Daughter (nearing 11) is taking Grade 5 piano in a few weeks and is still seriously lacking in the aural department. She has worked through Improve Your Aural! (Paul Harris) which has helped a fair bit. We still have the Aural Training in Practice book and CD since Grade 4 days and she can use that for sight singing and memory work but when she has to talk about the music neither she nor I have any idea whether she's right or wrong!

Is there another CD out there with answers? Music shop seemed doubtful but said if we came back with a name they would get it for us.

It's only a tiny part of the overall mark but it's effecting her confidence overall - also I think she really does need to know more about the character of different types of music in order to continue to make progress in her own playing. Presumably that is why ABRSM have this requirement in the exam (and not, as I sometimes suspect, just to torture unmusical parents and make us feel even more inadequate .)

I really understand how you feel about this. It would be good to have something with answers but as far as I know it doesn't exist.

I think one of the problems with aural is the lacking of good resources so people can self teach if they want to.

I know teachers should be integrating it into the lessons but in reality this doesn't always happen. It's not a reflection on teaching skills there is always so much else to do. There never seems to bt time in lessons for the indepth listening required to answer this question and how many of us can afford the time or money to investigate all the different styles of music out there?

Daughter has used Hofnote but I'm not sure with what success, it seems good in some areas and weak in others.

The ABRSM specimen aural tests book has cds and answers on this. I'm using it with my pupils and my daughter at the moment. There are quite a number of examples.

http://shop.abrsm.org/shop/ucat/Specimen-Aural-Tests/1144
make sure you get the one with the CDs as it comes both with and without!

Can you get her some separate lessons for aural. When my eldest did her clarinet exams I asked the piano teacher to spend most or all of a lesson or two on aural. (On the basis that the practice was being concentrated on clarinet, so piano progress slowed for a few weeks, and that it would be of benefit to piano exams slightly later on) This freed up the clarinet lessons for everything else. It's very hard for teachers to fit everything into a half hour lesson at the higher grades. (And half an hour was all that was offered at school)

We have the same problems with Aural! Seems a common thing and DCs do get so wound up about it don't they?

We used the ABRSM book with CD (mentioned above) for G4 and found them very good. Also used Hofnote which DS reckons is good (seems to give him more confidence if nothing else! ). Before his recent G4 exam, Teach said that he should spend some time with the accompanist. He spent an hour with her, quickly did his pieces and then she did Aural with him, which worked fantastically. Actually DH came home saying that DS had done far better than DH knew DS could, so maybe that was a reflection of Hofnote too! If he'd struggled more, we'd have definitely booked another hour with her.

Good Luck

Just thought - we also talk to DS about the music we listen to in the car - what is the rhythm, mood, etc. How does the music achieve emotion, etc? Seems to make him think about it.

I find the Aural Time series very useful - I don?t think you can get a CD version for grade 5, although you can for higher grades. They do have answers in the back, so useful if your daughter can at least make some sense of the examples and play them through - they give you useful phrases and words to put in your answers!

The new edition of Aural Training in Practice has just been released for grades up to and including Grade 5. I haven't got a copy yet, but I would imagine it might be what you are looking for.

Many many thanks for all your answers.


Definitely agree. I'm amazed at how much the teacher does manage to cover in 30 minutes but in depth listening is very time consuming.

Have now ordered one of these.

Does this work with Heart FM?


Does the new edition have answers? Our copy suggests what I should ask about but doesn't give a lot of information about what sort of answers I should expect.

It seems to - DS has a go at what the time/key signature is etc!!!! I also talk to him about how some pieces kind of grip me in the chest, or make me sad or happy and what makes them do that to me. He usually comes up with some sort of answer!!!!

I'm quite happy listening to Heart or Magic, but DS and DS2 (who is 3) now tend to complain and want Classic FM on!!! If it's a dreary piece playing then I'm allowed my music on for 5 minutes before having to turn back to see what's on Classic next!!! Actually they don't complain when I put Lady Gaga on!!! My other excuse is that I'm too busy concentrating on the driving to be changing back to Classic!!!!

