| Developing aural and listening skill | |
Introduction Good aural training will cultivate a disciplined and musical ear, and helping to develop the ability both to listen and to hear perceptively. Students will be able to play more musically, comment perceptively on performances, play or sing in tune, memorize music and sight read more fluently. That's why it is so important when teaching any instrument or music knowledge. For ABRSM examination, aural consist of conjuring up memories of clapping back seemingly endless phrases, singing back awkward tune and describing a short passage as modulation. It is concerned with pitch, rhythm or nomenclature like naming intervals and cadences etc. We will discuss the broader issues of aural work in the following words which including aural training, listening training, also some of the examination area. The musical ear The musical ear and inner ear are deal with thinking, feeling and responding to sounds in our brain and mind. It is essential for developing musicianship. The simplest way to access musical ear is to ask student to sing a tune silently in their head. Here is the example for the assessment of musical ear: ( Example 1 ) Firstly, play a note on the piano and let the student listen carefully. Then ask the student to continue hearing the note internally for about 30 seconds. Then call the student to sing the note from pianissimo and gradually crescendo to a forte. Finally the note is played again and the sequence will repeat several times. The assessment can help the student to discover the pathway from the inner ear to physical expression of musical sound. Aural training should be a continuous and persist for instrumental training. It can heighten the aural perception of student through the constant asking of questions and regular playing of aural games. For Example 2 , we can play lyrical phrase which varying in accent, dynamics, character, shaping etc., then we ask the student about these factors, then the student to think critically, then discuss with the student which one is preferred and why it is preferred. Also ask the student to think any other ways for playing the phrase. Such training can let the student to think about the music musically themselves, also to let them listen and copy the preferred way for phrasing, it can make their own informed and musical decision. It is better than ask telling the student how to shape the phrase which they may not able to do so. For Example 3 , we can ask the student to name the interval formed by 2 notes after we play it, we can play the 5 th interval first. Then ask the student to sing the 5 th interval on different notes. Finally, ask the student to play and sing the interval in a succession of different keys. The above example can lead the student to listen interval carefully with musical ear in tone for different keys. It is a nice training for listening and playing interval simultaneously. Voice using Singing is an essential activity for all musicians. The act of singing will enhance the perception of pitch, phrasing and intonation. Also, it can help to develop the inner ear and improve sight reading. So it is good to encourage students to sing in a choir at school if it is possible. Once the student is able to sing reasonably confidently and use the voice often in the lesson, we can ask them to sing phrases in their head and then out loud. Furthermore, ask the student to sing scales and arpeggios and try to hear the next note before they sing it. Finally, ask them to sing through the whole piece and try to memorize it. It is challenging and can build up the confidence of the student. Also, it can improve the student's musicianship and ability to master grade exam aural tests.
Playing and singing in tone Intonation is essential for all musicians and student need to hear interval accurately in order to progress to an advanced standard. Intonation practice should be undertaken regularly and continually draw the students' attention to poor intonation. So, how to develop reliable intonation? At least there is a well-tuned piano and electronic tuning device. Then, we can concentrate on a single interval, try to sing and play the interval after hearing it. When playing scales, student should learn to hear and sing each note before it is played. Also play or sing the scales and passages from pieces, then ask the students to comment on their intonation. Here is an example to access the intonation: ( Example 4 ) I sing a note randomly, and then ask the student to find the notes on the piano and play the notes, then sing again. We can repeat the above procedure several times until it become reliable. Finally, we can gradually move to a new note which a semitone or tone up or down from the original. The assessment should be play with praise, patience, cajoling, there will be improvement afterwards. Memory with aural Memory skill is important for musician, even in ABRSM exam; the short term memory skill is often tested. It is essential to have a methodical and progressive memory practice in order to practice the aural skill. From the research, memory has divided into 3 layers, the first layer is pre short term memory which is lasts for less than a second, it long enough for perception and understanding to take place. The second layer is short term memory with scene, when the phrase is related to a picture or screen for less than a second, understanding would probably take place because both images and stored and known in the long term memory. The third layer is long term memory which is fully processed and comprehended if the information can be related