Thesis Doctor of Philosophy Turvey Gemma Jessica 2021

If You Can Sing, You Can Play:
Applying the Legacies of Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear Training to

Classical Improvisation Pedagogy
Gemma Jessica Turvey
Bachelor of Music (Performance)
This thesis is presented for the degree of

Master of Music of The University of Western Australia
Conservatorium of Music
2021
Thesis Declaration
I, Gemma Jessica Turvey, certify that:
This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in this degree.
This thesis does not contain material which has been submitted for the award of
any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary
institution.
In the future, no part of this thesis will be used in a submission in my name, for
any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without
the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable,
any partner institution responsible for the joint award of this degree.
This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by
another person, except where due reference has been made in the text.
This thesis does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other
rights whatsoever of any person.
Human Research Ethics Approval (reference 2020/ET000195) was obtained prior

to commencing the work described in this thesis.
This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review
for publication.
Signed:
Date: 30th July 2021
ii
Authorship Declaration
I declare that the research presented here is my own original work and has not
been submitted to any other institution for the award of a degree.
Signed:
Date: 30th July 2021
iii
Abstract
In the art of improvisation, the musician consciously and subconsciously draws
on a lifetime of learnt theoretical knowledge and accumulated auditory memories
to create and compose spontaneously. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
Italy all students of music learnt to sing and memorise melodies known as solfeggi
for at least three years, before commencing composition and improvisation
exercises. Solfeggi are melodic compositions for voice often with keyboard
accompaniment. They played a pivotal role in establishing the necessary melodic
auditory memories required for future composition and improvisation lessons.
Third Stream ear training is a modern-day method with several striking
similarities to solfeggio. The Third Stream method is currently taught at a select
number of jazz and contemporary music schools, to all students learning to
improvise. Like solfeggio, Third Stream ear training involves learning to sing and
memorise melodies, but from a wide variety of music genres and styles.
Improvisation has been largely absent from classical music pedagogy for over a
century. There is growing interest to reintroduce improvisation into
undergraduate classical music curricula. Within this, there is little research on
methods to develop students’ auditory memories for improvisation. This study
compares eighteenth-century solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training methods, to
identify the key components for a new singing-based aural-training method, that
can support today’s classical music students learning to improvise.
iv
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training
Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Thank you to my supervisors Cecilia Sun, Nicholas Bannan and Jonathan
Fitzgerald for their encouragement, guidance, and support of this project.
Thanks also to my former Third Stream ear-training teachers Jonathan Dimond
and Louise Denson for instructing me all those years ago, and the insights they
have contributed to this project.
And lastly, thank you to my parents Monica and Nigel for their complete and
unwavering support.
v
Table of Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... v
Illustrations ....................................................................................................................... ix
Examples ........................................................................................................................ ix
Tables .............................................................................................................................. ix
Chapter One: Background................................................................................................1
About this Research Project...........................................................................................1
About Solfeggio...............................................................................................................5
About Third Stream Ear Training ..............................................................................11
Teaching Improvisation to Classical Music Students..............................................17
Improvisation in Today’s Undergraduate Classical Music Pedagogy .................................... 17
Identifying a Pedagogical Gap................................................................................................. 19
Auditory Memory and Improvisation .......................................................................21
The Benefits of Shared Auditory Memories ............................................................................ 23
Why Singing?.......................................................................................................................... 24
If You Can Sing, You Can Play .............................................................................................. 25
Developing a New Aural-Training Method .............................................................27
vi
Chapter Two: Comparative Analysis ...........................................................................29
Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills .................................................................30
Solfeggio Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills .......................................................... 30
Third Stream Ear-Training Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills............................. 33
Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills: Considerations for a New Method ................. 34
What Makes a Solfeggio or Third Stream Ear-Training Melody? .........................37
Anything Goes......................................................................................................................... 37
Comparing Melody Style and Instrumentation ...................................................................... 38
Solfeggi Melodies’ Style and Instrumentation ................................................................... 38
Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies’ Style and Instrumentation .................................... 40
Considerations for Melody Style and Instrumentation in a New Aural-Training Method
............................................................................................................................................. 41
Composing Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies ............................................ 42
Solmization, La or Lyrics? ...................................................................................................... 46
Bass Lines ................................................................................................................................ 50
Bass Lines in Solfeggi.......................................................................................................... 50
Bass Lines in Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies ........................................................... 52
Considerations for Bass Lines in New Aural-Training Repertoire .................................... 54
Teaching and Learning Techniques ...........................................................................54
Solfeggio Teaching and Learning Techniques ......................................................................... 55
Third Stream Ear-Training Teaching and Learning Techniques ........................................... 56
Parameters for Learning ..................................................................................................... 58
Ran Blake’s Process for Learning Melodies ........................................................................ 58
vii
Teaching and Learning Considerations for a New Aural-Training Method .......................... 61
Teaching How to Sing ............................................................................................................. 63
Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear-Training Teachers ............................................................... 64
Chapter Two Summary................................................................................................67
Chapter Three: Application of Findings and Final Observations .........................70
Overview ........................................................................................................................70
Criteria for Melody Selection: Quick Reference .......................................................70
Applying the New Aural-Training Method to Improvisation Exercises: Three
Case Studies ...................................................................................................................72
Case Study One: Modal Improvisations on a Drone .............................................................. 73
Case Study Two: Lyrical Improvisations Using a Harmonic Framework .............................. 78
Case Study Three: Small-Group Free Improvisation .............................................................. 85
Final Teaching Considerations and Observations ...................................................89
Existing Syllabus of Melodies: Vocalises by Gabriel Fauré .................................................... 89
Assessment .............................................................................................................................. 91
Safe Listening Guidelines ........................................................................................................ 93
Aspects for Further Research .................................................................................................. 95
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................97
Bibliography ...................................................................................................................100
Music Scores and Recordings ...................................................................................103
viii
Illustrations
Examples
Ex. 1. Leonardo Leo, “Lento” from XII Solfeggi a Voce Sola di Soprano con Basso 6
Ex. 2. Syllable Pattern for Solfeggio Solmization 47
Ex. 3. Giuseppe Aprile, “Andante” from Solfeggi per Voce di Soprano 52
Ex. 4. Leonardo Leo, “Grave” from XII Solfeggi a Voce Sola di Soprano con Basso 82
Tables
Table 1. Established Criteria for an Aural-Training Melody 71
ix
Chapter One: Background
About this Research Project
In 2020 I had started in earnest to study improvisation pedagogies from the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when I discovered the little-known practice
of solfeggio. I was instantly struck by what I observed to be significant similarities
it shared with a contemporary aural-training method, developed by improvising
pianist and educator Ran Blake, and known as Third Stream ear training.1 Both are
exclusively sung methods that use: oral or imitative learning as the primary mode
of instruction; a repertoire of melodies as their core resource; and, most
significantly, both methods exist within a broader context of teaching
improvisation.
Just how much do these two techniques have in common, and how far does their
similarity extend? These questions sparked this research project.
I bring to this research my extensive experience as a professional improvising
pianist and teacher of jazz and classical styles. My experience with Third Stream
ear training began as an undergraduate jazz-piano student at the Queensland
Conservatorium of Music. The method was included in the jazz department’s
compulsory aural-training classes which I undertook for three semesters from
2001–2002. In 2017 I was invited to teach the second-year aural musicianship class
1Third Stream ear training is how Blake’s method is referred to by practitioners Jonathan Dimond
and Louise Denson. I use this label throughout this paper.
1
for one semester at Melbourne Polytechnic, which included teaching the Third
Stream ear-training method. Increasingly I am presented with the task of teaching
classical musicians how to improvise. This is sometimes of the student’s own
volition or my recommendation as a piano teacher. Most recently, it has been
within the music theory curriculum of my current university’s undergraduate
classical music course.2
I have long been looking for a method similar to my experience of Third Stream
ear training that caters to classical music students learning to improvise. Third
Stream ear training is primarily aimed at tertiary-level jazz and contemporary
music students who use improvisation regularly in their practice. By comparison,
many undergraduate classical music students are unfamiliar with the act of
improvising. As well as having a different genre and improvisatory focus to their
jazz and contemporary music counterparts, in my experience these students are
also significantly less confident and adept at playing-by-ear. I argue these
differences present the need for a modified aural-training method, based on Third
Stream and solfeggio, that can help prepare a classical student’s aural skills and
specifically the auditory memories so crucial for improvisation exercises.
Simply teaching solfeggio to today’s classical student, while beneficial, is not
wholly practical or feasible. This is due to a number of reasons I discuss in this
2In 2020, improvisation was a focus of the final semester of the Music Language unit for
undergraduate students at the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music.
2
opening chapter, including prerequisite skills, repertoire style, and the original
learning pathway. The methodology behind Third Stream ear training is already
highly adaptable and designed to accommodate any musical style. The
technique’s founder, Ran Blake, encourages students once they have grasped his
method of aural learning, to “apply it to any music, in any style, that interests
you.”3 For example, composer Scott Sandvik is noted as having proposed the
application of the Third Stream ear-training approach to encompass twentieth-
century atonal music.4 Blake acknowledges that this would give students a richer
insight into this genre of concert repertoire, and also elicit a new improvisational
language.5 It is possible to simply plug-in repertoire to the Third Stream ear-
training model that is more relevant to today’s classical music student. Indeed,
Blake has on occasion included excerpts of classical repertoire amongst his
melodies for learning, as I will detail later in this study.6 However, the growing
field of solfeggio research offers an opportunity to bring new knowledge and
insight into this area, from a rich history of preparing students for improvisation
in the eighteenth century.
In this study I compare solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training techniques, and
from this propose a new, modified aural-training method for all classical music
3Ran Blake, Primacy of the Ear: Listening, Memory and Development of Musical Style (San Bernadino:
Third Stream Associates, 2010), 18.
4 Blake, Primacy of the Ear, 107.
5 Blake, 107.
6 Blake, 28, 102.
3
students, as a precursor to improvisation exercises. The new method is based on
Third Stream ear-training methodology developed by Ran Blake, augmented with
aspects from the solfeggio tradition. This study identifies the essential elements of
the new method; future trial studies of the method in practice are required to
define the optimal working model. The new method is aimed at all students of
undergraduate classical aural-training classes, but can equally be applied to
individual instruction. My research focus is on developing a teaching resource to
support early stages of improvisation training. It can, however, be applied to
students improvising at any level, and professionals seeking to improve their use
of improvisation in performance practice.
Importantly, although I propose a singing-based method it is not aimed at
developing virtuosic or professional singers but, instead, uses singing as the
primary means for developing aural skills and auditory memory. Because of this, I
have chosen to refer to the new modified method as an aural-training method,
rather than a singing method or vocal pedagogy.
In this opening chapter I provide a background to solfeggio and Third Stream ear-
training methods and outline the key principles and factors that are the basis of
this research project. This includes the current use of improvisation in classical
music pedagogy, the role of auditory memory in improvisation, the potential
benefit of auditory memories to today’s classical music students, and the
importance of singing in this context. I close this first chapter with an outline of
4
my methodology for developing a new, sung aural-training method for classical
musicians.
About Solfeggio
Solfeggio is a singing-based pedagogy that was integral to the training of students
of the Conservatoires of Naples in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.7
Solfeggio (singular), solfeggi (plural), is also the name given to the melodic pieces
which are central to this method of teaching. All students of the Naples
Conservatoires learnt to sing solfeggi for at least three years as a compulsory
precursor to lessons in composition and improvisation.8 Solfeggio is thought to
have been taught by the Secondo Maestro (second master) of the Conservatoire,
who also composed solfeggi melodies for teaching.9 The most common type of
solfeggio is composed for solo voice, with keyboard accompaniment extemporised
by the maestro from a bass line.10 Example 1 shows a modern transcription of this
kind of solfeggio, composed by one of the most prolific solfeggio maestri
Leonardo Leo (1694–1744).
7Robert Gjerdingen, "About Solfeggi: Solfeggi in Their Historical Context," Monuments of

Solfeggi, Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, accessed July 8, 2021,
https://web.archive.org/web/20160402124338/http://faculty-
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/aboutSolfe/histOverview.htm.
8Nicholas Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition: A Forgotten Art of Melody in the Long Eighteenth
Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 2.
9 Gjerdingen, "About Solfeggi: Solfeggi in Their Historical Context."
10Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 244-46. Baragwanath identifies this as the most common
type of solfeggi. He identifies three other types of solfeggi: solo voice, unaccompanied; two or
more voices unaccompanied; and two or more voices accompanied.
5
Example 1. “Lento” No. 4a from XII Solfeggi a Voce Sola di Soprano con Basso by Leonardo Leo
(1694–1744), Gj5007, transcribed by Robert Gjerdingen.11
Hundreds of solfeggi like Leo’s in example 1 are now coming to light in
manuscript collections, having sat undisturbed in conservatoire archives for over
a century.12 In addition to these manuscripts, solfeggio scholar Nicholas
Baragwanath observes that countless more would have been discarded from
tablets, or never notated at all, because the practice of singing solfeggi was so
11Robert Gjerdingen, "Leo, MS2369, No.4a -- Lento," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern

University Bienen School of Music, accessed July 15, 2021,
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/Leo/SantiniMS2369/04a/04a_Lento.
htm. All material on this website is in the public domain and may be freely copied and
redistributed.
12Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 1; Peter van Tour, "UUSolf, The Uppsala Solfeggio
Database," Peter van Tour, last modified March 14, 2018,
http://www2.musik.uu.se/UUSolf/UUSolf.php.
6
commonplace.13 Where solfeggio manuscripts have indeed survived, they come
with no written instructions or guidelines due to the largely oral nature of
instruction.
The name solfeggio is simply derived from a combination of two of the syllables
used when singing melodies: sol and fa. Using set syllables when singing is a
defining feature of solfeggio practice. This process, known as solmization, assigns
a specific syllable to each degree of a scale; modern examples of this are the
systems of moveable do and fixed do. The practice of solfeggio uses a transposing
system with specific and at times complex rules for application. I discuss this in
more detail in chapter 2.
Solfeggi were primarily taught orally, by way of sung instruction and imitation.14
Using solmization was integral to learning to sing solfeggi, with the syllables often
acting as a memory aid. This kind of oral instruction remained the dominant
method of teaching throughout the Neapolitan Conservatoires until the end of the
eighteenth century.15
Solfeggi were designed as lessons in style and nuance, which instilled the musical
conventions of the day by way of a myriad of examples.16 In addition to this,
13 Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 1.

