When the second fifth in a series of consecutive fifths involves a NCT, the ill-effect can be attenuated (to varying degrees depending on other contextual factors).īack to B&K. The ill-effect here is slightly attenuated by the fact that the metrically accented D in the tenor is a non-chord tone while the anticipated C# is the structural tone. The parallel fifths in the example below may be less problematic, but only very slightly less. Such a figure draws attention to the fact that the L.T. (More on problematic preparations of chord sevenths in a moment.) In the final example above, parallels are created by a figure that I always caution my students against–that is, by the insertion of a descending passing tone from a leading tone (or temporary leading tone in a tonicization, as is the case here) to the chord fifth of the following I chord (or of the chord being tonicized–the IV chord in this case). Three cheers for consistency! (Some would say (me included) that these passing tones create chordal sevenths, but B&K consistently treat such figures as NCTs, even when involving V chords.) The sixth example above (F major) also contains root movement by ascending 2nd, but the problem here involves the approach to the seventh of the ii7 chord. The first five examples listed above involve root movement by ascending 2nd in which the root of the first chord descends via passing tone to the fifth of the second chord, the passing tone creating parallel fifths with the tenor voice. So, here we go…īy far the most common occurrence of poor part-writing involves parallelisms created by passing and neighboring tones. We’re dealing here with the seventh edition of this text! They’ve had 6 chances to make improvements since it first came out. (More on such research later.)Īnd it’s not as if these “mistakes” can be chalked up to those inevitable errors that invade any first edition of a newly devised manuscript. They’re everywhere! In fact, the frequency with which they appear provoked me to do some research to see if I had in fact been grading my students too harshly all this time. Yet here I am, greatly annoyed.Īnd it’s not just one or two mistakes. Being so annoyed by questionable part-writing in these harmonic dictation exercises is likely something of an over-reaction, a byproduct of having spent years grading music theory assignments. Unfortunately, I don’t believe this was the authors’ intention. And what I find particularly useful are the error detection exercises, error detection being an absolutely essential skill required of young musicians and one that is often, in my experience, under-emphasized in aural skills courses.įortunately for students, they are given plenty of extra opportunities to detect errors in the harmonic dictations provided in the ET Teacher’s Manual. It serves as a convenient source of aural exercises and dictation material. Ever since Bruce Benward & Tim Kolosick’s aural skills textbook Ear Training has been packaged with the music theory textbook I currently adopt, I’ve made use of it in aural skills labs.