This one has the cd - http://shop.abrsm.org/pages/shop/product_d...id=2059383&


I'm not a parent but an adult preparing for Grade 5 and worried about the aural because I don't have anyone to run through the tests with so desperately need the cds!

Yes, it does.

Thanks, folks, I am now the proud owner of some new aural books. I am particularly taken with the Grade 5 Aural Test Survival Book, partly because it was cheap, but also because it has that brief, cool, minimal, bluffers guide, look to it which I think will appeal to Daughter. It has no CD (being very cheap) but it gets you to sing Jerusalem.

Am taking it to school for her now so she can read it while pretending that she has lots more important things to do than spend time with her father.

I will give feedback later.

Well - we have worked through the ABRSM practice tests, worn poor old Mr Harris to a shadow of his former self, sang Jerusalem at each other with the survival guide and we're back where we started - playing guessing games with the ABRSM' "Aural Training in Practice."

I would just like to take a moment to say - here on ABRSM's own forum - and hoping and praying that they will quote me in the 'Music Teacher' magazine - that it is the most infuriating book every published.

?6 for the book -
?16 pounds for the CD -

NO ANSWERS! Why not? I'm assuming that the sort of buyer who didn't need the answers probably wouldn't need 3/4 of the book either so why...? Every morning now I play a little section of a piece to Daughter and in some cases the 'nice man' on the CD asks a question and sometimes I just have to make something up - and Daughter looks blankly at me for a moment and then says something in Auralese that might be right or might not.

Shall sell my soul to Hofnote instead.

Many thanks to all those who suggested other things though - we now have lots of stuff - Son will not be allowed to give up music before Grade 5 - unless, of course, ABRSM change the aural syllabus again.

Battling along the G7 aural route - and finding it very irritating that the ABRSM books have no answers in too!! For Question D (talking about the music one) just about the only one I can find that is of any help at all is the David Turnbull Aural Time book which plays the piece on CD, and the book has suggested answers for the description. Will try this one on daughter later, this is probably the bit that is worrying her most! The ABRSM specimen aural tests have no answers either but have just mugged son into writing in what the chords and cadences are for later use! For us, Hofnote is great for the modulations, cadences, chords and sightsinging. Still can't do singing the lower part (have told her to get start note and then make something up!) Hofnote gets my vote too!

It sounds like you have the old edition. The new edition comes with CD included and has the answers (where they are not obvious from the book).

Aha! Have just looked online and found the new edition (not yet on the shelf at our local music shop ) Since it is G4-5 and the G5 exam is about 3 weeks away I am now strongly resisting the temptation to buy it. May get the G6 onwards one in the summer.

How 'not obvious' is 'not obvious?'

I was thinking, for example, where you had to give the number of beats in a bar, and it's straightforward to check your answer by looking at the time signature. Looking at the back of the book, they tend to give answers only to the last test, so details of musical features, character, composer etc.

Oh good. That'll do - even for musicless me.

The Trinity Aural books have answers in them Grades 1-5 in one book and 6-8 in the other along with a CD. Not sure how they match up with the requirements for ABRSM exams but any aural practice is good in my book.

Ooh - very interesting - thank you.
Once the exam is out of way I think it would be a good idea for the 3 of us to do some 'Back to Basics' Aural training - rather than just practising for a particular test. May go have a browse at the Trinity stuff.

Without going and doing an in depth comparison I think that there is very little similarity in the way the two boards test aural. Both have something on time signature and for the Trinity spot the difference you get a copy of the music and have to say which bars the differences are in as well as what they are.
Early grades have interval recognition. The same piece of music is used for all the tests.

Thanks, sbhoa - that's useful to bear in mind (and a good reason not to look at Trinity until after Daughter's exam!). I think I might still have a go though - because I would like us, as a family, to develop our aural skills a bit - rather than just have a mad panic when an exam is already booked .

Also - we may end up with Trinity at some point. 3 people, 5 instruments, 6 teachers - anything is possible.

Except for financial security or a quiet house.