Aural Dictation
For GCSE and A level, you will be asked to notate from a recorded example.
The exercises in this section will give you practice at this. It is important to try to memorise the music you have just heard and repeat it in your head and possibly sing it quietly to yourself. This will effectively give you extra playings of the question.
You should aim to listen to each extract 4 – 5 times. On the individual tracks, each one is repeated.
Jot down the correct duration and pitch of each note remembering about rests and notes which need to be tied. Think about the notes’ position in each bar.
Look at the time signature to make sure you have not under or over filled the bar.
It might be helpful at first to play a major scale and sing it back so you can internalise the sounds.
Test yourself on particular intervals. Singing them from a starting note and then checking them on your instrument.
In a listening exam, it is likely that there will be other instruments accompanying the main melody which could put you off so the more practice you get at this the better.
Extension – listening to your favourite track and playing by ear will also help you to further develop this skill. You could try notating well know tunes then asking a friend to play them back to you from your score.
The exercises in this section will give you practice at this. It is important to try to memorise the music you have just heard and repeat it in your head and possibly sing it quietly to yourself. This will effectively give you extra playings of the question.
You should aim to listen to each extract 4 – 5 times. On the individual tracks, each one is repeated.
Jot down the correct duration and pitch of each note remembering about rests and notes which need to be tied. Think about the notes’ position in each bar.
Look at the time signature to make sure you have not under or over filled the bar.
It might be helpful at first to play a major scale and sing it back so you can internalise the sounds.
Test yourself on particular intervals. Singing them from a starting note and then checking them on your instrument.
In a listening exam, it is likely that there will be other instruments accompanying the main melody which could put you off so the more practice you get at this the better.
Extension – listening to your favourite track and playing by ear will also help you to further develop this skill. You could try notating well know tunes then asking a friend to play them back to you from your score.
| Aural Dictation Questions 1-3 |
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| Aural Dictation Questions 4-6 |
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