hi there!!(again!)

is anyne else out there truly awful at aural?! or is it just me!!

I need major help with aural coz i just cant do it and have no confidence in myself to do well esp in the singing part-i cant sing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

any tips on how to cope with aural disasters!!

Nat

Since you play a lot of different instruments you can get a lot of exam marks in lots of different exams just by doing one thing: you should think of it as a bonus! As you stand to gain a lot of marks in different things if you do; and to lose a lot of marks in a lot of things if you don't, I would say that it's something that you should really focus on and practice loads perhaps allocate a bit more of your playing time to do aural practice instead (or better still use some other time if you have any).

If you have someone at home that can play practice tests on the piano for you that helps a lot; if not the CDs are a good resource to allow you to practice. Even when your not specifically practising the aural tests, just when you listen to music generally, ask yourself the sort of questions that are asked about music in the exam: that should give you the confidence to answer those type of questions in the exam; listen to new pieces of music and try to sing back the main theme.

Sight singing is something that is easy for you to practice yourself you can always do it standing by the piano so that you can verify whether or not you did it correctly. I think the easiest way to do it is to first remember the tonic in your head all the time; then just sing up and down a scale in your head only actually singing out loud the notes that are on the page: that way all you have to be able to do is sing a scale: remember they're not marking the quality of your singing voice; all they care about is that you sing the correct note.

When it comes to the test in the exam my advice is to answer confidently, even if you're not confident about your answer, a major part of the marking scheme involves confident and prompt responses and you can do that even if you're not correct! One final bit of advice: listen very carefully to what you are asked to listen for and remember to listen for that; once I forgot to listen for the things that I was asked for; fortunately because I was generally listening anyway I managed to answer the questions but it scared me a bit when I realised!

thanks for the advice!!!!i hope there will be one day in my life when i can eventually do aurals......................dont think that day will ever come!lol

Nat