I have bought the Guildhall Aural Training Book, and I am practicing, but when I am doing the rhythmic test where I have to remember a 4 bar melody then clap it back and then conduct it, and also in anything else that involves memorising, I just forget the 2nd half of it, I really need some tips on improving my aural!

hey i cant do remembering things either! i cant sing back the stupid melody or remember another one to clap back, hence i failed grade 5 aurals hahahaha!

Well somehow I got 100% for Grade 2, now I just pass it by a couple of marks

at least you pass them, unlike me. ive given up hope of ever doing good in aurals, might as well concentrate on other parts of the exam.

bagpuss,cyrilla DONT SHOOT ME!

Practice when you're really awake, not tired. You need to be able to concentrate hard so do it in small pieces, just a few minutes every day.

Useless when you're tired and some times just after a meal.


Veronique

make sure you're really listening - don't allow yourself to be distracted.

try tapping (gently- against for leg for example) second time round as the melody is played again, the physical memory can help.

I never had a problem with this but I'm trying to work out how I do it!!

Do you have to sing back? Even if you don't, try "singing" along with it in your head the second time you listening - having the tune as well may help you hold on to the melody better. (not actually singing, but silently la-ing and doing it as if you were singing except for not allowing the sound to escape - if that makes sense.)

Don't just think that you have to clap the meoldy... try and remember it in as many ways as possible - if this makes sense - so you're not just remembering the rhythm in your head, you're "remembering" it with your voice and with your hands. I hope you know what I mean!

Try also listening to cds etc and repeating back a phrase that you hear.

Practice lots!

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Jan 9 2005, 08:15 PM)

bagpuss,cyrilla DONT SHOOT ME!

Of course we won't SHOOT you, Nat, we just want to TEACH you and HELP you!!!

I dread aurul too(Especially the stupid singing)...I am doing Grade 8 this year n my teacher says if I really want to score, I gotta do it well.

QUOTE

try "singing" along with it in your head the second time you listening

I find that this helps.
Also instant response.. sing back immediately the 2nd playing is over... if you stop to think you will have forgotten it.
I think that after 2 playovers it is only in your (very) short term memory.

QUOTE (sbhoa @ Jan 10 2005, 12:08 PM)

Also instant response.. sing back immediately the 2nd playing is over... if you stop to think you will have forgotten it.

YES! I knew there was something else I meant to say. Get used to singing it back straight away.... (or clapping it) - it's almost a reflex action, not something to stop and think about. Also, when *singing* (doesn't help with clapping) remember the last note of the first playing and remember how it relates to the first note of the second playing - if that makes sense. Because then you know where to start in relation to where the melody just stopped. AND KEEP PRACTISING! You will get better.

Actually, I was looking at the sylabus for the aural tests for either Grade 2 or 3, before we actually have to sing a melody anyway, and it says for the rhythm clapping bit that it must/should be done immediately after its been played... I think.

As an aside, while theres no arguing whether aural skills are important or not, can anyone actually suggest a practical use for this particular skill, apart from getting amrks for it in the exam?!

QUOTE

As an aside, while theres no arguing whether aural skills are important or not, can anyone actually suggest a practical use for this particular skill, apart from getting marks for it in the exam?!

*waits for Cyrilla or similar to dive in*

... Aanyway, my thought was, at least you are PRACTISING the aural Nicki, and you've managed to get hold of the book- one of my teachers never does aural in my lessons until right before the exam so when I can't find a suitable book I'm pretty messed up! (And yes, I know this particular scenario is mentioned in threads like these over and over again... *cough*Cyrilla-or-similar-again*cough*

I think that listening to music you don't know on the radio or something and repeating back phrases that you hear can be a useful way to get used to this particular test- it's one that comes up in some form or another in almost every grade, I think.

QUOTE (tamsin @ Jan 10 2005, 04:27 PM)

As an aside, while theres no arguing whether aural skills are important or not, can anyone actually suggest a practical use for this particular skill, apart from getting amrks for it in the exam?!

I've always thought of it as one of the least useful parts of the ABRSM exams. We had nothing like it in our degree course, I didn't miss it, and I have needed it very rarely indeed. AFAICS, it is useless in notated music; however, it is an essential skill in many other types of music that don't use notation, such as trad. jazz, steel band (I tried that in 1985, at Wavendon), gamelan (tried that about 8 years ago, and that's when I last needed quick memory skills) and other non-European traditions.

But surely thats different to the instant recall required by this ABRSM, or is it that I simply can't comprehend the idea of being able to hear a piace of music and then play it by ear straight away?

I can work music out by ear, but it takes me forever, and I can only do it for pieces I know well (for example, hymns I used to sing at priamry school) but nothing even faintly resembling that!

QUOTE (Cyrilla @ Jan 10 2005, 12:43 AM)

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Jan 9 2005, 08:15 PM) bagpuss,cyrilla DONT SHOOT ME! Of course we won't SHOOT you, Nat, we just want to TEACH you and HELP you!!!

*breathes a huuuuge sigh of relief!*

if it makes you happier i did 30 mins of aural with my teacher today and 30mins on my own with the CD. this is for grade6

Cyrilla-or-similar (who she??) very pleased with Nat!

QUOTE (Cyrilla @ Jan 10 2005, 11:14 PM)

Cyrilla-or-similar (who she??) very pleased with Nat!

yipeeeeeeeeee Cyrilla et al are pleased with me wooooohoooo!!

*nat dances round the room!*