Book of Rhythms and Melodies (Vol. II)

We all know how costly textbooks have been and how the prices keep rising! It is my goal to support my students by creating FREE resources whenever possible. The next free textbook I have created for my students and available to everyone is my Book of Rhythms and Melodies - Volume II - a follow-up from Volume I created in August 2023.

This second book contains a collection of 71 short original music compositions that focus on rhythm counting and sight-singing (solfège) in minor keys to develop these important musicianship skills. Although the book was developed as a resource for my Aural Skills II course, there is a plethora of uses for a book of rhythms and melodies such as this. 

The book is structured in a way that scaffolds learning beginning with simple meter rhythms (more challenging than in Volume I) in the first section, incorporating new elements and growing more challenging with each exercise. 

The second section introduces pitch beginning with movement in a stepwise motion, progressing into movement following the tonic arpeggio and ultimately concluding with exercises including arpeggiation within the dominant seven arpeggio, all within the minor key tonalities (melodic, harmonic, natural).  The third section introduces a few more challenging major tonality melodies for reflection and further development.

*Note that the interactive icon found at the start of all melodies allows the reader to play a major arpeggio in the key of each exercise to aid in more accurately singing the excerpt. Simply tap or click the icon to begin playback. 

I would appreciate any feedback to help improve this resource. Feel free to reach out to me at dsorah@ comcast.net or on most social media platforms at @dsorah.

Happy sight-singing! 😁🎵