i am taking grade eight piano this year and i am having a BIG problem wit aural...LOL i make it sound so bad, but it is, kinda, i guess. im ok wit sightsinging, the chords and cadences i Almost got (im practicing anywyz...), but i just CAN'T hear the modulations and for discussing musical features i dunno wut to listen for. i mean, i noe wut to listen for, but how should i tell wut period it's from, if there's a modulation or not, stuff lik tht. and i've finished all the exercises in the cd so i noe all the answers and tht doesnt really help my nerves. i still hav time for advice though - my exam's in two months. ok and btw duz anyone noe any good free downloads (wit few limitations if possible) for ear training like earmaster???
oh yes and anything for sightreading would b helpful also.

if you need some help with aural you need to practice the basic musical functions cadences modulations in relative keys and singing them frequently. I have a mini quick course in aural testing and development at no charge on

your welcome to contact me there.

Most imprtant is to enjoy the musical experience. So have fun

Tamarind

im taking grade 8 clarinet next year and i think i need to start on aurals now coz i just cant do them!

does anyone hav lik a list of characteristics of music from different time periods? that would help i think.

do you mean characteristics from say the classical period etc..?

i asked this question when i was preparing for grade 5 and got a good reply. im not sure if this will help but here goes!

Baroque-contrapuntal music, quite ornamental
Classical- alberti bass or arpeggiated bass line or something like that!!
Romantic- quite a pedally piece, maybe uses lots of chords
20th century- sounds odd and random notes beiong played on the piano!!!

if these are wrong please someone correct me!!!

I just finished my grade 8 (passed with merit) and aural was always the biggest problem for me too. I found that it was helpful to listen to the aural practise cassettes, practise sight singing any musical notation you can find and to practise playing cadences and intervals so that you learn to recognise them. It also helped to make revision notes for the last part of the aural test which is to describe a piece of music.

Write a list of categorised vocab that would help you in describing an extract of music in terms of:

time signature
dynamics
tempo
style (e.g. animato, scherzo, cantabile, expressivo)
texture (e.g.contrapuntal, harmonic)
register (high/low)
rhythm (e.g. 2s against 3s, dotted, syncopated)
tonality (e.g. major/minor, atonal, chromatic)
form (binary AB, ternary ABA, rondo ABACA)

Also look out for things you can say about phrasing (whether it's long or short), imitation, theme and variation and cadences or whether it's a dance (e.g. fugue, minuet, waltz)...etc.

As for the characteristics of music from the different periods..i hope this helps.

BAROQUE: Imitation, ornaments, many cadential points, contrapuntal (fugue). [Possible composers are: handel, bach, vivaldi, purcell, scarlatti]

CLASSICAL: Alberti bass, harmonic, ascending and descending scale passages, sonata form, structural phrases with cadence at the end of each phrase. [Mozart, beethoven, hadyn]

ROMANTIC: Expressive, waltz (identified by the 3/4 time bass accompaniment), shifting between major and minor frequently, use of triplets, rich texture and harmony. [Tchaikovsky, chopin, schubert, brahms (beethoven)]

MODERN/20TH CENTURY: Atonal, impressionistic, mix of high and low register, narrative (programme music). [Schoenberg, debussy, ravel, strauss, shostakovich]

These were basically all the notes that i made. But if anyone notices any mistakes please correct me!

Hope this has helped

David Turnbull has three very useful pages summarising the periods in his Aural Time book Grades 4-5, in the pupil section. Useful for grades 5-8.

i know i didnt ask the original quesiton but that has helped me a lot Maxine-thanks!!

i had aural lessons before my grade 8! they were very helpful (but boring!) also, i had an aural tape although i didnt get round to listening to it til the night before my exam! and i did pass the aural section of the exam, although i got much better marks on everything else!
as for sight reading...the only way to improve is practise! go back to your old piano books, and sight read the pieces you didnt play or have forgotten. i dont know how good you are at sight reading, but if you need to, use your grade 1 books and work your way up from there- you'll get pretty good if you do a piece every day for the next two months! make sure you play soem with strange key signatures and time signatures, and you'll be prepared for anything!
oh i also have something to add to maxine's post about different periods of music- in my exam, the piece for aural was jazz, and because i hadnt been expecting that, i just couldnt think of a composer! if you get a jazzy one, it's most likely to be gershwin.
good luck!
jess

I've just bought the David Turnbull Aural Time Pupil Books for Grades 6, 7 and 8. They are extremely helpful, and I'll be using them from now on for my higher grade students. They complement the Aural Time books with the rest of the tests in.

