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BGCSE Music (0617) study materials
BGCSE Music (0617) study resources

BGCSE Music (0617) practice questions

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Question 1Listening and Aural Perception

A melody begins on G and moves upward by step to the next note. Which note does it reach?

  1. B
  2. G
  3. F
  4. A Correct answer.

Explanation

A step is the distance to the very next letter name in the musical alphabet, so moving up one step from G lands on A. Larger leaps would skip letters and are not described as steps.

Question 2Listening and Aural Perception

A performer plays a note and then plays the same pitch at a higher octave. What has changed?

  1. The dynamic level has changed
  2. The timbre has changed
  3. The note name has changed
  4. The frequency has doubled Correct answer.

Explanation

An octave relationship means the upper note vibrates at twice the frequency of the lower one. The letter name stays the same, so the change is one of frequency rather than naming or loudness.

Question 3Listening and Aural Perception

A piece is described as having a steady pulse with four beats in each bar and the strongest accent on beat one. What is its metre?

  1. Compound duple
  2. Free metre
  3. Simple quadruple Correct answer.
  4. Simple triple

Explanation

Four beats per bar with the primary accent on the first beat is the definition of simple quadruple metre. Triple metre would group beats in threes, and compound metres divide each beat into three.

Question 4Listening and Aural Perception

Which dynamic marking tells a performer to play very softly?

  1. f
  2. ff
  3. pp Correct answer.
  4. mf

Explanation

Dynamic markings come from Italian abbreviations, and pp stands for pianissimo, meaning very soft. The letter f in its various forms indicates loud playing instead.

Question 5Listening and Aural Perception

A single sustained note is played on a flute and then on a trumpet at the same loudness and pitch. What mainly allows a listener to tell the instruments apart?

  1. Tone colour Correct answer.
  2. Rhythm
  3. Tempo
  4. Metre

Explanation

Tone colour, or timbre, is the quality that distinguishes instruments even when pitch and loudness match. It arises from each instrument's unique overtone pattern and attack. Rhythm, metre and tempo describe timing rather than instrumental quality.

Question 6Listening and Aural Perception

A melody moves from a low register to a high register over several bars. Which term best describes this movement?

  1. Ascending Correct answer.
  2. Static
  3. Syncopated
  4. Descending

Explanation

Music that moves from lower to higher pitch is described as ascending. Descending would be the reverse, and static would mean the pitch stays the same.

Question 7Listening and Aural Perception

Two notes are played together and sound harsh and tense, needing to resolve. Which interval are they most likely forming?

  1. A unison
  2. A perfect fifth
  3. A perfect octave
  4. A minor second Correct answer.

Explanation

Dissonant intervals such as the minor second create tension that listeners expect to resolve to a consonance. The octave, perfect fifth and unison are all strongly consonant and sound stable.

Question 8Listening and Aural Perception

A drum pattern repeats a strong accent just before each main beat, giving the music a push. Which term describes this device?

  1. Syncopation Correct answer.
  2. Legato
  3. Crescendo
  4. Rubato

Explanation

Syncopation places accents on weak beats or off-beats so that the expected strong beat is displaced. Legato and crescendo concern articulation and volume, while rubato concerns flexible tempo.

Question 9Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a melody in which the first phrase ends on a note that feels unfinished, and the second phrase ends on the tonic. What has occurred?

  1. A modulation to the subdominant
  2. An imperfect cadence followed by a perfect cadence Correct answer.
  3. A perfect cadence followed by an imperfect cadence
  4. Two plagal cadences

Explanation

A phrase ending away from the tonic, often on the dominant, creates an open, unfinished feeling, while a return to the tonic closes the phrase. Together they form a question-and-answer pair of cadences.

Question 10Listening and Aural Perception

A choir sings a passage in which all voices move together with the same rhythm. Which texture is this?

  1. Homophonic Correct answer.
  2. Heterophonic
  3. Polyphonic
  4. Monophonic

Explanation

Homophony features multiple parts moving largely in the same rhythm, supporting one melody with harmony. Polyphony gives each part an independent line, while monophony has only one line.

Question 11Listening and Aural Perception

A piece in G major uses F sharp throughout but then introduces F natural with chords of C major at a phrase boundary. What is most likely happening?

  1. A return to G major
  2. A change of metre
  3. A modulation to C major Correct answer.
  4. A change of tempo

Explanation

Lowering the leading note F sharp to F natural and emphasising C major harmony signals a move towards the subdominant key. The new key centre is confirmed by the C major chords at the phrase boundary.

Question 12Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is written with a key signature of three sharps and begins and ends on F sharp. Which key is it in?

