If you have ever taken a music theory class, you have probably become familiar with the concept of dictation – essentially, the process of converting heard music into written, notated form. Dictation exercises are very common in these classes as a means to help students train their ears and hone their aural skills. Many students, however, dread doing them. I certainly know from experience that they can be extremely stressful! In this post, I want to share a strategy that can help take the stress out of rhythmic dictations and enable you to transcribe musical rhythms accurately and quickly – perhaps even on the first try.

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