Week 11 — Drill Studio · Harmonic Listening I

Course: MUS 155 Aural Skills I · Kenosis College
Instructor: Professor Hemsworth
Unit: Learning Unit 11 of 15 (Week 11) · two sessions per week
Objectives: SLO 1 · SLO 2 · SLO 3 · SLO 4
Drill Studio 11 · 20 points · Drill-studio group · In session, both meetings (session 1 and session 2) · documented make-up path below, full credit, submit by the end of the week
Format: chords in the air, numbers on your lips, and — a first — the bass clef under your pencil.

Named in Music Theory I: Roman numerals in major and minor, the function families and the T–PD–D–T cycle, V7 and viio, the sevenths in minor, harmonic rhythm. An hour later those numbers stop being analysis and start being what you call the loop the band is playing.

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Part 1 — The big picture

Every song you've ever played by ear runs on a loop of chords, and you have always heard it — you just filed it as "the vibe." This week it gets an address system. Roman numerals became legal in this morning's theory session; by session 2 you'll call a four-chord progression by number after two hearings. The route in is the bass: the lowest line isn't "just low," it's the harmony's spine. Sing the bass and the progression tells you its own name.

And one genuine first: you write in the bass clef this week. The theory class has read it since week 1; today your writing hand joins your ear.

Part 2 — What we do

Bass-line singing under played chords. Professor Hemsworth plays I–IV–V–I; the room sings the floor of each chord on syllables — do–fa–sol–do, the very pattern the do ritual has planted every session since Unit 1. Then the gig loops: I–V–vi–IV in major, i–VI–III–VII in minor, and i–iv–V7–i — where the lifted ti inside V7 is the raised 7 your ear flagged in Unit 5, finally wearing its harmonic name tag.

Functional-cycle arpeggiation. Home, away, pull, home — sung: do–mi–sol → fa–la–do → sol–ti–re → do. Major first, then the minor cycle (do–me–sol, fa–le–do, sol–ti–re). Three shapes, one engine.

Progression ID. Loops play; you sing the bass under your breath, then vote a number. Stored as numbers, a progression transposes for free — that's why band charts use them.

Bass-line dictation, in the bass clef. Four chords sound; you notate only the lowest line on a bass-staff card. In session 2 the phrase doubles to eight bars — gentler than it sounds, because it's one loop played twice. Same four-hearing protocol as always.

Harmonic-rhythm tapping. Left hand taps when the chord changes; right hand taps the tune's rhythm. Two clocks, one song.

Solo hearings. Quick individual turns inside the bass-singing and cycle drills, as every week: 6–8 voices per session, so at a full section of 36 every voice is heard solo about every two and a half weeks; in a small room, everyone, every time.

Part 3 — Before session 1 (the prep step)

Run Tutorial 11 first — it drills the conversion this studio leans on all week: Roman numeral ⟷ bass degree ⟷ syllable, both modes. Walk in able to say "V means sol in the bass" without thinking and the drills will feel like catching, not chasing.

Part 4 — The notated set (your first bass-clef reading)

Three lines you will sing by ear session 1, printed here for session 2's reading — the course's oldest move: you could already hear it; now read it. The two dots of the bass clef hug the F line — that's F3, and every note below is counted from it. First, the line under I–IV–V–I in C major, one root per bar — do, fa, sol, do:

KEY: C major    METER: 4/4    CLEF: bass
| C3/w | F3/w | G3/w | C3/w |

Next the minor loop, i–VI–III–VII in A minor — do falls to le, climbs to me, settles on te, all natural-minor colors, no lift anywhere:

KEY: a minor    METER: 4/4    CLEF: bass
| A2/w | F2/w | C3/w | G2/w |

Last, the minor cycle with the pull: i–iv–V7–i in D minor. You sing only the roots — do, fa, sol, do — while the played chords put the raised ti inside the V7 above you. Feel the third bar lean home:

KEY: d minor    METER: 4/4    CLEF: bass
| D3/w | G2/w | A2/w | D3/w |

Sing all three in whatever octave fits your voice — the printed register is the piano's, not a demand on yours.

Part 5 — What counts, and how

Participation is the grade: sing every bass line, vote every loop, take both dictations, tap both clocks. 20 points, graded in session across the two meetings.

Criterion weights: perception 50 · realization 35 · labeling 15

A student who sings the right pitches with the wrong syllables loses only the labeling points. A student who sings the right syllables on the wrong pitches fails the item.

Criterion	Full	Partial	None
Perception — bass lines found under real chords; progression and function calls made from the bass, revised by re-listening (10)	9–10	5–8	0–4
Realization — bass lines and cycle arpeggios land, in any octave that fits, sung or played; dictations follow the protocol (7)	7	4–6	0–3
Labeling — Roman numerals, function names, and syllables applied rightly to what you heard (3)	3	2	0–1

Part 6 — Missed a session? The make-up path

Full credit, no penalty, by the end of the week: (1) run the practice page's daily loop for the missed days; (2) record yourself singing the three printed bass lines above, on syllables, any octave; (3) take one four-chord bass-line self-dictation through any of the three standing protocols from your submission page; (4) three sentences of self-diagnosis in the error classes. Submit under this studio's make-up assignment in Canvas. The skills-check make-up is separate — see the check page.

Why this makes you a better musician

Call a progression on a gig after two hearings — that's this week's skill, and it's the one that makes bandmates trust you. Because you store it as numbers, not letters, it transposes for free: the loop you named in C tonight is the same loop in E-flat tomorrow, and your ear already knows it.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Unit 11 Drill Studio — Harmonic Listening I"
assignment_group = "Drill studios"
points_possible  = 20
grading_type     = points
submission_types = [on_paper]        # graded in session; make-up: online_upload (clips + sentences)
due              = in session, both meetings; make-up by the end of the week
published        = true

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