Building Better Dictation Skills

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1475813929 ISBN 13: 9781475813920

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015

Melodic dictation plays an important role in music theory classes, but instruction is often based on tradition rather than research. Dictation teachers and students do not just need more exercises and drills; they need to see deeper into the materials, consider how we connect to them, and practice wisely. Building Better Dictation Skills offers teachers and students the “why” and “how” of melodic dictation, through research-based exercises aimed at developing proactive musical listening. During dictation, students must actively involve themselves in the unfolding of an unfamiliar melody—using all of their musical skills in a concerted effort—to get into the composer’s mind and understand what is played. The author’s published research, on which this book is based, provides a level of insight unlikely to be discovered simply through drilling more melodies. Building Better Dictation Skills provides music educators and students with a concise, specific, and affordable resource that focuses on what they really need: dictation strategies aimed at learning beyond the “right answer.”

About the Author:

Nathan O. Buonviri is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He has published in the top research journals in his field, and has presented papers and workshops across the United States and around the world on aural skills training, percussion pedagogy, and instrumental improvisation.

Review:

Building Better Dictation Skills provides a phenomenal resource for teachers and students of aural skills. It covers important musical concepts in an easy-to-use format. Buonviri truly understands that by building better dictation skills, we are building better musicians, and he shows us how to accomplish this lofty and meaningful goal. (American Music Teacher)

Dictation skills can clearly be developed by us all with good resources like this and with good teaching. I only wish I had been able to use such a book years ago. (Peter R. Webster, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University, Scholar in Residence, University of Southern California)

This is a well-crafted resource in which Dr. Buonviri treats the melodic dictation process like an art form. The carefully sequenced methodology presented in this book will assuredly equip musicians with the tools and strategies necessary to be proficient and successful. (Rollo A. Dilworth, professor of choral music education, Temple University)

This is a thoughtful, well-sequenced, easy-to-use book that I would have loved to have used when I was a student struggling with aural theory. Dr. Buonviri breaks complicated tasks down into their component parts and encourages the learner to keep trying and to love learning. (Andrew Paney, associate professor of music education, University of Mississippi)