Hi,

My teacher has recommended that I use www.hofnote.co.uk to develop my aural skills, so that I can learn these outside of lesson time. I am wondering whether anyone is using, or has used, the site, and can give me their thoughts/opinions about it. I am concerned that it is quite expensive and, because my husband is out of work, we are needing to watch the pennies at the moment. If it's really good though it could be worth it, as I need to get much better at aural than I am at the moment.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,



Amber
x

I thought it was very useful actually, and the people who run the site are nice

Sorry - I am not very descriptive this evening, I'll add to this later.

Ambs - I get the impression jod knows something about it, as she has ... erm ... mentioned it a number of times on the forums. You might like to give her a pm.

Which grade are you taking? I found there were a limited number of style questions/extracts for Grade 8 however there were plenty of the other tests. Of course, when you sing something back there is nobody to tell you if you are correct. If it is a decision between getting an aural book with a CD or signing up the advantage of Hofnotes is that your teacher can see how you are doing at each test over a period of time (although you too can see that and you can sign yourself up).

I think you would enjoy using the site of playing with computers is your 'thing', the interface is user friendly.

The lower grade are cheaper. One slight issue (or not) is that when you log on you may get tests you have previously done, it doesn't remember the ones you have tired. They are selected at random from a large database of tests.

A good point is that - unlike CDs - you haven't got to wait while the guy says "Here is the test for blah blah blah, the pulse, followed by the key chord, blah blah blah....."

Essential to have broadband for higher grades (longer extracts)

Hi.
I don't think you could say Hofnote was expensive. At grade 6 I believe it is something like £7.50 for 3 or 4 months access which I think is very good value. I think it particularly comes into its own at the higher grades when it is invaluable to have lots of examples of cadences and different chord progressions to listen too. I would certainly recommend it although as someone else said you really need Broadband to have the best experience. If you email Hofnote with any queries they will, I am sure, be delighted to help you.

I would recommend it - for what you get and for the help you are given, I think it's good value - and the more you use it the beter value it is. The customer service is amazing - if I email with a problem I usually get a response in minutes! And though it ain't perfect it's one of the best resources for this kind of thing that I have come across.

The customer service is REALLY good