Grade 8 aural

Section 1:
a) Sing the bottom line of a 3 part phrase back
b) Identify the cadence at the end of a passage
-Perfect = V-I (feels finished and key note clashes with penultimate chord)
-Plagal= IV- I (feels finished and key note fits with penultimate chord)
-Imperfect= anything-V (feels unfinished, like it needs to return to the key note)
-Interrupted= anything-VI (feels like it has changed key, like you weren’t expecting it
to happen)
c) Identify the final 3 chords of the passage and their inversion (A, B, C)

Section 2:
Sight-sing the lower line of a two part phrase with the piano playing the upper phrase

Section 3:
Listen to two short passages and identify where the music has modulated to

Either:
-Subdominant (chord IV)
-Dominant (chord V)
-Relative

The first passage is in a major key so will end either on chord: IV, V or VI (VI being the
relative minor)- sing the tonic of the key chord they give you at the beginning of the
passage. Go through the the scale of the note you are humming to find which key it has
modulated and if you find a note that fits, test the triad to make sure the whole chord fits
(triad= note/skip a note/ note/ skip a note)

The second passage is in a minor key so will either go to chord III, IV or V. If it sounds major
at the end it could either have modulated to chord III (the relative major) or the dominant
(you need to test the triads of both to work out which). If it sounds minor at the end it will
have gone to the subdominant (but make sure you double check).

Section 4:

Baroque:
-Small range on the key board
-Simple harmonies
-Imitation/fugue- one hand introduces an idea which a bar or 2 later is repeated by the -
other hand. The texture is in two parts and each part seems to be doing it’s own thing.
-No pedal
-Single dynamic
-Ornamentation like trills
-Composers: Bach, Handel, Purcell
Classical:
-Predictable and not very complex harmonies/ use of primary chords (inc. chord V and I)
-Melody and accompaniment texture- melody heavily dominating the texture
-A little use of pedal
-Composer: Haydn/ Mozart

Romantic:
-Very bold and dramatic
-Huge contrast in dynamics and texture
-Rich harmonies which are more adventurous than classical and Baroque but not
shocking/surprising (like 20th Century might be)
-Thick chords
-Heavy pedal
-Flexible tempo/ rubato
-Composer: Liszt/ Schubert/ Wagner

20th Century:
-Can sound quite bare and spaced out but harmonies are odd/unpreditable
-Syncopation/ jazzy rhythm
-Dreamy/ calm
-Anything from atonal to gentle/peaceful dissonance (clashy chords)
-Cluster chords creating very close harmonies
-Use of sustain pedal
-Jazzy harmonies
-Unpredictable in all ways (inc harmony, melody)
-Improvisational feel (characterised by ornamentation/ free tempo) making it slightly folky
with unexpected (but tonal) harmonies
-Composers: if it’s a jazzy vibe: Miles Davis/ folk vibe: Bartok/ completely dissonant and
atonal: Schoenberg/ Stravinsky