Abrsm Aural

kassiermusic Aural Crib Sheet ©2008 Leith Kassier Page 1 of 8

Musical Knowledge for ABRSM Aural,GCSE and A levels

Each grade requires knowledge of all grades previous to it.

Grade 1

Dynamics refers to contrasts in quantity of tone

Italian term Abbreviation English translationpiano p soft

mezzo piano mp moderately soft (literally half soft)

pianissimo pp very soft

forte f loud

mezzo forte mf moderately loud

fortissimo ff very loud

Changes in quantity of tone are referred to as graduation of tone. These changescan either besudden or gradual

Italian term Abbreviation English translationcrescendo cresc. gradually getting louder

decrescendo decresc. gradually getting softer

diminuendo dim. gradually getting softer

Articulation refers to how the notes are performed

Italian term Abbreviation English translationlegato leg. smoothly joined

staccato stacc. detached, not joined

Grade 2

Recognition of Tempo Changes

Italian term Abbreviation English translationtempo the speed of the music

rallentando rall. gradually getting slower

ritenuto rit. gradually getting slower (literally “held back”)

accelerando accel. gradually getting faster


Grade 3

Recognition of major or minor tonalities (from knowledge of scales, arpeggios,keys.

Grade 4

General Perception of the Character of the piece playedeg: march-like, song-like, dance-like or happy, sad, serious, solemn, thoughtfuletc.

Grade 5

Terms used in previous grades such as dynamics, articulation, tempo changes,major/minor tonality and character of the piece should be understood PLUS:

General Perception of Texture, Rhythm, Form, Style and Period

Texture

“lighter” textures are: one melody on its own (monody); two melodiesplayed together(two-part writing) or a melody together with a very simpleaccompaniment (eg: two note chords; alberti bass type broken chords etc) .Higher registers can also sound “light” in texture.

“thicker” textures could be: three parts or more played simultaneously or inimitation of each other (contrapuntal or fugal or polyphonic textures) OR amelody accompanied by three or four part chords OR more pianistic,romantic type of accompaniments with arpeggios etc over a bigger range ofthe piano. Thicker textures also include those when the melody andaccompaniment change registers eg: the melody in the bass or middle partswith accompaniment above that OR melodies in the treble and bass partswith accompaniment figures in the middle parts etc. Lower registers andmusic across a wide range of registers also tend to thicken the effect of thetexture.

Rhythm

• recognition of duple and triple and quadruple simple and compound timesignatures.

• recognition of syncopation accents off the main beat (as in “jazzy”rhythms).

• recognition of dotted rhythms (especially when repeated).


Style and Character

march-like 2 or 4 beats, possible dotted rhythmssong-like sounds like a song and accompaniment (eg: a lullaby)dance-like regular rhythm and phrasing especially if in 3 beats to a bar

Sarabande slow triple time with emphasis on the 2nd beatMinuet moderate or fairly fast triple time - elegant, court danceWaltz quick triple time

four beatsGavotte elegant court dance with phrasing from the middle of

the bar e.g: 3 4 1 2 etcOthers

Scottish dance (dotted rhythms especially “scotch” snaps)Polonaise polish dance with characteristic dotted rhythm or triplet

rhythm on the first beat of the barGig fast and in compound rhythms like 6/8 or 12/8Jazzy, Blues, Rag or Latin American type dancesPlayful (fast, light, staccato or teasing pauses etc)Imaginative ( sounds as if its telling a story or creating anatmosphere - some idea extra to the music)Dramatic (sounds as if its describing action on a stage - acting, operaor ballet)

Form

Does any of the musical material get repeated?Is the repeat EXACT? eg: the melody repeated without any changeIs the repeat VARIED? How is it varied? sometimes there are extranotes(figuration)or extra ornaments such as trills, mordents, grace notes)Is there NEW material? eg: a new and contrasting melody to the first one

A B A is the first melody and B the new contrasting melodyA B A B Something contrasting and something repeatedA A B Something repeated and something new and contrastingA B A A common form called Ternary Form.

