GRADE 8 AURAL

TEST 8A (1)TO SING OR PLAY FROM MEMORY THE LOWEST PART

(1)MELODIC OF A THREE-PART PHRASE PLAYED TWICE BY THE
REPETITION EXAMINER
(2)CADENCES
(3)CHORDS **The lowest part will be within the range of an
octave, in a major or minor key with up to 3
sharps/flats.

(2) TO IDENTIFY THE CADENCE AT THE END OF A

PHRASE AS PERFECT, IMPERFECT, INTERRUPTED OR
PLAGAL

**Phrase will be in a major or minor key and will be

played twice by the examiner
**Chords forming the cadence will be limited to
- Ia,Ib,Ic
- IIa, IIb
- IVa
- Va, Vb, Vc
- V7a
- VIa

MAJOR KEY
- If end with tonic (major)
 either perfect OR plagal
PLAGAL (both chords have tonic)
PERFECT (only last chord has tonic)

- If doesn’t end with tonic

-  imperfect (major) or interrupted (minor)

MINOR KEY
- if end with tonic (minor chord)  perfect or
plagal
PLAGAL (both chords have tonic; minor-minor)
PERFECT (only last chord has tonic; major-minor)

- if doesn’t end with tonic (major chord)

-  imperfect (minor-major) or interrupted
(major-major)

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 GRADE 8 AURAL

(3) TO IDENTIFY THE THREE CHORDS (INCLUDING THEIR

POSITIONS) FORMING THE ABOVE CADENTIAL
PROGRESSION

**Examiner will name and play the key-chord, then

play the three chords in sequence, finally playing
each chord individually, pausing for candidate to
identify it.

There are 11 possible chords

TONIC Ia

In major key:
ii (minor)
Vc (major)
SUPERTONIC IIa ; Vc
In minor key:
ii (diminished)
Vc (major)

MEDIANT Ib

In major key:
iib (minor)
IV (major)
SUBDOMINANT IIb ; IVa
In minor key:
ii (diminished)
iv (minor)

Ic has tonic
DOMINANT Ic ; Va ; V7a
V7 has 7th note

SUBMEDIANT VIa

LEADING NOTE Vb

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 GRADE 8 AURAL

TEST 8B TO SING THE LOWER PART OF A TWO-PART PHRASE

SIGHT SINGING FROM SCORE, WITH THE UPPER PART PLAYED BY THE
EXAMINER

**The lower part will be within the range of an octave,

in a major or minor key with up to 4 sharps/flats.
**Examiner will name and play the key-chord and the
starting note and give the pulse.
**A brief of preparation will follow during which the
candidate may sing out loud

TEST 8C TO IDENTIFY WHETHER THE MODULATIONS AT THE END

MODULATION OF A DIFFERENT PASSAGES ARE TO THE DOMINANT,
SUBDOMINANT OR RELATIVE MINOR/MAJOR

**first passage will begin in a major key

**second passage will begin in a minor key
**played once by the examiner only

FOR MAJOR KEY:

- If end with minor chord  relative minor
- If end with major chord and with tonic 
subdominant
- If end with major chord and no tonic 
dominant

FOR MINOR KEY:

- If end with minor chord with tonic 
subdominant
- If end with major chord, it could be dominant or
relative major
**Check the supertonic note (dominant)

TEST 8D TO DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF A

MUSICAL FEATURES PIECE PLAYED BY THE EXAMINER

Dynamics, articulation, tempo, tonality, character,

style and period, texture or structure

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