Aural Skills and Dictation Flashcards
7 cards from real BM or BMus Bachelor of Music practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Aural Skills and Dictation flashcards as text
During melodic dictation, you hear a melody that consistently uses the interval of a minor second above the leading tone resolving to tonic. This reinforces which tonal function?
Answer: Dominant to tonic
The leading tone (scale degree 7) lies a minor second below tonic and creates dominant-to-tonic (V–I) pull when it resolves upward.
Which rhythmic device groups three notes in the space normally occupied by two of the same value?
Answer: Triplet
A triplet places three equal notes in the time of two, indicated by the numeral 3 above or below the beam.
In harmonic dictation, you identify a chord as ii°6 in minor. Which bass note do you notate?
Answer: The third of the ii° chord (first inversion)
The '6' in figured bass denotes first inversion, meaning the third of the chord is in the bass.
A cadence that ends on the dominant chord, creating a sense of incompleteness, is called:
Answer: Half cadence
A half cadence ends on V, leaving the phrase harmonically open and requiring continuation.
When sight-singing a passage in E-flat major, scale degree 6 is:
Answer: C
In E-flat major (Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C-Db-Eb), the 6th scale degree is C.
In dictation, you hear a chord built in thirds: root–M3–P5–M7. This is a:
Answer: Major seventh chord
A major seventh chord (maj7) has a major triad plus a major seventh above the root (root–M3–P5–M7).
Compound meter is best identified by the fact that each beat:
Answer: Contains three subdivisions
In compound meter (6/8, 9/8, 12/8) each beat divides naturally into three equal parts, unlike simple meter which divides into two.