B is contrasting and the final A may be repeated exactly orvaried or shortened)

Periods

Early Period like Bach and Handel and Vivaldi (Baroque)Classical Period like Mozart and Haydn and early BeethovenRomantic Period like later Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Grieg,

Chopin,Brahms, Mendelssohn or Burgmuller

Modern Period like Bartok or Christopher Norton or Kabalevsky


Grade 6

General Perception of Texture, Form, Style and Period in more detail as listed underGrade 5 including use of Italian terms where appropriate PLUS

Recognition of Phrase Structureregular 2 or 4 or bar phrasing grouped into bigger open and closed phrases( as in dance music of the Baroque or music of the Classical period)

longer 8 bar or 16 bar arch-shaped phrases (as in Romantic music)orextended phrases

irregular phrases (eg the typical Baroque “head motif” plus continuationmelody)

Recognition of CadencesA cadence is a standard progression from one chord to another at the endof a phrase.

Perfect Dominant Chord followed by the Tonic Chord (down a fifth orup a fourth in the bass)

Imperfect Any chord followed by the Dominant therefore soundsunfinished

Grade 7

Interrupted cadence - Dominant chord followed by Submediant chord (up a stepin the bass)

Grade 8

Baroque Classical Romantic ModernApprox. Dates 1600 – 1750 1732 – 1820 1820 – 1910 1910 - 2004

Prominantcomposer

J S Bach Mozart Schumann Bartok

Othercomposers

Handel, Vivaldi,Scarlatti, PurcellCorelli, Telemann

Bach’s sons,Haydn,BeethovenClementi

Schubert,ChopinMendelssohn,Grieg, Brahms,Liszt,

Debussy,ProkoviefShostokovichGershwin


Baroque Classical Romantic ModernHARMONICLANGUAGE

Developmenttowards Major andMinor Tonality(centred on Tonic)

Major key purest(minor pieces caneven end with amajor chord)

Exception:JS Bach can be verychromatic.

MAJOR/MINORTONALITYChords notusuallyadventurousTriads in rootpos. or 1st Inv. 2nd

Inv usedsparingly.Dom 7th & Dim 7th

MODULATIONSto closely relatedKeys (Dom, Sub-Dom and RelativeMinor or Major)

Basic ClassicalTonality but moreadventurous use of- 7th chords- chromatic chords

Modulation to moredistant keys

Extremechromaticism in laterRomantic period(Scriabin)

Chords usedoutside Tonalrelationships(Debussy)

Chromaticismleads to ATONALmusic and 12tone & Serialmusic(Schoenberg)

Neo-Classic wasReturn to Tonality“spiced” up withDissonance(Prokovief,Shostokovich)

Other Scales usedEg: pentatonicBitonality

DISSONANCETEXTURE(includingaccompaniments)

Complex withmany parts(POLYPHONIC)

IMITATION andFUGAL writingbetween partscommon

“Thin” or “Light”texture might beone or two parts

“Thicker” or“complex” texturesmight be 3, 4, ormore parts

Dances such as theSarabande can bemore CHORDAL orHOMOPHONIC(melody +accomp)

“Light” textureswith “clarity” ofparts arecommon

HOMOPHONIC(melody plus asimple chordal orbroken chordaccompaniment)

“light” texturesmight be accompconsisting of 2note chords oran“alberti bass”(broken chordpatterns)

middle register ofpiano used most

Thicker morecomplex texturesmostly homophonic(melody plusaccompaniment)but composers usepolyphonic elementsto thicken thetexture(melody sometimesin the middle part orbass part as well asin treble parts)

Broken chords andarpeggios used overa bigger range tocreate a biggersound

Typical thickertexture would be themelody in treble part, a more melodicbass part and 4 partchords in the middleparts (split betweenthe two hands inpiano music)

VARIED

Chromatic piecestend to be“thicker” texturedand Neo-Classicpieces “lighter”textured


Baroque Classical Romantic ModernMELODY Typical fugue subject

has a distinctive “headmotive” which is easy toimitate, followed by a“continuation” which isnot so distinctive andcan be varied easily anda “cadential” ending.This makes phrases ofirregular lengths.