  1. A major
  2. D major
  3. C sharp minor
  4. F sharp minor Correct answer.

Explanation

Three sharps belong to A major and its relative minor, F sharp minor. Because the melody begins and ends on F sharp, the tonic is F sharp and the key is minor.

Question 13Listening and Aural Perception

A performer gradually increases the loudness of a long crescendo from piano to forte. Which element of music is being altered?

  1. Pitch
  2. Articulation
  3. Harmony
  4. Dynamics Correct answer.

Explanation

Dynamics describe levels of loudness and the changes between them, so a crescendo from piano to forte is purely a dynamic effect. Articulation concerns how notes are attacked, while pitch and harmony concern note choice.

Question 14Listening and Aural Perception

A note written as a dotted quarter note is followed by an eighth note. How many beats do the two notes occupy together in a time signature where the quarter note is one beat?

  1. Three beats
  2. Two beats Correct answer.
  3. One beat
  4. One and a half beats

Explanation

A dotted quarter note lasts one and a half beats, and the following eighth note lasts half a beat. Adding them gives exactly two beats in total.

Question 15Listening and Aural Perception

A singer performs a phrase in which the notes are played short and detached. Which marking is most likely shown above the notes?

  1. Slur
  2. Staccato dots Correct answer.
  3. Fermata
  4. Tie

Explanation

Staccato dots above or below note heads tell the performer to shorten and detach each note. A slur or tie joins notes smoothly, and a fermata lengthens a note instead.

Question 16Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a melody in which the same short rhythmic figure recurs at different pitches throughout. Which term describes this?

  1. A pedal point
  2. A rhythmic ostinato Correct answer.
  3. A sequence of cadences
  4. A change of timbre

Explanation

A rhythmic ostinato is a short pattern repeated persistently, often at changing pitches. A pedal point instead holds a single sustained note, and cadences are harmonic endings.

Question 17Listening and Aural Perception

A duet features a violin playing the melody while a cello plays a slower-moving bass line beneath it. Which texture best describes the result?

  1. Melody with accompaniment Correct answer.
  2. Aleatoric
  3. Canonic
  4. Monophonic

Explanation

A clear leading line supported by a subordinate bass creates a melody-and-accompaniment texture, a common form of homophony. Monophony would have only one line, and a canon requires imitation.

Question 18Listening and Aural Perception

A melody leaps upward by a perfect fifth from C. Which note does it reach?

  1. G Correct answer.
  2. F
  3. A
  4. E

Explanation

A perfect fifth above C is G, spanning seven semitones. The interval is consonant and forms the basis of many harmonic relationships.

Question 19Listening and Aural Perception

A piece is marked allegro, then later marked adagio. What change has taken place?

  1. The music has become much slower Correct answer.
  2. The music has moved to a higher key
  3. The music has changed from duple to triple metre
  4. The music has become much louder

Explanation

Allegro indicates a fast tempo and adagio a slow one, so the change is a substantial slowing of speed. Tempo markings do not govern loudness, key or metre.

Question 20Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a chord progression in which the bass note C is held while the upper chords change from C major to F major and back. What device is the bass using?

  1. A sequence
  2. An imitation
  3. An ostinato melody
  4. A pedal point Correct answer.

Explanation

A pedal point is a sustained note held while harmonies above it change, creating tension and release. It differs from an ostinato, which repeats a pattern rather than holding one note.

Question 21Listening and Aural Perception

A melody in A minor uses the notes A B C D E F G sharp A. Which scale has been used?

  1. A natural minor
  2. A chromatic scale
  3. A harmonic minor Correct answer.
  4. A major

Explanation

Raising the seventh degree of a minor scale, here G to G sharp, produces the harmonic minor form. Natural minor would keep G natural, and a chromatic scale would use every semitone.

Question 22Listening and Aural Perception

A passage begins in D major and then uses C natural and F natural with chords of G minor before ending on D. Which tonal shift is most likely?

  1. A move to the tonic minor Correct answer.
  2. A move to the dominant
  3. A move to the relative major
  4. A move to the subdominant

Explanation

Changing the third and seventh degrees to fit G minor and returning to D indicates a shift from D major to D minor, the tonic minor. The tonic stays D while the mode changes from major to minor.

Question 23Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears two notes sounded together that span three whole tones and sound unstable and ambiguous. Which interval is this?

  1. A major sixth
  2. A perfect fourth
  3. A tritone Correct answer.
  4. A minor third

Explanation

Three whole tones make up an augmented fourth or diminished fifth, known as a tritone. It is famously dissonant and ambiguous because it divides the octave exactly in half.

