Music 1- How to answer aural questions thread (3 Viewers)

[Born Dancer]

i dont know whether there is already a specific thread set aside for this, but i thought it might be a good idea to post up any tips, notes/guides etc for answering and studying for music 1 aural exams. its always a dreaded paper in our class and we dont seem to do that much practical preparation for it in class time..

theres some tips that i picked up from a music workshop i went to not long ago

*try to make your response as concise as possible - examiners dont want to read essays! break down the waffle and write down everything you hear

*use diagrams! it appears that examiners love diagrams, particularly good for shape of melody, and texture

*its probably a good idea to answer the question in terms of structure- spend one of the early listenings working out the sections of the piece and then list everything in that section

*try to use the exact terminology of the things you hear, but if you cant remember it, then describe what it is you hear - the examiners might be able to pick up what you mean- never leave anything out!

*always talk about balance, variety, unity and contrast

*if you can notate what you hear, do it!

 

[Sarah_Lou]

i
hate aural
i hate aural
i hate aurallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

 

[Phanatical]

The best preparation is to practice. If your school isn't giving you practice questions twice a week, then ask them to. That is the only way you can get good at answering aural questions.

 

[upmynoseitgoes]

we had our trial aural on monday

the teacher who was supervising us fell asleep

our school's so cool

 

[JoeysBoy]

lol. We had ours today. I forgot to mention adsr for tone colour. I was saying it over and over to myself (lol I sound like a nut ) just before the exams. grrr...

 

[MouNtY]

One of the big things that we had taught to us, was to seperate different techniques on your page, and then list the different uses of the technique under the heading i.e UNITY and CONTRAST - (list uses of technique).

This mainly helps cause if you have all the techniques there you won't miss any, and it's also easier for markers to look at, and although THAT won't get you extra marks, I'm sure they'll appreciate it

 

[csuwai]

lol.. i also hate aurals.. pratics r mil times better

 

[hsc is death.]

i am soooo terrible at theory music!
i wish we didnt have to do it! or at least so much of it.
i do music 1 and thats 70% prac and there is still too much theory haha

 

[Ametra]

the final music exam is comming up and im having trouble studying for it becasue i don't know how exactly, ive attempted to deconstruct some songs, but i get too distracted!

 

[n i k k i]

omgs well i do music 1 aswell.. and i hate it ewww i hatE pracs i hate theory i used to lovE it .. i play gat.. but im self taught so yeah was kinda hard for me and i had to pik music coz nothin else so yeahh theory is hard 2 lyk u think ur writing all the rite stuff but then u get ur marks back lol and yeah.. my teacher said i ritE all the right stufff but nt in depth enough lol.. i hate music 1 DIEEEEEEEE

 

[humiliation]

I dont really have an issue with the acutal conecpts but i struggle with getting them down on paper in a quick cohesive manner. By the time i write one thing i miss 3 and if i just do basic notes i forget qwhat they really mean by the time it plays again. A guide to do for each playing would be handy. Thank you

 

[Shoubadoo]

I dont really have an issue with the acutal conecpts but i struggle with getting them down on paper in a quick cohesive manner. By the time i write one thing i miss 3 and if i just do basic notes i forget qwhat they really mean by the time it plays again. A guide to do for each playing would be handy. Thank you

I agree. How does one best put it on paper? dot points or heaps of writing or both?

 

[champo14]

For my experience with Music 2 (a little different but it works the same)

Dot points are the best way to get your ideas out in a concise, "no bullshit" way.

The markers are musicians, they don't want to read an essay, they just want to read how much you know about music. The more you include the better, simple as that, and the best way to do this is with short, well explained dot points.

Have a look at some exemplar responses and you'll get the idea.

 

[Shoubadoo]

One of the big things that we had taught to us, was to seperate different techniques on your page, and then list the different uses of the technique under the heading i.e UNITY and CONTRAST - (list uses of technique).

This mainly helps cause if you have all the techniques there you won't miss any, and it's also easier for markers to look at, and although THAT won't get you extra marks, I'm sure they'll appreciate it

For my experience with Music 2 (a little different but it works the same)

Dot points are the best way to get your ideas out in a concise, "no bullshit" way.

The markers are musicians, they don't want to read an essay, they just want to read how much you know about music. The more you include the better, simple as that, and the best way to do this is with short, well explained dot points.

Have a look at some exemplar responses and you'll get the idea.

Cool thanks

 

[humiliation]

What i mean is what should i do for each playing of the song (you get 5). Like for example for play 1 split into different sections etc.

 

[anailr]

we had our trial aural on monday

the teacher who was supervising us fell asleep

our school's so cool

our teacher left the room during out half yearly aural exam to take a phonecall, lol

 

[champo14]

What i mean is what should i do for each playing of the song (you get 5). Like for example for play 1 split into different sections etc.

Basically:

Listen to it once, in full, with the question in mind (<-- Important!)

Then just start writing...

and don't ever stop.

Seriously, with music, its all about quantity. You won't lose marks per-se if you write something wrong, so chances are the more stuff you put on paper, (even if it seems obvious) the more you show you know about music, hence the more marks you get.

 

[bored of sc]

you can use any means to get your ideas across i.e. dot points, tables, diagrams, notation, time signature, anything really

 

[susan04281]

are dot points ok to use?

 

[bored of sc]

are dot points ok to use?

yeh!