The Unison Exercise: real-time interval identification
CAN WE LEARN TO IDENTIFY THE QUALITY OF INTERVALS IN REAL TIME,
WITHOUT ANALYZING OR THINKING ABOUT THEM?
The Unison Exercise
Why this exercise?
We guess wrong too often when going for a new note. Sometimes a note is being played by another member of the band—you want to hit it or harmonize it—but you misjudge the pitch. And sometimes you’re trying to follow your own improvisational thread and you think you know how you’d like it to proceed … but, again, you too often guess incorrectly. It can be demoralizing and, because you have to continue moving forward—that is, you can’t correct it or just simply do it over again—you are stuck with it.
This exercise has proved to be quite easy and very effective for learning how to identify intervals, so you know where you are in relation to a pitch you hear or one you want to go to. It is not for developing “perfect” pitch (which can be achieved with a different exercise). It is for developing quick and reliable “relative” pitch perception for unisons and octaves, after which there is another exercise dealing with all the intervals. So if you and someone else have played the same note pitch (or an octave), you are able to quickly identify the interval and therefore you’ll know when you have hit the same pitch class (the same note name in the same or different octaves). This all sounds rather rudimentary, but when actively improvising, there is less attention available for sensory discrimination, and it is clearly more difficult.
Achieving good results with this exercise takes about 5 - 10 minutes a day over a week or two, after which you will be much quicker and more accurate and you will be more confident playing with others.
And further:
If you want to go further, you can learn to identify all intervals, also through a related “real-time” listening exercise called: “1-2-3-4-T.”
https://caseysokol.squarespace.com/blog/1-2-3-4-t-real-time-interval-identification
You will also become more confident continuing your own improvisation because when you inwardly hear where you want to go, you will know where that is on your instrument.
The Play: Two instrumentalists begin by playing a melodic line in a slow, steady pulse. They begin at the same time, in the same tempo, and both use the same set of pitches. They each play only single notes and only one note per beat. The players can choose their pitches randomly or they can repeat notes and make any sort of patterns.They try to match each other’s dynamic level so that both instruments are equally loud. They use no sustain pedal, so that at any moment only two pitches are heard: one from each instrument.
The players continue playing until a unison or octave is sounded, and they respond to this by holding that note for one additional beat before beginning a new phrase. It continues in that manner until the Coda.
When both players do pause and sustain their notes at the same time, it serves as a confirmation that they both heard a unison or octave. If one player continues and other does not, they might not know if one of them was in error, but it doesn’t really matter, since the exercise is about listening with attention, not about counting mistakes.
[*Rationale: 1/ The five black piano keys make a pentatonic (5-note) scale, and it has proven to be the best scale to begin working on this exercise. Even non-pianists can easily locate the black keys, and these pitches will not result in dissonances, such as minor-seconds, major-sevenths, minor-ninths and tritones. 2/ It is generally easier to distinguish smaller, rather than larger intervals, so it is suggested that you begin this work by using a limited range of about two octaves: for example, one octave on either side of middle ‘C’. It can be tricky to hear pitches in the high treble range since the tone quality is very thin; it can also be difficult to hear intervals in the bass because the overtones are very prominent and can confuse the ear. 3/ Limiting the pitch-set to 5 different pitches necessarily limits the number of intervals that will arise during the exercise. This helps to focus your listening. If you do use all 12 pitches, there will be far fewer instances of unisons and octaves. 4/ The exercise limits the amount of time you can hear the interval before responding to it. It is used here in order to simulate the experience of listening to a piece of music, where you cannot stop it or slow it down. This is what is meant by “real-time” listening: listening in the actual time of the musical flow.]
There are many variations that can be introduced that keep the exercise alive but they can also be compositionally intriguing. Several years ago I played a duo improvisation concert at a neighbouring university and my partner suggested that we perform this piece using a sequence of about 15 variations. It was a very robust improvisational elaboration, and no one realized that it was all based on such a simple exercise!
Click on the score or the side arrows to move to the next page.