14 Baragwanath, 128.
15Giorgio Sanguinetti, Art of Partimento, History, Theory, and Practice (Cary: Oxford University
Press, 2012), 41; Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 156-57.
Robert Gjerdingen, "About Solfeggi: A Beginner’s Guide," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern
16
University Bienen School of Music, accessed April 14, 2020,
7
scholar Nicholas Baragwanath has recently revealed how the practice of solfeggio
also taught students how to embellish and extemporise new melodies. He
explains that, by establishing foundations of melodic rules and devices, melodies
could then be “realized in all manner of florid styles.”17 While solfeggio taught
strategies for extemporisation, my research is primarily focused on the function of
solfeggi as instructional lessons in the style of the day.
Singing solfeggi melodies exclusively for three years or more equipped the
student with the necessary instinctive melodic knowledge later required for
composition and improvisation lessons at the keyboard, known as partimento.
Accurate and successful execution of a partimento exercise required applying, in
real time, the melodic patterns and stylistic devices learnt from years of singing
countless solfeggi exercises.18 To this end, solfeggio and partimento scholar Robert
Gjerdingen describes solfeggi melodies as providing the young musician with a
“storehouse of memorized material from which the performer or composer could
later draw.”19
For these Neapolitan Conservatoire students, and indeed most trained musicians
in the eighteenth century, the concept of improvisation was synonymous with
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/aboutSolfe/beginnersGuide.htm.
18In addition to a solfeggio training, students also required a grasp of keyboard skills, including
figured bass and the rule of the octave, to successfully execute partimento exercises.
8
composition.20 To improvise meant the ability to compose in the moment. Fluency
as an improviser was the key to fast, and at times prodigious, rates of
compositional output, and secure employment either in church or at court. Our
modern concept of improvisation as a kind of liberated, individualistic creative
expression would be an anathema to most eighteenth-century musicians.
Individuality was not the primary motive or concern. Scholar Robert Gjerdingen
explains, “the notion that a sad piece by the court composer was about the
composer’s sadness would have seemed just as strange as the idea that a tart
sauce prepared by the court chef was about the chef’s tartness.”21
Solfeggi provided important lessons in how to ‘speak’ musically in the baroque or
galant style of the eighteenth century. This involved using specific melodic
schemata, as well as embellishment rules and conventions of the day. Gjerdingen
has extensively studied the use of schemata in music from the eighteenth century
including solfeggi. His publication, Music in the Galant Style, details more than ten
different melodic schemata that are typical of eighteenth-century repertoire.22
Solfeggi started to become more widespread towards the latter half of the
eighteenth century with the first French publication in 1768 of a collection of
Italian solfeggi, titled Solfèges d’Italie.23 Separated from the oral tradition of
20 Bruce Haynes, The End of Early Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 207.
21 Robert Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style (Cary: Oxford University Press, 2007), 7.
22 Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 454-64.
9
teaching, these solfeggi exercises quickly evolved away from their original
purpose. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Paris Conservatoire had
adopted Italian solfeggi as specialist exercises for voice students rather than
compulsory learning for all students.24 Here, solfeggi were sung using the French
fixed-do solmization, or in some cases to single vowels such as la or ah.25
Fundamentally, within this context, improvisation began to disappear from music
pedagogy, and solfeggio’s role as a primer for composition and improvisation
tasks vanished. The Paris Conservatoire, established in 1795 in the model of a
military school, ensured that students were taught to “reproduce the letter of the
text with a perfection no one had previously aspired to, and improvisation was
neglected if not scorned outright.”26 This study specifically focuses on solfeggio
from the eighteenth-century Naples Conservatoires, when the method was at the
height of practice as a necessary precursor to teaching improvisation.
Until recently, little has been understood about solfeggio and its place in the
eighteenth-century Neapolitan tradition. This is due to the predominantly oral
method of teaching, and sparsity of written instruction. Nicholas Baragwanath’s
recently published book, The Solfeggio Tradition, has done much to reveal the inner
workings of the practice to a wider audience of music educators and artists. His

26Richard Taruskin, The Oxford History of Western Music, vol. 2 (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2005), 650.
10
research builds upon the findings to date from the small but growing field of
solfeggio and partimento scholars including Robert Gjerdingen, Giorgio
Sanguinetti, Rosa Cafiero, and Peter van Tour.27 My research relies significantly on
Baragwanath’s publication, which includes newly uncovered and transcribed
manuscripts, translated texts and first-hand accounts of the time.
Recent advances in understanding solfeggio have seen the commencement of
solfeggio instruction for students of Early Music at the University of Amsterdam,
led by Professor Job Ijzerman.28 This is a logical, modern application of the historic
method. Because solfeggi melodies are composed in baroque or galant styles, the
method is limited in its ability to support students learning to improvise in styles
outside the eighteenth century, such as Romantic, impressionist or neoclassical
styles. It can however provide rich insights and knowledge for developing a new
aural-training method to support today’s classical music students learning to
improvise.
About Third Stream Ear Training
The term Third Stream was first used in 1957 by composer and musicologist
Gunther Schuller, initially to encapsulate music that combined the unique
27 Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, xi.

28Job Ijzerman,“115: Job Ijzerman,” January 25, 2021, in The Nikhil Hogan Show, produced by Nikhil
Hogan, podcast, MP3 audio, 1:27:22, https://nikhilhoganshow.libsyn.com/115-job-ijzerman. These
students use moveable-do solfège in place of traditional solfeggio solmization.
11
compositional characteristics of Western art music with African American jazz.29
Use of the term was quickly adopted and expanded to encompass a wider range
of musical styles that assimilated Western art music techniques with jazz, folk and
contemporary improvisatory styles. By assimilating or combining different styles,
Third Stream aims to transcend style. Examples of Third Stream artists include
Ornette Coleman, Dave Douglas, Steve Lacy and George Russell.30
In 1972 Schuller, together with improvising pianist and composer Ran Blake,
established a dedicated Third Stream Department at the New England
Conservatory in Boston.31 It was here that Blake began to develop and teach his
Third Stream ear-training method.32 Their founding curriculum aimed to provide
a “non-restrictive, disciplined approach to improvisation.”33 The department
continues today with this primary aim, under a new department title of
Contemporary Improvisation.34
Third Stream ear training, like solfeggio, is a singing-based practice that
exclusively uses melodies that are learnt aurally. Just as all students of the Naples
Conservatoires learnt to sing solfeggi, Third Stream ear training is practiced by all
Gunther Schuller and Thomas H. Greenland, "Third Stream," in Grove Music Online (Oxford
29
University Press, Oct 16, 2013). https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2252527.

30 Schuller and Greenland, "Third Stream."
Ran Blake, "Third Stream and the Importance of the Ear: A Position Paper in Narrative Form,"
31
College Music Symposium 21, no. 2 (1981): 140.

32 Blake, "Third Stream and the Importance of the Ear," 141-42.
33 Blake, 140.
34"Contemporary Improvisation," New England Conservatory, accessed May 24, 2020,
https://necmusic.edu/contemporary-improvisation.
12
students of the jazz or contemporary music course, regardless of their instrument
specialisation. Unlike solfeggi, which were taught orally by a teacher singing,
Third Stream ear training relies on recorded melodies for the student to learn from
and imitate. The melodies are selected by the teacher, from commercially recorded
works covering a diverse range of musical styles. For his own classes Blake
compiled tapes, and later CDs, which included music ranging from jazz singers
Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan to Latin and contemporary jazz, traditional
Sephardic songs, Greek melodies and musical theatre.35 Featured melodies are on
average one to two minutes long, and a set number of melodies are assigned by
the teacher for learning each semester, depending on the class level and ability.
The melodies are learnt and memorised using a structured process of repeated
listening, singing along to the recording, and then singing unaccompanied
without the recording. Because of this, the method can be self-taught and is not
reliant on a teacher. Where Third Stream ear training is part of a music course, this
learning process is largely assigned as homework, and not done during class time.
Notation of melodies is strictly prohibited, as is any reference to a notated score,
or use of a musical instrument to aid learning. Instead, students are taught to use
a systematic approach to aural learning and melody memorization. Through this
process, the student’s aural skills and musical memory are developed, and they
35 Jonathan Dimond, email correspondence to author, August 23, 2020; Blake, "Third Stream and
the Importance of the Ear," 142-43.
13
begin to acquire a library of stylistic melodic characteristics unique to each genre
studied.36
Ran Blake designed Third Stream ear training in response to the declining aural
abilities of many of his improvising students.37 He acknowledges that music has
been learnt by ear for centuries, and the basis of his particular ear-training method
is “as old as the birth of music.”38 Jazz began as a predominately oral tradition,
evolving from the oral and vocal music traditions of West African tribes and
African American blues music.39 Over time, as jazz was formalised and
institutionalised as a pedagogy, its oral traditions became less central.40 This was a
reality that Ran Blake was trying to counteract with his method.
While Third Stream ear training has several striking similarities to solfeggio, these
are seemingly unintentional. Blake does make passing mention of solfeggio in his
essay Primacy of the Ear (c.1988), reprinted in his book of the same name.41 He
writes:
36 Louise Denson, "Third Stream Ear Training at the Queensland Conservatorium" in 29th World
Conference of the International Society for Music Education (Beijing: 2010), accessed August 23, 2020,
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/37570.
37 Denson, "Third Stream Ear Training at the Queensland Conservatorium."
39Gunther Schuller, Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1986), 38-41.
40 Blake, "Third Stream and the Importance of the Ear," 143.
14
There is no doubt that solfeggio helps students hear what they are
performing, and one may argue that musicians who plan to make a
career of performing exclusively orchestral music may find the
Third Stream approach less valuable. Solfeggio is taught through
the eye. Of course, it is desirable to be able to sight-sing a score.42
Blake’s comments suggest an understanding of solfeggio as being exercises in
fixed-do solmization, as used by the Paris Conservatoire since the early nineteenth
century. As I have previously explained, solfeggio in its original form was a
practice learnt predominantly by ear, within the largely oral tradition of the
Neapolitan Conservatoires. Ijzerman says, of his recent solfeggio lessons to Early
Music students, that “solfeggio is not a sight-reading class.”43 It was only in the
nineteenth century that the oral method of teaching declined dramatically, and
solfeggi exercises transitioned to being learnt by notation only, using fixed-do
solmization. The original solfeggio tradition has only come to light very recently,
and since the publication of Blake’s essay in 1988.44
Third Stream ear training is aimed at students of jazz and contemporary music
students, the majority of whom are already improvising and comfortable playing
by ear. For students and teachers of the Third Stream method, improvisation is
42 Blake, 104.
43 Job Ijzerman, “115: Job Ijzerman,” January 25, 2021, in The Nikhil Hogan Show.
15
about individual expression, and part of a broader pursuit of an individual style.45
This is opposite to eighteenth-century improvisation, for which stylistic accuracy
and functionality were prioritised over individuality. Writing about Third Stream
as a movement more broadly, Blake expressly states that “originality is as
important as competence.”46 The representation of disparate musical genres in the
set melodies (from all kinds of jazz, to ethnic folk and contemporary music), is a
hallmark of the Third Stream approach of converging and transcending music
influences. Third Stream ear-training melodies are not provided to improve a
student’s ability to improvise convincingly in a specific style. Instead, the diverse
genre selection is intended to encourage the student to develop their own unique
musical voice, from a broad range of styles.
Third Stream ear training has not been widely adopted by jazz or contemporary
music pedagogy. This is most likely because as a Third Stream technique it sits
outside the mainstream jazz tradition. It is still taught today at the New England
Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, as part of the Contemporary Improvisation
curriculum.47 It is also taught in Australia by former students of NEC: Jonathan
Dimond at Melbourne Polytechnic Creative Arts Department, and until recently,
Louise Denson at the Queensland Conservatorium Jazz and Contemporary Music
45Tanya Kalmanovitch, "Teaching the ‘Compleat Musician’: Contemporary Improvisation at New

England Conservatory," in Improvisation and Music Education: Beyond the Classroom, ed. Ajay Hebel
and Mark Laver (London: Routledge, 2016), 168.
47 NEC Faculty, email correspondence to author, July 13, 2021.
16
Department.48 Other former students of Blake may be teaching his method,
however I have been unable to verify where.
Teaching Improvisation to Classical Music Students
Improvisation in Today’s Undergraduate Classical Music Pedagogy
The art of improvisation has been largely absent from classical music pedagogy
and performance practice for more than a century. It is rarely, if ever, a condition
of employment or measure of musical ability for today’s classically trained
musicians.49 A small but growing number of artists use improvisation in classical
performance; some leaders in this field include pianists Robert Levin, David
Dolan and John Mortensen, and period ensemble L’Arpegiatta. Increasingly,
improvisation is also recognised as a powerful pedagogical tool that can promote
student engagement, provide relevance to theoretical concepts, and promote
individual musicianship and artistic expression.50 It is within this context of
improvisation as a teaching and learning tool that this study is primarily located.
In 2013, the American College Music Society President, Patricia Shehan Campbell,
established a “Taskforce on the Undergraduate Music Major” to re-evaluate the
48Jonathan Dimond, interview by Gemma Turvey, Zoom video call, June 10, 2021; Louise Denson,
interview by Gemma Turvey, Zoom video call, May 31, 2021. Louise Denson retired from teaching
in 2020.
49 One significant exception to this is organists, who still use improvisation in performance.
50Monika Andrianopoulou, Aural Education: Reconceptualising Ear Training in Higher Music Learning
(Milton: Routledge Ltd, 2019), 22; Nicholas Bannan, Every Child a Composer: Music Education in an
Evolutionary Perspective (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2019), 516-17.
17
needs of the music student in the twenty-first century.51 Central to the taskforce’s
final report, released in 2014, was the recommendation for increased inclusion of
improvisation and composition to “ensure the relevance, quality and rigour of the
undergraduate music curriculum.”52 Their position is not in opposition to the
tradition of classical performance practice. Rather, the report argues that “when
this important practice [of interpretive performance] is reintegrated within a
foundation of systematic improvisation and composition, new levels of vitality
and excellence are possible in the interpretive performance domain.”53
In this context of undergraduate classical music curricula, the aim of
improvisation is different to that held by students and teachers using Third
Stream ear training. There is not the same strong emphasis on originality and
individuality found in the Third Stream method. Instead, classical music
pedagogy uses improvisation exercises to enhance musicianship and real-time
expression. I discuss this in more detail in chapter 3, where I present three case
studies of improvisation exercises currently in use and designed for classically
trained musicians. I suggest that the improvisatory focus of these exercises
preferences accuracy of the prescribed task over originality of the musical
material. As such, the classical music student has different improvisational aims,
51Patricia Shehan Campbell et al., Transforming Music Study From its Foundations: A Manifesto for
Progressive Change in the Undergraduate Preparation of Music Majors (Missoula, MT: College Music
Society, 2014), 2.
52 Campbell et al., Transforming Music Study From its Foundations, 2.
53 Campbell et al., 2-3.
18
and therefore different needs, to the Third Stream ear-training student. This is the
basis for developing a new modified aural-training method.
Identifying a Pedagogical Gap
Classical music educators are increasingly including improvisation in a range of
classroom and studio settings, with a variety of historically informed, jazz-based,
and self-developed approaches. Despite this resurgence of improvisation
pedagogy, I have found no resources and little discussion about developing a
classical student’s auditory memory for improvisation, in the way that solfeggio
or Third Stream ear-training methods do.54
Advocates of the importance of singing to an undergraduate-level classical
improvisatory practice can be found in the publications by current solfeggio
scholars. Robert Gjerdingen is a renowned scholar of eighteenth-century music,
and editor of the Monuments of Solfeggi website– an online resource of
transcribed solfeggi manuscripts from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.55
By creating the database, the contributors “aim to provide free and easy access to
the repertories of instructional material that were once common in the training of
elite classical musicians in Europe.”56 Through this growing knowledge of
54More broadly, the importance of singing to music learning is recognised by childhood music
pedagogies such as Suzuki, Orff, Kodaly, and Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory.
55Robert Gjerdingen, "About the Series," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern University Bienen
School of Music, accessed July 9, 2021, https://web.archive.org/web/20160328144034/http://faculty-
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/aboutSeries/aboutSeries.htm.
56 Gjerdingen, "About the Series."
19
solfeggio, Gjerdingen aims to encourage a “historically informed style of
instruction, one that focuses on the accumulation of stylistic knowledge.”57
Nicholas Baragwanath’s recent publication The Solfeggio Tradition provides new
research on the history and practicality of learning to sing solfeggi. He encourages
readers to sing the exercises in his text, in order to understand them and their
place in eighteenth-century music pedagogy: “Readers must be prepared to
experience the lessons with their voices and to compare their interpretations with
mine.”58
Cellist Eugene Friesen works across classical, contemporary, and world music
genres. His textbook Improvisation for Classical Musicians makes mention of the
value of singing, writing in the introduction that “singing is our most direct route
to our music and our emotions. [. . .] It is essential that singing be a part of your
daily creative life.”59 The majority of his book is dedicated to specific
improvisation exercises using the instrument and the voice. Improvising vocally is
not the same, however, as learning a melody aurally to develop auditory
memories.
I argue that current improvisation pedagogy in undergraduate classical curricula
may be enhanced by an aural-training method that specifically develops a

59 Eugene Friesen, Improvisation for Classical Musicians (Boston: Berklee Press, 2012), 4.
20
student’s auditory memory and aural skills in advance of improvisation training.
The practice of solfeggio and Third Stream ear training represent the established
use of such an approach in historic and contemporary improvisation pedagogies.
In the following sections I explain why these two methods are so effective, by
outlining the importance of auditory memory to the process of improvisation, and
the legacy and benefit of singing to develop auditory memories.
Auditory Memory and Improvisation
Auditory memory, also known as musical mental imagery, inner hearing, or
audiation, is the ability to retain musical memories and think in music.60 Blake
describes long-term auditory memory as “the foundation of the trained ear, and
the trained ear is the basis for any musical creation.”61 Music educator Edwin
Gordon based his Music Learning Theory on developing “audiation”—a term he
coined to describe “the musical equivalent of thinking in language.”62 Other music
pedagogies such as Suzuki, Dalcroze, Orff, Kodaly are also based on developing
audiation in childhood music education, before introducing notation. What
differentiates solfeggio and Third Stream ear training from these pedagogies is
their specific purpose of preparing and developing a student for improvisation.
60 Andrianopoulou, Aural Education, 50.