to known concepts or knowledge in the long term memory. As soon as new input is understood, the information will go into long term memory and shore a period of time. For the improvement of the aural skill, it is necessary to understand certain degree of complex workings of the memory. Major and minor dilemma (major=happy, minor =sad) is a very basic task for the beginning process of aural training. We should let the student to recognize major & minor by listening more music and build up a memory of perception of major & minor. So, the more opportunity of listening music, more efficient to determining those perceptions is, and developing the auditory memory. While the auditory memory is built up, we can develop other factors additionally like teaching intervals making up the two different triads, then providing information to be stored in intellectual memory with more internal connection. Long term memory is built up by greater understanding and recalling. Try to access the memory skill? There are some recommendations: Firstly, we can let the student to establish a steady and reliable pulse, and then tap the particular rhythm in a short and simple phrase, gradually increasing the length and complexity. Repeat the phrases as many times as necessary to allow the student to get them right. After the assessment, we can discuss the rhythm and suggest the student to writes them down. The link between haring a pattern and knowing its notation will strengthen the connection with sight reading because aural skill is dependent on knowing as well as simply responding. Singing back a melody How to sing back a melody, there is systematic method to practice such ability. First, begin with very simple melodic shapes such as scale patterns. Then add the length and complexity gradually and let the student feel comfortable and confident when sing. It is necessary to praise whenever possible. The student can respond immediately or hear the phrase in their head first before singing. We can suggest the student to play back melodies on the piano and then repeat the shape in other keys. Also, the student should identify the names of particular interval from time to time. It is essential to practice several times until the student can sing the melodies accurately with each interval heard and understand. Regular training of the above method can gain a long term benefit in the aural and listening skill. How to identify interval, cadences, chords, and major/minor? The most important factor is auditory and intellectual memory. It is essential to practice this skill repeatedly over an appropriate length of time in order to reinforce the internal auditory memory. This will accelerate the process of recognition and recall, Such as the perfect cadence identification. We can discuss the theoretic aspects of intervals and cadences and ensure that the students are aware of them as they appear in pieces being learned. We should allow the student to perceive them as part of their daily musical thinking. Perceptive listening To improve perceptive listening, we can suggest our student to listen to music intelligently and often. Also, we should encourage students to visit classical music concert (like piano solo recital etc). We can guide them, to listen the music and analyze the performance by words or even write a report to discuss. It is a good chance to learn the theoretic knowledge by real example. Like technical terms, style and period etc. Positive achievement by real example The example descriptions are on the above which is highlighted From the practical use of the above theory and training, my student had achieved the advantage of different aural and listening skill. In example 1, through the practice, my student had improved the musical ear, intonation, and inner ear. In example 2, my student had improved the listening skill through listening the phrase in different way. Like feeling of the phrase, technical terms (piano, forte), also she learned which phrase is better and why. It can improve the critical thinking of the student with musical knowledge. In example 3, my student had learnt the interval (fifths), and tried to sing it out and find in the piano. Also, she can play it in different keys with the same fifths. The above practice can train the aural perception of the student. In example 4, my student had improved the perception on notes and listen the tone with singing. It is a good practice for sight singing which is for instant response and the accurate of note sing and playing. It also improved the sight reading in further. Conclusion Aural and listening skill is a very important and essential factor for being a musician. From the above words, it shows that this skill can be trained in a systematic method and the training should be held in regular time. Since it can not be improved in a short period of time, teacher and student should be persisting to continue the aural training from the beginning teaching. I hope my student can get succeed in my aural training.
Appendix Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 which including the practical example on my teaching Reference 1. Music Education Center http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Marble/9607 2. Fundamentals of Piano Practice, 2nd Edition http://members.aol.com/chang8825/sreading.htm 3. Yoke Wong's homepage 4. Martha Beth Lewis's homepage 5. Vocalist Organization http://www.vocalist.org.uk/sight_reading.html 6. The music Teacher's Companion Paul Harris and Richard Crozier by ABRSM all right reserved by Quincy Chan 2006 |
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