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 hears a major scale but notices that the seventh scale degree is lowered by a half step. Which scale has been heard?
Answer: Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian mode is identical to a major scale except that the seventh scale degree is lowered by a half step (♭7).
During harmonic dictation, a student identifies the progression I–IV–V–I in a major key. If the key is G major, which chords did the student hear?
Answer: G–C–D–G
In G major, the I chord is G, IV is C, and V is D, making the progression G–C–D–G.
A student is asked to identify an interval by singing it mentally before playing. They mentally sing up a major second and then up a minor third from a given pitch. What compound interval have they outlined?
Answer: Perfect fourth
A major second (2 half steps) plus a minor third (3 half steps) equals a perfect fourth (5 half steps).
When sight-singing a syncopated rhythm, a student struggles to maintain the pulse. Which practice technique is most recommended?
Answer: Tap or conduct the beat while singing the syncopated rhythm
Tapping or conducting a steady beat while singing syncopated rhythms is the standard technique for maintaining the pulse against off-beat patterns.
In an ear-training exam, a student hears an ascending leap followed by a stepwise descent in a minor key. The leap spans from scale degree 1 up to scale degree 6. In A minor, what pitches are heard?
Answer: A up to F
In A natural minor, scale degree 6 is F natural, so the leap from A (scale degree 1) up to scale degree 6 is A to F.
A student is sight-singing and encounters the dynamic marking 'mp' at the start of a phrase, changing to 'f' at the climax. In terms of aural skills training, what does proper dynamic shaping demonstrate?
Answer: Integration of expressive nuance with pitch and rhythm accuracy
In aural skills, proper dynamic shaping demonstrates the integration of expressive performance with accurate pitch and rhythm reading.
A student hears a chord spelled (from bottom to top) E–G–B–D in C major. Which Roman numeral analysis correctly identifies this chord?
Answer: iii7
E–G–B–D is built on the third scale degree of C major, forming a minor seventh chord: iii7.