62Richard Colwell et al., "Music Education in the United States," in Grove Music Online (Oxford
University Press, July 25, 2013). https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2242324;
"Auditation," The Gordon Institue for Music Learning, 2021, accessed June 20, 2021,
https://giml.org/mlt/audiation.
21
A musician’s auditory memory is directly engaged in the act of improvisation.63
An improvising musician consciously and subconsciously draws on their lifetime
of accumulated auditory memories, as well as learnt theoretical knowledge, to
create spontaneously. Blake summaries this process, by describing that the “ear
determines the improviser’s direction and therefore the quality of the
improvisation.”64 Music psychologists Barry J. Kenny and Martin Gellrich have
studied the importance of knowledge bases, including auditory memory, to a
successful improvisation regardless of the specific musical genre.65 They describe
these knowledge bases as being equivalent to a “warehouse of previously learned
material.”66 This closely resembles Gjerdingen’s description of solfeggio providing
a “storehouse of memorized material.”67
The importance of the musical style in the process of improvisation cannot be
underestimated. According to Kenny and Gellrich, improvising musicians
develop their knowledge bases by “internalising material that is idiomatic to their
improvisation culture.”68 How fluent and unique an improviser’s knowledge
bases are can often differentiate experienced from novice improvising musicians.

64 Blake, 141.
65Barry J. Kenny and Martin Gellrich, "Improvisation," in The Science and Psychology of Music
Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning, ed. Richard Parncutt and Gary McPherson
(Cary: Oxford University Press, 2002), 118.
66 Kenny and Gellrich, "Improvisation," 118.
67 Gjerdingen, "About the Series."
68 Kenny and Gellrich, "Improvisation," 118.
22
Developing long-term auditory memories is the primary focus of Third Stream ear
training, and a natural result of the intensive learning process of solfeggio. It is
also the focus of my modified aural-training method. Blake describes the process
of building auditory memory as “primarily a function of careful, conscious
listening. There is no more important activity in influencing one’s style [. . .].”69
The process designed by Blake for learning melodies in his Third Stream ear-
training method is outlined in the Teaching and Learning section of the following
chapter.
The Benefits of Shared Auditory Memories
Establishing a repertoire of auditory memories common to all students has
significant advantages for teachers of improvisation. Musical memory is not
unique to musicians; almost everyone has some form of musical, or auditory
memory. 70 All classical music students commencing tertiary music studies will
have their own auditory memories comprising melodic fragments, learnt
repertoire and favourite songs. Apart from shared experiences such as a national
anthem, and a handful of famous songs, each student’s auditory memories are
comprised of largely arbitrary, personally specific material. Added to this is the
very private and hidden nature of our memories. There is no way to see into a
student’s entire melodic knowledge base, let alone a classroom of students. This
obscurity and diversity of auditory memories presents a challenge to the teacher

70 Andrianopoulou, Aural Education, 54.
23
coaching students in improvisation. As I detail in the final chapter of this study,
students may have little or no existing auditory reference to draw on when
presented with improvisation tasks involving modal improvisation, or style-
specific lyrical improvisation. This study develops a method that helps prepare a
classical music student’s auditory memory, relevant to the improvisation task at
hand.
Why Singing?
Solfeggio and Third Stream ear training both mandate learning exclusively by
singing as opposed to playing the melody on an instrument. Singing is the most
effective medium for developing and expressing auditory memory because of
similarities with how the human brain develops speech and language.
Young infants learn to speak instinctively through the process of hearing,
memory, recall and vocal imitation.71 The feedback loop of hear-recall-imitate (or
vocalise) is the basis of how humans acquire language and communicate. This
evolutionary relationship explains why singing, a form of vocalisation, is so
effective at developing aural skills and auditory memory. Music educator,
composer and scholar Nicholas Bannan describes singing as being “the portal to
inner hearing and musical thinking.”72 Fittingly, Nicholas Baragwanath describes
Nicholas Bannan, First Instruments: Teaching Music Through Harmony Signing (New York: Oxford
71
University Press, 2020), 4.

72 Bannan, First Instruments, 4.
24
the solfeggio tradition as a pedagogy that “exploits the innate human ability to
acquire language.”73
Students new to Third Stream ear training may ask why they must learn to sing
the melodies, instead of learning to play the melodies directly on their specific
instrument. Bypassing vocalisation and imitating a passage directly on an
instrument is less effective for developing the kind of aural skills that are useful
for improvisation. This is because playing an instrument naturally engages other
physical and visual cues such as fingering and patterns of movement. For these
reasons, asking a student to reproduce a passage of music directly on an
instrument will not necessarily provide an accurate representation of a student’s
internal hearing; the student may be resorting (unconsciously or not) to patterns
or cues to recall and reproduce the material.74 For the same reasons, memorising
by reading written notation does not automatically generate a comparable
auditory memory. Imitating exclusively using vocalisation gives primary focus to
the ear and auditory functions; a concept encapsulated in the title of Ran Blake’s
ear-training method book The Primacy of the Ear.75
If You Can Sing, You Can Play
Singing is so central to both eighteenth-century Italian music pedagogy and jazz
culture that the conditional dictum “If you can sing, you can play,” exists in both

74 Bannan, First Instruments, 34.
75 Blake, Primacy of the Ear.
25
traditions. This commonality further supports the importance of singing to the
practice of improvisation.
Singing was embedded in the eighteenth-century Neapolitan conservatoire
curriculum. A good singing voice was the basis of entry, and the ability to sing
solfeggi was essential before a student could commence keyboard instruction and
the prospect of instrument specialisation.76 An education system built on singing
attracted what became a famous saying amongst the Neapolitan Conservatoires:
“chi canta suona”— roughly translated to mean “he who sings can also play.”77
Jazz music also has a similar adage: “If you can sing it, you can play it.”78
American ethnomusicologist Paul Berliner has traced the origins of this saying to
the New Orleans jazz musicians of the 1920s.79 New Orleans trumpeter Mutt
Carey (1891–1948) is quoted as saying of the great Louis Armstrong: “Louis sings
just like he plays. I think Louis proves the idea and theory which holds that if you
can’t sing it, you can’t play it.”80
The saying encapsulates the concept of improvisation being a real-time translation
of the individual soloist’s musical ideas (or audiation), and the importance placed
76 Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 54; Sanguinetti, Art of Partimento, 43.

77 Sanguinetti, Art of Partimento, 43.
78Paul Berliner, Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1994), 181
79 Paul Berliner, Thinking in Jazz, 181.
80 Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff, Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya: The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made
It (New York: Dover, 1966), 47.
26
on realizing these ideas on their instrument. Modern-day jazz instrumentalists,
such as pianist Keith Jarett, will vocalise their musical ideas during the act of
improvising in performance. Throughout my own jazz training I was regularly
reminded by teachers that if you could sing your musical idea, you would be able
to accurately express it on your instrument.
Understanding the role of auditory memory and singing in the process of
improvisation highlights the value of solfeggio and Third Stream ear training
methods. It also underscores the need and potential benefit for a similar resource
to prepare today’s classical musicians for improvisation lessons.
Developing a New Aural-Training Method
Through this study I propose a new singing-based aural-training method,
modelled on aspects of Third Stream ear training and solfeggio, that can provide a
future practical resource for classical music students learning to improvise. My
study focuses on supporting classical music students who are at the beginning of
their improvisation training. I believe such students would benefit from having
specific auditory memories related to their improvisation tasks. As I discuss
throughout chapter 2, most undergraduate classical music students have
markedly different pedagogical needs and aims to their Third Stream and
solfeggio counterparts. These differences are the basis for requiring a new,
modified method.
27
In the following chapter, I identify the essential aspects and criteria for developing
a new aural-training method for classical musicians, by comparing key aspects of
solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training methods. This comparative analysis
provides insights from historic and current perspectives on using singing-based
aural training to support improvisation. Solfeggio’s influence in the eighteenth
century, and its similarities to Third Stream ear training, are compelling reasons to
study what aspects are so effective to both approaches. Finding points of
similarity and difference between the two methods provides important
considerations for adapting the Third Stream ear-training method to support
classical musicians learning to improvise. The pivotal role of auditory memories
in the act of improvisation underscores the value of solfeggio and Third Stream
ear-training methods to their disciplines, and the potential benefits of adapting a
new method for this purpose.
28
Chapter Two: Comparative Analysis
In this chapter I compare features of the Third Stream ear-training method to
those of solfeggio. Through this process I identify similarities and differences
between the two techniques, and aspects that may be incorporated into a new
aural-training method for today’s classical music students preparing to improvise.
I base the framework for my new method on the existing methodology of Third
Stream ear training, as tried and tested by its founder Ran Blake. Because of its
origins within a modern conservatoire curriculum, the teaching and learning
methods of Third Stream ear training translate easily to current undergraduate
classical music courses. This chapter investigates how Blake’s Third Stream
method can be adapted for classical music students, using knowledge and insights
from the eighteenth-century practice of solfeggio.
I present my comparative analysis and observations under three main topics:
curriculum context and prerequisite skills; the characteristics of each method’s
melodies; and teaching and learning techniques. Firstly, I compare solfeggio and
Third Stream ear-training’s position within their respective conservatoire
curricula, their specific relationship to improvisation training, and the prerequisite
skills needed by commencing students of each method. This comparison enables
me to propose where my new aural-training method should sit in relation to
improvisation training in an undergraduate music curriculum, and the minimum
skills required for students to commence this new method.
29
Secondly, a significant portion of this chapter is dedicated to comparing the
essential elements of solfeggi melodies and Third Stream ear-training repertoire.
This includes a review of the musical style, instrumentation and composers,
vocalisation preferences and the role of bass lines in the repertoires of each
method. From this I determine the key criteria for selecting melodies to use in my
new method.
The third and final section of this chapter compares the teaching and learning
techniques used by each method, as well as a short discussion on teacher training.
This comparison illustrates how the Third Stream ear-training learning process in
part resembles a modern version of the solfeggio learning experience, and why I
have chosen it as the basis for my new aural-training method.
Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills
Solfeggio Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills
The Neapolitan Conservatoires of the eighteenth century were significantly
different institutions to our modern-day institutions. In the mid-sixteenth century,
four conservatoires were founded in Naples as religious institutions to “conserve”
or shelter and teach orphaned and poor boys.81 They largely continued in this
mould until the end of the eighteenth century. A formal, published curriculum as
we expect today does not exist. However, scholar Nicholas Baragwanath has
81Robert Gjerdingen, "The Four Conservatoires of Naples," Neapolitan Music Society, accessed
June 20, 2021, https://www.neapolitanmusicsociety.org/history.html.
30
studied and compiled the curriculum pathway of a typical solfeggio student. This
is detailed in his recent publication The Solfeggio Tradition and summarised
below.82
For prospective students of the Neapolitan Conservatoires, a good singing voice
was the basis of entry.83 Studies typically began between the ages of eight- to ten-
years old and, as previously mentioned, students were often orphaned or from
poor families.84 Baragwanath explains that “for those who could not afford to pay,
singing was the surest route for their child to gain a place in school.”85
Two fundamental and compulsory stages preceded solfeggio singing lessons. The
first of these was lessons in canto fermo or plainchant.86 This served two purposes:
it taught the fundamentals of music (using a four-stave manuscript), and also
quickly produced choristers ready for church services.87 Providing the music for
all religious services was an important responsibility of the conservatoires within
the Catholic territories.88 Once established in the rudiments of music, students
then progressed to approximately one year of solfeggio parlato or spoken
solfeggio.89 This involved a transition to reading the standard five-line stave in use
82 Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition.

83 Baragwanath, 54.
84 Baragwanath, 54, 28.
85 Baragwanath, 23-24.
86 Baragwanath, 78.
87 Baragwanath, 37.
88 Baragwanath, 35.
89 Baragwanath, 85.
31
today, and learning to speak the pitches using the solfeggio solmization system.90
This process could take up to one year or longer, depending on the student’s
ability.91
Once sufficiently familiar with the rules of solmization, students then graduated
to solfeggio cantato or sung solfeggio. This was usually around the age of twelve, or
once the boy’s voice had broken.92 Lessons in sung solfeggio were taken for a
minimum of three years, or for as long as the maestro determined necessary.93
Importantly, students could only graduate to lessons in keyboard improvisation
and composition (partimento), once they were deemed fluent in singing solfeggi.94
This long and strict pathway of prerequisite training illustrates why solfeggio, in
its original form, is not readily suitable for a modern-day undergraduate classical
music degree of three- to four-years duration. One aspect that can be adopted
from solfeggio into undergraduate curricula is the requisite placement of singing
before lessons in improvisation and composition. This is a principle that I adapt
into my aural-training method. The compulsory three years of singing solfeggi
ensured that students developed a rich library of melodic auditory memories and
knowledge to draw on before they approached improvisation tasks.95 As I explain
90 Baragwanath, 85.
91 Baragwanath, 85.
92 Baragwanath, 85.
93 Baragwanath, 2.
94 Baragwanath, 2.
95 This staged process also helped to identify weak students.
32
in the following section, this is markedly different to Third Stream ear training’s
relationship to improvisation.
Third Stream Ear-Training Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills
Compared to the dominant place of solfeggio in the Neapolitan curriculum, Third
Stream ear training has a small presence in contemporary music curricula and
minimal prerequisite skills. Importantly, it is also taught parallel to, rather than as
a prerequisite for, lessons in improvisation.
Third Stream ear training is typically taught as part of the jazz or contemporary
music aural-training class, alongside traditional techniques such as dictation,
interval, chord and scale recognition, and interval and arpeggio singing.96 Aural-
training classes are traditionally one of several compulsory subjects taught
concurrently at the undergraduate level, alongside subjects such as music theory,
individual instrumental lessons, compulsory ensembles, and specialist electives.
Most students learning the Third Stream ear-training method will be already able
to improvise with some fluency and competence. Within their degree they study
and practice improvisation concurrently with undertaking Third Stream ear
training.
With regard to prerequisite skills and knowledge, Blake recommends that
students learning his Third Stream method are first able to identify basic intervals
96 Denson, interview.
33
and chords (aurally), and can match a given pitch by singing.97 There is no further
discussion or emphasis on a student’s singing proficiency. This minimal attention
given to a student’s singing ability sits in dramatic contrast to the Naples
Conservatoires’ entrance requirements in the eighteenth century. I discuss the
implications of this difference in more detail later in this chapter.
The duration of studying Third Stream ear training varies slightly, depending on
the institution. In my experience, students study Third Stream ear training for
four to six semesters, or two to three years.98 Blake suggests that a student requires
at least six years with the method to reach the desired level of individual fluency
or originality.99 While students are unlikely to achieve this within a standard
three-year course, the Third Stream method does establish a learning habit that
can be continued independently throughout the student’s musical development.
Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills: Considerations for a New Method
Comparing the prerequisite skills and place of solfeggio and Third Stream ear-
training methods in the conservatoire curriculum provides several important
considerations for developing a new aural-training method. These centre around
whether to place this new method prior to, or alongside lessons in improvisation,
and what age to commence this kind of aural training. An additional

Dimond, interview. Third Stream ear training is taught for six semesters to students of
98
Melbourne Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Music degree.

