Midterm Exam Sample Questions for Home Practice

Playlist: “UI Aural Skills IV Midterm Preparation” by “mirandawilson”

Intervals

• All compound melodic intervals, ascending and descending
• All compound harmonic intervals
• Review recommended contextual solfege from Unit 1, 3, 4, and 5

Annotated Intervals Practice Examples

Scales

• All major and minor (natural, melodic, harmonic) scales
• All modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian)
• Practice on piano and sing all modes in ascending and descending motion.
• Practice notating all modes in all keys and all clefs

Annotated Scales Practice Examples

Chords

• All triads (major, minor, diminished, augmented); all inversions (root position, first inversion, second inversion)
• Practice all triads and inversions on the piano, using the principles of part-writing you have studied in Theory IV.
• Study all the intervals that are inherent to the four different types of triads – and their inversions.

Annotated Chords Practice Examples

Rhythmic Dictation

• All simple and compound time signatures
• All divisions and subdivisions of the beat
• Syncopations (within a beat, crossing the beat, crossing the barline)
• Practice all rhythm examples from Rogers & Ottman textbook. With a partner, practice having one person chant the rhythm and the other write it down as a dictation. Remember, success in rhythmic dictation comes from knowing what rhythm looks like on the page, as well as understanding what it sounds like.
• Questions to ask include number of beats in the measure, beat note, possible divisions and subdivisions of the beat.
• Conduct with your non-writing hand, and take notes on the salient features of the dictation as shown below.

Annotated Rhythm Practice Example

Melodic Dictation

• May be in simple or compound time
• May include syncopations and other forms of rhythmic complexity
• Will include tonicization and/or modulation to the commonest destinations
• Study examples in Rogers and Ottman. Where are the “pivots”? How do we know a modulation has taken place?

Annotated Melodic Dictation Practice Example (Example comes from J. S. Bach’s Sonata No. 1 for viola da gamba and harpsichord BWV 1027, 4th movement.)

Harmonic Dictation

• Will include secondary dominants
• May be in a major or minor key
• Will conform to the rules of chord progression that we studied in Unit 9
• Will conform to the rules of voice-leading in four-part writing that you study in Theory IV

Annotated Harmonic Dictation Practice Example (Example comes from J. S. Bach’s Sonata No. 1 for viola da gamba and harpsichord BWV 1027, 4th movement.)