Music 1 Aural help (1 Viewer)

[sodiumziha]

When talking about tonality: sure you can differentiate minor & major, but what about minor & atonal, or atonal/minor & modal? We only ever read about lydian, aeolian, myridian (idek) in the textbooks, but trying to pick them out seems impossible when listening to exerpts. Also, wtf are the sample answers given for past papers? They have rhythmic, melodic notations (with note intervals, cadence types) that I just never think of. I swear you need perfect pitch to discern the key signature like that. Am I just retarded at music? Which is going to be rlly sad since I'm first in my class (out of 3 people haha).

Also, for pieces that are really artistic and have no conventional structure, melodic lines, rhythm, sporadic playing (that helicopter symphony in one of the previos papers tffff), how do you go about tackling those?

 

[bjw22]

As far as I'm concerned, stating that a piece is modal is enough - identifying each particular mode is a bit tricky. If you are able to, practice basic intervals and cadences - e.g perfect 5th, perfect cadance, 7th notes, perfect fourths. Such intervals are relatively easy to identify with a bit of practice - like rhythm dictation - use when an ostinato/motif is present.
Use the website https://www.teoria.com/ (really good exercises on intervals, keys, scales and rhythm dictation all for free.
Remember them by thinking of songs:
5th interval: Last Post
4th interval: amazing grace (I think...)

For obscure pieces, just remember the basics - number each section and discuss identifying features, aerophone/chordophone etc dominant, contours, dynamics, any motifs or ostinatos should be identified. Identifying as a modernist style can also help. Focus on tone colour and how each instrument is played. Always ensure you have a good knowledge of terms - tone colour words, expressive techniques, etc. So yeah, in conclusion go back to basics and literally write what you hear, don't go too fancy.

 

[Danneo]

I got 100% for my aural and all i did was use a bunch of random templates lol
For example (I found these off Youtube)
The accented syncopated (Insert instrument) plays the harmonic/melodic accompaniment, outlining the chordal progression and major/minor/aug/dim tonality.
The (Eg Bass) is often heard playing the root note whilst unifying rhythm with the drums on beats 1 & 3
This is typical of a (Genre) ensemble
The (Eg Bass) sounds scooped (Where instead of EQ, everything is turned to 0) which allows the mid and high frequency to... (idk think of a reason lol)

Expand your metalanguage and you'll never run out of things to write about. There many areas to write about and sometimes being vague isnt so bad, but make sure to balance it out with detailed statements. A lot of these words, i picked up from learning piano so just create as many templates as you can. Share some with me if you do aha
GL