To explore this melody further and use it to develop your musical skills in a practical way, go to ‘Ah, Poor Bird’ in the Canons section of PRESTO.

Altered Version 1: Details

Problem: The pitch drops as the melody descends in the second half of bar 3.

Possible solutions:
- Here we should keep in mind that ‘descending melodies, especially in the minor mode, require special attention in regard to intonation.’ (Per-Gunnar Alldahl, Choral Intonation, p. 39), and work against the tendency for this descent to sink too far, through awareness, energy, tonal feeling, and energy.
- Remembering Alldahl’s point that ‘if sung too passively a repeated tone has a tendency to be lower’ (Choral Intonation, p. 9), the conductor encourages care and momentum at the repeating G (mi) through high-quality demonstration, explanation, and supportive conducting gestures, as well as through teaching well the relationship between the key note (la), the fifth (mi) and the higher octave (la) as pillar notes of the tonality.
- The conductor guides the singers in placing the E flat (do) at the start of bar 4 very carefully, so that it relates securely to the triad of chord I, C minor (l - d - m) and doesn’t ‘sit down’.

Altered Version 2: Details

Problem: The pitch drops in bar 2. Here, the issue arises in an ascending motif, where the ascending intervals are not sufficiently large.

Possible solutions:
- As part of the teaching process, the conductor ensures the key note (la) and the perfect fifth (mi) are tuned beautifully in relation to each other, and incorporates exercises that focus on important concepts such as the tonic triad (l - d - m) and the stepwise melodic line l - t - d - r - m. As Alldahl advises, ‘Remember to always make the fifth degree sufficiently bright.’ (Per-Gunnar Alldahl, Choral Intonation, p. 12)
- Using good demonstration and supportive gestures, the conductor encourages the careful placing of the note F (fourth degree, re), ensuring that it is high enough to create good tuning and to step successfully to an in-tune fifth degree (mi).