QUOTE (acissejw @ Apr 25 2004, 05:20 PM)

oh i also have something to add to maxine's post about different periods of music- in my exam, the piece for aural was jazz, and because i hadnt been expecting that, i just couldnt think of a composer! if you get a jazzy one, it's most likely to be gershwin. good luck! jess

does the examiner ask what composer composed the piece???!!

Nat

yes the examiner does ask you to suggest a possible composer and you'll get marks for naming one. It doesn't matter who you name as long as it's a composer from the period that you identified though it would help if you said a composer that you know has a similar style to the extract of music that was played to you.

Glad that i could be of help!

ah right-i think i could probably do that!! just not any of the other parts!

Possibly one way of learning the different styles of different periods is to actually listen to them. It's all very well giving great long lists of features but without hearing the actual music, it's meaningless.

So go and LISTEN to Bach's WTC, to Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas, to Mozart and Haydn's piano sonatas, to Rachmaninov and Beethoven and Brahms and Chopin, Debussy, Schoenberg etc etc.

Write down what you hear. The more listening you do, the better you will get at it. Also play the pieces and note what you are playing. When you play Mozart, what features does he use that would help you recognise the style if you heard it blind?

Aural is arguably THE most important part of being a musician. Without a good, well-trained musical ear, a pianist is little better than a well-programmed robot.

I can programme my computer to play a Mozart sonata perfectly with all the dynamics and variations in tempi but I can't teach it how to be a musician.

Aural is not a separate entity, to be learned by rote, it is part of what you are, as a musician, or a musician-in-training. So when you next put on a piece of music, really LISTEN to it, don't just let it be background while you do something else. Sit down, close your eyes and LISTEN to it. Pick out the instruments. Work out which instruments play which part of the melody. Listen to how the composer has used the instruments to create a specific effect. Try and pick out the bass line. Work out how the whole thing interlocks to create the whole. THAT is what aural is all about, not learning lists of stylistic features.

It will also help for composing.

thnx ppl! i havnt com on for a few days so that's y i havnt been replying but uve all been great help!

There has been loads of really good advise on this topic, but I'll put my two penneth in anyway.

The best way to understand any item of aural (or theory for that matter) is put it into practise - try writing a few yourself or in the case of modulation take a simple nursery rhyme (Baa Baa Black Sheep?) and play it with 2 verses and improvise a small transition between them but during the transition you must modulate to the dominant, rel minor or whatever. Once you can do it and apply it you will have no problem recognising it in the exam.

Look for modulations in your set pieces as well and work out how they achieved them.

ryt i almost forgot...(i alwyz seem to hav problems sprouting up evry few days...first modulations and thn the musical eras...) does anyone hav lik a list of features of the different forms? lik gigue, fugue, sonata, suite and stuff. wut should i listen for? i c those words all the time and tried looking them up and listening to them but there r just too many and that leads me to the second point...just which ones should i noe to b on the safe side? i mean, i noe that generally that's not wut aural is all about, but it would help me at least get over the exams in two months for now cuz i jus dun hav time to research all of them. if u dun wanna type out wut i shud look for then pls just rite at least the ones i shud noe. thnx a lot.

btw, i todally agree wit u, juliecsm, about wut u said about listening to music rather than memorizing lists of things, in fact id rather listen to music than memorize!!! but for now unfortunately i dun rlly hav a choice. but ur absolutely ryt.

thats it for now! cath

in case ur wondering who zippy is i made a mistake and wuz in my sister's account (zippy) whn i wrote the abov so...sori!

???

QUOTE

MODERN/20TH CENTURY: Atonal, impressionistic, mix of high and low register, narrative (programme music). [Schoenberg, debussy, ravel, strauss, shostakovich]

I would recommend dividing this set into two groups:

Impressionistic (not yet quite atonal, shifting and unclear tonality but often recognisable chords, eg Debussy, Ravel)

"Modern" (for want of a clearer term!) probably atonal now, 12 tone style, lack of recognisable harmony, often very thin texture or "clashing" chords eg Schoenberg, Berg, some Stravinsky etc.

This is still rather general and I would echo what Julie said, that you should try to listen to as much music from different periods as possible.

Some people find it useful to compare music with art of the same period (stay with me here for a moment ...!) imagine an impressionist painting which has soft dabs of colour rather than definite shapes - (Monet?) a picture in there somewhere but rather blurred and unclear, and listen to a Debussy piano piece (mist, garden in the rain, moonlight etc) and let your imagination take off.

Then think of a modern picture - maybe Picasso, in which familiar features are broken up and distorted, or a strange piece of sculpture, and listen to a piece of atonal music where the notes don't form recognisable chords or harmony - again it's a bit general but it might start to give you more of a feel for some of the different styles.

Don't know if this will help

Maggie

QUOTE (maggiemay @ Apr 28 2004, 09:16 AM)

Some people find it useful to compare music with art of the same period

Maggie, that's amazing. Never thought of it like that. It's really helpful.