Question 24Listening and Aural Perception

A composer writes a passage in which the first violin's melody is taken up a bar later by the second violin at the same pitch. Which device is being used?

  1. Diminution
  2. Imitation Correct answer.
  3. Augmentation
  4. Inversion

Explanation

Imitation occurs when one part repeats a melody just heard in another part, often overlapping. Inversion would turn the melody upside down, and augmentation or diminution would change its note values.

Question 25Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is harmonised with the chords C major, A minor, F major and G major, and the piece ends on C major. Which statement about the harmony is accurate?

  1. The progression is entirely chromatic
  2. The progression modulates to A minor permanently
  3. The progression uses chords I, vi, IV and V in C major Correct answer.
  4. The progression uses chords I, ii, V and vi in C major

Explanation

In C major the chords built on C, A, F and G are the tonic, submediant, subdominant and dominant, numbered I, vi, IV and V. All four chords belong to the key, so no modulation or chromaticism is involved.

Question 26Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is written in the treble clef. Which clef would a lower-sounding melody for a bass instrument most likely use?

  1. Alto clef
  2. Bass clef Correct answer.
  3. Soprano clef
  4. Treble clef

Explanation

The bass clef places F on the fourth line from the bottom and is used for low instruments and voices such as the cello, double bass and bassoon. The treble clef suits higher parts, while alto and soprano clefs are used for specific middle and high ranges. A bass instrument therefore normally reads bass clef.

Question 27Listening and Aural Perception

A singer holds a single note steadily for four beats without changing pitch. Which element of music is being demonstrated most clearly?

  1. Pitch
  2. Dynamics
  3. Duration Correct answer.
  4. Timbre

Explanation

Duration concerns how long a sound lasts, so holding one note for four beats is a clear demonstration of duration. Pitch would require a change of highness or lowness, timbre concerns tone colour, and dynamics concern loudness. The steady, unchanged pitch leaves length of sound as the element being shown.

Question 28Listening and Aural Perception

A piece is written in 3/4 time. How many beats are there in each bar, and which note value receives one beat?

  1. Two beats per bar, with a minim receiving one beat
  2. Three beats per bar, with a crotchet receiving one beat Correct answer.
  3. Three beats per bar, with a quaver receiving one beat
  4. Four beats per bar, with a crotchet receiving one beat

Explanation

In a time signature the upper number shows the number of beats in each bar and the lower number shows the note value that counts as one beat. In 3/4 the upper figure 3 gives three beats, and the lower figure 4 means a crotchet, a quarter note, is one beat. This is the pattern of a waltz.

Question 29Listening and Aural Perception

A melody rises step by step from C up to the next C. Which interval does the melody span?

  1. A perfect fifth
  2. A major sixth
  3. A major seventh
  4. A perfect octave Correct answer.

Explanation

Two notes with the same letter name, one above the other, span an octave, and the octave from C to C is perfect. A fifth from C would reach G, a sixth would reach A, and a seventh would reach B. The full stepwise rise from C to the next C therefore covers a perfect octave.

Question 30Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a single unaccompanied melody with no harmony or accompanying parts. Which texture is being heard?

  1. Heterophonic
  2. Polyphonic
  3. Homophonic
  4. Monophonic Correct answer.

Explanation

A texture of one melodic line with nothing sounding at the same time is monophonic. Homophonic texture combines a melody with chordal accompaniment, polyphonic texture sets independent lines together, and heterophonic texture presents variants of one line simultaneously. A lone unaccompanied melody therefore fits monophonic texture.

Question 31Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is marked with a p at its opening. How should the performer play it?

  1. Short and detached
  2. Loudly
  3. Gradually faster
  4. Softly Correct answer.

Explanation

The dynamic marking p stands for piano, which directs the performer to play softly. Loud playing would be marked f for forte, a gradual increase of speed would be an accelerando, and short detached playing would be marked with staccato dots. The single letter p therefore indicates a soft dynamic.

Question 32Listening and Aural Perception

A melody uses only the five notes C D E G A, with no F or B. Which scale is it using?

  1. The pentatonic scale Correct answer.
  2. The chromatic scale
  3. The whole-tone scale
  4. The harmonic minor scale

Explanation

A pentatonic scale uses five notes per octave, and the common major form omits the fourth and seventh degrees, which for C would be F and B. The chromatic scale uses all twelve semitones, the whole-tone scale moves only in tones, and the harmonic minor scale has seven notes with a raised seventh. Five notes with F and B omitted therefore identify the pentatonic scale.

Question 33Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a repeated pattern of two beats grouped against a steady pulse of three beats. Which term describes this effect?

