ABSTRACT
This chapter studies the initial building blocks of melodic form. These “building blocks” often are heard and seen in short rhythmic/melodic figures called motives, or motifs. A good example would be the opening motive of Beethoven?’s Symphony No. 5, movement I. Recognizing the rhythmic/melodic unit as a motive can aid in music reading skills since a motif is often used in repetition and sequence. A sequence is when a melodic figure is repeated in the same voice or musical line on a different tonal level. In both sight singing and dictation, the recognition of motivic and sequential repetition is vital to the idiomatic ease of these skills. The chapter also provides an exercise for motive and sequence singing and an exercise for rhythmic reading.
