Hearing Octaves

Melody: Part 8

Let’s apply all that we’ve learnt in Parts 1-7 of the Melody series by listening to some multi-octave melodies and recognising their pitches.

The series so far:

• Part 1: Naming Pitches

• Part 2: Relating Pitches

• Part 3: The Lines of Melody

• Part 4: Hearing Melodic Syllables

• Part 5: Pitch Symmetry

• Part 6: Doubly Symmetrical

• Part 7: Octave Yardsticks

Simplified Pitch Dictionary

Here’s a 6-pitch dictionary:

6 Pitches Across 2 Octaves

This is just a visual representation. We’ll be needing the audio version. Here are the same 6 pitches:

1. Sa

2. Re

3. Ga

4. Sa'

5. Re'

6. Ga'

Diving In!

Each visual Sa-line gives us the ability to quickly recognise the pitches closest to it. Likewise, when listening to a melody, the Sa in each octave gives us a quick way to recognise the pitches closest to it.

Try to use the appropriate octave of Sa (Sa/Sa') to speed up pitch recognition (like we saw in Part 7).

Use the above (audio) dictionary to decode the pitches in the following multi-octave melodies. Let us know what you got in the comments!

1. 4 sounds (Hint: Only Sa and Sa')

2. 4 sounds (Hint: The previous one, with one changed sound)

3. 4 sounds (Hint: The pitches keep descending)

4. 5 sounds (Hint: 2 groups of ascending pitches)

5. 6 sounds (Hint: The same pattern in two octaves)

6. 6 sounds (Hint: Every successive pitch is in a different octave)

And That’s Pitch!

Over the course of 8 parts, we have:

• visually represented pitch on an up-down axis,

• used Sa as a reference, and

• used Sa-lines to divide our entire pitch range into horizontal bands.

Crucially, we’ve used this entire visual framework as a springboard into sound. This has enabled us to actually decode the pitches of some melodies — even some multi-octave ones!

Maybe you’ve found the series challenging, maybe you haven’t. Either way, I hope you’ve gained something valuable along the way. I know I certainly have.

If you found something too difficult or obscure that you’d like to figure out, please reach out to me and I’ll be happy to help. Also, if you have any observations about the series or suggestions that you’d like to share, I’d love to listen and learn.

It’s been a long journey and you deserve a hearty pat on the back for making it this far! I hope you’ve had a great time so far, and I’m excited to begin the next leg of our melodic journey: rhythm!!

Next → Review: Melodic Pitch Primer

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Thanks for reading!

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