34
consideration arises from the disparity between each method’s emphasis, or lack
thereof, on a student’s singing ability. Because this aspect of singing involves the
area of teaching and learning as well as prerequisite skills, I address this in the
Teaching and Learning section of this chapter.
Solfeggio and Third Stream ear training both develop students for improvisation.
Neither method, however, is explicitly linked to improvisation exercises. When
Third Stream ear-training students learn to sing a Sephardic guitar melody, for
example, it is not so they can improve their aptitude for Sephardic folk playing.
Rather, the melody is intended to expand their own unique musical vocabulary.
Third Stream ear training is designed for students who are already improvising
and at the stage of developing their own, individual improvisatory voice. In
contrast, solfeggi were studied for three years before lessons in keyboard
improvisation and composition commenced.100 Melodies were accumulated over
this three-year period (or longer), prior to approaching these improvisation
exercises, known as partimenti. There is no evidence of individual solfeggi being
explicitly matched or linked to specific partimenti exercises.101
My research focuses on supporting classical musicians at the beginning and early
stages of their improvisatory practice. Such students are often unfamiliar with

101Existing partimenti manuscript collections make no mention of solfeggi exercises in their
instructions. These instructions, known as Regole or rules, are often only two or three pages long
and recap the basic rudiments of music and principles of figured bass. Sanguinetti, Art of
Partimento, 48.
35
improvisation and, as outlined in the opening chapter, stand to benefit from a
consciously developed auditory memory. Because of this, I recommend adopting
the solfeggio approach of learning to sing melodies before commencing
improvisation lessons. While the compulsory three (or more) years of singing
solfeggi is unachievable in today’s conservatoire environment, setting aside one or
two semesters could be an effective compromise.102 This would give students the
opportunity to establish a mental library of at least ten to twenty melodies.103 The
aural-training method would ideally then continue alongside improvisation
lessons once commenced, which would enable the continued accumulation of
relevant auditory memories.
To maximise learning, I also suggest that students would benefit from a more
explicit relationship of the melody to the future improvisation exercise. By this I
mean that melodies are matched to specific improvisation exercises. For example,
students embarking on a mixolydian modal improvisation would be required to
first learn one or more mixolydian melodies. I discuss and illustrate this further in
the following chapter, where I match candidate melodies to improvisation
exercises currently used in classical music pedagogy.
Differences between solfeggio and the Third Stream ear-training method’s
curriculum also include the age of commencing study: an average age of nine
102The optimum amount of time spent learning melodies before commencing improvisation is an
area for further study.
103 This is based on an average of learning one melody per week over a twelve-week semester.
36
versus eighteen years old. While this is reflective of two different eras and
approaches to music education, solfeggio is a historic example of the benefits of
teaching singing in childhood music education and throughout a student’s music
education. While my research is primarily focused on supporting undergraduate
classical music students, there is the potential to introduce this new aural-training
method much earlier than tertiary study. Because of its basis in Third Stream ear-
training methodology, my new method requires minimal prerequisite aural skills
in order to commence learning, and could be taught to students in primary and
secondary levels.
What Makes a Solfeggio or Third Stream Ear-Training Melody?
Anything Goes
In their capacity as instructional methods, solfeggi and Third Stream ear-training
melodies are unusual: they don’t sound like rigorous technical exercises. Instead,
they are melodic works representative of a particular musical style. There are no
specific, distinguishing musical characteristics that qualify the melodies of either
method. Baragwanath explains that trying to identify a common characteristic of
solfeggi compositions is near impossible, and “one might as well try to find
typical patterns for all eighteenth-century music.”104 It is equally if not more
challenging to identify shared characteristics amongst the melodies used for Third
37
Stream ear training, which purposely uses repertoire from diverse genres, such as
contemporary jazz, musical theatre, and ethnic music.
While specific melodic characteristics may be elusive, it is possible to compare
other elements that define a solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training melody.
These include the style and instrumentation of the melodies, who composed them,
what kind of vocalisation is used, and the presence of bass lines in melodies from
either method. I compare these elements in the following sections and identify the
essential criteria and considerations for choosing melodies to use in my new
aural-training method.
Comparing Melody Style and Instrumentation
Solfeggi Melodies’ Style and Instrumentation
Between solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training melody collections, the range of
style and type of instrumentation reflects the overarching goal of the method.
Solfeggi from the eighteenth century were composed in the baroque or galant
style. Within this broad umbrella, solfeggi were composed in a range of different
musical forms, including quasi-operatic arias, truncated sonatas and dance
movements.105 Baragwanath’s own analysis of dozens of solfeggi identifies some
that “follow the conventions of genres as diverse as arias, duets, [and] dance
movements”, while others “resemble short instrumental sonata movements and
105 Baragwanath, 4.
38
exhibit the same degree of variety.”106 While this last group are noted as
resembling instrumental movements, solfeggi were only ever intended to be sung.
It is almost inconceivable that a student would have learnt a solfeggio by playing
it on a violin or keyboard instrument. This is important when we compare
solfeggi instrumentation to Third Stream ear-training melodies.
Instrumental works from the eighteenth century carrying the title of “solfeggi” do
exist, however they are not related to improvisation training. Examples of these
are Solfeggi pour la flute traversiere by Johann Joachim Quantz (1697–1773) and
Solfeggietto in C Minor Wq 117/2 for keyboard by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–
1788).107 These works adopt the concept of solfeggi as being preparatory exercises
in a broad sense, but instead focus on technical agility and obviously abandon the
notion of solfeggi as a sung practice. C. P. E. Bach does not make any direct
mention of the Italian practice of solfeggio, or its partner practice partimento, in
his famous eighteenth-century treatise Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard
Instruments.108 He does, however, strongly encourage the practice of singing by all
instrumentalists, writing that “it is a good practice to sing instrumental melodies
in order to reach an understanding of their correct performance. This way of
106 Baragwanath, 4.
107Johann Joachim Quantz, Solfeggi pour la flute traversiere avec l'enseignement, ed. Winfried Michel
and Hermien Teske (Winterthur, Switzerland: Amadeus, 1978); Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
Solfeggietto in C Minor, ed. Hans Gunter Heumann (Mainz: Schott Music, 2009).
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, ed. William J.
108
Mitchell (New York: Norton, 1949).
39
learning is of far greater value than the reading of voluminous tomes or listening
to learned discourses.”109
Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies’ Style and Instrumentation
The aim of Third Stream ear training, and the Third Stream movement as a whole,
is to transcend style.110 The melodies used for Third Stream ear-training courses
are purposely selected from a wide range of commercial recordings of different
styles and artists, with a mix of vocal, and instrumental-only melodies.111 For
example, the track listing of melodies featured on Blake’s Contemporary
Improvisation course CD from 1999 includes: the famous musical-theatre song
“Maria” composed by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, as performed by
Larry Kert; “Blues at the Five Spot,” an angular saxophone and piano unison
melody by jazz pianist Thelonious Monk; and “Vradiazi,” a Greek song composed
by Mikis Theodorakis, sung by Yannis Poulopoulos.112
Third Stream ear training’s use of instrumental melodies as well as sung melodies
is a notable difference to solfeggio practice, which exclusively uses melodies
written for voice. Third Stream ear-training students learn to sing instrumental
melodies in the same way as if it were a sung recording.
109 Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, 151-52.
110 Blake, "Third Stream and the Importance of the Ear," 140-41.
111 Blake, 143.
112Jonathan Dimond, “CI Repertoire CD 1 & 2 1999” (unpublished manuscript provided as email
attachment to author, 23 August 2020), plain text document.
40
In addition to the diverse range of genres represented in Third Stream ear-training
melody collections, Ran Blake also regularly taught summer schools that focused
exclusively on the music, or specific creative period of one artist. This approach
more closely resembles the use of solfeggi as studies in the musical style and
schematic nuances of the day. Performers and composers studied by Blake’s
summer schools from 1989–2009 include Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Ornette
Coleman, Gunter Schuller, and Mahalia Jackson.113
Considerations for Melody Style and Instrumentation in a New Aural-Training Method
In the previous section I identified the need for my new aural-training method to
have a clear relationship between learnt melodies and corresponding
improvisation exercises. This means that the range of styles represented in
melodies used in my new method is determined by the style of improvisation
exercises the student will encounter, and the specific course aims.
Solfeggi repertoire encompasses one overarching baroque or galant style,
instilling in the student the stylistic nuances and musical characteristics of the day.
In dramatic contrast, Third Stream ear training intentionally teaches melodies
from a wide variety of musical styles and genres. For a classical music student
commencing improvisation tasks, such an approach could be detrimental to
establishing a library of auditory memories relevant to improvisation exercises.
The balance of styles studied in my aural-training method is ultimately
41
determined by the improvisation exercises. As much as possible, I recommend
following solfeggio’s model of focusing on one overarching style, which is echoed
in Blake’s summer-school approach. Alternatively, the style focus could evolve
across semesters, for example by moving from renaissance to baroque, or
Romantic to neoclassical. This would maintain, on a small scale, a singular
stylistic focus. What seems most beneficial is the development of sufficient
auditory memories to provide relevance to improvisation tasks, rather than
learning a myriad of styles within one semester.
My adapted aural-training method can also retain Third Stream ear-training’s
practice of using recordings of instrumental-only melodies. This provides a wider
scope when looking for candidate melodies and may also provide more relevance
to instrumental students using the method.
Composing Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies
As I outlined in chapter 1, solfeggi melodies were typically composed by maestri
for their students, whereas Third Stream ear-training melodies are selected from
commercially available, recorded works. On occasion Blake, and other teachers of
his method, also include their own recorded compositions in melody collections
for their ear-training classes. This section is a short review of the composition
process behind solfeggi and Third Stream ear-training melodies. Comparing this
aspect illustrates to what extent each method is customised, rather than being a
static, fixed resource. This gives an important licence for my new aural-training
42
method to use existing melodic repertoire and include the teacher’s own
customised melodies where necessary.
Leonardo Leo (1694–1744) was one of the most prolific solfeggi composers and
teachers.114 He is known to have composed custom solfeggi for individual
students to address specific weaknesses in their learning or ability.115 In addition
to composing solfeggi, teachers would also have made use of existing repertoire,
passed down through generations.116 This is evidenced by the many surviving
solfeggi collections composed by known maestri of the day, as well as differing
records of authorship across copies of the same solfeggi.117 Baragwanath explains
that discovering the same solfeggio with conflicting composer attributions is
common in solfeggi manuscript collections, and evidence in part of “the way they
were cascaded through the student body.”118
Despite the fact that some solfeggi were notated, the preference for oral
instruction and singing by imitation remained the dominant mode of teaching in
the Neapolitan Conservatoires until the end of the eighteenth century.119 As I
Nicholas Baragwanath, The Italian Traditions and Puccini: Compositional Theory and Practice in
114
Nineteenth-Century Opera (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011), 264.

115 Baragwanath, The Italian Traditions and Puccini, 264.
117Robert Gjerdingen, "The Collections," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern University Bienen
school of Music, accessed June 20, 2021,
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/index.htm.
119 Sanguinetti, Art of Partimento, 41; Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 156-57.
43
cautioned in the opening chapter, for each solfeggi collection that has survived,
many more are likely to have been either erased from tablets, or never fully
notated at all.120 Because singing solfeggi also functioned as lessons in how to
extemporise or embellish a melody, Baragwanath suggests that many solfeggi
may have been notated by the maestro after a student’s lesson, as a record of the
extemporisation.121
Solfeggi also exist from the eighteenth century that were composed by composers
outside the Neapolitan Conservatoires. Indeed, anyone trained in the Italian
tradition is likely to have composed solfeggi.122 Perhaps one of the most
interesting of these is a small collection of four solfeggi by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, composed around 1782 and indexed as K. 393.123 Robert Gjerdingen
suggests these pieces were composed as preparatory vocal exercises for Mozart’s
fiancée Constanze, for her role in his Mass in C Minor K. 427.124 It is unclear
whether Constanze would have used the traditional solfeggio solmization to sing
these. Nevertheless, if Gjerdingen’s theory is correct, the aim of Mozart’s solfeggi
120 Baragwanath, 1.
122Robert Gjerdingen, "Wolfgang A. Mozart," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music, accessed July 10, 2021,
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/Mozart/index.htm.
123 Gjerdingen, "Wolfgang A. Mozart."
124 Gjerdingen, "Wolfgang A. Mozart."
44
here is illuminating, and reinforces the use of solfeggi melodies to promote
fluency in a particular style.
Unlike the solfeggio tradition, Third Stream ear-training teachers do not generally
compose melodies to use within the method.125 This is simply because of the
abundance of recorded material already available. On occasion Blake has included
a small number of commercial recordings of his own compositions in some Third
Stream ear-training melody lists.126 Because of the multi-genre approach of the
method, these are just a few of the many diverse works featured.127 For purely
practical reasons, Third Stream practitioner Louise Denson composed a full
collection of melodies for one year of the ear-training course at the Queensland
Conservatorium of Music. This was due to a sudden change in copyright laws that
temporarily prohibited the department from using commercial audio recordings
for teaching.128 Denson composed new melodies in all modes of the major scale, as
well as melodies to model specific song forms, such as a twelve-bar blues, and
jazz harmonic progressions.129
This short comparison indicates that solfeggi are predominately composed by the
teacher, whereas Third Stream ear-training melodies are predominately selected
125 Dimond, interview; Denson, interview.

