My pupils find the 'Spot the difference' the most difficult part of grade 1-3 aural.


Do other teachers find this?

Did you mean to put this in the teachers' forum?

I personally hated the difference questions; not because I couldn't hear the difference, I had no trouble with that, but because it's difficult to articulate what the difference was...

I think grade 2 and 3 is much better cuz they don't need to tell which part of the phrase is different...(rymthic or melodic). but grade 1 is really a problem!! my students never remember those two phrases (actually I feel I'll have problem in it if I take the aural test)

=_=the aural test is really difficult.....I fail in the aural part from grade 6 to 8

yes, and I don't think it's so easy either

I always found that the most difficult because I couldn't find the words to describe the change

Yes, definitely. But they always seem to do ok in the exam, so I think the tests used for the actual exams must be especially easy to spot.

Actually it's not the "spot the difference" that's hard, it's "describe the difference" that's really the problem.

I never did grade 1 and 2 aurals, I went straight in at Grade 3. But is there a bit thats harder, these days I find the whole thing practically impossible!!

im 16 and i havent even done any aural tests!!

*feels embarresed*

but i know its difficult...everytime i try to listen to a piece and guess the notes, it ends up being one note higher or one note lower than the actual note

*gosh some musician i am* ..

*feels that she may never become a true musician in the end * "

Yes, I think this is the part that many of the younger ones find hardest, and I agree with what several have already said, that it's describing it that they find hard. They often say "it went faster" to describe a less even bit of rhythm.

I think the vocabulary needs help. Although ordinary words (non-musical ones I mean) will do at the easy grades, they may still be words that the child is perhaps not that familiar with. Something like "the first time it was even and the second time uneven (or dotted)" seems to work alright.

The child needs to feel confident enough to attempt an answer, so lots of help in sorting out what they want to say will help them along. I sometimes start practising this sort of exercise by getting them to describe a bar of a piece they already know (eg it's got a long note and two shorter ones" sort of thing !) Then we do a right and a wrong version of a familiar bar or phrase and gradually move on to other examples.

Maggie

[/QUOTE]I think grade 2 and 3 is much better cuz they don't need to tell which part of the phrase is different...(rymthic or melodic). [QUOTE]

What do you mean? I thought they still had to describe the difference.

I actually think the examiners are very helpful in this part of the test, but I still feel anxious about it. I have adult pupils (early grades) who can't articulate their response too well, so it's not even as if it's the ability with language that's the problem.

I have been doing dictation exercises with pupils to help them to visualise the rhythm

Yes, they do still have to describe the difference in Grade 2 and 3.

If it's a rhythmic difference I suggest they clap the rhythm, and if they don't mind singing they can sing the melodic change. It is very hard to put it into words.

Also it's ok to interrupt the examiner and point out when the change occurs during the second playing.

A few years ago I watched a "mock exam" at one of the AB's piano teachers seminars. The boy was doing a Grade 3 exam. When it came to the aural he was asked whether there was a rhythmic or melodic change, he answered very promptly "rhythmic", and the examiner just said "thank you" and went straight on to the next test - you can imagine the gasp from 400 piano teachers in the hall! Of course, that was the first question that was asked at the end. Clara Taylor explained that he answered so quickly and confidently that there was no need for him to expand the answer. But that's not always the case in a real exam!

I hate the aural test.