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Musicianship Self EvaluationHTML
Musicianship Self Evaluation
by
MARIANNE PLOGER
© Marianne Ploger in Brentwood, TN 1999-2010
To be a fully realized musician requires a high degree of craft, not only in the development of the ear and of coordination skills but in the area of literacy – the ability to read, write and comprehend music fluently.
This self assessment is meant to help aspiring musical artists interested in rating their level of literacy at each of many developmental steps, from the simplest to the most complex. From my own experience as a musician and as a teacher of musicians ranging from small children to music students, professional musicians, conductors, composers, educators, and even retired doctors, I can attest to the fact that each of these skills can be developed to a high degree through principled, mindful attention. In doing this assessment, it is important to remember that talent is not a prerequisite to achieve success in each skill, unless by talent what is meant is a deep and abiding interest that propels us to mastery. Therefore, use the assessment as an indicator of how your current skill levels compare with your imagined potential – this imagined potential can propel you toward the goal if you focus upon it with joy.
In creating this assessment, I have imagined for myself the most consummate musician, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the skills he is thought to have mastered, not from talent but from constant application and effort. It was he who said, “Anyone who works as hard as I can do the same.” He did not say, “Nobody will ever be able to be as skillful as I because I am so talented.” We can be thankful to him for his honesty and integrity.
Please rejoice for every point you give yourself – each is crucial in the development of your eventual musical mastery.
The concept of the musical keyboard is, as I call it, “the thinking tool of the musician” because it aids in the perception of music pitch space, it is included in a large number of skills in the assessment. It is not expected that a high degree of keyboard playing skill is expected or required however. The majority of my students have been non-keyboardists yet nevertheless have been successful at achieving high levels of skill with a modicum of practice using this concept.
Skills needed to read any single melodic line
Rate yourself, on a scale from 0 to 100, in each of the areas listed below. A rating of 100 indicates a level of effortless and reliable fluency.
Pitch/Note skills
On the keyboard, I can point to any of the seven basic diatonic notes in any octave, naming both by letter and solfege syllable, fluently, in real-time:
______ 1) C/Doh
______ 2) D/Re
______ 3) E/Mi
______ 4) F/Fa
______ 5) G/Sol
______ 6) A/La
______ 7) B/Si
On the keyboard, I can point to the sharp manifestations of the seven basic diatonic notes in any octave, naming both by letter and solfege syllable, fluently, in real-time:
______ 1) C#/Doh-sharp
______ 2) D#/Re-sharp
______ 3) E#/Mi-sharp
______ 4) F#/Fa-sharp
______ 5) G#/Sol-sharp
______ 6) A#/La-sharp
______ 7) B#/Si-sharp
On the keyboard, I can point to the flat manifestations of the seven basic diatonic notes in any octave, naming both by letter and solfege syllable, fluently, in real-time:
______ 1) Cb/Doh-flat
______ 2) Db/Re-flat
______ 3) Eb/Mi-flat
______ 4) Fb/Fa-flat
______ 5) Gb/Sol-flat
______ 6) Ab/La-flat
______ 7) Bb/Si-flat
I can identify by ear and sing the following pitches in real-time, in either tonal or atonal contexts, indicating both by letter and fixed solfege syllable:
______ 1) C/Doh; B#/Si-sharp
______ 2) C#/Doh-sharp; Db/Re-flat
______ 3) D/Re
______ 4) Eb/Mi-flat; D#/Re-sharp
______ 5) E/Mi; Fb/Fa-flat
______ 6) F/Fa; E#/Mi-sharp
______ 7) F#/Fa-sharp; Gb/Sol-flat
______ 8) G/Sol
______ 9) G#/Sol-sharp
______ 10) A/La
______ 11) Bb/Si-flat; A#/La-sharp
______ 12) B/Si; Cb/Doh-flat
I can visually recognize and name notes on a staff in real time in the following clefs and can visualize each in its precise location on the keyboard (in the correct octave disposition):
