My brother is going to take a grade 8 exam, and he wanted to know about part D of the aural test.
Any hints and tips or notes about it would be much appreciated.

There is a really useful book available which might help your brother with this part of the aural tests. It's called "Aural Time Pupil's Book Grade 8" by David Turnbull and it has notes on things like historical periods, texture, form etc... There are two versions of this book, one with a yellowish cover and another with a white paper cover - the one I'm referring to has a white paper cover.

Firstly, comments over possibly what it sounds like (i.e. like snow falling or something if it does). Then, the style, era, mood of the piece and possibly the texture. Then possibly the timbre, i.e. the way it sounds, whether it is all strings, etc., followed by whether there is sections of polyphony/monophony, call/response styles, theme/variation and such.

Basically though, say everything that comes to mind that you can fit in the short time given to you, as I remember I made the mistake in a Grade 7 exam of, upon being asked a question about comparing two phrases, giving a short and quick answer, while expecting another series of questions that never came! Luckily, when it came to my Grade 8, I made sure to cram as much into the time allocated as possible!

~Wobby~

before i took my grade 8 exam, i was told by my teacher (about this section) that i must elaborate about texture, form, melody, harmony, phrase structure, articulation, dynamics, characteristic, tonality, tempo, style, period and composer of the piece..
i was like 'wow!! so much!!' and i answer without confidence at all when my teacher gave practices to me.

then the exam day came...

before the examiner played the piece, she said notice about texture, tempo, articulation, etc...
when she finished playing the piece, then i began to talk.



me : okay, first of all....the time (later i was corrected 'metre') is in 3 4 time.....it sounds like a dance....in waltz i think....the texture is in homophonic which melody on RH n accompaniment in LH....

examiner : (nodding n began to guide me) what do u notice about the tempo? has it changed?

me : it is not in a strict time and it begins to slow down at the end...which is ritartando...

examiner : not in a strict time...what is that called?

me : tempo rubato....

examiner : (nodding) what period do u think it is composed? suggest a composer please

me: it sounds like in Romantic period....erm....probably Schumann or Meldelssohn?

examiner : okay....so do u have anything else to add on?

me : okay...the dynamics of this piece is .........( i mentioned about dynamics because it is so obvious n can't go wrong much!)

examiner : okay, that's all...thanks!



that's all!! i just need to mention about few aspects only!!
phew! i felt so happy that i can answer this section well!

Any chance that the books are available in Malaysia?

It's listed on Amazon.uk - why don't you ask a local bookseller how much it would cost to order, and see which is cheaper/faster.

Online music sellers also stock it, but Amazon is a bit cheaper. (The yellow book is the complete edition, the white one is the pupil's workbook, not so useful if you are studying alone).

Dear upbeat,

Where can i purchase the Aural Time Pupil's Book Grade 8 by David Turnbull in MALAYSIA ???

I don't know where you would purchase this book in Malaysia, but all ears's suggestion is a good one....

I haven't put anybody through AB Grade 8, but this section of the aural tests in both main boards seems to present problems in higher grades to pupils who aren't natural 'talkers'. Often I find I stop playing only to turn round and look at a completely blank face! So I try to get them underway by just telling them to think of any adjectives at all to describe what they've just heard, musical or otherwise, and we go from there. One thing leads to another, and the converstaion that follows turns into a learning process. "Yes, it's 3/4; now what specifically makes it sound like a waltz?" for instance. The idea is to make the train of thought begin to flow more naturally without me having to trail it out like blood out of a stone. But remember that it WILL progress as a sort of a comversation between you and the examiner; you aren't really expected to deliver a lecture! He's trying to find out how musically aware you are, and isn't trying to catch you out. I would hope that if you failed to mention something pertinent he might steer you in that direction in order to see if there was something that you knew but just didn't think to mention.