Thanks.

QUOTE (zippy @ Apr 27 2004, 09:33 AM)

ryt i almost forgot...(i alwyz seem to hav problems sprouting up evry few days...first modulations and thn the musical eras...) does anyone hav lik a list of features of the different forms? lik gigue, fugue, sonata, suite and stuff. wut should i listen for? i c those words all the time and tried looking them up and listening to them but there r just too many and that leads me to the second point...just which ones should i noe to b on the safe side? i mean, i noe that generally that's not wut aural is all about, but it would help me at least get over the exams in two months for now cuz i jus dun hav time to research all of them. if u dun wanna type out wut i shud look for then pls just rite at least the ones i shud noe. thnx a lot. btw, i todally agree wit u, juliecsm, about wut u said about listening to music rather than memorizing lists of things, in fact id rather listen to music than memorize!!! but for now unfortunately i dun rlly hav a choice. but ur absolutely ryt. thats it for now! cath

This link might help. It contains links to descriptions of all the music forms you are likely to encounter, taken from the New Grove Dictionary.

http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/musical_forms.html

muzicrox ( what does that mean!? )-
I was in a similar situation to you earlier this year and what I found helpful was to start with aural tests aimed at a lower grade ie. 4 or 5 do those comfortably then work up to grade 8. I actually enjoyed learning more about what I was playing .
Grade 8 - or any other level - to me anyway - isn't just about learnig 3 pieces but having a wider and deeper appreciation of 'music'.
It's a bit like using correct english grammer!!
That's my humble opinion

LOL - I would imagine that muzicrox = music rocks i.e. music is really really good!!

thanks Julie - I get it now!!!
Feel old!!!

QUOTE (Mrs Beethoven @ Apr 28 2004, 01:30 PM)

thanks Julie - I get it now!!! Feel old!!!

LOL - isn't music supposed to make you "feel younger"?
no im kidding. i was just wondering if anyone knows how to listen to the lower line in test A of grade eight??? i have trouble with that. does anyone have any suggestions? ANYthing would be helpful. thanks

Oh i always found test A really difficult too. There isn't really a way you can learn to listen for the bass line, although it helps if you practise listening out for the bass when you're playing pieces yourself or when you're listening to piano music. Also it helps when you're listening to a piano recording or even to pop/rock music to try and figure out and play the bass line on the piano afterwards. I also noticed that on the aural cassettes, it's much easier to hear the bass line because they deliberately emphasise it and that it's much easier to hear the bass when the piano is in a large, spacious room or hall. When i was practising with my piano teacher, the room was very small and i found it more difficult, so i had to stand as far back from the piano as i could. Good luck with grade eight!!

A good start for listening to the bass line would be to get some sheet music for pieces you know and listen to the recording reading the score for different parts and listening to the bit you're reading (they're far easier to pick out it you're actually reading the music at the same time as you know what to listen for) there are lots of sites on the internet where you can get either free sheet music for things you already have recordings of (symphonies, piano music, anything really) or midi files for which you will get the shet music and your computer will be able to play it. Once you get used to listening to different parts in this way it becomes easier to pick them out and you'll find it becomes quite easy when it comes to the exam (hopefully ).

I think that they do tend to emphasise the parts they want you to listen for in the exam anyway (as maxine says they do on the CDs) which should help to make your life a little easier .

thanks! i think that should help. but i also have a problem with memorizing the bottom line after i actually hear it, so any advice on that?

i heard somewhere that if u try to listen to every second note it might help bcuz ur brain can connect thm together or somthin. just a tip that i hrd somewhere!!!

QUOTE (maxine @ Apr 25 2004, 01:13 PM)

Write a list of categorised vocab that would help you in describing an extract of music in terms of: time signature dynamics tempo style (e.g. animato, scherzo, cantabile, expressivo) texture (e.g.contrapuntal, harmonic) register (high/low) rhythm (e.g. 2s against 3s, dotted, syncopated) tonality (e.g. major/minor, atonal, chromatic) form (binary AB, ternary ABA, rondo ABACA) Also look out for things you can say about phrasing (whether it's long or short), imitation, theme and variation and cadences or whether it's a dance (e.g. fugue, minuet, waltz)...etc.

does anyone have the actual list that I could borrow? (in other words, take?)

There's been lots of great stuff on this topic but I have another question... my problem with the last test of aural on listening to music with understanding is that I can't concentrate on everything at once...I listen to the rhythm, and I forget about the dynamics, I listen to the texture, I forget the form, I listen to the melody, I forget the harmony. But each part in general I can talk about with appropriate vocab if I listen to them one at a time. Does anyone have any ideas on how to practice listening to these things all at once???

