Aural Skills and Sight-Singing 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 Sight-Singing flashcards as text
A student is asked to sight-sing a melody using scale degree numbers. The melody begins on scale degree 5 and moves stepwise down to scale degree 1. In C major, what pitches would be sung?
Answer: G–F–E–D–C
In C major, scale degree 5 is G, and stepwise descent through 4–3–2–1 gives G–F–E–D–C.
A student hears a four-voice chorale and must identify the bass motion between two chords. The bass moves from C up to G. What type of bass motion is this?
Answer: Ascending fifth
Moving from C up to G is an ascending perfect fifth, which is also equivalent to a descending fourth in the opposite direction.
In compound meter, the beat is divided into three equal parts. If a student hears a dotted half note as one beat, what is the meter?
Answer: 6/4
In 6/4 meter, the dotted half note serves as the beat unit, with each beat dividing into three quarter notes.
A student must identify a secondary dominant chord by ear. They hear a major chord that doesn't belong to the key and resolves up a fourth (or down a fifth). This chord functions as what?
Answer: A secondary dominant (V/x)
A secondary dominant is a major or dominant seventh chord that temporarily tonicizes a scale degree other than tonic by resolving up a fourth or down a fifth.
When dictating a four-bar melody, a student hears the tonic pitch establish at the beginning. Which strategy is most effective for retaining the melody before notating?
Answer: Identify the contour, cadence, and key motives first, then notate
Experienced musicians first identify the overall shape, cadence points, and recurring motives before notating, improving accuracy and retention.
A student is sight-singing and encounters a tie across the barline. How should this be performed?
Answer: Sustain the note through the barline without re-attacking
A tie connects two notes of the same pitch, requiring the performer to sustain the sound through the barline without re-attacking.
In two-part sight-singing, a student and partner hold their respective lines while maintaining harmonic awareness. At a cadence point, they land on a major third apart. Which two scale degrees are they most likely singing?
Answer: 3 and 5
Scale degrees 3 and 5 form a major or minor third (depending on key) and are a common two-voice cadential arrival over the tonic.