126 Dimond, “CI Repertoire CD 1 & 2 1999.”
127 Dimond, “CI Repertoire CD 1 & 2 1999.”
45
from pre-existing recorded works. While I envisage my new aural-training
method will mostly use pre-existing audio recordings, there is capacity to
accommodate a teacher’s own customised compositions to address specific needs.
These options will be further illustrated in chapter 3, where I propose melodies
that may be used to support specific improvisation exercises.
Solmization, La or Lyrics?
Solfeggio and Third Stream ear training have different priorities in regard to
whether solmization, single syllables or lyrics are used when singing melodies.
While solmization is integral to the solfeggio tradition, Third Stream ear training
is at the other end of the spectrum, with no specific vocalisation guidelines, and
Blake ambivalent about the use of solmization.130 Studying and comparing this
aspect of vocalisation in both methods informs what approach should be adopted
by a new aural-training method for classical musicians.
Solmization is a core component of singing solfeggi and was used by both teacher
and student almost continuously. Use of single vowels such as la or ah would only
have been permitted when focus was needed on vocal technique, or by the most
advanced students.131 Strictly speaking, a solfeggio sung without the traditional
solmization is no longer a solfeggio.132

46
Solfeggio uses a transposing solmization system which evolved from the merging
of two medieval hexachords made up of the syllables ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la.133 The two
scales overlap in the middle, after the syllable sol. Baragwanath explains that
solfeggio students “were taught to think of the major scale as a fusion of two six-
note scales beginning on what would now be called its tonic and dominant
notes.”134 The resulting solmization system is shown in example 2.
Example 2. Syllable Pattern for Solfeggio Solmization135
      
 
ut re mi fa sol re mi fa
Unlike current Western solmization systems of fixed do and moveable do,
solfeggio solmization has many specific rules for the treatment of modulations,
accidentals, melismas and embellishments. For example, a chromatic note
functioning as an appoggiatura would be sung with the same vowel as the arrival
note.136 Similarly, melismatic passages were sung to the vowel of their first
syllable.137 Baragwanath describes this as the “Amen Rule,” explaining that these
133 Baragwanath, 6. Here Baragwanath also explains that the syllable ut was often sung as do.
134 Baragwanath, 6.
135 Baragwanath, 6; Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 36.
47
passages “should receive syllables only on their opening and closing notes, just
like an Amen in plainchant.”138 Baragwanath devotes much of his recent
publication to the numerous and at times complex rules surrounding Italian
solmization. More rules may still come to light with ongoing research. His
overarching observation is that the solmization of solfeggi melodies was not a
literal note-for-note exercise.139 Instead, the syllables provided anchors for the
student to remain connected to the melodic framework, within embellishments.140
Solfeggio students thus developed an implicit understanding of melodic function,
by highlighting only the important melody notes with solmization. Because
solfeggi were taught orally and not always with reference to notation, the other
natural benefit of solmization was that is provided a memory aid for students.
Third Stream ear training has no such equivalent performance requirement when
it comes to the syllable or lyric used. In fact, Blake discourages the use of
solmization or mnemonic devices when learning a melody, writing that such
classification “may get in the way” or impede deeper learning.141 The method’s
emphasis is on singing using whatever vocalisation is most comfortable; a simple
la or ah will often suffice. Learning a song’s lyrics is not compulsory, however
Third Stream practitioners note that song lyrics, where relevant, can help students

48
imitate the singer’s inflection of a particular phrase.142 Where the set melody is
performed by an instrument, such as a saxophone or clarinet, students are often
inclined to use scat syllables to mimic the instrument’s articulation.143
In choosing the vocalisation approach to use in my adapted aural-training
method, I favour Blake’s approach of singing melodies using whatever means
possible. This resonates with the primary purpose of the aural-training method to
provide a foundation of auditory memories for improvisation. Any inclusion of
solmization in my adapted aural-training method risks moving the student into a
more analytical mode of learning as their brain computes which syllable to sing.
This thought process, however quick, may distract from hearing and memorising
the melody’s nuances of inflection, phrasing and rhythmic details. Blake concedes
that some musicians will naturally listen analytically, however he is ambivalent
on encouraging this. He writes that “I can’t encourage you to fight against your
cognition, or what is already known and recognised, but the goal is to widen your
ears to a new spectrum of sound.”144 In keeping with Blake’s Third Stream ear-
training principles, my modified aural-training method does not use solmization.
While not a core focus of this study, it is useful for an improviser to understand
melodic function and chord tones. Solfeggio solmization used specific rules to
teach this aurally. Blake also has a technique within his ear-training process which

49
develops this awareness without solmization. I outline this aspect briefly in the
following section on bass lines.
Bass Lines
The ability to hear, understand and anticipate typical bass line patterns of
movement is an important skill for improvisers. In the act of melodic
improvisation, the presence of a bass line gives the improviser a harmonic
framework to reference and interpret. Bass lines are the core feature of partimento
exercises and a common aspect of jazz improvisation. As I illustrate in chapter 3,
providing a bass line or chord progression is also used today to teach melodic
improvisation to classical music students.
The presence of an accompanying bass line is a common feature of both solfeggi
and Third Stream ear-training melodies. This section compares the role and use of
a bass line in solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training repertoire and reveals slight
differences between each method. The findings highlight the bass’ role in
providing a reference for melodic schemata as well as melodic and harmonic
function, and the value of including melodies with bass lines in a new aural-
training method.
Bass Lines in Solfeggi
Solfeggi almost always appear as a melody with accompanying bass line.145 Even
where a bass line is not notated, or is only partially prescribed, it is assumed to
50
have been present in practice.146 The tradition throughout the eighteenth century
was for melodies to always have some form of keyboard or continuo
accompaniment, unless indicated otherwise.147 It is thought that the maestro
would have played the bass line and an improvised harmonic accompaniment on
the keyboard during lessons.148
The bass line in solfeggi plays a pivotal role in providing context to the melodic
schemata and conventions identified by Robert Gjerdingen as being essential to
the galant style.149 It is the interplay of a two voice, bass and melody structure that
gives each schema its unique mould. For example, the Prinner schema, identified
by Gjerdingen, is characterised by a melodic line descending stepwise from the
sixth to the third scale degrees, over a parallel bass line descending from the
fourth to the tonic. 150 This schematic framework would then be embellished using
techniques such as passing notes and ornaments.151 Many instances of the Prinner
schema can be found throughout eighteenth-century repertoire.152 The opening
excerpt of a solfeggio by maestro Giuseppe Aprile (1732–1813) containing a

149 Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 7.
150 Gjerdingen, 46.
151 Gjerdingen, 46.
152 Gjerdingen, 52-53.
51
Prinner schema is shown in example 3. I have provided the scale-degree numbers
in the melody and bass, to outline the Prinner’s descending schematic movement.
Example 3. Bars 1–4 of “Andante” No. 4 from Solfeggi per Voce di Soprano by Giuseppe Aprile
(1732–1813), Gj5404, transcribed by Robert Gjerdingen.153
Through years of singing solfeggi, students learnt to associate certain bass line
patterns with specific melodic schemata. This interplay of the bass and melody
was retained as auditory memories and informed their execution of future
partimenti improvisation exercises.
Bass Lines in Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies
Because of the diverse range of genres within Third Stream ear-training repertoire,
it is difficult to accurately analyse the role of the bass across the method’s range of
melodies. Blake does, however, emphasise hearing the bass when learning a
melody. In his instructional text, Primacy of the Ear, the student is directed to be
153Robert Gjerdingen, "Aprile, MS Solf. 4, No.4 -- Andante," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern

University Bienen School of Music, accessed Accessed July 16, 2021,
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/Aprile/NC_Solf4/04/04_Andante.ht
m.
52
aware of the bass line as they learn the melody.154 A separate recording of just the
bass line is sometimes provided to students as an additional resource. Students
are also encouraged to hear the bass line in their inner ear when singing the
melody solo, without the original recording.155
Once the student has mastered singing the melody, Blake adds two additional
consolidating steps that reinforce the melody’s relationship to the bass line.
Firstly, he encourages them to learn to sing the bass line, using the same process
as learning the melody.156 Whether the bass line was ever sung by students or
maestri in the solfeggio tradition is currently unknown.157 Secondly, Blake
encourages the student to arpeggiate each functional melody note by singing from
the melody, descending through the outlined harmony, to the bass note.158 This
process must be done aurally without any reliance on an external musical
instrument or written notation. This consolidates the student’s understanding of
the melody in relation to the bass line and harmonic structure. In doing so, this
final instruction in some ways mitigates the absence of a solmization system such
as moveable do, which would illustrate melodic function and tonal reference.

155 Blake, 13.
156 Blake, 24.
Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition, 244. Baragwanath reports evidence of syllables being
157
added in early eighteenth-century partimenti manuscripts, suggesting singing of the bass line may
have occurred.
53
Considerations for Bass Lines in New Aural-Training Repertoire
This comparison illustrates how bass lines are a common component of solfeggi
and Third Stream ear-training melodies, and provide a reference or context for the
melodic material being learnt. In the case of solfeggi, the bass line is an integral
part of the melodic schemata; for Third Stream ear training, the bass line is
incorporated into the learning process itself. Ensuring melodies also have an
accompanying bass line is a necessary consideration when selecting repertoire for
a new aural-training method. This will establish a harmonic context for the
melody being learnt and develop a student’s auditory memory of the bass and
melody relationship in the style being studied.
The Third Stream ear-training method of providing the student with a separate
recording of the solo bass line is also useful to incorporate in a new aural-training
method. Blake’s additional direction of learning to sing the melody’s bass line is
dependent on the complexity and range of the chosen material. Arpeggiating
between functional melody notes and the bass is a useful technique to incorporate
in place of solmization. Developing these aural skills will help the student hear
and interact with a set bass line when they come to improvise.
Teaching and Learning Techniques
Having compared where each method sits in the conservatoire curriculum and
what defines a solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training melody, I now study how
the melodies of each method are taught and by whom. The efficacy of solfeggio
54
and Third Stream ear training lies in their emphasis on aural learning, or oral
instruction. Both methods work to develop the student’s auditory memory by
prioritising singing, learning by imitation, and limiting the use of notated
manuscript. This section compares the specific approaches to learning used by
teachers and students of both methods. The findings emphasise the commonality
between the two techniques as being oral or imitative methods and indicate how
the Third Stream ear-training teaching model provides a basis for maintaining this
style of instruction in a twenty-first-century conservatoire setting.
Solfeggio Teaching and Learning Techniques
Solfeggi were primarily taught by imitation; the maestro would sing the example
for the student to then copy.159 Using this method of instruction communicated the
stylistic nuances of phrasing, ornamentation and inflection more efficiently and
accurately than if learnt by reading notated manuscript. To this end, Baragwanath
observes that, in general, solfeggi manuscripts have ambiguous or minimal
performance markings.160 He explains that “the precise mode of execution for each
ornament within a specific melodic context and in a specific style would have
been demonstrated by the maestro, and there is no way to access this information
[today].”161

55
Several aspects of the solfeggio teaching and learning process remain unknown.
For example, it is not yet known whether students had daily lessons, individual or
group instruction, or how long individual melodies were studied for.162 It is
difficult to quantify just how many solfeggi were learnt during a student’s
compulsory three years of singing solfeggi. Baragwanath estimates that students
sang “hundreds if not thousands of solfeggi” as part of their studies.163
We do know that solfeggio students were unlikely to play a musical instrument
when learning solfeggi at the Neapolitan Conservatoires.164 This is because such
students had not yet graduated to learning keyboard, or indeed any instrument
specialisation. As discussed in chapter 1, the absence of an instrument is an
important factor for establishing auditory memories. This principle is replicated in
Third Stream ear-training’s approach to learning.
Third Stream Ear-Training Teaching and Learning Techniques
Third Stream ear-training melodies are also learnt by imitation. Instead of copying
a teacher singing, students learn each melody from an audio recording. These
recordings are often of professional quality and commercially available. This
ensures students are learning a high-quality example of the particular style or
162 Gjerdingen, "About Solfeggi: A Beginner’s Guide."

164 Baragwanath, 2.
56
artist interpretation. Midi files and poor-quality recordings are not suitable for this
purpose.
The number of melodies studied during a Third Stream ear-training course is set
by the teacher. Melody collections therefore naturally vary between institutions
and across recent decades. Practitioner Jonathan Dimond first studied Third
Stream ear training with Ran Blake at the New England Conservatory in the mid
1990s.165 Dimond recalls learning several melodies per week as part of Blake’s ear-
training classes.166 In my experience, almost a decade later at the Queensland
Conservatorium of Music, I was required to learn one melody each week during
the semester. Presently, students at Melbourne Polytechnic learn an average of
one melody per fortnight.167 Dimond, who teaches Third Stream ear training at
Melbourne Polytechnic has observed a decline in the number of melodies his
students are able to commit to long-term memory.168 He suggests this could be
due to several factors including their existing propensity for aural learning and
external pressures and commitments.169
Because the teacher chooses the melodies for learning, they also determine the
length of the melody. This can sometimes mean apportioning an extract of the
165 Dimond, email correspondence to author, August 23, 2020.

Dimond, interview. I have not been able to ascertain how many melodies are currently learnt by
166
Contemporary Improvisation students at New England Conservatory.

167 Dimond, interview.
57
melody rather than the whole work. In my experience of teaching and learning
with the Third Stream method, melodies are on average one- to two-minutes
duration.
Parameters for Learning
Two strict parameters to learning are central to Ran Blake’s Third Stream ear-
training methodology. The first of these prohibits any reference to a notated score
or making a transcription of the set melody.170 Secondly, the use of a musical
instrument when learning the melody is strongly discouraged, other than to
provide a starting pitch or to check intonation.171 While these guidelines cannot be
enforced, in my experience students were trusted and expected to follow the
advice. By establishing these parameters Blake encourages the student to give
primary focus to their ear and aural skills. In doing so, the Third Stream ear-
training method begins to approximate the learning experience of the eighteenth-
century solfeggio student, who neither relied on notation alone, nor had access to
playing an instrument to support their learning.
Ran Blake’s Process for Learning Melodies
Third Stream ear-training students are taught to use a specific process for learning
and memorising melodies, which has been designed and modified by Blake over
several decades. This process is retained in my adapted method. Blake’s method

171 Blake, 19.
58
follows the principles of extractive listening—a concept defined as “a combination
of focused attention and selective memorisation.”172 Detailed instructions for how
to learn a melody are provided by Blake in his text Primacy of the Ear and
summarised here as follows.173
To begin, Blake guides the student to listen to the recorded melody several times a
day without analysing too much, advising them to “just soak it in.”174 He
recommends listening to the melody in this way twice-a-day, morning and night,
for two to three days. With each new hearing, the student is encouraged to
become aware of general features such as the melody’s form, length, and any
areas of repetition, but is discouraged from trying to classify aspects such as
intervals or rhythm at this stage.175
Once the student feels familiar with the general structure of the melody, they can
then progress to singing along with the recording.176 This is often done by
dividing the melody into sections, a technique referred to as “chunking” which
helps the process of memorisation.177 When the student can sing the entire melody
along with the recording, Blake guides the student to recall the melody in their
172 Gary S. Karpinski, Aural Skills Acquisition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 71.
173 Blake, Primacy of the Ear, 18-28.
174 Blake, 19.
175 Blake, 20-21.
176 Blake, 22.
177Jonathan Dimond, "Guidelines for Learning Melodies, Third Stream Aural Training," Jonathan
Dimond (PDF document), 2016,
http://www.jonathandimond.com/downloadables/Guidelines_for_learning_melodies-Dimond.pdf.
59
inner ear or auditory memory, several hours after listening to the recording.178
Blakes describes this process as “crucial” to learning melodies.179 This recall
process is repeated for two or more days, in addition to listening to and singing
along with the recording. The final stage of learning the melody involves singing
the melody without the recording.180
The majority of this learning process is student driven, and done individually,
outside of the aural-skills class. This has two benefits: it frees precious class time,
and sets a requirement for students to continue practicing aural skills and singing
beyond the classroom—something teachers often find challenging to incentivise.
A teacher’s main responsibilities in this method are to a) select the melodies for
learning, b) guide and track student progress in the aforementioned learning
routine, and c) set specific parameters, such as the portion of melody to learn and
the timeframe for learning. In my experience teaching Third Stream ear training,
melodies were sung during class time to workshop specific aspects and generally
check student progress. This absorbs a fraction of the aural-skills class time. I
devoted approximately fifteen minutes, or one-third of the standard lesson time to
singing and discussing the week’s melody.

