Hi i was just wondering if anyone would be able to help, I play the double bass and cello and I am doing grade 7 double bass this year (june or december) but i am really stuck on the aural tests. I didnt do very well on the grade 6 ones in the exam. The thing is though im losing marks which affect the overall mark. I work on them with my teacher but I would like to take the exam in June and I think I should really do some work on them myself.
Does anyone have any tips or ideas or know of anything they did to improve their aural skills, or how well they did in their higher exam aural tests.


Thanks

Have you tried Hofnote? http://hofnote.co.uk/index.php

My aural has improved by 400% in the last week through that site. (i.e from an average of 2 out of 10 right to 8 out of 10). I tried out my new skills for the first time in a lesson today and they work.

Which part of the aural are you finding difficult? If it's the sight singing, get a hymn book or something and try to sight-sing one every day - it really worked for me

i have a massive problem with grade 7.... i havent done grade 6 before... and people have told me they are slightly similar ..........i skipped from grade 5 -7 and i see the massive differences........ its very hard to sing the bottom bit of the melody...... the whole of aural is the problem in my case!!


any help that i can get from anyone please?[size=7]

Definitely try Hofnote!! It's a really great site. You can try out some of their exercises as a free demo without having to sign up first.

For my grade 7 I got 14/18 ( but I wasn't using Hofnote at that stage). I managed to bluff my way and get a right answer in section C because I said what I thought something was and then the examiner asked my again to confirm it. I suddenly realized by looking at her face that I got it wrong, so I changed my answer..and got it right!!!

I often had trouble distinguishing what period the music came from. I find it helps to listen to lots of cds of Baroque, Classical, and Romantic..etc. music.

A good way of getting good at this is listening to Classic FM or similar and playing 'guess the composer', it doesnt take too long to get the hang of it, then when it comes to the exam guessing the period is simple in comparison.

Another good way is to get a CD of an old-fashioned piano recital-type programme - e.g. Lyvia Rev's 'Music for Children' on Hyperion (it's perfect as each track is barely more than a minute or two), and to put it on 'random play'. Write down comments about what you hear before you look at what track number it is. Comment on things like tonality, texture, ornamentation, form, harmonic language, and from that make conclusions about when it was written and who might have written it. Then read the sleeve notes. This game works better with piano recitals than anything else, as it's piano music that you'll hear in the exam.

I do this game with pupils. It's even more fun when I don't know what I'm listening too either, so we can compare notes (pardon the pun); I haven't got the advantage of 'looking at the dots' as I do when playing examples from the practice books. My latest idea is to suggest they do their comments like a radio sports commentary, describing the 'action' as they go along, the crucial thing being that they listen but continue to talk about what they are hearing as it happens ... things like modulations ... "the road ahead is perfectly clear ... ooh, he's suddenly swerved into the dominant!!" I think this would be rather good fun in a classroom situation too.

Hear Hear! to the Hofnote. I joined about 10 days ago and my scores and confidence have increased no end. I was totally hopeless at the lower melody and cadences and am nowhere near 100% yet I am improving at every test. Well worth the money.

Just the word Aural, is enough to drive me insane. Failed my grade 6 aural, and have a feeling a failed my grade 8 one as well, we shall see. Sigh.. I'm seriously just hopeless at it. During practice I can at least manage to actually know what I'm doing, but when it comes to exam, my mind just blanks out. I can't even remember how to recognise chords and things like that, let alone listen for the lower part during singing. If I miraculously manage to pick it up, I would have completely forgotten what the first half of the phrase was, and when it's time to sing the later half, I would have forgotten what it was. If there's one reason why I've put off sitting for my grade 8 for 3 years in a row, it has got to be Aural.

So now at least you know there's one person out here who is worst in aural than you, I don't think it's physically possible to be worst than I am Good luck though!

Speaking as mum of a son who has taken three grade 8s and managed 12, 10, 10 in aural, I think you are not the only one who finds aural hard! And yes, he did do a lot of practice - as you say, it all deserts you in the exam room.

I agree it is possible to improve, but you do need some feeling for aural before you start!

My piano teacher and i had pretty much accepted the fact that i would fail grade 8 aural spectacularly - we did about 20 mins a week for a year, and it just wasnt happening. By a combination of lucky guesses (i literally made up the singing back bit!) and a good piece in part D i somehow managed to get 16/18, which was a bit of a shock! Don't worry about it too much, pretend you know what you're talking about and go with your instinct, it probably wont be as bad as you thought.

I am taking my Grade 7 Clarinet in just under a month, and am having HUGE problems with the aural. The cadences are really confusing me, as well as identifying whether it's V-I, etc. Can anyone explain what I am supposed to be looking for!? That way, I can begin to understand and improve myself!