Listen With Your Heart
Aural work is often overlooked. For a lot of us, the extent of our aural work is being able to hear a song we like and try and replicate it on the piano. This is wonderful but well developed aural skills will be able to elevate your musicianship
Aural Checklist:
- Recognise the difference between major, harmonic minor, melodic minor and chromatic scales
- Recognise the difference between major and minor chords
- Recognise and name the position of the triads (root, first or second inversion)
- Recognise intervals by quality and quantity (i.e. perfect 5th)
- Recognise cadences (perfect, plagal, imperfect and interrupted)
- Recognise the motion of a two part melody (similar, contrary or oblique)
- Recognise form (binary, ternary, rondo)
- Find the beat
- Remember a phrase and sing it back / write it back
- Dictate a melody with pitch and rhythm
- Dictate a rhythmic pattern (using various note values)
- Pitch (sing) the tonic note to finish a melody
- Remember the upper or lower part of a two part phrase
- Sing the notes that make up a tonic chord
Tips To Improve:
- Start singing your scales as you play (ensuring a comfortable range for your voice ). Aim to be confident with major, melodic minor, harmonic minor and chromatic scales.
- Play and sing intervals..
- Play cadences as you write them for theory grades.
Perfect Cadences will sound good
Plagal Cadences will sound almost religious with an “A-men” tone
Interrupted Cadences will sound…. interrupted
Imperfect Cadences will sound good, but not quite finished - Get used to analysing your own music when you start a new piece.
Identify key, time and form.
Look at the end of each section and identify cadences used. - Listen to what you play.
Critically analyse sounds generated from your fingers and see if it matches the rhythm notated on the music.