179 Blake, 22.
180 Blake, 23.
60
A buddy system for learning melodies is encouraged by Blake and was also a
feature of my experiences with Third Stream ear training.181 All students in my
class were assigned into pairs, with students given the opportunity to nominate
their working partner or organise groups of three. This system was designed to
support student learning outside the classroom, by encouraging students to meet
weekly in their pairs or groups to practice aural-training tasks including their set
melody. Students were often observed also singing the week’s set melody outside
of their groups, in common rooms or shared spaces around the conservatorium
campus. This contributed to a sense of camaraderie and was often a unifying
experience for the student cohort, which further supported learning.
Whether a solfeggio student was ever formally assigned to a learning partner or
buddy system is unknown. Music historian Charles Burney (1726–1814)
documented the lack of privacy and chaotic nature of communal practice spaces at
the Naples Conservatoires in his travel journal from 1770.182 Based on his
descriptions from the time, it is conceivable that informal group learning would
have occurred.
Teaching and Learning Considerations for a New Aural-Training Method
Third Stream ear-training’s model of using recorded music and strict parameters
for learning provides clear guidelines for how to maintain oral and aural learning

Charles Burney, The Present State of Music in France and Italy, 2nd ed. (1773. Reprint, New York:
182
AMS Press, 1976), 336-38.
61
in a modern conservatoire environment. By prohibiting any reference to notation
or the use of an instrument to learn the melodies, the Third Stream method begins
to align with the learning experience of the solfeggio student, who neither relied
on notation alone, nor used an instrument to support their learning. My new
aural-training method is based on the Third Stream ear-training learning process
and parameters as outlined in this section. Melodies selected for learning must be
made available as an audio recording. Whether the melody is also published in
notated form should not preclude it from being included for learning, provided
students have not already learnt the melody by notation.
The number of melodies to include in my aural-training method will be largely
determined by the amount and variety of corresponding improvisation exercises.
Determining the optimum number of melodies to include per exercise is an aspect
for further study, which I discuss in chapter 3. As a result of their three-year
training, solfeggio students developed a “storehouse of memorized material”
from which they could then draw on for improvisation and composition
exercises.183 It is therefore logical to assume that learning multiple melodies in the
same style will increase a student’s auditory memory today. My review of Third
Stream ear training shows differences in the number of melodies students have
been required to memorise in different institutions over recent decades. Trial
studies of my adapted aural-training method in use will help determine the most
62
effective and realistic number of melodies to set for learning in the context of an
undergraduate classical music degree today.
Teaching How to Sing
At the beginning of this chapter I highlighted the significant difference between
solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training’s approach to teaching the art of singing.
Establishing good vocal technique is addressed in early solfeggio lessons, but
surprisingly is not addressed anywhere in the Third Stream ear-training method.
The following outlines how solfeggio’s approach to singing provides some useful
considerations for my new aural-training method.
Lessons in sung solfeggio began by singing simple passages in semibreves, using
the solfeggio solmization.184 This was done to establish a basic singing technique,
including intonation and breathing.185 Third Stream ear training does not
specifically address the mechanics of singing at any stage of the learning process.
Prior students of the method, including myself, have no recollection of being
taught how to sing.186 Beyond being able to match a pitch, singing technique and
vocal use was not discussed.
Not establishing, or assuming the basic mechanics of singing seems
disadvantageous to students of a vocal-based pedagogy. For students of my aural-

63
training method, I propose the addition of a period of basic vocal training for
instrumentalists before commencing melody learning, and continued attention to
teaching voice use throughout the method. Establishing and maintaining good
voice use will contribute to the sustainability and ongoing success of their aural-
training practice. This proposition is similar to the mandatory keyboard-skills
classes for non-keyboard majors sometimes prescribed by undergraduate music
courses.187 I acknowledge that adding a new learning module requires a
significant alteration to curricula schedules and resources, and may not be a
realistic inclusion in the short term. At a minimum, several introductory lessons
by a specialist singing teacher should be sought for students before embarking on
this new aural-training method. Teachers of this new method would do well to
also undertake basic vocal training, if not already competent. Melody selection
may also benefit from commencing with simpler melodies, similar to solfeggio’s
approach, to consolidate correct vocal use.
Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear-Training Teachers
The final section of this chapter compares the training pathway of the solfeggio
maestro and Third Stream ear-training teacher. The similarity between the
teachers of either method lies not in a shared ability in singing, where one might
expect, but instead in their similar pathways from student to teacher. This
187"Classroom Departments," Juilliard, The Juilliard School, 2021,

https://www.juilliard.edu/music/classroom-departments#keyboard-studies; "Studying Keyboard
Skills," College of Music, University of North Texas, 2021,
https://piano.music.unt.edu/pianokeyboardskills.
64
comparison of teacher training reveals broader options for the implementation of
a new aural-training method for today’s classical music students.
The teachers of both solfeggio and Third Stream ear training are all past students
of their respective method, with the obvious exception of Third Stream ear-
training founder Ran Blake. In the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Naples
Conservatoires, students were trained with knowledge and skills passed down
orally in a teacher–apprentice structure that endured for generations.188 Advanced
students of the Conservatoires were assigned teaching duties to instruct younger
students.189 Similarly the Third Stream ear-training teachers identified in this
study, Jonathan Dimond and Louise Denson, are former students of Ran Blake. I
in turn am a former student of both Dimond and Denson. This master–apprentice
structure is not a prerequisite for teaching today, but simply a reflection of the
cultures of both methods. Teachers new to either method can in theory learn the
technique and processes involved from a published instructional book. Nicholas
Baragwanath’s textbook The Solfeggio Tradition provides detailed instructions on
how to sing solfeggio.190 Similarly, Third Stream ear training can be self-taught by
following Blake’s detailed instructions in Primacy of the Ear.191
188 Sanguinetti, Art of Partimento, 41.

189 Sanguinetti, 41.
190 Baragwanath, The Solfeggio Tradition.
191 Dimond, interview; Blake, Primacy of the Ear, 18-28.
65
The prevalence of singing and central role of solfeggio in the Neapolitan
Conservatoire curricula resulted in a high standard of singing ability amongst all
graduates and teachers. This is verified by the simple fact that if students could
not sing, they were dismissed or demoted.192 Solfeggio maestri were often
celebrated opera singers in their day, such as castrato Giuseppe Aprile (1732–
1813) and contralto Antonio Maria Bernacchi (1685–1756).193 Solfeggi maestro
Nicola Porpora (c.1686–1768) is regarded to this day as one of the most successful
singing teachers of the eighteenth century.194
In contrast, a review of recent and current Third Stream ear-training teachers
reveals a common absence of professional singers or vocal specialists. Ran Blake
identifies as an improvising pianist and composer. Protégés of his method include
other improvising instrumentalists, such as Aaron Hartley (trombonist), Jonathan
Diamond (bassist and composer) and Louise Denson (pianist and composer).195 I
can also attest to having no formal, specialised singing training.

193Robert Gjerdingen, "Giuseppe Aprile," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern University Bienen
School of Music, accessed July 17, 2021,
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/Aprile/index.htm; Robert
Gjerdingen, "Antonio Maria Bernacchi," Northwestern University Bienen School of Music,
accessed July 17, 2021, https://web.archive.org/web/20160229221217/http://faculty-
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/Bernacchi/index.htm.
195"Aaron Hartley," Faculty, New England Conservatory, accessed July 16, 2021,
https://necmusic.edu/faculty/aaron-hartley. Dimond, interview; Denson, interview.
66
Not requiring teachers to be professional singers liberates the Third Stream ear-
training model for a broader delivery. It also supports the method’s mission as
being for all students of music, regardless of their instrument specialisation. My
new aural-training method follows the Third Stream model in this respect and
need not be taught by a professional or experienced singer, provided principles of
good voice use are established as previously discussed. Instruction by a non-voice
specialist may encourage reluctant and inexperienced students to participate more
freely than if taught by a professional singing teacher. This does not discount the
requirement for basic vocal technique to be taught prior to and throughout
melody learning.
Chapter Two Summary
In this chapter I have compared key components of solfeggio and Third Stream
ear-training methods and, in doing so, identified criteria and considerations for
developing a new sung, aural-training method in a similar mould. These findings
include commencing my new aural-training method in advance of improvisation
exercises, in order to first establish relevant auditory memories with the student. I
also proposed having a clearer, more explicit relationship between the set
melodies and corresponding improvisation exercises than solfeggio or Third
Stream ear training, and a steady focus of studying one musical genre per
semester, rather than multiple styles at once.196 Through comparing elements of
The ideal timeframe between melody learning and improvisation training is yet to be
196
determined.
67
solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training repertoire, I have also identified the
essential criteria for selecting melodies to use within a new aural-training method.
This is a valuable resource that enables the immediate application of this aural-
training method in trial practice. The criteria for melody selection include: the
melody’s style is dictated by the corresponding improvisation exercise, vocal and
instrumental melodies are both suitable to use, and melodies must be recorded
but may be selected from pre-existing recordings or composed to meet specific
teaching requirements. I also concluded that use of solmization was not a
requirement of the new method, but that melodies should include an
accompanying bass line. I apply these criteria in the following chapter, where I
illustrate how selected melodies can prepare a student for a corresponding
improvisation task. The criteria for melody selection are summarised again in the
following chapter, for quick reference.
Comparing the teaching and learning techniques of solfeggio and Third Stream
ear-training highlighted the similarities of the two techniques as aural and oral
methods, and how the Third Stream ear-training method facilitates an aural
approach to learning in an otherwise heavily literate, modern conservatoire
environment. The comparison also highlighted the need for my new method to
include more focus on vocal technique for students and teachers.
My new aural-training method is based on the Third Stream ear-training
approach, modified with aspects and knowledge from the historic practice of
68
solfeggio. In the following final chapter I illustrate how this new method can be
applied to current improvisation exercises for classical music students, and
discuss some final aspects to consider.
69
Chapter Three: Application of Findings and Final
Observations
Overview
In this final chapter I illustrate how my new aural-training method can prepare
students for improvisation exercises, using three case studies as examples. Three
different improvisation exercises are presented: modal improvisation, lyrical
improvisation over a harmonic framework, and small group, free improvisation.
Each exercise is designed for classical musicians by a specialist improvisation or
music theory practitioner. Using the criteria and considerations identified in
chapter 2, I nominate and discuss suitable melodies to use within my aural-
training method to prepare a student for the corresponding improvisation exercise
in each case study.
I conclude this chapter with some final observations and teaching considerations
for my new method, including: the suitability of a recently discovered collection
of vocalises by Gabriel Fauré, assessment ideas, guidelines for safe listening, and
aspects for further research.
Criteria for Melody Selection: Quick Reference
In the previous chapter I identified the essential criteria and considerations for
selecting melodies to use within an aural-training method for classical music
students. The criteria are summarised in table 1 for quick reference.
70
Table 1. Established Criteria for an Aural-Training Melody
Melody Element Criterion
Style Must match the improvisation exercise’s prescribed style
Instrumentation Any instrumentation of the melody is permitted
Duration One to two minutes of recorded music
Composer/Source Melodies selected from existing repertoire
Customised compositions possible
Melodies must be available as an audio recording
Vocalisation Single syllables or song lyrics where relevant
Bass Line Presence of a bass line accompanying the melody
Throughout this chapter I apply these criteria to identify and nominate melodies
suitable for each case study’s improvisation exercise. As determined in the
previous chapter, the most important feature of a melody for this adapted aural-
training method is that it shares the same musical style as the designated
improvisation exercise. This correlation becomes clear in my nomination of
melodies to support the first two case studies: modal improvisation, and lyrical
improvisations over a harmonic framework. The style of the aural-training
melody is only redundant when paired with a completely free-form improvisation
exercise, as presented in the third case study. There I discuss how this aural-
71
training method can still benefit students embarking on free-form improvisation
tasks.
The other criteria listed dictate that: any instrumentation is possible, the ideal
duration is one to two minutes of music, and melodies may be chosen from
existing repertoire or composed for a specific purpose. All melodies must be
available as an audio recording to enable learning. There is no requirement for the
use of solmization, however a bass line supporting the melody is required. The
following section illustrates the application of these criteria to enhance current
improvisation exercises aimed at classical music students.
Applying the New Aural-Training Method to Improvisation Exercises:
Three Case Studies
In this section I present three case studies of improvisation exercises from existing
classical music teaching resources, and discuss how my aural-training method can
enhance the student learning experience.197 In considering these case studies, the
reader is reminded that all nominated melodies are intended to be learnt in
advance of encountering the improvisation task. As detailed in the previous
chapter, the process for learning melodies follows Ran Blake’s guidelines.198 To
recap, this means that melodies are learnt aurally by listening to a recording, and
197Discussing how these exercises may be enhanced in no way intends to discredit the associated
practitioner or exercise designer. The exercises have been selected because they are credible,
effective examples of improvisation in current classical music curricula.
198 Blake, Primacy of the Ear, 19-24.
72
no reference to notation, transcription or use of a musical instrument is permitted.
I discuss the practicalities of this in each case study.
In nominating suitable repertoire, I limit my discussion to one specific melody to
correspond to each improvisation exercise. However, as previously discussed,
learning more than one melody for each task would provide a richer store of
auditory memories for the student to draw on. Determining the optimum number
of melodies for my new aural-training method is discussed towards the end of
this chapter as an area for further research. In the meantime, the melodies
discussed in this chapter serve as examples for how the method can be applied in
practice.
Case Study One: Modal Improvisations on a Drone
Improvising using the modes of the major or minor scales can provide students
with experiential understanding of each mode’s unique characteristics and
enhance their theoretical knowledge of scale modes. In my experience
undergraduate classical music students in Australia are often unfamiliar with
modes. Beyond ionian and aeolian modes they have had limited exposure to the
individual qualities and uses of scale modes.
This first case study involves a modal improvisation exercise designed by Eugene
Friesen, as featured in his textbook Improvisation for Classical Musicians: Strategies
for Creativity and Expression.199 Friesen is a Grammy Award–winning improvising
199 Friesen, Improvisation for Classical Musicians.
73
cellist and faculty member at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.200 His
textbook offers a range of rhythmic, melodic and harmonic exercises that promote
improvisation skills and fluency. The exercises are aimed at classically trained
string players but are largely applicable to any instrument.
Friesen introduces modal improvisations with a drone pitch as a “great way to
explore intervals and to create melodies that relate to a tonal centre.”201 He
encourages the student to discover the unique qualities of the seven modes of the
major scale, by freely playing each mode with a drone. (A selection of drones as
accompanying recorded tracks is provided for the student to work with.) Friesen
guides the student to improvise using the following directions:
Consider the drone note to be the tonic of the key in which you’re
playing. You might begin by matching that note and varying your
dynamic and vibrato. See how your sound grows out of the drone–
how it emerges into an interval, a phrase, a melody. Explore the
unique relationship of each note you play with the drone. Explore
the feeling of it. [. . .] This is an essential process of internalizing the
values inherent in each interval.202
200"Eugene Friesen," Berklee College of Music, 2021, https://college.berklee.edu/people/eugene-