Dance pieces such asthe Gavotte and Minuetare melodically moreregular eg: 4 barphrases

Baroque melodies areoften ORNAMENTEDwith trills, mordents,turns etc.

Regular 2 or 4bar phrases thatformregular 8 or 16bar “sentences”with “open” and“closed”phrases.

Phrases are oftencontrasting witheach other.

Short phrasesand “motives”lendthemselves todevelopment

Long, archingmelodies of 8bars or 16 barsare common –tend to becomplete inthemselves anddo not lead to“development”so the composerwill introduce acompletelydifferent melodyas a contrast(eg: an A B Aform if the firstmelody isrepeated afterthe second one)

VARIED

Folk songs are acommon featureof nationalisticstyles

Sometimes the“melody” isalmost non-existant and therhythm orchordsdominant.

RHYTHM "moto perpetuo”rhythms (strict,metronomic rhythms)

Sarabande – a dance inslow triple time withemphasis on 2nd beat

Minuet – a moderatelyfast triple time – anelegant court dance

Gavotte – another courtdance this time in 4beats with phrasingfrom the 3rd beat thus:3 4 1 2

Regular rhythmsbut syncopationcan be used forvariety

Beethoven lovedto includeaccents on theoff beats tooffset theregular rhythms

Minuet – elegantAllegretto intriple timeBeethovenspeeded up theMinuet andcalled it theScherzo (moreplayful)

Regular rhythmsare made morecomplex with- 2 against 3- syncopations- cross

rhythms

Tempo Rubatovery common togive expressionand emotionalcontent

Rhythms can bevery complex

eg: irregular3 + 3 + 2in a bar

or 5 in a bar7 in a bar

influenced byslavonic music,jazz styles etc.


Baroque Classical Romantic ModernFORM

Depends on- repetition- variedrepetition- introductionof contrastingthemes- return ofpreviouslyheardmaterial

BINARYA: BNot a lot of contrast – explores onemain ideaA starts in the tonic key andmodulates to a closely related keyB starts from the closely relatedkey to return to the tonic key atthe end

TERNARYA;B:A form in late Baroque (B iscontrasting)

FUGUEAll parts enter in turn with thesame melody then there is acadenceMiddle part – explores the materialpresentedFinal part -reintroduces the originalsubject- sophistications such asoverlapping entries, augmentation(doubling) of the theme ordiminution of the theme (smallernote values) may occur.

Pedal point may occur before thefinal cadence

VARIATION form is very common- most variations are figural (basedon breaking the melody down intosmaller and smaller note values)- occasionally a variation in achange of key and tempo will givea character variation- sometimes the variations are evenbased on the chord progression orbass line (eg:chaconne orpassacaglia)

SONATA-FORM

Developed fromBinary Form (similarkey scheme) butextended.Contrasting themesan important aspectas is thedevelopment ofmotives especially inthe middle sectionafter the double bar.Third section is acomplete repeat ofthe First but remainsin the Tonic key tothe end.

Not likely to comeinto the Gr 8 Auralbecause of thelength of the Form

TERNARY formMinuet and Trio

TERNARY

A B A suitsthe smallerRomanticpieces thebest

Ternarylikely


Baroque Classical Romantic ModernSTYLE

Song-like

March-like

Dance-like(use timesignature to bemore specific)

Imaginative

Possible

2 or 4 beats withdotted rhythms

Sarabande,Gavotte,MinuetOther court dances

Possible

Possible

Minuet commonAustrian dance theLandler is the fore-runner of the Waltz

Possible

Possible

Faster Waltz ismost likely for adance in triple time

Pieces based on animaginative idea orsetting a mood arevery common(pieces even havetitles containingthe extra – musicalidea)

Possible

Possible

Waltz (spicedwithdissonance)

Jazz styles- blues- rag- swing- rock

LatinAmericandances such astheRumba,Samba etc

Other words used to describe music from any Period are: Dramatic, Happy,Playful, Sad, Serious, etc

Composition devices common to any Period:

Pedal Point – a Bass Note repeated or held for several bars

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