Improv 'score' for performance of Unison Exercise, Nov. 2001. Casey Sokol and Glenn Buhr. (Download)
Improv score for performance of Unison Exercise Nov. 2001 with Glenn Buhr
The text below is the same as the linked file above.
Stages to be executed in the given sequence:
Sequence of stages:
1. Solos: an introduction
2. The original exercise
3. The drone
4. The drone as a rhythmic element
5. Ornamentation
6. Change of modality (maintaining alternating drones and ornamentation)
7. Adding a sixth tone: C-natural and a seventh: E-natural
8. Improvised interpolations: alternating solos > improvised duos
9. Enter the free improvisation: (with or without the mentioned solos)
10. Clusters with pentatonic upper voice: 3-beat pause instead of 1-beat pause
11. Coupling in thirds: pause of one beat
12. Big bell octaves and big bass tones in black-note pentatonic
13. Solos: an introduction
14. The Unison Exercise (original)
The stages are cumulative unless otherwise stated.
Descriptions of stages:
1. Solos: an introduction
The cue: One player will be chosen to begin. (The tempo will be critical.)
A few alternating solo phrases between performers, each gradually accumulating the simple character of the duo to come: slowly moving single note melody moving in one duration (let’s say,‘quarter notes’), in a black-note pentatonic scale. When one player’s phrase ends, the other can begin. At the outset, the solos might have a slightly freer flow, but still suggesting generally equal durations. The pause between solos is not measured. As the solo exchange proceeds, the durations become more rigorously equal, to the point where not only is the melody moving in a steady pulse, but the exchange is also measured (that is, the pause between solos).
2. The Unison Exercise (original)
The cue: One of the two players enters this stage when they feel it to be the right time. One player simply decides to join in and play along with the other’s solo.
As soon as both players are playing at the same time, this establishes the original texture of the exercise – a sort of first species, note-against-note black-note pentatonic “counterpoint.” Upon recognition of a unison or octave, the phrase comes to a close and is marked by one beat pause, during which the previous note is held. So this whole texture of Stage #2 is legato but with no sustain pedal.
If any unisons go by unnoticed by one player, the texture still proceeds without hesitation.
3. The drone
The cue: At either player’s discretion, a drone enters the texture
The struck unison/octave is, after the one beat pause, repeated and sustained as a drone over (or under) which the next phrase proceeds. The drone will be the actual pitch which was struck and not an octave equivalent.
4. The drone as a rhythmic element
The cue: At either player’s discretion, the drone can be repeated but only on the “off-beats.”
The drone can be re-articulated as little or as much as desired, either to sustain the sound or to effect rhythmic motif or momentum.
5. Ornamentation
Cue: Begins at either players’ discretion. One player signals this by just doing it.
Ornaments can be of any type and length, as long as they don’t mask the clear hearing of the notes on the beat. Probably they should be introduced somewhat in order of complexity: simple graces first, “crushes,” and then going up to any kind of gesture.
6. Change of modality (maintaining alternating drones and ornamentation)
The cue: A rhythmic figure played on a high C#, the first time as a preparatory signal (followed by another phrase in the black-note pentatonic), and the second time signaling a change of mode. The A# becomes A-natural.
7. Adding a sixth tone: C-natural and a seventh: E-natural
The cue: At one player’s discretion
8. Improvised interpolations: alternating solos > improvised duos
The cue: At player’s discretion, one players launches into an 8-beat solo phrase.
This solo can be supported by the other player or not, but on the following (ninth) beat, the players re-enter the piece as per Stage #7. The next unison cues the other player’s solo. These 8-beat solos continue to alternate until one player decides to layer their solo together with their partner’s. So at this point, the texture is Stage #7 with interpolated 8-beat duo improvisations between the unison-defined phrases.
9. Enter the free improvisation: (with or without the mentioned solos)
On the return from the lengthy free improvisation:
10. Clusters with pentatonic upper voice: 3-beat pause instead of 1-beat pause
The cue: One of the players introduces, into the ongoing free improvisation, large beat-unit chromatic clusters and the other player follows their lead.
All previous accumulated stages are abandoned. There are no drones, ornaments, solos, etc.