friesen.
201 Friesen, Improvisation for Classical Musicians, 32.
202 Friesen, 32.
74
Friesen’s aim with this exercise is for the student to develop awareness of each
mode’s unique intervallic structure. He encourages the student to “take your time,
breathe, sing and listen. These modes are imprinting themselves on you.”203 This
exercise is also a gentle introduction to free-form melodic improvisation. Because
of the stable tonic-drone accompaniment and absence of a set meter, there is no
pressure on the student to play in time or negotiate harmonic progressions or
modulations. In this scenario, my new aural-training method can reinforce the
aims of the exercise by first establishing modal auditory memories relevant to
Friesen’s task. An effective aural-training melody for this purpose must mirror the
characteristics of the improvisation task: be in a major mode, include an
accompanying drone or pedal note, and absence of a strict pulse.
Medieval plainchants are a form of modal melody that were originally freely
extemporised and are often performed today without a strict meter. They are also
sometimes performed with a drone pitch. This makes them suitable aural primers
for a student embarking on Friesen’s unmetered, modal improvisation task. An
additional benefit of using plainchant for this exercise is that, aside from original
plainchant manuscripts being notated in neumes, modern notation is unable to
accurately capture the rhythm and phrasing of a plainchant performance.
Therefore, students will be easily deterred from referring to a notated version or
attempting to transcribe it and, instead, focus on learning the chant aurally.
203 Friesen, 33.
75
For this case study, I nominate the plainchant Beata Viscera by Pérotin (fl. 1200) as
a suitable aural-training melody to support Friesen’s exercise. Beata Viscera is a
medieval plainchant in the dorian mode. It comprises seven verses, all sung to the
same chant melody which has a melodic range of a major ninth. The melody
clearly outlines the dorian mode’s characteristic minor-seventh and minor-third
scale degrees. On two occasions the melody descends stepwise through the mode
to the seventh degree, before resolving back to the tonic. It also regularly
embellishes the third degree of the mode.
Several commercial recordings are available of this plainchant in different keys
and interpretations. I nominate a version by vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices
from their album Monastic Chant: 12th & 13th Century European Sacred Music.204 Their
performance of the opening chant verse takes approximately one-minute-thirty
seconds, which fulfills the duration criterion identified by this study for an aural-
training melody. In this particular recording each verse is sung by a different solo
male voice, with a tonic drone provided by the remaining choir voices. This fulfills
the accompanying drone requirement and provides the necessary bass line
reference to illuminate the intervallic structure of the chant’s dorian mode. There
is also no discernible meter in Theatre of Voices’ interpretation, which aligns with
the unmetered approach of Friesen’s improvisation exercise.
Theatre of Voices directed by Paul Hillier, “Beata Viscera,” by Pérotin, track 16 on Monastic
204
Chant: 12th & 13th Century European Sacred Music: Disc 1, Harmonia Mundi, 2013, 2 compact discs.
76
Beata Viscera is sung to Latin text. Students could either choose to imitate the
chant’s lyrics or use a single syllable such as la or ah. Where lyrics are included, I
strongly discourage any reference to a printed page of lyric text. All learning,
including any lyrics, must be accomplished using only the ear. This may result in
an imperfect learning of the Latin text in this instance. Any lyric inaccuracies will
simply be a useful indication of what or how the student is hearing.
Friesen’s improvisation exercise aims to help the student internalise the
characteristics of each mode of the major scale. Learning to sing a verse of Theatre
of Voice’s rendition of Beata Viscera, prior to commencing Friesen’s exercise, will
support the student with relevant auditory memories for a dorian-mode
improvisation. Because my method does not prescribe a solmization technique, a
student learning this chant could internalise the dorian-mode melody without
necessarily understanding what they are singing. To help mitigate this, each
aural-training melody must be identified and discussed using a clear descriptive
title. For example, the audio file for the melody identified in this case study could
be classified as: “Dorian-Mode Melody No. 1: Beata Viscera by Pérotin.” This
labelling encourages the student to associate their auditory memory generally
with the dorian mode. It also enables the teacher to reference and remind students
of the melody and modal quality, when introducing the corresponding
improvisation task.
77
Learning additional plainchants in the dorian mode would further broaden and
enrich a student’s auditory memory for this particular modal colour and
improvisation exercise. Following the principles outlined in this case study,
additional melodies in other modes could be sourced or composed to support
improvisations in all modes of the major and minor scales. As mentioned in the
previous chapter, Third Stream ear-training practitioner Louise Denson composed
a library of melodies in different modes and scales, specifically for use in her ear-
training repertoire.205
Case Study Two: Lyrical Improvisations Using a Harmonic Framework
A common approach to teaching melodic improvisation is to provide a planned
harmonic progression over which to improvise. This approach is the foundation
of jazz and contemporary improvisation, and also the basis of Italian partimento
exercises for which solfeggio played such a pivotal role.206 In a music theory
context, improvising over a harmonic progression can enhance students’
theoretical understanding of melodic and harmonic function, as well as develop
musicianship and expression. A short, repeated four- or eight-bar framework
provides a contained musical environment for a beginner improviser to focus on
expressing their melodic ideas over a changing harmony. These exercises can also

For more detail see: Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Petaluma, CA: Sher Music, 1995);
206
Sanguinetti, Art of Partimento.
78
be used as preparatory exercises before attempting longer-form improvisations
such as preludes, intermezzi, or cadenzas.
In this second case study I discuss how my aural-training method can support
lyrical improvisation over a harmonic framework, using an exercise by educator
and exponent of classical improvisation John Mortensen as an example.
Mortensen is a renowned pianist, pedagogue and advocate of historical
improvisation. His recently published instructional text The Pianist’s Guide to
Historic Improvisation contains exercises and instructions for pianists to commence
improvising in baroque and early classical styles, including figuration preludes,
toccatas, variations and dance suites.207 A full chapter of his text discusses learning
to improvise in a lyrical style, highlighting that this skill is particularly useful in
the context of improvised preludes and slow movements of suites.208
Mortensen introduces his chapter on lyrical improvisation as follows:
In this chapter we will learn to improvise pieces in a lyrical style,
with particular attention to the following qualities:
1. A slow tempo.
2. The soprano voice serving in the most prominent role, displaying
elaborate ornamentations and an expressive lyrical character.
John Mortensen, The Pianist’s Guide to Historic Improvisation (New York: Oxford University Press,
207
2020).
208 Mortensen, The Pianist’s Guide, 124.
79
3. An accompaniment (bass and inner voices) employing consistent
rhythmic and textural patterns that [. . .] support the primacy of the
soprano.209
To begin the first lesson, Mortensen provides a simple two-bar repeated
framework of a tonic to dominant progression in the bass clef.210 Using this
progression he instructs the reader to:
Improvise a simple melody in the right hand. Start by using only
chord tones in simple rhythms such as quarter notes. As you
become more confident, begin to use eighth notes, adding passing
tones, rhythmic inflexions, and anything else that seems interesting
and appropriate.211
This first exercise is followed by a longer fourteen-bar framework with more
detailed harmonic progressions. The reader is instructed to again improvise a
melody using “eighth notes, passing and neighbour tones, suspensions, and any
other elements that are stylistically appropriate [. . .].212
Throughout the chapter Mortensen provides strategies for applying stylistic
baroque embellishments when improvising, including diminution, approach
209 Mortensen, 124.

210 Mortensen, 125.
211 Mortensen, 126.
212 Mortensen, 127-28.
80
tones, arpeggiation and ornaments.213 As follows, I argue that Mortensen’s
improvisation exercises may be further enhanced by first using my aural-training
method, to prepare the student with stylistically relevant auditory memories from
which to draw on.
It is difficult to ignore the historic use and continued suitability of solfeggi
melodies for this purpose. Solfeggi were designed to teach the art of melody and
ornamentation in the baroque musical style of the day. Singing solfeggi without
solmization could still provide today’s students with auditory memories to draw
on, which would be stylistically relevant to Mortensen’s lyrical improvisation
tasks. I acknowledge that learning to sing a solfeggio without prior study of the
requisite skills and rules will lose much of the original pedagogical benefits.
Nevertheless, I argue that using solfeggi as melodies within my adapted aural-
training method can provide students with baroque or galant-style auditory
memories. To enable this, audio recordings of vocal or instrumental performances
of the relevant solfeggi would need to be commissioned.214
213 Throughout his textbook Mortensen provides musical excerpts of suggested repertoire to
illustrate the style or form being studied, such as a Toccata, Allemande or Prelude. These are
provided as printed examples for the reader to memorise and sometimes transpose into all twelve
keys. I recommend that many of these excerpts could also be incorporated into this new aural-
training method, as melodies for learning aurally using recorded examples.
As solfeggi repertoire becomes more widely known by today’s classical musicians, it is
214
conceivable that commercial recordings may also be made.
81
To help prepare a student for Mortensen’s lyrical improvisation exercises, I
propose using a solfeggio by Leonardo Leo (1694–1744) as shown in example 4.215
Example 4. Bars 1–22 of “Grave” No. 3a from XII Solfeggi a Voce Sola di Soprano con Basso by
Leonardo Leo, Gj5005, transcribed by Robert Gjerdingen.216
This “Grave” solfeggio is from a collection of twelve pairs of solfeggi by Leo,
transcribed by Robert Gjerdingen, which were composed for soprano solo with
bass accompaniment. It is one example from a myriad of eighteenth-century
solfeggi that fulfils Mortensen’s prescribed improvisation criteria of a slow tempo
with stylistic ornamentation and accompaniment. While it was originally intended
215Robert Gjerdingen, "Leo, MS2369, No.3a -- Grave," Monuments of Solfeggi, Northwestern

University Bienen School of Music, accessed June 20, 2021,
web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/Solfeggi/collections/Leo/SantiniMS2369/03a/03a_Grave
.htm.
216 Gjerdingen, "Leo, MS2369, No.3a -- Grave."
82
for boy soprano or castrato, this solfeggio can be easily transposed down one or
two octaves if required, or into more suitable keys for other voice ranges.217
Leo’s “Grave” solfeggio is particularly suitable to this case study because it
contains numerous notated examples of the baroque embellishment strategies
referenced by Mortensen, such as passing notes, suspensions and ornaments. A
quick survey of the melodic excerpt provided in example 4 includes: a triplet
embellishment of the tonic note in bar one; a suspension and passing note in bar
two; a short sequence of neighbour tones (appoggiaturas) in bar five; another
suspension in bar six; and a series of notated ornamental turns in bars seven and
eight.
The opening four bars of Leo’s solfeggio outlines the tonic–dominant harmonic
framework of Mortensen’s two-bar exercise. This will provide some auditory
references specific to that progression. The harmonic progression in Leo’s
solfeggio in example 4 does not align completely with the harmonic progression
of Mortensen’s longer exercise. Composing or locating a melody that matched the
same harmonic progression would directly benefit students. The rationale behind
selecting Leo’s solfeggio for this case study is the multiple examples of melodic
ornamentation which Mortensen refers to in his instructions for lyrical
improvisation.
217Gjerdingen, "About Solfeggi: A Beginner’s Guide." Gjerdingen has transcribed this solfeggio
into treble clef for the convenience of modern readers. It was originally written in soprano clef.
83
To use this solfeggio in my new aural-training method, a recording of a sung or
instrumental rendition of the melody with accompaniment would need to be
made. In addition to this transcription of Leo’s solfeggio, Gjerdingen provides an
audio file of a synthesised flute playing this solfeggio an octave lower, with
realised accompaniment by a synthesised harpsichord.218 Unfortunately this audio
file provides none of the dynamic, timbral or articulation nuances that are so
beneficial to developing stylistic auditory memories.
To apportion this melody for learning, the opening melodic statement, outlined in
red in example 4, equates to approximately one-minute of music and is sufficient
length for an aural-training melody. The second section, outlined in green,
presents an alternate treatment of the melody in the dominant, with a similar
harmonic progression to the opening. Here Leo inverts some of the opening
embellishments while keeping much of the same melodic rhythm. This provides
an excellent comparison for the student to learn and would further develop their
auditory memory of baroque and galant-style embellishments. These two sections
could be assigned as separate melodies to be learnt over a successive two- or four-
week period.
Lyrical improvisation over a harmonic framework can be applied to many other
melodic styles outside of the example discussed here. For example, a harmonic
Gjerdingen, "Leo, MS2369, No.3a -- Grave." Gjerdingen also provides a separate midi file of the
218
bass line only.
84
progression can be used to practice improvising a classical cadenza, or a romantic
prelude. Because of its basis in Third Stream ear training, my adapted aural-
training method can effectively support any stylistic approach, by identifying and
assigning suitable melodies from the rich array of existing lyrical works within
Western art music genres. As an example of this, in the final section of this chapter
I discuss the recently discovered collection of vocalises by Gabriel Fauré, which
are highly suitable for supporting lyrical improvisation exercises in a neoclassical,
French mélodie style.
Case Study Three: Small-Group Free Improvisation
The third and final improvisation approach discussed in this chapter is free
improvisation in small-group settings. This kind of exercise deliberately avoids
using any stylistic parameters and instead focuses on musical exploration and
organic ensemble interaction. It is sometimes used in undergraduate theory or
ensemble classes to encourage and develop interactive listening skills and
promote individual creative expression.219 Using a simple classroom exercise from
George Pratt's Aural Awareness: Principles and Practice textbook as an example, I
explain how my aural-training method can support free improvisation.220
219David Dolan, "Teaching Classical Improvisation," David Dolan, accessed May 20, 2021,
http://www.david-dolan.com/teaching-classical-improvisation; George Pratt, Aural Awareness:
Principles and Practice (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1990), 103.
220 Pratt, Aural Awareness.
85
Pratt (1935–2017) was Emeritus Professor of Music at Huddersfield University
where he was also Director of Research into Applied Music Perception.221 His
research and writings address what he considered to be a failing of aural-training
classes to equip students with the requisite skills for a career in music. His book
Aural Awareness is designed for both classroom and individual use and aims to
“focus attention sharply on the neglected elements of musical expression.”222 The
book contains numerous exercises on topics such as strategies for hearing, aural
synthesis, pitch, timbre and improvisation.
Strategies and exercises for spontaneous performance, or improvisation, are
provided in the penultimate chapter of Pratt’s textbook. His stated aim with these
exercises is for students to experience “bypassing the written page and focusing
all our attention on the sound of performance and composition.”223 After some
initial individual and duet improvisations with singular parameters (such as
limited note choice or a designated form structure), Pratt introduces
improvisation which is entirely free of any parameters. He provides the following
instructions:
221 Pratt, vii.

222 Pratt, 2.
223 Pratt, 103.
86
Improvise with no preliminary discussion at all to determine any
constraints or formal plan, in a group of any number from, say, six
to fifteen. After this experience of spontaneous improvisation [. . .]
discuss it. Note particularly ways in which it benefited from its
spontaneity [. . .] and ways in which it suffered from the lack of any
constraints and planning.224
In this scenario of free improvisation, my adapted aural-training method can
prepare students by first developing aural memory and recall skills, and building
confidence in working without notation. Musical imitation and repetition are
useful musical devices for creating integrated and engaging improvisations,
regardless of the genre. Using such devices when improvising requires the
musician to memorise and recall a musical event in the moment. Students who are
in a routine of memorising melodies within this aural-training method will be
better placed to recall melodic phrases in the moment, both within their own
improvisations and phrases by other ensemble members.225 This is because the
method’s specific process of melody learning, designed by Ran Blake, uses
principles of extractive listening—“careful, conscious listening”—to develop
memory and recall skills.226 Music theoretician Gary Karpinski reports that
“listeners who develop extractive listening skills find [. . .] their ability to focus
224 Pratt, 106.

