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Aural Tests, Memory problems

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Yammy	Jul 31 2005, 03:30 AM Post #1
Unregistered	A student of mine is sitting Gr. 7 piano this October. He has no problem picking out either line in a two-part melody, but he can never remember the line in its entirety after two hearings. He has similar problem with rhythm clapback as well. We have tried different ways of approaching aural tests. I sometimes let him dictate the two-part melody and the rhythm on music paper. He can do that perfectly if I let him write while I play; however, he can't get more than half of the stuff right if I let him write after I have finished playing. It's not like this student has a bad memory. He can learn and memorize a new piece very quickly. He is musical and is an amazing sight reader. But his short-term memory is quite poor. We have been working hard on this skill since Gr. 5, but it hasn't really improved. Does any teacher out there have any suggestions?

noodle	Jul 31 2005, 10:23 AM Post #2
Unregistered	You could start with shorter tests and then gradually increase the length of the phrase until he can remember a phrase similar to grade 7 examples. Sometimes if my students have difficulty remembering the phrase, I let them sing one half at a time before trying the whole test. They do get a second chance in the exam if necessary. Have you tried letting him play it back instead of singing?

SteveHopwood	Jul 31 2005, 08:15 PM Post #3
Unregistered	You are talking about roughly 2 marks here. I suggest you ignore the problem and concentrate on more important matters. Steve

Semele	Aug 1 2005, 07:30 AM Post #4
Unregistered	Worth breaking up into 2 phrases. Ask them to listen to the second phrase first then when you repeat it ask them to listen to the first phrase and they get the chance to listen to the second phrase again.

SuzyMac	Aug 1 2005, 07:47 AM Post #5
Unregistered	My teacher used to give me 6 bar phrases in the effort to make 4 bars seem shorter in the exam!

sarah-flute	Aug 1 2005, 08:54 AM Post #6
Unregistered	If the student really can't deal with 4 bars, then maybe they should concentrate on listening to and getting right just the first two? I don't know really, but it just seems that the first two bars accurate and then some sort of geuss at what might come next would be better than four bars of not really being sure at all...?

kenm	Aug 1 2005, 07:49 PM Post #7
Unregistered	QUOTE(Yammy @ Jul 31 2005, 03:30 AM) A student of mine is sitting Gr. 7 piano this October. He has no problem picking out either line in a two-part melody, but he can never remember the line in its entirety after two hearings. [...] It's not like this student has a bad memory. He can learn and memorize a new piece very quickly. He is musical and is an amazing sight reader. But his short-term memory is quite poor. We have been working hard on this skill since Gr. 5, but it hasn't really improved. Does any teacher out there have any suggestions? I'm not a teacher, but I would ask this student (and whoever is financing him) why he is taking this exam. As I have written elsewhere, IMO, if he wishes to play jazz, he must acquire the skill of memorising short tunes and rhythms; if not, it is the least useful part of the exam, and he might consider finding the examination board that places least weight on it.

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