Sat 1 July
Student Concert
Sat 7 July
organ recital at Boston Stump
Sun 9 July and more
Training Children's Choir for performances of Jonathan Dove's Tobias and the Angel at Oundle Festival
Thu 20 Dec
conducting St Martin's Singers Concert at Stamford
2008
Sat 26 April
conducting Vivaldi Gloria and other works at Stamford
Recent past performances
FERGUS BLACK
Werrington
PETERBOROUGH
PE4 6LW

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Listening to Music with Understanding - 1 (Vocabulary)

ABRSM Aural Tests assess students' listening skills by requiring discussion of some music which is played to the student on the piano. In my experience, students are sometimes disadvantaged by a lack of vocabulary in discussing music, and although they can be right in suggesting a provenence for music, they can rarely say why. Students often need practice in pronouncing the terms, most of which are in Italian.

Heading
Grade
Meaning
Keywords
DYNAMICS
'Dynamics' is another word for 'volume'.
dynamics, forte, piano
Is the music forte or piano?
from grade 1
RANGE
How widely is the music spaced on the keyboard
isn't mentioned - but it is a useful way of placing piano music by period (see below)
range
GRADATIONS OF TONE
Gradation of tone refers to crescendo and diminuendo.
Gradation of tone, crescendo, diminuendo, subito
Does the music get softer and louder? Where?
from grade 1
subito
from grade 1
Italian word for suddenly: e.g. subito piano = the music suddenly went quiet
ARTICULATION
Articulation, staccato, legato, tenuto, accents, sforzando
Is it staccato or legato?
from grade 1
Are there other articulations - tenuto, accents, sforzando?
from grade 3 (?)
TEMPO CHANGES
Accelerando (accel.)
Ritardando (rit.) and
Rallentando (rall.)
Does the music speed up or slow down?
from grade 2
In my view, rit means that the music pulls back (to use a driving or biking analogy, it is like applying the brakes; rall, on the other hand, suggests a more gradual slowing down, by taking one's foot off the accelerator or by stopping pedalling.
MODE
The AB calls this 'tonality')
mode, modal, major, minor
Is the music major or minor?
from grade 3
Is the music modal?
from grade 7 (?)
Dorian, Ionian, Phyrgian, Lydian, etc.
CHARACTER
from grade 4
Use adjectives to describe the emotional content of the piece.
espressivo, grave, sostenuto, delicato, amoroso, mesto, semplice, tranquillo
"Describe what visual image it conveys to you ("It makes me think of …" e.g. galopping horses, a funeral procession, a circus, etc.)
STRUCTURAL DEVICES
sequence, repitition, circle of fifths
How is the music extended after the initial idea is stated?
isn't mentioned
e.g. sequence, repitition, circle of fifths
TEXTURE
from grade 5
Melody with accompaniment, Homophonic, Contrapuntal, Imitative counterpoint
There are three basic types:
Melody with accompaniment
A tune (in the foreground) is accompanied by more static harmony (in the background). The static harmony may be broken chords.
Homophonic (the AB calls this 'block chords')
Like a hymn - all the parts in the music have the same rhythm at the same time.
Contrapuntal
"The two parts are rhythmically independent of each other. (Imitative counterpoint is a special class of 'contrapuntal', where the two parts imitate each other. Most contrapuntal music is imitative."
I haven't included unison and canon here
FORM
from grade 5
Form, Binary, Ternary, Variations, Ground Bass, 12-bar blues, fugue, song, Sonata form, rondo
There are two main types
Binary : A-B
Ternary : A-B-A
FORM
from grade 7
At a later stage others may crop up
Variations
Ground Bass - Repeating bass line, usually baroque period
12-bar blues - A special case of a ground bass
Fugue - Fugue is a special form (some people would call it a texture) in which three or more independent parts each have a tune (or 'subject') in turn. It's a bit like a round (canon) except that the parts do not all have the tune at the same pitch.
Strophic - "repeated cantabile melody, possibly with variations (like a song with verses)"
(Sonata form movements are unlikely given the length of time they require to be played; similarly with rondo)
March, Waltz, Ragtime, Blues, Swing
RHYTHMIC FORMS
from grade 5
Some pieces have identifiable rhythms:
March
Waltz - The waltz has a distinctive Oom-pah-pah bass line
Ragtime
Blues
Swing
"A number of less obvious rhythmic types are found in Baroque Suites, e.g."
from grade 7
Minuet, Gavotte, Gigue, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande
Minuet - Not to be confused with the waltz - sounds more courtly and elegant.
Gavotte
Gigue
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
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See also Listening to Music with Understanding - 2 (Period)