Aural D1 Name: ………………………….

Week 7

1. Course Summary
The material covered so far:
1. Sight-Singing
ve
o All intervals of the Major scale ascending and descending to solfa: PU M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8
o Clap and say time names for 4 bar rhythms in 4/4 using w h. h q e and their rests
2. Aurally recognise
o Major and natural minor scales
o Major and minor triads
ve
o All intervals of the major scale ascending and descending: PU M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8
3. Notate from transcription
o Rhythms of 2 bars using w h. h q only

2. Practice
Remember aural skills require practice. There are multiple ways available to you: Aurelia (in library], EarMaster,
iPhone app Tenuto, www.musictheory.net, www.auralworkshop.com, play on your instrument or keyboard, sing,
practise with a friend, etc.

3. Singing Melodies

In the first half of the trimester we looked at sigh-reading rhythms and sight-singing intervals (both of which are tasks in
your final Viva Voce exam in Week 11), no we are going to combine them in simple melodies to sight-sing.

Use a standard system, and be consistent – it is the best way to enhance your skills.

Try:
1. Clap the rhythm (use French time names if helpful)
2. Sing the pitches without rhythm (use solfa)
3. Put the pitch and rhythm together slowly (even bar by bar at first)
4. Gradually build up speed with repetition.

Here are some examples to practice. Use solfa.

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4. Cadences

Have you noticed that you can naturally tell when a piece of music is coming to its end? After years of hearing and
singing and playing music we know how to sense the end of a phrase. The note values are longer, the words come to a
point of rest, the melodic contour reaches its conclusion, and we sense the chords arriving at a point of stability. The
two chords that form the end of a musical phrase form a cadence. They come to a point of rest. There are different
types of cadences. Some make a piece sound complete while others come to a point of rest, but we know the piece
isn’t finished. Today we will look at two of the final sounding cadences.

Cadences are based on the system of chordal progressions. These are a series of chords which can be built on any note
of the scale, for example below are the diatonic triads of a major scale:

Authentic cadence
An authentic cadence is the one we hear most often to end a piece of music. It is comprises chords V to I. Eg:

This is a particular type of authentic cadence. Both chords are in root position (tonic in the lowest voice) and the top
part in the last chord has the tonic, therefore it is a Perfect Authentic Cadence (PAC).

Notice that in a minor key, Chord i is minor, but V is still major:

Check this against the diatonic triads for a minor scale:

Also notice that while the bass descends a P5 in the PAC here, were the first note of the bass part G on the bottom line,
the bass part would ascend a P4.

What should you listen for to identify an Authentic Cadence?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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Plagal cadence
A plagal cadence is the second most common cadence to end a piece of music. It is often heard in church at the end of
hymns sung to the word ‘Amen’, and is thus sometimes called an Amen Cadence. It is comprises chords IV to I. Eg:

Notice that in a minor key, both chords in the plagal cadence are minor:

Again notice that while the bass descends a P4 here, were the first note of the bass part F in the space below the
bottom line of the stave, the bass part would ascend a P5.

What should you listen for to identify a Plagal Cadence?

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5. Exercises

Identify the cadences your tutor will play to you as Perfect Authentic or Plagal. You will hear the tonic chord before
the cadence.

i. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

ii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

iii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

iv. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

v. ……………………………………………………………………………………….
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6. Revision Exercises

1. Identify the scales your tutor will play to you as major or natural minor.

i. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

ii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

iii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Identify these triads as Major or minor.

i. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

ii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

iii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

3. Identify these Perfect and Major intervals.

i. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

ii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

iii. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

iv. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

v. ……………………………………………………………………………………….

4. Clap these rhythms in 4/4 and say the time names:

5. Notate from dictation these rhythms your tutor will clap to you. They use crotchets, minims, dotted minims
and semibreves only with no rests. Note these are now 4 bars in length.
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6. Sing these intervals in C Major. Check you are in tune. Name the notes.

i. d l ……………………………………………………….

ii. r t ……………………………………………………….

iii. l m ……………………………………………………….

iv. f d ……………………………………………………….

Practice:
Practise these exercises this week.
1. Aurally recognise major and natural minor scales.
2. Aurally recognise major and minor triads
3. Aurally recognise all simple perfect and major intervals.
4. Aurally recognise Perfect Authentic and Plagal cadences.
5. Write from dictation 4 bar rhythms in 4/4 using w h . h q only, no rests.
6. Be able to sing all intervals of the major scale to solfa. (Practise your interval drill – see the last 2 weeks’ notes)
7. Be able to clap and say the time names for 4 bar rhythms in 4/4 using w h . h q e and their rests.