Is it just me or does anyone else find that Hofnotes aural training isn't as difficult as the ABRSM cd for the equivalent grade?

I'm doing Grade 6 and whilst I can just about manage the sight singing in Hofnotes on an exceptionally musical day and I've had my 12 hour quota of sleep (i.e. rarely), it all goes severely pear shaped when I try the ABRSM sight singing section. Same with the cadences section - with Hoftnoes I have no problem but with the ABRSM cd, I sometimes can't even spot the cadence. I could go on and on...

If the exam standard is the cd standard then my aural section of the exam will be a case of damage limitation

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

G

I find it useful, but on things like hearing the lowest part, I am sure they really bang out the bass line.

Sorry, I'll expand the post the later, my brain isn't really working right now.

I definitely find Hofnotes very useful and I actually enjoy doing aural training via Hofnotes as opposed to the ABRSM cds (I never know if I've got the correct answer or not) or with my teacher (it would be hideously embarrassing and I wouldn't want to subject his ears to my 'singing' voice).

I just wondered whether other students or teachers found a difference in the standard.

Sorry to be "slow" but what is the Hofnote, please?

I actually enjoy doing Hofnote, for the same reason as you - I don't know how well I've done with the CDs. I never have any aural practice really with flute or music teacher



Hofnote.co.uk

Out of interest my two hofnotes customers got 17/18 and 18/18 for Grade 1 Aural. Haven't tried it for higher grades, but those results are encouraging.

Hope you ability to teach aural will come across next week... I'm a desperate case!

Hero, It is a website That Helps More point's in Your Exam

It is a website online which you sign up to and choose a certain grade. Then there is a large bank of questions from each aural test that you can practise on. For the last section where you have to answer questions on extracts, they give you marks and record your progress. A great teaching tool.

http://www.hofnote.com/

I agree that Hofnote is easier than the ABRSM cd, but I think once you accept that this is the case, it is an incredibly useful stepping stone to the full mock tests.

The ABRSM cd is a bit too much like sink or swim - they play the test, you flounder around hideously, you may inadvertently get it right, or more likely get it wrong, and with no feedback on why you move on. Hofnote seems to break it down into little sub-steps and test those, which I thought was really useful, and armed with those building blocks you have more of a fighting chance with the real thing.

Am a recent convert to Hofnote, and just got full marks in my G4 and G8 aural (unheard of in previous exams), so can vouch for it form a personal perspective.

Has Hofnote changed?
I used it for Grade 5 but gave up as it didn't tell me if I was right or wrong.
Does it connect to a microphone for the sight singing?
I know it's a fairly reasonable price so I could jus have a go, but last time I felt it was a bit of a waste.

I used Hofnote for my grade 7 prep. I found it really useful for modulations/ cadences and chord recognition - it is multi choice so you do find out whether you are right or wrong. I did lots of practice and went from being pretty random in my guesses to being able to routinely get 10/10 on a practice session. I worried that this was because I had learned all the examples but my teacher lent me the "Aural training in practice" CD before my exam which I used to test myself and I got them all right! I got this bit correct in the exam too.

The sight singing and singing back I think you have to know whether it is right or not - it certainly doesn't pick up your voice. I found it useful practice but some people may find it less useful.

I found the answering question on a piece of music section frustrating, clunky and a bit of a waste of time.

So I don't think will get you through all the aural tests but it helped me with the bit I was really struggling with, I thought it was worth the money. I am planning to use it again for Grade 8.