Pitch Accuracy
If you’re able to maintain a stable key (see the section on Tuning), then you’re most likely to make pitch mistakes when either something happens too fast for your brain to process or you’re asked to find a pitch for which your internalized model of key doesn’t provide a ready answer. If things are happening too fast, there’s only so much we can do. Keep practicing, and you’ll be able to think and perform more quickly. But what to do when we’re asked to produce an uncommon or challenging pitch?
This question is most relevant when singing. When we are playing an external instrument, most often our fingering and/or embouchure will help us find that pitch even if we’re not 100% sure where it is. So we’ll focus on finding that pitch when singing. And we’ll assume you don’t have absolute pitch, though the same strategies may be useful for those with absolute pitch in certain circumstances, as when trying to find a certain pitch in transposition.
It may be helpful to scan a passage of music before singing through it, to find pitches that are likely to be challenging. These particularly include notes following a large leap, and chromatic notes, especially when following a leap of any size.
Finding these pitches accurately almost always comes down to relationships. Our internalized models of key typically have a few levels of security when trying to find isolated pitches:
- We are usually best at finding the “structural” pitches of a key, particularly scale degrees 1/do and 5/sol.
- This may be as strong or stronger than #1 in some people: we are often fairly good at finding the pitches of the currently sounding chord (if there is one).
- From there, the notes that are “diatonic” to the key (in the key signature) are usually the next easiest to find.
- Finally, “chromatic” notes (marked with an accidental) are typically the hardest to find.
Anytime we can find a relationship between a tough note and a more secure category on this list, we can use that relationship to find the pitch. For example, if there is a large leap to scale degree 6/la followed by a stepwise descent to scale degree 5/sol, it may be helpful to find scale degree 5/sol first, or even to practice the excerpt leaping to scale degree 5/sol until that is secure, and only then to add scale degree 6/la.
Activity: Work out difficult leaps
Goal: Develop skills that are useful in finding difficult notes, especially after leaps
Before you start: You’ll need a source of notated melodies with difficult-to-find leaps, perhaps from a sight-reading anthology. You should use your voice for this activity.
Instructions:
- Determine the excerpt’s key and meter, and set these up for yourself as appropriate.
- Scan through the notation, looking for a pitch that you think you might have trouble finding. Leaps to notes that aren’t members of the tonic triad are especially good candidates.
- For each difficult note, determine a more stable pitch that may help you find it. Find that more stable