Listening and Aural Analysis
What the exam tests
Aural analysis questions ask you to identify intervals, chords, scales, modes, rhythmic patterns, textures, and formal structures by ear (or by reasoning from a described excerpt). Since no audio is supplied in a written exam, questions usually describe the sound in words: "a chord with a minor third and a diminished fifth above the root."
Concepts to master
- Interval recognition: use reference tunes (e.g., a perfect fourth = "Here Comes the Bride"; a major sixth = "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean").
- Chord quality: major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant seventh, major seventh, minor seventh, half-diminished.
- Scale and mode identification: major, natural/harmonic/melodic minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian.
- Texture: monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic (imitative vs. non-imitative), heterophonic.
- Form: binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, theme and variations, strophic, through-composed.
Traps
A common trap is confusing harmonic minor (raised seventh) with melodic minor (raised sixth and seventh ascending, natural descending). Another is calling any imitative texture a fugue; a fugue requires a specific subject-answer structure. Also watch for heterophony being mislabeled as polyphony.
Worked example
A question describes a chord with root C, E-flat, G-flat, and B-double-flat. Rule: stack thirds and check quality. C to E-flat is a minor third; E-flat to G-flat is a minor third; G-flat to B-double-flat is a minor third. Three stacked minor thirds = fully diminished seventh chord.
Rule of thumb
When identifying a chord by ear or description, stack thirds from the root and name each interval; the pattern of thirds reveals the quality.