How do I recognise chords, cadences and harmonic features by ear under exam conditions?
Aural recognition of harmony, hearing major and minor chords, sevenths, cadences and modulations, and tracking harmonic rhythm and the bass line, as required by the listening questions and the harmonic dictation.
A focused answer to recognising harmony by ear for OCR A-Level Music. Covers hearing chord quality (major, minor, diminished, sevenths), identifying cadences and the bass line, tracking harmonic rhythm and modulation, and a method for the harmonic dictation, building the aural skill the listening questions and Section B require.
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What this dot point is asking
Knowing harmony on paper is not enough; OCR tests whether you can hear it: chord quality, cadences, the bass line, harmonic rhythm and modulation, in listening questions and the harmonic dictation. This dot point gives you a method for recognising harmony by ear, built on hearing the bass and using cadence and function logic, so you can label chords and describe harmonic language under exam conditions.
Hearing the bass and chord quality
Cadences, harmonic rhythm and modulation
A method for harmonic dictation
Building the skill
Aural harmony improves with regular, little-and-often practice: play cadences and name them, identify chord qualities, and take down simple progressions from the bass. Practise with the styles you study, since each has typical harmony (functional Classical cadences, blues twelve-bar, modal jazz, chromatic Romanticism), so your ear learns what to expect.
Try this
Q1. Why should you hear the bass line first when recognising harmony? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. The bass anchors the chords (revealing roots and inversions) and its motion reveals cadences, so it is the most reliable foundation for labelling harmony by ear.
Q2. How can cadence logic help you complete a harmonic dictation at a phrase end? [Short explanation]
- Cue. Phrase ends use predictable cadences, so a finished sound implies to , an unfinished sound implies a chord to , and a surprise implies to , telling you the cadence chords.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 2020 (H543/05 Section B, style)4 marksComplete the chord labels (Roman numerals) for the cadence in the printed extract, using the recording. (Section B, harmonic dictation)Show worked answer →
Up to four marks. Method: hear the bass line first (its notes anchor the chords), judge each chord's quality (major or minor) and whether it carries a seventh, and use cadence knowledge (a perfect cadence is then ; an imperfect ends on ). Then write the Roman numerals that fit the key and the bass. Markers reward correct chords that fit the key, bass and cadence, with partial credit for a correct bass or a correct cadence chord. They penalise chords outside the key or that contradict the bass. The bass line plus cadence logic is the most reliable route to the chords.
OCR 2021 (H543/05 Section A, style)3 marksIdentify the cadence and say whether the harmony is mainly diatonic or chromatic. (Section A, unfamiliar listening)Show worked answer →
Up to three marks. Name the cadence from its chords and feel (perfect, imperfect, plagal, interrupted), and judge the harmonic language: diatonic (staying within the key, consonant, with clear progressions) or chromatic (using notes outside the key, more dissonant, with richer colour). Markers reward a correct cadence plus an accurate diatonic-or-chromatic judgement with a reason (the presence or absence of accidentals and dissonance). They penalise a guessed cadence or a label with no justification. Listen for the finished or unfinished feel and the overall harmonic colour.
Related dot points
- Keys and the major/minor system, the four cadence types and their function, and modulation to related keys (dominant, subdominant, relative and tonic minor/major), as the tonal framework for analysis and the composing exercises.
A focused answer to keys, cadences and modulation for OCR A-Level Music. Covers the major and minor key system, the circle of fifths and related keys, the four cadence types (perfect, imperfect, plagal, interrupted) and their function, and modulation to the dominant, subdominant, relative and tonic minor or major, for both listening analysis and the composing technical exercises.
- Triads and seventh chords, their qualities and inversions, Roman-numeral and figured-bass labelling, and functional harmony (tonic, subdominant, dominant function and common progressions), as the harmonic vocabulary for analysis and the composing exercises.
A focused answer to chords and functional harmony for OCR A-Level Music. Covers triads and seventh chords, major, minor, diminished and augmented qualities, inversions and their figured-bass and Roman-numeral labelling, and functional harmony (tonic, predominant and dominant function, common progressions and the cycle of fifths), for analysis and the composing technical exercises.
- Harmonic devices and dissonance, the pedal point and drone, suspensions, passing and auxiliary notes, sequences, chromatic chords (secondary dominants, diminished and augmented sixths) and their resolution, as examined in analysis and used in the composing exercises.
A focused answer to harmonic devices and dissonance for OCR A-Level Music. Covers pedal points and drones, suspensions and their resolution, passing and auxiliary notes, harmonic sequences, and chromatic chords (secondary dominants, the Neapolitan and augmented sixths), explaining how dissonance creates and resolves tension, for analysis and the composing technical exercises.
- Harmonic dictation and chord recognition: hearing the bass line, chord quality and cadences, and completing missing chords or a bass on a printed extract, the harmonic aural skill of the Listening and Appraising paper.
A focused answer to harmonic dictation and chord recognition in OCR A-Level Music. Covers hearing the bass line, judging chord quality and sevenths, using cadence logic at phrase ends, and completing missing chords or a bass on a printed extract, the harmonic aural skill underlying Section B and the listening questions in H543/05.
- The dictation and score-completion tasks in Section B (completing missing melody, rhythm or harmony on a printed extract from the prescribed work), and a reliable method for hearing and notating pitch and rhythm under exam conditions.
A focused answer to the dictation and score-completion questions in OCR A-Level Music Section B. Covers what the tasks ask (completing missing notes, rhythm or chords on a printed extract from the prescribed work), and a step-by-step method for hearing intervals, contour, rhythm and harmony and notating them accurately within the set number of playings.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Music (H543) specification — OCR (2016)