______ 1) Treble
______ 2) Bass
______ 3) Alto
______ 4) Tenor
______ 5) Soprano
______ 6) Mezzo Soprano
______ 7) Baritone
I can identify the interval (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) transposition from the treble clef to each of the following clefs:
______ 1) Bass
______ 2) Alto
______ 3) Tenor
______ 4) Soprano
______ 5) Mezzo Soprano
______ 6) Baritone
© Marianne Ploger in Brentwood, TN 1999-2010
Interval Skills
I can identify by ear and sing the following intervals above and below any note in real time, in either tonal or atonal contexts, whether simple or compound:
______ 1) minor 2nd/chromatic half-step; dichord [1]
______ 2) major 2nd/ diminished 3rd; dichord [2]
______ 3) minor 3rd/augmented 2nd; dichord [3]
______ 4) major 3rd/diminished 4th; dichord [4]
______ 5) perfect 4th/ /augmented 3rd (optional); dichord [5]
______ 6) augmented 4th/diminished 5th; dichord [6]
______ 7) perfect 5th/ dimishied 6th (optional); dichord [7]
______ 8) minor 6th/ augmented 5th; dichord [8]
______ 9) major 6th/ diminished 7th; dichord [9]
______ 10) minor 7th/ augmented 6th; dichord [10]
______ 11) major 7th/diminished 8ve; dichord [11]
I can visually recognize and name the following diatonic intervals between any pair of notes written on a staff in real time:
______ 1) 2nds
______ 2) 3rds
______ 3) 4ths
______ 4) 5ths
______ 5) 6ths
______ 6) 7ths
______ 7) 8ves
______ 8) 9ths
______ 9) 10ths
______ 10) 11ths
______ 11) 12ths
I can visually recognize and name the exact interval size (major 2nd, minor 3rd, et cetera) between any pair of notes on the staff in real time, averaging your score by giving each specific interval 33% of the total score in each line below:
______ 1) major, minor and augmented 2nds
______ 2) major, minor and diminished 3rds
______ 3) perfect, diminished and augmented 4ths
______ 4) perfect, diminished and augmented 5ths
______ 5) major, minor and augmented 6ths
______ 6) major, minor and diminished 7ths
I know the number of half-steps between any pair of notes, either written or heard; (i.e. you know the interval class number for any interval).
______
I can identify through reading and through hearing the exact degree of any pitch in one of the following tonal scales, fluently in real time:
______ 1) The major scale
______ 2) The melodic minor scale
______ 3) The harmonic minor scale
I can effortlessly imagine the sound of and sing any degree of the following scales:
______ 1) The major scale
______ 2) The melodic minor scale
______ 3) The harmonic minor scale
I can read, write and perform the basic division of any given beat into the following number of parts, correctly articulating any combination of those parts within the beat as indicated in rhythmic notation:
______ 1) two equal parts
_______2) three equal parts
_______3) four equal parts
_______4) five equal parts
_______5) six equal parts
_______6) seven equal parts
I can accurately perform any single-line rhythm in real time from pieces composed in the following periods:
______ Renaissance
______ Baroque
______ Classical
______ Romantic/Post-Romantic
______ Modern/Post-Modern
Using clefs, I can transpose to concert pitch and sing at sight in fixed doh syllables any single part from an orchestral score which is played by one of the following common transposing instruments:
______ 1) B-flat instruments
_______2) B instruments (H)
_______3) D instruments
_______4) A instruments
_______5) E-flat instruments
______ 6) F instruments
_______7) G instruments
© Marianne Ploger in Brentwood, TN 1999-2010
Skills needed to read two lines simultaneously
I can read and play on the piano (play both; sing one, play the other) in real time in two parts
______1) Both parts in the treble clef.
______2) Both parts in the bass clef.
______3) Both parts in the alto clef
______4) Both parts in the tenor clef
______5) Both parts in the soprano clef
______6) Both parts in the mezzo soprano clef
______7) Both parts in the baritone clef
I can read and play on the piano (play both; sing one, play the other) in real time, in two parts, with each part in a different clef from the other.