  1. Polyrhythm Correct answer.
  2. Ostinato
  3. Syncopation
  4. Sequence

Explanation

Polyrhythm occurs when two different rhythmic groupings sound at the same time, such as two beats played against three. Syncopation displaces accents within a single metre, an ostinato is a repeated pattern, and a sequence repeats a melodic figure at a new pitch. Two simultaneous conflicting groupings are therefore a polyrhythm.

Question 34Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is written in the key of F major. Which note is the leading note of this key?

  1. C
  2. A
  3. F
  4. E Correct answer.

Explanation

The leading note is the seventh degree of the scale, one semitone below the tonic. In F major the scale runs F G A B flat C D E F, so the seventh degree is E. F is the tonic and A and C are the third and fifth degrees.

Question 35Listening and Aural Perception

A passage moves from a chord of C major to a chord of G major. What is the relationship of these two chords within the key of C major?

  1. Tonic moving to dominant Correct answer.
  2. Dominant moving to tonic
  3. Tonic moving to submediant
  4. Tonic moving to subdominant

Explanation

In C major the chord built on C is the tonic and the chord built on G is the dominant, the fifth degree. Moving from C major to G major is therefore tonic to dominant. The subdominant would be F major, and the submediant would be A minor.

Question 36Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is notated in the treble clef with a key signature of one flat. Which key does this signature normally indicate?

  1. B flat major or G minor
  2. C major or A minor
  3. G major or E minor
  4. F major or D minor Correct answer.

Explanation

The order of flats begins with B flat, so a key signature of one flat indicates F major or its relative minor, D minor. G major and E minor use one sharp, C major and A minor use no accidentals, and B flat major and G minor use two flats. One flat therefore points to F major or D minor.

Question 37Listening and Aural Perception

A piece in common time has a bar containing a minim, a crotchet and two quavers. How many beats of the bar remain unfilled?

  1. One beat remains
  2. No beats remain, because the bar is complete Correct answer.
  3. Two beats remain
  4. Half a beat remains

Explanation

Common time is 4/4, so each bar holds four crotchet beats. A minim equals two beats, a crotchet equals one beat, and two quavers together equal one beat, giving four beats in total. The bar is therefore already complete and no beats remain.

Question 38Listening and Aural Perception

A melody is built from the notes of E harmonic minor. Which note is raised compared with the natural minor scale?

  1. B natural
  2. G natural
  3. D sharp Correct answer.
  4. F sharp

Explanation

The harmonic minor scale raises the seventh degree of the natural minor scale by a semitone. In E minor the seventh degree is D, so the raised note is D sharp. F sharp and B natural already belong to the E natural minor scale, and G is the unaltered third degree.

Question 39Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a chord in which the notes C, E flat, G flat and B double flat are stacked in thirds. Which chord type is this?

  1. A dominant seventh chord
  2. A major seventh chord
  3. A minor seventh chord
  4. A diminished seventh chord Correct answer.

Explanation

A diminished seventh chord is built from a root, minor third, diminished fifth and diminished seventh, which for C gives C, E flat, G flat and B double flat. A dominant seventh would use B flat, a major seventh would use B natural, and a minor seventh would use B flat with a perfect fifth. The doubly flattened seventh therefore identifies the diminished seventh chord.

Question 40Listening and Aural Perception

A singer performs a passage in which the melody moves mainly by small steps between neighbouring notes. Which term describes this melodic movement?

  1. Disjunct motion
  2. Conjunct motion Correct answer.
  3. Imitation
  4. Ornamentation

Explanation

Conjunct motion describes a melody that moves chiefly by steps to neighbouring notes of the scale. Disjunct motion moves by leaps, ornamentation adds decorative figures to a melody, and imitation repeats a melody in another part. Movement by small steps is therefore conjunct motion.

Question 41Listening and Aural Perception

A performer plays a phrase marked with a crescendo hairpin opening to the right. What should happen to the sound?

  1. It should stay at the same volume
  2. It should gradually get softer
  3. It should gradually get louder Correct answer.
  4. It should become gradually slower

Explanation

A hairpin that opens towards the right is a crescendo, directing a gradual increase in loudness. A hairpin closing to the left is a decrescendo or diminuendo, which means gradually softer. A steady volume would need no hairpin, and a change of speed would be shown by a tempo term such as ritardando.

Question 42Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a passage in which a solo flute plays the melody while the strings sustain long chords beneath it. Which texture is this?

  1. Monophonic
  2. Antiphonal
  3. Polyphonic
  4. Homophonic Correct answer.

Explanation

Homophonic texture consists of a clear melody supported by chordal accompaniment moving in longer notes, which matches a solo flute over sustained string chords. Monophonic texture has only one line, polyphonic texture has several independent melodies, and antiphonal texture alternates between separated groups. The melody-with-accompaniment arrangement is therefore homophonic.

