BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Aural Skills and Sight-Singing Questions and Answers

Question 1

During a melodic dictation, you hear two notes played in succession. The first note is established as the tonic, 'Do.' The second note is a descending leap that has a distinctly sad or melancholic quality, often associated with the opening of the song 'The Entertainer.' What interval has most likely been played?

Accepted Answer

Minor Sixth

Answer

A descending Minor Sixth (from Do down to Me) has a poignant, melancholic quality. It is a wide leap that is often more dissonant-sounding than a Perfect Fifth but more stable than a Minor Seventh. A Major Sixth is generally brighter, and a Perfect Fifth sounds very stable and consonant.

Question 2

You hear a four-note chord played harmonically (all notes at once). It sounds bright and stable, but with an added color that feels slightly unresolved and 'jazzy.' You identify the root, a major third, and a perfect fifth, plus one additional note. Which chord quality best fits this description?

Accepted Answer

Major Seventh

Answer

A Major Seventh chord is built with a major triad (root, major third, perfect fifth) and a major seventh above the root. This combination creates a sound that is fundamentally bright and stable due to the major triad, but the major seventh adds a colorful, often described as 'wistful' or 'jazzy,' tension.

Question 3

A student is sight-singing a passage in E♭ major. They encounter a measure with the notes G-A♭-B♭-C. The student correctly sings the pitches for G, A♭, and B♭ but then sings D♭ instead of C. Which of the following best describes the student's error?

Accepted Answer

Assuming a common melodic pattern incorrectly

Answer

The student has likely sung 'Fa-So-La-Ti' (A♭-B♭-C-D♭) after establishing the G as 'Do' of a new pattern, or more likely, they sang 'Mi-Fa-So-La' (G-A♭-B♭-C) but then reverted to a familiar pattern like the end of a scale ('Ti-Do'). Singing D♭ instead of C suggests they anticipated a different, more common resolution or melodic shape rather than reading the specific notes provided. This is an error of assuming a pattern, not a misunderstanding of the key signature (A♭ was sung correctly) or rhythm.

Question 4

Which system of solfege assigns the syllable 'Do' to the tonic of the current key, meaning that 'Do' would be C in C major, but G in G major?

Accepted Answer

Moveable-Do

Answer

In the Moveable-Do system, the solfege syllables are assigned to scale degrees relative to the tonic of the key. 'Do' is always the tonic (scale degree 1), 'Re' is the supertonic (scale degree 2), and so on. This contrasts with Fixed-Do, where 'Do' is always the pitch C, regardless of the key.

Question 5

In a rhythmic dictation exercise in 4/4 time, you hear a pattern on beat three that sounds like 'long-short'. The 'long' portion takes up the first three-quarters of the beat, and the 'short' portion takes up the final quarter. Which notation correctly represents this rhythm?

Accepted Answer

A dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note

Answer

A beat in 4/4 time is a quarter note, which can be subdivided into four sixteenth notes. A dotted eighth note is equivalent to three sixteenth notes, and a single sixteenth note is the remaining quarter of the beat. This creates the characteristic 3:1 'long-short' rhythmic feel within a single beat.

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Aural Skills and Sight-Singing Questions and Answers