfortable for most people. If a song seems too high or low for your comfort, try singing it in another octave.Students who know Curwen/Kodaly hand signs may find it beneficial to sign along as well, for the added kinesthetic component. I will also be adding some hand sign resources as we go.This series is also based on my strong belief in building useful frameworks, and that music theory is something that naturally springs out of our experience in listening and recreating. Thus, we should learn aurally first, and then proceed toward notation, in the same way that culture developed. Notation is a means of conveying musical ideas, and we should therefore initially learn it through those ideas.
Singalong Solfege #1 David Newman 2019-01-19 | First in a new series of videos designed to teach solfege to absolute beginners by singing simple, familiar songs on solfege as a way of introducing and reinforcing the syllables. Later videos will build on these skills as they become more familiar.If you are an absolute beginner and want to improve your musical literacy, this is the video series for you!If you teach beginners, or have students who need to reinforce their skills, this ought to be a good resource to share with them.This series will always use functional solfege, where do is the tonic. In this particular video, I sang both pieces in the key of C, so they work in “fixed do” solfege as well. However, future videos will vary the key.As a singalong, I am relying on the listener to intuitively understand octave equivalency. I will try to keep things in a key that will be comfortable for most people. If a song seems too high or low for your comfort, try singing it in another octave.Students who know Curwen/Kodaly hand signs may find it beneficial to sign along as well, for the added kinesthetic component. I will also be adding some hand sign resources as we go.This series is also based on my strong belief in building useful frameworks, and that music theory is something that naturally springs out of our experience in listening and recreating. Thus, we should learn aurally first, and then proceed toward notation, in the same way that culture developed. Notation is a means of conveying musical ideas, and we should therefore initially learn it through those ideas.
How to hear Neapolitan 6 chords and German, French and Italian augmented 6 chords. David Newman 2019-01-14 | Review of what to listen for to recognize Neapolitan 6 chords and German, French and Italian augmented 6 chords.It will come as no surprise that this is what my class is working on at the moment. I'm always looking for ways to use these videos to help solidify their skills outside of class time.Please forgive the rather abrupt ending... I started off on a poorly planned tangent and decided to end the video while it was still coherent.
Rhythm Dictation with 32nd notes David Newman 2018-12-09 | Rhythm Dictation with 32nd notes. One example in simple meter, and one in compound meter.
Helpful Hints for Translating Song Texts with Google Translate David Newman 2018-12-04 | This is primarily for my voice students, though perhaps there are others who would benefit as well. There are several features to Google Translate that are particularly useful for singers when translating song texts. Some of them are not completely obvious, so I'm taking this opportunity to show you some ways of using this tool you may not have figured out yet.
Smaller subdivisions of the beat. (32nd notes) David Newman 2018-12-03 | Smaller subdivisions of the beat. (32nd notes)
Find the second recap. David Newman 2018-11-02 | Another round of playing the game “find the second” to quickly ID 7th chords and their inversion out of context.Here is the old video if you want to hear me ramble more about the same thing: youtube.com/watch?v=qOZ4j20zzo0
Changing meter dictation with steady beat value David Newman 2018-10-30 | A simple rhythmic dictation with changing meters and steady beat value. Can also be used as a melodic dictation with modulation to a closely related key.
Changing meters exercise. Steady note value and steady beat value. David Newman 2018-10-21 | Changing meters exercise, with a steady note value and steady beat value. (More explanation below!)There is no rhythmic dictation to go with this one. It is just a chance to practice conducting through these meter changes. It is heavily pedantic, so if I’m moving too slowly for you, you could still freeze the first bit of the video and just see how easily you can do it without help.To perform or take rhythmic dictation in changing meters like this, it is almost essential to have this conducting skill be fluent, so your brain can focus fully on the rhythmic patterns.Some useful background information, if you're just joining in:Time signatures have a top and bottom number. Like fractions, the bottom number is a denominator (gives you a note value) and the top number is a numerator (tells you how many of that note value are in the measure.) So, a 4/4 meter means there will be four quarter notes in each measure. And a 6/8 meter means there will be six eighth notes in each measure.However, we have some conventions around time signatures. Most importantly, common time signatures like 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 are called "simple meters." They will generally be conducted exactly as they look. 2/4 will be conducted in two quarter note beats. 3/4 will be conducted in three quarter note beats. 4/4 will be conducted in four quarter note beats. 2/2 will be conducted in two half note beats.Meters where the top number is a multiple of 3, like 6/8, 9/8 or 12/8, are called "compound meters" and are generally conducted in groups of three of the denominator. So 6/8 is conducted in two groups of three eighth notes, or, to put it another way, two dotted quarter beats. (This is also how it is beamed.) Similarly, 9/8 is three dotted quarter beats, and 12/8 is four dotted quarter beats.All of the above are very common meters, and are usually handled as described above. This exercise has a few slightly less common meters, and how you handle them depends on a reasonable assessment of the tempo, the note values and how many there are. At a brisk tempo, it would be silly to conduct (or conceptualize) a 3/8 measure in 3. It would usually be best then to conduct it in 1, unless it would be clearer to conduct or conceptualize it in 3. Conversely, if a tempo is very slow, one might actually conduct a 6/4 measure in 6 quarter note beats instead of two dotted half beats. (It will still be a compound meter.In all meters, subdivision for notes smaller than the denominator is always done evenly unless otherwise noted, ie: with a triplet.
