Aural Analysis Skills · 6 min read
Melody by Ear: Intervals, Scales, and Contour
Objective 0001 asks you to hear the theoretical building blocks of a recorded excerpt and name them. For melody, that means three questions: how far the notes move (intervals), which pitch collection they come from (scale or mode), and what shape the line makes (contour). Items may also ask which notated melody matches what you hear, so connect each sound to how it looks on the staff.
- The testlet has 30 listening questions in 45 minutes, so each excerpt is short and usually played once per item.
- Answer choices are always four options; eliminate by sound category first (step vs leap, major vs minor) before fine distinctions.
- Listen for the tonic early: almost every melodic judgment is easier once you know where home is.
Intervals by Ear
An interval has a size (number of half steps) and a quality you can hear: perfect intervals sound open and hollow, thirds and sixths sound sweet and full, seconds and sevenths sound clashing or yearning, and the tritone sounds restless. Reference tunes help only if you know them well; the table lists widely used ones that are accurate for the ascending interval.
| Interval | Half steps | How it sounds | Ascending reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor 2nd (m2) | 1 | Tight, tense rub | Jaws theme |
| Major 2nd (M2) | 2 | A plain step; scale-like | Happy Birthday (2nd to 3rd note) |
| Minor 3rd (m3) | 3 | Sweet, slightly sad | Greensleeves (first two notes) |
| Major 3rd (M3) | 4 | Bright, sunny | When the Saints Go Marching In |
| Perfect 4th (P4) | 5 | Open, bugle-call | Here Comes the Bride |
| Tritone (A4/d5) | 6 | Unstable, wants to resolve | Maria (West Side Story) |
| Perfect 5th (P5) | 7 | Hollow, strong, stable | Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star |
| Minor 6th (m6) | 8 | Wide, poignant | Wider than a 5th, darker than M6 |
| Major 6th (M6) | 9 | Wide, warm, lyrical | My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean |
| Minor 7th (m7) | 10 | Wide, unresolved | Somewhere (West Side Story) |
| Major 7th (M7) | 11 | Sharp, leans up to the octave | Just short of an octave |
| Octave (P8) | 12 | Same note, higher | Somewhere Over the Rainbow |
Scales and Modes by Ear
Major scale follows whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half pattern. Natural minor scale follows whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole pattern. Harmonic minor raises the seventh degree, creating an augmented second between scale degrees six and seven. Melodic minor raises both sixth and seventh degrees ascending, reverts to natural minor descending.
Modes are easiest to recognize as one altered degree compared with a major or minor scale you already hear clearly. Listen for that single color note when it lands on a strong beat or is repeated.
| Mode | Compare with | Color note | What a listener notices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ionian | Major | None | Standard major sound |
| Dorian | Natural minor | Raised 6th | Minor but brighter; common in folk and modal jazz |
| Phrygian | Natural minor | Lowered 2nd | Dark half step above tonic; flamenco flavor |
| Lydian | Major | Raised 4th | Floating, dreamy major; film-score shimmer |
| Mixolydian | Major | Lowered 7th | Major without a leading tone; rock and folk tunes |
| Aeolian | Natural minor | None | Minor with no leading tone |
| Locrian | Natural minor | Lowered 2nd and 5th | Unstable; tonic triad is diminished |
| Scale | Structure | Listening clue |
|---|---|---|
| Major pentatonic | Major scale minus 4 and 7 | No half steps; folk, spirituals, many world musics |
| Minor pentatonic | Natural minor minus 2 and 6 | Bluesy and open; rock and blues riffs |
| Blues scale | Minor pentatonic plus ♭5 | The "blue note" bend between 4 and 5 |
| Harmonic minor | Natural minor with raised 7 | Exotic augmented 2nd between 6 and 7 |
| Whole-tone | Six whole steps | No pull to any tonic; Debussy's hazy color |
| Chromatic | All twelve half steps | Slithering, sliding motion |
| Octatonic | Alternating whole and half steps | Symmetrical, tense; Stravinsky, Messiaen |
Contour and Melodic Motion
Contour is the overall shape of a line. On the exam it often appears as "which graphic or notated melody matches the excerpt" or as a description of a phrase. Track direction first, then size of motion.
Phrases, Motives, and Ornaments
| Term | What you hear |
|---|---|
| Motive | A short recognizable cell, such as the four-note opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony |
| Phrase | A complete musical thought ending in a cadence, often 4 or 8 measures |
| Antecedent-consequent | A questioning phrase answered by a closing phrase (a period) |
| Syllabic vs melismatic | One note per syllable versus many notes on one syllable |
| Trill | Rapid alternation of a note with its upper neighbor |
| Mordent and turn | Quick neighbor-note flicks decorating a main note |
| Grace note | A tiny ornamental note squeezed in before a main note |
Finished reading?
Lock it in with a quick Aural Analysis Skills quiz.