225 Karpinski, Aural Skills Acquisition, 73.
87
attention and retain specific musical information becomes extremely valuable
while listening, performing, [and] studying [. . .].”227 Blake also supports this
notion, saying that “the ear grows in ability to hear and digest sound in the same
way a muscle grows in strength and size, through repeated effort.”228 I argue that
the small-group free improvisation scenario presented in this case study would
immediately become more cohesive and musically rewarding if the participants
had developed abilities to recall, imitate and manipulate each other’s musical
ideas; skills which this aural-training method develops.
Students studying this method of aural training will also develop a greater level of
confidence and familiarity in the process of creating music without any notation.
Pratt writes that “the experience of improvising, of discovering that control of
instrument or voice need not depend on having a printed page to rely upon, often
increases our self-confidence.”229 I argue that Pratt’s description of creative
independence from the notated page is not limited to the experience of
improvisation. Instead, it can first be experienced through my aural-training
method. Using this method would provide inexperienced students with a base
level of familiarity and confidence in creating music without any reference to
notation during the creative process. Students with experience in working without
notation in this way will likely have fewer inhibitions to participating in the small-
227 Karpinski, Aural Skills Acquisition, 73.

229 Pratt, Aural Awareness, 103.
88
group free improvisation task, and able to engage more immediately and
completely.
Sourcing style-specific melodies to use in relation to this particular case study is
redundant, because the corresponding improvisation is free from all parameters
including a musical style. As previously explained, the benefit of the aural-
training method in this scenario is the learning process itself which develops
memory skills and familiarity in working without notation. Learning to sing any
melody from any style would be beneficial to this task. In regard to selecting a
melody to support this task, teachers could afford students the option of free
choice or provide a collection of different melodies to choose from.
Final Teaching Considerations and Observations
Having illustrated how my proposed aural-training method can be applied to
specific improvisation activities, this final section covers some additional
considerations for using this method within the conservatoire curriculum. This
includes: the recent discovery of vocalises by Fauré as an example of suitable
aural-training repertoire, approaches to assessment, best-practice guidelines for
safe listening, and aspects for further research.
Existing Syllabus of Melodies: Vocalises by Gabriel Fauré
The recent publication of newly discovered vocalises by Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
is a significant contribution to vocal repertoire, and also provides a ready-made
syllabus of melodies suitable for use in my aural-training method. The collection,
89
collated and edited by Roy Howat and Emily Kilpatrick, comprises forty-five
vocalises for voice and piano accompaniment composed by Fauré between 1906–
1916 when he was Director of the Paris Conservatoire.
Fauré composed the vocalises specifically for the Conservatoire’s sight-singing
tests which were used as entrance auditions, examinations and competitions for
voice students.230 The melodies are short works with piano accompaniment; most
of the vocalises are between twenty-two and twenty-eight bars long. A
performance tempo is not always provided. Howat and Kilpatrick explain that the
vocalises’ “modal adventurousness, supple melodic lines and fluidity of phrasing
make them ideal preparation for artsong in general, and the genre of French
mélodie in particular.”231 This description by Howat and Kilpatrick of the vocalises
being “ideal preparation” promotes the melodies’ suitability as studies in a
particular style. While they were only ever intended as examination exercises, the
vocalises are an excellent resource in their own right because they are concise
pieces, representative of a broader neoclassical artsong genre. Learning these
vocalises within my aural-training method would provide relevant auditory
memories for improvisations in a French artsong or mélodie style.
For this premiere edition the vocalises are published in approximate order of
difficultly rather than chronologically. A summary of the “progressive technical
Gabriel Faure, Vocalises, ed. Roy Howat and Emily Kilpatrick, Urtext ed. (London: Edition
230
Peters, 2013), vi.

231 Faure, Vocalises, vi.
90
and musical challenges” observed across the melodies is provided by the editors
in the preface.232 With the aid of this analysis, I identified any vocalise from
numbers one through to twenty as being suitable melodies for inclusion in an
aural-training method. These melodies range from “basic intervals and rhythms”
to increasing rhythmic complexity, larger intervals, and independence from the
piano accompaniment.233 In order to include these vocalises in my aural-training
method, each piece would need to be recorded so it can be learnt aurally.234
Commissioned recordings could feature performances by a singer or a variety of
different instrumentalists. This collection of short vocalises is just one example of
how existing composed works stand ready as candidate repertoire to use in my
aural-training method, to prepare classical music students for improvisation
exercises.
Assessment
Assessment is an effective way of checking the accuracy of the student’s auditory
memory, as well as providing useful learning deadlines and graduating criteria. A
comparison of the assessment process of solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training
methods was not possible due to the limited scholarship available in this aspect of
solfeggio. Students of the Neapolitan Conservatoires were under significant
232 Faure, xiv.

233 Faure, xiv.
234The publishers advertise the availability of recorded accompaniments (backing-tracks) for each
vocalise in the collection. This is a useful additional resource for the aural-training method once
the student is ready to practice independently of the commissioned recording.
91
pressure to excel in their studies, in order to both retain their place in the
Conservatoire and progress to suitable employment.235 While students could not
graduate beyond sung solfeggio until they had displayed sufficient fluency, I have
not found any scholarship that illuminates this in further detail.
Third Stream ear-training assessments are designed by the teacher and are
contingent upon class size and teacher resources. I have experienced two different
approaches to this assessment process. These are outlined below as examples of
strategies for assessing students of my aural-training method, in a modern
conservatoire environment.
In 2001 I was a Third Stream ear-training student at the Queensland
Conservatorium. We were assigned a melody to memorise each week, and
assessed weekly. The assessment involved singing the set melody from memory
and unaccompanied, except for a starting pitch from the piano. Each student was
assessed separately. Assessed elements included accuracy of the melodic
intervals, pitch, rhythmic details, and the song’s form. If our individual
performance had too many inaccuracies, we were required to present it again the
following week. This was to ensure that students learnt the set material. The
weekly deadline provided an incentive for learning and progression through the
semester’s set melodies.
92
My experience of teaching Third Stream ear training more than a decade later
comprised a modified assessment process from the one described above. Students
were set a new melody to learn every fortnight rather than each week, and were
assessed in pairs, twice through the semester. Only one melody was selected for
assessment. This was chosen randomly by the teacher once the student pair was in
the exam room. These modifications were made to accommodate the large class
size of thirty students, and limited teaching time and resources.
Designing examinations for my new aural-training method is influenced by these
same factors of class size and teacher resources. Where possible, regular
assessment of melodies is a desirable strategy to include in future assessment
designs, principally because of the incentives it provides for student learning.
Where individual assessment of students is not achievable, paired assessments
could include a short individual performance, to ensure students are judged as
accurately as possible in the circumstances.
Safe Listening Guidelines
A final, important consideration for teaching this, or indeed any aural-based
method, is the health of the student’s ear and auditory capacity. From an ethical
standpoint, a method that requires students to learn by listening to recorded
93
music, often through headphones, must also teach healthy listening practices. The
World Health Organisation has developed guidelines to help enable this.236
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the increased use of
personal audio devices for listening to music, often at high volumes and for
prolonged periods, risks permanent hearing loss and damage for many of the
developed world’s young-adult population.237 WHO estimates that fifty percent of
teenagers and young adults from high and middle-income countries are “exposed
to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices.”238 Safe output
levels for devices such as headphones are defined by WHO as being no higher
than eighty-five decibels.239 User limits and warnings on audio output levels are
now installed in some devices, having been mandated by the European
Commission in 2009.240 Additional recommendations for safe headphone listening
practices include setting a comfortable volume in a quiet space, and limiting
headphone use to less than one hour per day.241 The use of noise-cancelling
headphones can also reduce the need for listening at a loud volume.
Etienne Krug et al., Make Listening Safe, (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organisation,
236
2015).
237 Krug et al., Make Listening Safe, 1.
238 Krug et al., 1.
239 Krug et al., 3.
240 Krug et al., 6.
241 Krug et al., 4.
94
These recommendations are directly relevant to the delivery of my aural-training
method and should be included as important guidelines for students. I have
previously discussed the importance of addressing correct voice use and ensuring
good vocal technique when teaching melodies within this method. Establishing
healthy listening habits is also a necessary consideration.
Aspects for Further Research
Trial studies of my new aural-training method in practice are needed to assess and
optimise its efficacy as a resource for classically trained musicians learning to
improvise. Such studies will help determine several aspects currently undefined
in this study. Potential areas for further research are outlined below.
Trial studies are needed to determine the optimum relationship of this aural-
training method to the corresponding improvisation tasks. I have recommended
students learn selected melodies prior to the corresponding improvisation
exercise, but whether this should be a week, month or six-months prior to the
designated improvisation task is yet to be defined. Such studies could also
determine the most effective number of melodies to assign for learning, bringing
into consideration students’ workload, lifestyle and existing aural abilities. Third
Stream ear-training practitioner Jonathan Dimond has observed a decrease in the
number of melodies students are able to commit to long-term memory.242 Further
research is required to understand why this may be occurring.
95
Empirical studies of undergraduate classical music students learning to improvise
with, and without, a foundation in my adapted aural-training method could
provide tangible evidence of the method’s anticipated benefits.243 These studies
could also examine to what extent learning multiple melodies impacts a student’s
improvisation experience or fluency for a given exercise. Experienced ear-training
practitioner Louise Denson admits that it is difficult to measure Third Stream ear-
training’s immediate impact on a student’s improvisational ability, but that
students have acknowledged the benefit many years later.244 The motivation for
this research study is testament to my own experiential benefits as a student and
teacher of the Third Stream ear-training method.
There are currently no empirical studies of the effect of Third Stream ear training on an
243
improviser’s creativity.
96
Conclusion
I have long been looking for a teaching and learning method like Third Stream ear
training that caters to classical musicians learning to improvise. When I came
across the practice of solfeggio I was struck by its similarity to my experience of
Third Stream ear training, and saw the potential to combine elements of the two
techniques to create a new aural-training method specifically designed for today’s
classical music students.
In this study I analysed and compared key elements of solfeggio and Third Stream
ear training to identify their similarities and differences, and used these findings
to identify the key components of a new aural-training method. The growing field
of solfeggio research, and specifically the work by scholar Nicholas Baragwanath,
has enabled this unique opportunity to bring historic perspectives to the use of
singing as a preparatory stage to improvisation. In the introduction to his ground-
breaking text The Solfeggio Tradition Baragwanath invites readers to apply this new
knowledge to current music practice, anticipating that some may find in solfeggio
“strategies to enhance the teaching of aural skills, musicianship, and
composition.”245 My study has done exactly this.
As stated throughout this study, my new aural-training method is based on Third
Stream ear-training methodology, modified with solfeggio principles. The new
97
method adopts the solfeggio practice of developing auditory memories prior to
attempting improvisation exercises, rather than concurrently as in the Third
Stream method. My aural-training method also follows solfeggio’s focus of
developing auditory memories in a particular style, rather than from the diverse
range of genres studied in Third Stream ear training. Also inspired by solfeggio
principles, I recommend an increased attention to voice use and singing technique
including a period of voice training before commencing my method.
In a departure from both Third Stream and solfeggio, I recommend that the aural-
training melodies are more explicitly associated with future improvisation
exercises. I have facilitated this by using comparative analysis to identify the key
criteria for selecting melodies to use in my new modified method. These
established criteria enable countless improvisation exercises to be immediately
enhanced by this aural-training method. Melodies can be selected for
improvisation exercises based on the criteria identified, and trialled following the
teaching and learning guidelines outlined in this study.
This study highlights the core similarities between the two techniques as being
oral, imitative methods and indicates how Third Stream ear training maintains
this style of learning in a modern conservatoire setting, by using recorded music
and prohibiting reference to notation. Like solfeggio and Third Stream ear
training, my modified method is intended for use by all undergraduate classical
98
music students learning to improvise, regardless of their instrument or voice
specialisation.
This study contributes a new resource to the growing field of improvisation
pedagogy for classical musicians. Improvisation can be a daunting prospect for
many classically trained students today. By first developing their auditory
memory for an improvisation task, my new aural-training method aims to give
students greater familiarity and confidence when learning to improvise.
99
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Thesis Doctor of Philosophy Turvey Gemma Jessica 2021

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If You Can Sing, You Can Play:

Applying the Legacies of Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear Training to

Gemma Jessica Turvey

Bachelor of Music (Performance)

This thesis is presented for the degree of

I, Gemma Jessica Turvey, certify that:

Human Research Ethics Approval (reference 2020/ET000195) was obtained prior

Date: 30th July 2021

been submitted to any other institution for the award of a degree.

Date: 30th July 2021

In the art of improvisation, the musician consciously and subconsciously draws

on a lifetime of learnt theoretical knowledge and accumulated auditory memories

to create and compose spontaneously. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century

for at least three years, before commencing composition and improvisation

accompaniment. They played a pivotal role in establishing the necessary melodic

auditory memories required for future composition and improvisation lessons.

Third Stream ear training is a modern-day method with several striking

similarities to solfeggio. The Third Stream method is currently taught at a select

number of jazz and contemporary music schools, to all students learning to

century. There is growing interest to reintroduce improvisation into

undergraduate classical music curricula. Within this, there is little research on

methods to develop students’ auditory memories for improvisation. This study

compares eighteenth-century solfeggio and Third Stream ear-training methods, to

can support today’s classical music students learning to improvise.

This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training

Program (RTP) Scholarship.

Thank you to my supervisors Cecilia Sun, Nicholas Bannan and Jonathan

Fitzgerald for their encouragement, guidance, and support of this project.

Thanks also to my former Third Stream ear-training teachers Jonathan Dimond

have contributed to this project.

Chapter One: Background................................................................................................1

About this Research Project...........................................................................................1

About Third Stream Ear Training ..............................................................................11

Teaching Improvisation to Classical Music Students..............................................17

Improvisation in Today’s Undergraduate Classical Music Pedagogy .................................... 17

Identifying a Pedagogical Gap................................................................................................. 19

Auditory Memory and Improvisation .......................................................................21

The Benefits of Shared Auditory Memories ............................................................................ 23

If You Can Sing, You Can Play .............................................................................................. 25

Developing a New Aural-Training Method .............................................................27

Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills .................................................................30

Solfeggio Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills .......................................................... 30

Third Stream Ear-Training Curricula Context and Prerequisite Skills............................. 33

What Makes a Solfeggio or Third Stream Ear-Training Melody? .........................37

Comparing Melody Style and Instrumentation ...................................................................... 38

Solfeggi Melodies’ Style and Instrumentation ................................................................... 38

Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies’ Style and Instrumentation .................................... 40

Considerations for Melody Style and Instrumentation in a New Aural-Training Method

Composing Solfeggio and Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies ............................................ 42

Solmization, La or Lyrics? ...................................................................................................... 46

Bass Lines ................................................................................................................................ 50

Bass Lines in Solfeggi.......................................................................................................... 50

Bass Lines in Third Stream Ear-Training Melodies ........................................................... 52

Considerations for Bass Lines in New Aural-Training Repertoire .................................... 54

Teaching and Learning Techniques ...........................................................................54

Solfeggio Teaching and Learning Techniques ......................................................................... 55

Third Stream Ear-Training Teaching and Learning Techniques ........................................... 56

Parameters for Learning ..................................................................................................... 58

Ran Blake’s Process for Learning Melodies ........................................................................ 58

Teaching How to Sing ............................................................................................................. 63