Aural exams (1 Viewer)

[Iron-Haggis]

Aural is my weak point in music, on my aural exam for the half yearly I only managed 16/40, this is compared to getting marks of 15/15 and 12/15 for compositions and a 12/20 for a viva voce. My biggest problem in aural is being able to write down what I hear in any order, I think I tend to jump around and then I tend to miss really ovious things. But I was wondering if anyone had any advice or even how they approach aural tasks.

 

[Toodulu]

this is really obvious but heaps of practise..
learn what you could say under duration, texture, tone... etc
and write keypoints

 

[tash]

yeah lots of practice is the key i think. like, just listen to absolutely everything and write stuff down. aural's my weak point too,as i think that only hearing the piece five tmes is not enough! give me a couple of hours and the score and i can write brill stuff- but since that's not possible then we must deal with it...

also, a good way to go about setting your thoughts out is by putting it into the sections in the piece so then the marker knows where you are, eg. write 'intro' or 'section 1' etc. as a mini heading and then write stuff down on whatever it is you're talking about, and t makes it slightly easier.

Just go over all the elements and make sure you know exactly what you're talking about for each one.

 

[Nose Bleed]

i tend to go structure on my second hearing, then under a structure diagram put points on whatever the quesitons asking, then write the question chronologicaly

if u can hear something but can't remember the musical word, just describe it anyway. Like if you can't remember the word melisma just say the singer goes up a semitone holding the same syllable or whatever, oh oh and just do diagrams for melody lines they have orgasms over that:

PITCH
l........___
l....../
l..../
l../
l/
l________________
. . . . . TIME. . . . .

disregard the full stops
haha that diagram probably wont make sense but i'm gonna leave it anyway

 

[mazza_728]

i get ur diagramy thing mlagana its kewl!
i have heaps of problems trying to identify the different instruments..actually my whole class does -- one of my friends wrote down piano when it was a trumpet! i believe there is no hope for any of us!

 

[Weisy]

hahaha, there's always hope mazza!
though I'd never pick trumpet as piano, I have to say that idnetifying instruments was the part I had to work on in the aural.

Don't just listen indiscriminately to the same sort of stuff...Listen to as many different styles of music as you can, and familiarise yourself with how each sounds, and what types of instruments are usually featured. Sometimes I can easily pick brass, but not what specifically the instrument is...in that case, go for the most obvious one, eg. trumpet.

Iron-Haggis: As for melodic dictation - it seems as though it's less a pitch thing than a memorising thing. If that's the case, then try practising by starting off with short one-line phrases, then making them longer and longer, then adding layers of other instruments.

 

[tash]

another thing you could try is make a list of all the things you have to remember for each concept and count how many you have so in the exam and it's about pitch or whatever, you can think, 'ok there's 10 (or whatever) things that i need to consider- what are they?' so then you know if you've missed something.

with identifying intruments (i'm quite terrible at that too so i hope they don't ask that in the hsc!) try listening to pieces that have whatever instruments in them so you know what they can sound like-that's what i'm starting to do- and if you're totally baffled by what specific instrument it is then just say 'wind' or 'brass' etc. so then you'll at least get some sort of mark for that

yeah the pitch diagram is good!notate anything in some legible form and then you at least have a chance of getting a point for that

oh and 1 more thing- with texture, this is our class motto for it: if in doubt go for homophonic!

 

[Juliet]

You can use diagrams for a lot of different concepts, texture is one i usually do a diagram for if i have time, you just use different symbols for different instruments. Then you put in a key.

________ _______
*** *** *** *** ***
++++++++++++++++++
() () () () ()
Start End

Also pitch as mlagana said. Aural is my weak point too. i spent hours and hours in this music dictionary i borrowed from school....cos i didn't know anything about it at all. Also if you can notate different beats. Just on the page, showing notes and rests. My main problem is that i can't describe what i hear because i don't know enough music terms. I also can't think of any other way of describing what i hear if i can't remember the term. And i get so mad when the teacher tells us the answers i realise i knew it all along...:angry:

 

[tash]

if you're having trouble with terms and stuff i typed up this list of all these musical terms that could possibly or not b useful so if you wanted i could send it to you if it would be any help?

 

[chip]

yeh aural is hard but its just a lot of practice like everyone else has said........ if you can draw diagrams that makes it a lot easier.........
i wouldnt mind havent a look at that terms sheet if you dont mind tash?

 

[tash]

aha!! i've just worked out how to add in attachments! ok so this is my 'glossary of musical terms' and just has a whole heap of words and their meanings- the 1st page isn't really all 2 relelvant 4 aural sutff- it was there 4 my ameb theory exam. anyway hope it's helpful 2 any1 who wants it. i also have summaries of all the elements basically from the 2 books we use in class so if anyone wants them as well u can.

just trying to be helpful!!

 

[chip]

thanks tash

 

[tash]

you're welcome. was it any help?

 

[PIE]

Hey Tash, Thanks sooo much for the musical terms they are great... I cant wait to see the look on my teachers face when she gets my next Aural she might die of shock. With these terms I cant go wrong...

 

[chip]

yeh it was thanks..... i couldnt see it on there i'm playing a piece of music and its says resoluto and ideas what that means?

 

[tash]

resoluto means 'with resolution' whatever that means i don't acutally know how u would play that

 

[chip]

with resolution is that like clarity do you think?

i'm not sure no one knows the answer

 

[tash]

i think i would choose to ignore it! i doubt it's that important. but ask your teacher- he/she should know

 

[Juliet]

In our Trial Aural Exam, we were given a different question: They played the same piece of music but in two different versions. Then you had to write down the differences.

It was a good exam...for once i think i will pass!
All that dictionary reading payed off!

 

[Juliet]

According to the Penguin Dictionary of Music:

Resolution: the progression from a discord to a concord or to a less acute discord; so to resolve a discord.

Concord: a chord which seems harmonically at rest: its opposite, discord, seems unsettled, thus requiring a resolution to another chord. What constitutes a concord is not something fixed:thoughtout history composers have tended to admit more and different chords as concords, and in, e.g much twelve-note music, the concepts of concord and discord need not ahve any structural relevance for the composer.

Discord: opposite of concord, in its technical sense.

Ah, the dumb man says; I get it!