Question 43Listening and Aural Perception

A melody in G major is harmonised with the chords G major, E minor, C major and D major. Which of these chords is the submediant?

  1. C major
  2. G major
  3. D major
  4. E minor Correct answer.

Explanation

The submediant is the chord built on the sixth degree of the scale. In G major the sixth degree is E, so the submediant chord is E minor. G major is the tonic, C major is the subdominant, and D major is the dominant.

Question 44Listening and Aural Perception

Two melodies are played together, one beginning on C and the other a major third higher. Which note does the second melody begin on?

  1. F
  2. G
  3. A
  4. E Correct answer.

Explanation

A major third above C is E, four semitones higher. F lies a perfect fourth above C, G a perfect fifth, and A a major sixth. The second melody therefore begins on E.

Question 45Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a melody in which the rhythm is free and unmeasured, the words are sung on many notes per syllable, and the texture is mainly a single line. Which style is most likely being heard?

  1. Gregorian chant Correct answer.
  2. A Baroque dance suite
  3. A twelve-bar blues
  4. A Classical string quartet

Explanation

Gregorian chant is monophonic vocal music with a free, unmeasured rhythm and melismatic settings in which many notes are sung to one syllable. A Baroque dance suite has a steady metre and instrumental parts, a Classical string quartet is homophonic or polyphonic instrumental music, and a twelve-bar blues has a fixed repeating harmonic and rhythmic pattern. The described features therefore point to Gregorian chant.

Question 46Listening and Aural Perception

A passage alternates between a solo violin and the full orchestra, each answering the other in turn. Which term best describes this performance style?

  1. Ostinato
  2. Imitation
  3. Homophonic
  4. Antiphonal Correct answer.

Explanation

Antiphonal performance sets one group against another so that they alternate and answer each other, as with a soloist and orchestra in dialogue. Imitation involves one part copying another's melody, an ostinato is a repeated pattern, and homophonic describes melody with chordal accompaniment. Alternating answering groups define antiphonal style.

Question 47Listening and Aural Perception

A choir sings a chord built on D that contains D, F sharp, A and C natural. Which seventh chord is this?

  1. A dominant seventh chord Correct answer.
  2. A half-diminished seventh chord
  3. A major seventh chord
  4. A minor seventh chord

Explanation

A dominant seventh chord is built from a major triad with a minor seventh added above the root. On D the major triad is D, F sharp and A, and the minor seventh is C natural, giving exactly the notes listed. A major seventh would use C sharp, a minor seventh would use F natural, and a half-diminished seventh would use F natural with C natural.

Question 48Listening and Aural Perception

A melody begins in A major and later uses the notes C natural and G natural, with chords of D minor and E minor, before returning to A major. Which technique is being used?

  1. A modulation to the dominant
  2. Modal mixture, borrowing chords from the parallel minor Correct answer.
  3. A sequence of the opening phrase
  4. An enharmonic change of key

Explanation

Borrowing notes and chords from the parallel minor while remaining in the same tonic key is modal mixture. Here A major takes C natural and G natural and the chords D minor and E minor from A minor, then returns to A major. A modulation to the dominant would move to E major with G sharp, a sequence repeats a figure at new pitches, and an enharmonic change respells notes of the same pitch.

Question 49Listening and Aural Perception

A composer writes a passage in which the melody is played a semitone lower than the accompaniment's key, so that the two clash throughout. Which term describes the resulting relationship between the parts?

  1. Atonality
  2. Polytonality Correct answer.
  3. Pentatonicism
  4. Bitonality

Explanation

Polytonality is the simultaneous use of two or more different keys, and a melody a semitone from the accompaniment is a clear example. Bitonality specifically means only two keys at once, so it is narrower than the general term needed here, while atonality avoids a tonal centre altogether and pentatonicism concerns a five-note scale. The clash of two keys sounding together is therefore polytonality.

Question 50Listening and Aural Perception

A listener hears a passage in which the metre shifts from 5/8 to 7/8 to 3/4 in successive bars while the quaver pulse stays constant. Which term best describes this feature?

  1. Free rhythm
  2. Compound metre
  3. Irregular metre Correct answer.
  4. Simple metre

Explanation

Irregular metre changes the grouping of beats from bar to bar, as when bars of 5/8, 7/8 and 3/4 follow one another. Compound metre groups each beat into three divisions, simple metre keeps a regular two- or four-part division, and free rhythm has no steady pulse at all. Because the pulse continues but the bar lengths change, the metre is irregular.