______1) treble and bass
______2) treble and alto
______3) treble and tenor
______4) treble and soprano
______5) treble and mezzo soprano
______6) treble and baritone
______7) bass and alto
______8) bass and tenor
______9) bass and soprano
______10) bass and mezzo soprano
______11) bass and baritone
______12) alto and tenor
______13) alto and soprano
______14) alto and mezzo soprano
______15) alto and baritone
______16) tenor and soprano
______17) tenor and mezzo soprano
______18) tenor and baritone
______19) soprano and mezzo soprano
______20) soprano and baritone
______21) mezzo soprano and baritone
I can read and identify the exact interval between any pair of pitches written on two separate staves with the same clef:
______1) treble
______2) bass
______3) alto
______4) tenor
______5) soprano
______6) mezzo soprano
______7) baritone
I can read and identify the exact interval (classic name and/or interval class number) between any pair of pitches written on two separate staves, each in a different clef:
______1) treble and bass
______2) treble and alto
______3) treble and tenor
______4) treble and soprano
______5) treble and mezzo soprano
______6) treble and baritone
______7) bass and alto
______8) bass and tenor
______9) bass and soprano
______10) bass and mezzo soprano
______11) bass and baritone
______12) alto and tenor
______13) alto and soprano
______14) alto and mezzo soprano
______15) alto and baritone
______16) tenor and soprano
______17) tenor and mezzo soprano
______18) tenor and baritone
______19) soprano and mezzo soprano
______20) soprano and baritone
______21) mezzo soprano and baritone
© Marianne Ploger in Brentwood, TN 1999-2010
Rhythm skills
I can read and perform simultaneously a tempo two different rhythms having the same meter signature and the smallest note value is a quarter note:
______ 1) when the meter is in 2/4
_______2) when the meter is in 3/4
_______3) when the meter is in 4/4
??______??_4) when the meter is in 5/4
_______5) when the meter is in 6/4 or 6/2
_______6) when the meter is in 7/4
_______7) when the meters change from bar to bar (mixed meter)
I can read and perform two different rhythmic lines simultaneously which have the same meter signature and whose smallest note value is an eighth note:
______ 1) when the meter is in 2/4
_______2) when the meter is in 3/4
_______3) when the meter is in 4/4
_______4) when the meter is in 5/4
_______5) when the meter is in 6/4 or 6/2
_______6) when the meter is in 7/4
_______7) when the meters change from bar to bar (mixed meter)
I can read and perform two different rhythmic lines simultaneously which have the same meter signature and whose smallest note value is an eighth note triplet:
______ 1) when the meter is in 2/4
_______2) when the meter is in 3/4
_______3) when the meter is in 4/4
_______4) when the meter is in 5/4
_______5) when the meter is in 6/4 or 6/2
_______6) when the meter is in 7/4
_______7) when the meters change from bar to bar (mixed meter)
I can read and perform two different rhythmic lines simultaneously which have the same meter signature and whose smallest note value is sixteenth note:
______ 1) when the meter is in 2/4
_______2) when the meter is in 3/4
_______3) when the meter is in 4/4
_______4) when the meter is in 5/4
_______5) when the meter is in 6/4 or 6/2
_______6) when the meter is in 7/4
_______7) when the meters change from bar to bar (mixed meter)
I can perform the following polyrhythms:
______ 1) 3 against 2 (3:2) or 2 against 3
_______2) 4 against 3 (4:3) or 4 against 3
_______3) 5 against 2 (5:2) or 2 against 5
_______4) 5 against 3 (5:3) or 3 against 5
_______5) 6 against 4 (6:4) or 4 against 6
_______6) 7 against 3 (7:3) or 3 against 7
_______7) others
I can read and perform two different rhythmic lines simultaneously which have the same meter signature with one line subdividing into eighths and the other into triplets (2:3):
______ 1) when the meter is in 2/4
_______2) when the meter is in 3/4
_______3) when the meter is in 4/4
_______4) when the meter is in 5/4
_______5) when the meter is in 6/4 or 6/2
_______6) when the meter is in 7/4
_______7) when the meters change from bar to bar (mixed meter)
I can read and perform two different rhythmic lines simultaneously which have the same meter signature with one line subdividing into sixteenths and the other into triplets (4:3):
______ 1) when the meter is in 2/4
_______2) when the meter is in 3/4
_______3) when the meter is in 4/4
_______4) when the meter is in 5/4
_______5) when the meter is in 6/4 or 6/2
_______6) when the meter is in 7/4
_______7) when the meters change from bar to bar (mixed meter)
Total
___________________*
© Marianne Ploger in Brentwood, TN 1999-2010
From this assessment you can ascertain some of your strengths and weaknesses.
On a separate page, write out which areas received your highest ratings.
On a separate page, list the areas in which your ratings were the lowest, placing the weakest areas at the top.
On a separate page, outline for yourself, on your own, how you could significantly strengthen the areas of greatest weakness in the shortest amount of time.
After doing this, if you have questions about how to improve these areas, write them down. Seek out guidance from a trusted and respected musician who has mastered that particular weak skill. If no guidance exists, imagine a master musician. What would they do if they had an identical weakness? What exercises might they come up with? From performing this imagination exercise, were you able to come up with more ideas than before for how to strengthen that particular weakness?
*Total score for a Master Musician should be 20300.
Soli Deo Gloria
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