Demonstration of using phone as a laryngoscope David Newman 2018-09-11 | Yesterday I uploaded a video of me using my phone as a laryngoscope. Today I show a third person view of how it is achieved.
The Perfect 5th, in tune and sustained. David Newman 2018-09-10 | Well over a year ago, I got my wonderful friend Charles Wesley Evans to sing a perfect fifth with me to demonstrate its unique sound. (In beautiful Carmel, California, where we both sing each summer.)It took me a while to publish this for a variety of reasons, but I thought I'd post it while I remember and while I had just added two videos that were *not* about ear training.
[graphic content] Laryngoscope in my pocket David Newman 2018-09-10 | I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out I could do this.After successfully replicating Garcia’s method of laryngeal self examination several years ago, if only for a brief glimpse, I’ve wanted to have the ability to scope myself with better clarity and the ability to preserve video.Fortunately I have a big mouth, and my iPhone 8 proved up to the task.Please don’t try this at home.
New videos and a new topic! David Newman 2018-09-10 | As many of you know, I am a singer and a voice teacher, in addition to teaching ear training. So I’m going to be uploading new videos on the subject of singing as well. Be warned that the next one may be a bit shocking!
Midterm Aural Skills 4 challenge David Newman 2018-03-15 | This is the skills demonstration required for my class midterm this semester. But I decided many people like to do challenges, so even if you're not in my class, I challenge you do make a short video demonstrating these skills and post a link in the comments.In lieu of live testing, my students will submit an unedited video demonstrating the following skills, unaccompanied:- count in with 3 and demonstrate 4 against 3- count in with 4 and demonstrate 3 against 4- sing an augmented triad up and down from a note of your choice- sing a whole tone scale up and down from the same note- sing a diminished 7 chord up and down from a note of your choice- sing a whole-half octatonic scale up and down from that note- sing a half-whole octatonic scale up and down from that noteJazz players may be more familiar with the terms whole half diminished and half whole diminished for the latter two scales.
Happy I chord to you David Newman 2017-11-27 | In celebration of Jana Kubitza Millar’s birthday! (And perhaps of yours, as well!)
padMIL - a mnemonic for modes! David Newman 2017-11-13 | A mnemonic for modes that Mary Arlin showed me this summer at the first music theory pedagogy conference.Previous videos about modes:"How to hear modes"youtube.com/watch?v=3nCvZ17skAs"Modes with Terence Hansen"youtube.com/watch?v=88BAKJHXWHs"Ms. Mixolydian and Dorian go drinking"youtube.com/watch?v=eIds3-hXtzw"The Phrygian Song"youtube.com/watch?v=AVaElCbANEE"The Locrian Song"youtube.com/watch?v=es0Zkur1pcMAnd, lastly, a really old video, that's probably less useful, playing each mode and talking about it, including mnemonics for how to spell them: youtube.com/watch?v=vU_Dl4ewFxc
Changing meter rhythmic dictation #3 David Newman 2017-11-06 | A third changing meter rhythmic dictation with steady note value.Again, this is also a modulating melody, so we’ll write that out after doing the dictation part.
Changing meter rhythmic dictation #2 David Newman 2017-11-06 | A second changing meter rhythmic dictation with steady note value.Again, this is also a modulating melody, so we’ll write that out after doing the dictation part.
Changing meter rhythmic dictation #1 David Newman 2017-11-05 | Rhythmic dictation with changing meter and a steady note value.Rhythm is played as a melody that modulates, so you can get some practice with that as well!
Melodic modulation with Paul Miller David Newman 2017-10-28 | Dr. Paul Miller (Visiting Professor of Theory at Duquesne University) guides us through interpreting a modulating melody.Yes, Paul accidentally (no pun intended) said minor third at 3:47, when he meant major third, but you knew what he meant, right?(With a cameo appearance by the fabulous young tenor Patrick Kilbride, who was performing on the same concert. Patrick, we're grateful to you for your grace in working around us as we commandeered the dressing room for a few minutes!)
Melodic dictation with modulation #1 David Newman 2017-10-24 | A melodic dictation example with modulation.
How to hear modes David Newman 2017-02-01 | EDIT: I've added another video about padMIL, which is a mnemonic for remembering this same approach. You can see it here: youtube.com/watch?v=st9ErK29FJ8This is the latest and greatest way I like to teach modes for aural skills. Though I must have given this spiel a dozen times, I still managed to say at least one false thing. Lydian is, of course, not the only mode with ti. Ionian shares this distinction. However, we will usually readily identify Ionian as a major scale, and so the only one with ti that sounds "modal" is, in fact, Lydian.SONGS FROM THE MODAL CYCLE:Ms. Mixolydian and Dorian go drinkingyoutube.com/watch?v=eIds3-hXtzwThe Phrygian Song*youtube.com/watch?v=AVaElCbANEEThe Locrian Songyoutube.com/watch?v=es0Zkur1pcM*The Phrygian Song makes overt reference to an earlier solfege song:youtube.com/watch?v=i5T85x58z_EALSO, DON'T MISS the awesome TERENCE HANSEN mode video!youtube.com/watch?v=88BAKJHXWHs
