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Clapping

Perfect
Cadence

Dynamics

Chords

Major 2nd

Pulse

Minor 6th

Intervals

Theory Lessons

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Aural Practice and Aural Books
Beating Time
Interval Recognition
Grade 3 intervals (Trinity Guildhall exams)
Grade 4 intervals (Trinity Guildhall exams)
Grade 5 intervals (Trinity Guildhall exams)
Cadences

Online Ear Trainer

This page provides some help with aural. The sections are laid out for the Trinity Guildhall grades, but the same information can be used for ABRSM grades (but check the intervals required for each ABRSM grade).

Aural Practice

Trinity Guildhall produce two books which are excellent for home practice of aural tests. Both come with the exercises both written (to be played by a pianist) and recorded on a CD (for the non-pianist).

As well as a wide range of fully-notated sample tests, the books also include information on what the examiner will do, what each question is for, what candidates will be asked to do, hints for candidates, and an answer booklet with 'check yourself' sample answers.

The books are:

Trinity Aural Tests Book 1: From 2017. Initial-Grade 5
Trinity Aural Tests Book 2: From 2017. Grades 6-8

Beating Time

Although now replaced with clapping, the patterns for beating time are useful to know and shown below. Imagine you have a stick in your right hand and at the end of each stroke (where the arrow head is) you strike a bell - this bell is where the beat is.

2/4 and 6/8	3/4	4/4

Interval Recognition

Intervals are the gap between two notes and are based on the steps of the scale.

One of the easier ways to recognise intervals is to compare them to the first two notes of a well know song. Example songs are given in the tables below and the Interval Recognition Sheet (grades 4 and 5 on the second page) contains the music for some of the songs (and will also playback on your computer). Note that grades are cumulative so, for example, grade 5 implies you can also recognise grade 4 and grade 3 intervals.

When practicing intervals, listen to the two notes played, sing or hum them and try and match them with the first few notes of one of the songs listed. Also practice playing and singing/humming the songs, accurately, memorising the sounds of the first few notes. With practice, this provides an easy way of recognising intervals.

As well as the Aural practice books and CDs, the Online Ear Trainer is an excellent tool to practice interval recognition.

Grade 3 Intervals (Trinity Guildhall)

Interval	Song
Major 2^nd	Frere Jacques
Major 3^rd	When the Saints
Perfect 4^th	London’s Burning, Away in a Manger, Harry Potter Theme
Perfect 5^th	Twinkle Twinkle, Star Wars Theme
Major 6^th	My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Grade 4 Intervals (Trinity Guildhall)

Interval	Song
Unison	Same note!
Minor 2^nd	Jaws
Major 2^nd	Frere Jacques
Minor 3^rd	Ambulance siren, Greensleeves
Major 3^rd	When the Saints
Perfect 4^th	London’s Burning, Away in a Manger, Harry Potter Theme
Perfect 5^th	Twinkle Twinkle, Star Wars Theme
Minor 6^th	Love Story, When Israel was in Egypt’s Land (Let My People Go)
Major 6^th	My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Grade 5 Intervals (Trinity Guildhall)

Interval	Song
Minor 2^nd	Jaws
Major 2^nd	Frere Jacques
Minor 3^rd	Ambulance siren, Greensleeves
Major 3^rd	When the Saints
Perfect 4^th	London’s Burning, Away in a Manger, Harry Potter Theme
Perfect 5^th	Twinkle Twinkle, Star Wars Theme
Minor 6^th	Love Story, When Israel was in Egypt’s Land (Let My People Go)
Major 6^th	My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Minor 7^th	Somewhere (West Side Story), Old Star Trek theme
Major 7^th	Somewhere Over the Rainbow (1^st to 3^rd notes)
Octave	Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Cadences

A cadence is a sequence or two (or more) chords, usually used to finish a phrase or piece of music. Listen to the sound of the cadence and compare it to the table below.

You can also listen to the bass line which (if the chords are not inverted) will follow the chord progression. For example, for a Perfect cadence in the key of C major, the bass line would go from G (V chord) to C (I chord).

Cadence	Chords	Sounds
Perfect	V-I	Finished
Plagal	IV-I	Finished, but less assertive. "Amen" ending.
Imperfect	(any chord)-V often I-V	Unfinished, suspended
Interrupted	Usually V-VI (the VI chord may be minor or major - the opposite of the key)	Unexpected, (can also sound weak, hanging or wrong)

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