These chromatic clusters should move at approximately the pace of the original beat-unit of the exercise. They might arise within either a loud or soft section of the improv, so the dynamic range should eventually accommodate the best listening environment - probably softer than louder. The clusters can be of any construction and density but they each have a well-voiced black-note as their upper tone. This “soprano-line” pentatonic is what re-introduces the unison exercise.
If it is too difficult for the players to distinguish the upper tone then the clusters should gradually become less dense and more exclusively pentatonic.
This section should prove difficult to hear with certainty, so the players need to anticipate this difficulty and be prepared to either forge ahead with their clusters (if they believe no unison has occurred) or to go into the “pause” (if they think they did hear a unison).
When a soprano unison is struck the players will let their clusters ring for 3 additional beats (or four beats including the striking of the unison as the first beat of the four). If player A recognizes a pause and B goes on playing, then B should continue playing without hesitation. Player A can rejoin at any time.
11. Coupling in thirds: pause of one beat
The cue: Both players gradually move to this stage from the last. Eventually each player fully commits it.
Both players get softer and gradually thin the texture of the previous clusters until they are only coupling their black-note pentatonic melody with a major third under the pentatonic tone. One player only accompanies this melody with open voice major chord (arpeggiated in various rhythms) whose roots are always one of the five pentatonic tones (Gb maj, Ab maj, Bb maj, Db maj, Eb maj). This section maintains a fair degree of chromatic color but is even more modally organized for the ear than the previous one.
12. Big bell octaves and big bass tones in black-note pentatonic
The cue: At either players’ discretion, the drone is reintroduced
This is another version of Stage 2 and the players are now exclusively in a black-note pentatonic mode. The drone is taken from the unison pitch class and is now played by both players on the beat following the pause which follows the sounding of a unison/octave. The pentatonic melody which follows is played in three contiguous octaves in the uppermost register of the keyboard. The dynamic level continues to diminish.
13. Solos: an introduction
The cue: eye contact
This is a repetition of Stage #1. The players play short alternating pentatonic mode solos, beginning with the player who entered second at the outset of the piece. No drones, ornaments, etc.
14. The Unison Exercise (original)
The cue: eye contact
This is a repetition of Stage #2. No drones, ornaments, etc. The players end on the third unison and hold until fade.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
This exercise has a related exercise in the realm of rhythm called, The Clapping Game. Look for it in the list of exercises. Check it out!
Another real-time listening exercise for intervals on this site is “1-2-3-4-T”. It groups intervals into five categories.]
Glossary/Tags: #real-time #interval, #unison, #sensation, #variation, #stages (levels), #drone, #embellishment (ornament), #rudiments
VARIATIONS ON THE EXERCISE
In addition to listening for unisons and octaves, the format of the exercise can be used to listen for other intervals. And in place of a pause, the occurrence of a particular interval could be used to trigger a different musical response. For example, the unison/octave pitch can become the tonic of a new pentatonic scale, one which might in fact include white keys. I’ve done performances where a particular sound launches a change of texture or mode or tempo or alternating solos, or a change in orchestration, such as exchanging between other ensemble members. Many things are possible. So a next step in using this exercise might be to compose variations that allow for creative work.
The purpose of composing variations on the exercise is to begin to think about its musical development in terms of composition, that is, to exercise some inventiveness while sticking to the musicianship aims, and to develop the capacity for quick response and quick change on cue at particular key moments in a musical flow. And of course, each variation will provide additional challenges to your ability to hear these unisons/octaves in increasingly different sound environments.
The variations you can try might include playing with a staccato articulation (giving you only a brief exposure to the interval), playing in faster tempos, using very quiet dynamics, introducing drones and repeated tones, etc.
You can try anything you like, as long as there is still the demand to listen for the target interval and respond with sensible musical choices. You could decide, for example that, on hearing a certain interval or a specific pitch, you will both stop responding to unisons and begin to respond to a different interval, such as thirds and sixths. You could include a variation where the players respond to a specific cue by freely improvising for a number of beats before returning to the exercise.
See the score and audio file for other ideas.