And another thing - does anyone kind of work to a sort of script when they're preparing for that part of the exam - for example, how to begin and end if you kind of lose the ability to talk because of nerves???

And finally...how not to drop off into daydreaM??? (that's what i did last time!!!)

*<TheDComposer>*

QUOTE (theDcomposer @ May 8 2004, 11:01 AM)

And finally...how not to drop off into daydreaM??? (that's what i did last time!!!) *<TheDComposer>*

Ohhh, I can sympathise because I have a terrible tendency to let my mind wander too! I really have to force myself to concentrate. I think it's because my aural tests usually end up being at the end of the exam, so by then I am thinking "thank goodness, it's nearly over!".

QUOTE (theDcomposer @ May 8 2004, 07:01 PM)

There's been lots of great stuff on this topic but I have another question... my problem with the last test of aural on listening to music with understanding is that I can't concentrate on everything at once...I listen to the rhythm, and I forget about the dynamics, I listen to the texture, I forget the form, I listen to the melody, I forget the harmony. But each part in general I can talk about with appropriate vocab if I listen to them one at a time. Does anyone have any ideas on how to practice listening to these things all at once??? And another thing - does anyone kind of work to a sort of script when they're preparing for that part of the exam - for example, how to begin and end if you kind of lose the ability to talk because of nerves??? And finally...how not to drop off into daydreaM??? (that's what i did last time!!!) *<TheDComposer>*

I have a problem with that also...about concentrating on everything at once. Someone please help!!!
Very desperate!!! (do they have a smilie for that??? )

The thing is, it's very difficult to listen out for everything at once...which is why i didn't do that. I think the easiest way is to really relax (don't force yourself to notice particular musical features if you're nervous/can't concentrate) and just listen to the music and see what stands out the most. A trouble that i had was often forgetting what the beginning of the extract was like once the examiner had got to the end because i was trying to focus and pick up on characteristics of the music in the middle. What you should do is to listen out for how the piece starts (e.g. in major or minor? with sforzando? in staccato? just one hand playing or dense chords? with a theme that lasts for a couple of bars? - this may be repeated throughout the extract in various ways thus enabling you to distinguish the piece to be, for example, a rondo or a fugue). Then just listen to the music for the middle part (close your eyes in you have a tendency to look around the room and be distracted)..you never know, you may be able to notice some aspects of the style of the music without even trying..then concentrate on the end of the piece (so how does it finish - in terms of dynamics, cadences, texture...etc. is it a contrast to what you remember of the beginning?). Then at least if you didn't pick up on much in the middle, you can talk about how the piece started and ended...as long as you make enough observations you'll get the marks for it.

Also, i mentioned this before in regards to the listening out for the bassline exercise, i find it much easier to concentrate on the flow of the music when i'm not standing right next to the piano (where the sound is very resonating), so try to move about 4-5 metres away from the examiner.

I seriously wonder if the ability to retain all that information declines as you get older. Last time I tried a Grade 8 aural test (in my late 40's) I found it noticeably harder to remember the beginning of the excerpt once the player had got to the end, than I used to. And I don't think my musicality is declining along with my short-term memory!

Are you listening, AB? Older candidates should be marked up! Younger candidates have no excuse though.

QUOTE (Violinia @ May 9 2004, 03:15 PM)

Younger candidates have no excuse though.

hey that's no fair!!!
but thanks maxine for your advice...I found it very helpful!!! the only problem with the bit about the bassline exercise - last time in my exam the examiner told me to sit down in a chair...

*<TheDComposer>*

In my last exam I wasn't asked questions at all, I was asked just to talk about the music, say what I noticed. That was a nice way of doing it.

QUOTE (theDcomposer @ May 8 2004, 11:01 AM)

And finally...how not to drop off into daydreaM??? (that's what i did last time!!!)

ye i do that all the time!!! its coz i hate aurals and im useless at them so i by the time i come to aurals.........................

i tend to dream about what better things i could be doing rather then attempting to sing back phrases!!!!

QUOTE (Natalie @ May 11 2004, 07:00 AM)

i tend to dream about what better things i could be doing rather then attempting to sing back phrases!!!!

haha!!!

One thing I try to do with my kids to improve awareness of different periods of music is to practice with the car radio, turning on Classic FM / Radio 3 & asking them to guess the period and/ or composer, and to say why. I like to do this myself and get really annoyed if we arrive before the end of the piece and I can't hear whether I was right! Good way of impressing non-musical husband too who likes to think it's witchcraft... I agree, the aural is testing for basic musical background knowledge, so the more real music you listen to, the better. I was lucky enough to get a jazzy extract in G8 aural a couple of years ago as a mature entrant - and, yes, it was Gershwin!!