What aural skills does the AS listening test demand, and how do you hear and notate music accurately?
The AS test of aural perception: identifying intervals, chords, cadences, keys, metre and rhythm by ear, melodic and rhythmic dictation, recognising instruments, textures and devices, and spotting errors against a printed score, as examined in the AS Unit 3 aural paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the AS test of aural perception: recognising intervals, chords, cadences, keys and metre by ear, taking melodic and rhythmic dictation, identifying instruments, textures and devices, and detecting errors against a printed score, with the listening strategies the AS Unit 3 aural paper rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
The AS Unit 3 paper includes a test of aural perception: you hear extracts and answer questions about what you hear. CCEA wants you to identify intervals, chords, cadences, keys, metre and rhythm by ear, to take melodic and rhythmic dictation, to recognise instruments, textures and musical devices, and to spot errors against a printed score. This dot point sets out those skills and the listening strategies that make them reliable.
The answer
Pitch: intervals, keys and chords
A useful aid is to link intervals to well-known tunes (for example a rising fourth or a rising fifth each has a familiar opening tune), and to feel whether a passage sounds major (bright) or minor (darker).
Cadences
Rhythm and metre
You should identify the metre (the number and grouping of beats: duple, triple or quadruple; simple or compound) and notate rhythms accurately. The skill is to feel the pulse first, decide how beats group into bars, and then place the note values within that framework. Devices such as syncopation, dotted rhythms and triplets are common and should be recognised.
Dictation
Texture, instruments and devices
You should recognise the main textures (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, imitative), identify instruments and voices by their timbre, and spot common devices such as imitation, sequence, pedal, ostinato, drone and pause. These are exactly the features the Areas of Study train you to describe, now heard in unfamiliar extracts.
Error spotting
A characteristic aural task gives you a printed score and plays a performance that differs from it. You follow the score and identify where the performance departs (a wrong note, a changed rhythm, an added or omitted note, a different dynamic). This tests close, accurate following of notation against sound.
Worked example: an error-spotting task
Examples in context
Example 1. Hearing a cadence. A phrase ends with a strong, conclusive close on the tonic: a perfect cadence (V to I). A second phrase ends with a gentler "Amen" close, also on the tonic: a plagal cadence (IV to I). The ear distinguishes them by the strength and character of the arrival, not by the key alone.
Example 2. Rhythmic dictation. A four-bar rhythm in compound time is played. The candidate first feels the lilting pulse and counts the beats per bar, recognises a dotted figure and a triplet, and writes the rhythm within the metre before checking it back, rather than guessing note values one at a time.
Try this
Q1. Name the four cadences and the chords that define each. [4 marks]
- Cue. Perfect (V to I), imperfect (ends on V), plagal (IV to I), interrupted (V to vi).
Q2. In what order should you tackle melodic dictation? [2 marks]
- Cue. Pulse and metre first, then rhythm, then pitch against the key, then check.
Q3. What does an error-spotting task require you to do? [2 marks]
- Cue. Follow a printed score against a performance and identify where (bar and beat) and how the performance differs from the notation.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA AS 3 aural6 marksAn extract is played several times. Identify the cadence at the end of the phrase and explain how you can hear which cadence it is.Show worked answer →
Cadences are recognised by the two chords that end a phrase and by the sense of arrival or non-arrival they create.
A perfect cadence (V to I) sounds finished and conclusive, like a full stop, ending on the tonic. An imperfect cadence (something to V, often I to V) sounds unfinished, like a comma, because it ends on the dominant and leaves the ear wanting more. A plagal cadence (IV to I) also sounds finished but gentler, the "Amen" sound heard at the end of hymns. An interrupted cadence (V to vi) sets up the expectation of a perfect cadence but surprises the ear by landing on a minor chord instead of the tonic.
To hear which it is, listen for whether the phrase sounds complete (perfect or plagal) or incomplete (imperfect), and whether a surprise occurs (interrupted). Then refine: an "Amen" gentleness suggests plagal; a strong conclusive close suggests perfect.
Markers reward the correct cadence, the chord pair that defines it, and the description of the finished or unfinished sound used to identify it by ear.
CCEA AS 3 aural8 marksA short melody is played several times. Describe a reliable method for notating it accurately as melodic dictation.Show worked answer →
Melodic dictation is a systematic process, not guesswork.
First, on early playings, establish the framework: feel the pulse and the metre (count the beats per bar), note the key and the starting note (often given), and get the overall shape of the melody (where it rises, falls and leaps). Sketch the rhythm first, because rhythm is often easier to capture than exact pitch, using the metre to place the notes in the bar.
Then, on later playings, fill in the pitches relative to the key and the starting note, using your knowledge of intervals (a leap of a fifth, a step up, a return to the tonic). Check the melody against the key signature and listen for the final note, which usually settles on the tonic or another stable degree.
Finally, sing or hear the melody back in your head against what you have written and correct any bar that does not match. Working rhythm then pitch, and checking against the key, gives the most reliable result.
Markers reward a clear method (pulse and metre, then rhythm, then pitch against the key), correct use of the starting note and intervals, and a final checking stage.
Related dot points
- Area of Study: Music for Orchestra 1700-1900. The development of the orchestra and orchestral genres across the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, including the concerto grosso, the symphony, sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the stylistic features that identify each period in a listening and score-based exam.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the Area of Study Music for Orchestra 1700 to 1900: how the orchestra and its genres developed across the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, the concerto grosso, the Classical symphony and sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the stylistic features used to identify period and date music by ear and from a score.
- Area of Study: Sacred Vocal Music (Anthems). The English anthem and related sacred choral music, the distinction between verse and full anthems, word setting, the use of choir, soloists and accompaniment, and the textures, harmony and text expression examined in the listening and written paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the Area of Study Sacred Vocal Music (Anthems): what an anthem is, the difference between verse and full anthems, word setting and text expression, choral textures from homophony to polyphony, the role of soloists, choir and organ, and how to describe and identify sacred choral music in the exam.
- Area of Study: Secular Vocal Music (Musicals). Music for the stage musical, including song types and structures (verse-chorus, the thirty-two-bar AABA form, ballads and up-tempo numbers), the role of song in drama, ensemble and chorus numbers, accompaniment and orchestration, and the stylistic features examined in the listening and written paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the Area of Study Secular Vocal Music (Musicals): the music of stage musical theatre, song types and structures including verse-chorus and thirty-two-bar AABA form, ballads and up-tempo numbers, how song carries character and drama, ensemble and chorus writing, accompaniment and orchestration, and how to describe and identify musical-theatre numbers in the exam.
- The musical elements and harmonic language underpinning Responding to Music: the elements (melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, metre, texture, timbre, dynamics, articulation, structure), diatonic chords and Roman-numeral and figured-bass labelling, keys and modulation to related keys, common devices, and reading a score, as applied across the Areas of Study.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the musical elements and harmonic language behind Responding to Music: melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, metre, texture, timbre, dynamics and structure, diatonic chords with Roman-numeral and figured-bass labelling, keys and modulation to related keys, common devices, and how to read a score and apply this vocabulary across the Areas of Study.
- The A2 test of aural perception and unprepared score study: advanced recognition of harmony, modulation, cadences, texture and devices by ear, dictation, and the analysis of an unfamiliar score, identifying chords, keys, structure and stylistic features without prior study, as examined in the A2 Unit 3 listening paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the A2 test of aural perception and unprepared score study: advanced recognition of harmony, modulation, cadences, texture and devices by ear, dictation, and analysing an unfamiliar score to identify chords, keys, structure and style without prior preparation, with the strategies the A2 listening paper rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Music specification (2016) — CCEA (2016)