§ § § § §
I first presented the “Unison Exercise” to a class in the 1970s (Piano Improvisation and Contemporary Styles). Pianist Glenn Buhr was in that class and when, many years later, he invited me to play a duo-improvisation concert at Wilfrid Laurier University where he was teaching composition, he suggested that we use that exercise for one of the items on our program. We spoke about it but we did not rehearse. Here is the recording of our improvisation on The Unison Exercise. It begins with alternating solos and slowly weaves itself into the piece. The variations included embellishments, drones, solos, mode changes, and more. But the aim has bifurcated because we are moving into a creative mode without losing the discipline of musicianship, that is the ear training involved in hearing unisons and octaves. Of course the cueing interval could be other than octaves; it could be a rhythmic motif, a particular piano register, chordal density, etc. Try stuff. Have fun.
Rationale for practicing this exercise:
In addition to having fun and gaining confidence, there are a few reasons to work at this “Unison” exercise:
a/ It will help us learn to identify the simplest musical values as direct sensations rather than by taking time to think about and analyze them
b/ Even without possessing perfect pitch, we can orient ourselves tonally while playing with others, without having to stop to think or evaluate.
c/ We can make better choices (more intentional) in our own improvisation if we are able to pre-hear the tones we want to play; we can know where we want the music to go next.
A SAMPLE PERFORMANCE EXCERPT OF THE UNISON EXERCISE
Sample play below: In the example below (audio and notation) the two players are using the same pitch set: two octaves of only black keys centred around middle-C.
Before writing about the possible variations, here is notation and a sound recording of a 3-minute excerpt of one realization. Following that there will be a compilation of several variations which could be applied to the original exercise. The players should make up their own variations as they proceed to compose a more elaborate and performable version.
The Unison Exercise
The Play: Two instrumentalists begin playing a melodic line in a slow, steady pulse (it could even be a random melody). They begin at the same time, at the same tempo, and both use the same set of pitches. They each play only single notes and only one note per beat. They try to match each other’s dynamic level so that both notes are equally loud. They use no sustain pedal, so that at any moment only two pitches are heard: one from each instrument. The players can choose their pitches randomly or they can repeat notes and make any sort of patterns.
The players keep playing until a unison or octave is sounded, and they respond to this by holding that note for one additional beat before beginning a new phrase.
Sample play below: In the example below (audio and notation) the two players are using the same pitch set: two octaves of only black keys centred around middle-C.
[*Rationale: The five black piano keys make a pentatonic (5-note) scale, and it has proven to be the best scale to begin working on this exercise. Even non-pianists can find the notes without any difficulty, and these pitches will not make any of the ‘harsher’ dissonances, such as minor-seconds, major-sevenths, minor-ninths and tritones.
If both players hold their note at the same time, that will be a kind of confirmation that they both heard a unison or octave. If one continues and other does not, they might not know who made the ‘mistake,’ but it doesn’t really matter because the exercise is about working with attention—-not about counting mistakes. There are many variations that can be introduced that keep the exercise alive but they can also be compositionally intriguing. Several years ago I played a duo improvisation concert at a neighbouring university and my partner suggested that we perform this piece using a sequence of about 15 variations. It was a very robust improvisational elaboration, and no one realized that it was all based on such a simple exercise!
The melody played by each musician can be “random” or it can be intentional, including ornamentation, repeated notes and repeated motives. The purpose of holding the “unison” tone for an extra beat is so that the two musicians can, without speaking, confirm with one another that a unison or octave has occurred. Without some means of confirmation that both players heard the same interval, this kind of identification exercise will not be satisfying or helpful.
It’s best to play legato but avoiding the sustain pedal, so only one note sounds from each player at any one time. Also, when first trying this exercise, it’s also easiest to hear intervals that are played in the same limited range, let’s say, within a two octave span around middle ‘c.’ Widely spaced intervals can be tricky to hear at first.
A SAMPLE PERFORMANCE EXCERPT OF THE UNISON EXERCISE
Before writing about the possible variations, here is notation and a sound recording of a 3-minute excerpt of one realization. Following that there will be a compilation of several variations which could be applied to the original exercise. The players should make up their own variations as they proceed to compose a more elaborate and performable version.
