Post by princessmoose on Dec 24, 2006 14:42:23 GMT
It's Christmas, it's time this was brought up again. Also, please note, this is MY opinion, sounds strange that I can form my own but hey miracles do happen.
I am NOT trying to cause an argument
. Just want a discussion based on my views after a years teaching.
I don't think I've ever said that this aural stuff is completely pointless, moreso that the AB tests are. Listening is important and I (surprisingly) get my pupils to do that in school all the time. I ask them what was wrong with what they played, I get them to listen to music and tell me what was good and bad about it etc. It might not be 'The L. Ron Hubbard of Music''s way of doing it or THE way of approaching it, but I'm trying.
So based on my teaching and pupils, here's what I think:
AB Test - Clapping the pulse of a piece of music - It's useful to be able to do, I have one student who has no sense of rhythm and this proves to be quite a task for her, it does effect her playing, not sure if she could clap the pulse, her playing would amazingly improve, it's not an overnight job. So I suppose this is ok ish.
AB Test - Ah yes singing as an echo. I'm afraid I STILL don't see the point in this 
. All of my pupils hate it, even the ones who can sing in tune. This may not be the way some "musicians" would want it but that's how it is, I have to deal with these people. So the pupils that can mostly do it if it's in little sections, does it improve their playing? No. Not from what I've seen/heard or whatever. The pupils who can't do it, does it make them play their pieces really badly? No, they can manage that just by themselves . So to me, this test just seems a bit pointless. It's not that my pupils can't sing either, it's that they firstly can't remember the whole melody at grades 4 - 5, and if they can remember it, they find it hard to then pitch it. This is exactly like me and it doesn't seem to have affected my playing.
AB Test - Recognizing rhythmic/melodic changes - This is again ok, I suppose it helps them to recognise the differences so they can hear mistakes in their own playing?
AB Test - Recognising features of a piece - The only test I think is actually of any real use.
AB Test - Sight singing - Basically the same applies here as to the singing back an echo. I don't see the point in it. Apparantly if you can sight sing, then it means you can hear pieces of music in your head more easily? I say apparantly, because I don't entirely believe it, I can hear scores in my head quite easily without being able to sight sing some ludicrous melody with jumps everywhere, at an Allegro speed.
AB Test - Clapping the rhythm back - Ok, still a memory test which is rubbish for pupils with an awful memory, it's ok, don't think it's going to be able to turn awful instrumentalists into top flight soloists though.
AB Test - Cadences and chords - Good to know what they are and recognise them, although that's from a general music point of view, doesn't really help playing. Chords tend to be randomly guessed.
AB Test - Modulations - Quite amusing things, even though I can't do them, I see more use in them than some of the other tests.
I won't go through all of Trinity Guildhall's aural tests, there's too many.
One appears at grade 3 upwards - interval recognition - that's ok but in my opinion only helps a bit in hearing what you've played incorrectly in a piece and so forth
Another reasonable one is the recognise changes to printed music. I think this is more useful that trying to hear changes with no music.
So, to conclude, I think aural, as in listening to yourself and pieces of music is important and I think that can help playing/performing improve. I still don't believe that being able to sing back melodies and sight sing is of that much relevance. No-one can surely accuse me now of not being able to form my own opinions on this - even though I've been doing this all along - it is however easier to see now I have been teaching a variety of pupils for about a year. This is also based on my own experience of my own playing.
I cannot sing back umpteen melodies and am not great at sight singing in strict time but like it or not it hasn't prevented me from gaining a first in saxophone performace in my first year at uni - and a scholarship, and it hasn't prevented me from getting 2 grade 8 merits. If it means that I remain unable to do all this singing lark, but somehow still get decent marks in performance then I'll take that option. If it means I get called by some merely an instrumentalist and not a musician then I'll accept that. I'm past caring.
.
I am NOT trying to cause an argument
. Just want a discussion based on my views after a years teaching.I don't think I've ever said that this aural stuff is completely pointless, moreso that the AB tests are. Listening is important and I (surprisingly) get my pupils to do that in school all the time. I ask them what was wrong with what they played, I get them to listen to music and tell me what was good and bad about it etc. It might not be 'The L. Ron Hubbard of Music''s way of doing it or THE way of approaching it, but I'm trying.
So based on my teaching and pupils, here's what I think:
AB Test - Clapping the pulse of a piece of music - It's useful to be able to do, I have one student who has no sense of rhythm and this proves to be quite a task for her, it does effect her playing, not sure if she could clap the pulse, her playing would amazingly improve, it's not an overnight job. So I suppose this is ok ish.
AB Test - Ah yes singing as an echo
. I'm afraid I STILL don't see the point in this . All of my pupils hate it, even the ones who can sing in tune. This may not be the way some "musicians" would want it but that's how it is, I have to deal with these people. So the pupils that can mostly do it if it's in little sections, does it improve their playing? No. Not from what I've seen/heard or whatever. The pupils who can't do it, does it make them play their pieces really badly? No, they can manage that just by themselves . So to me, this test just seems a bit pointless. It's not that my pupils can't sing either, it's that they firstly can't remember the whole melody at grades 4 - 5, and if they can remember it, they find it hard to then pitch it. This is exactly like me and it doesn't seem to have affected my playing.AB Test - Recognizing rhythmic/melodic changes - This is again ok, I suppose it helps them to recognise the differences so they can hear mistakes in their own playing?
AB Test - Recognising features of a piece - The only test I think is actually of any real use.
AB Test - Sight singing - Basically the same applies here as to the singing back an echo. I don't see the point in it. Apparantly if you can sight sing, then it means you can hear pieces of music in your head more easily? I say apparantly, because I don't entirely believe it, I can hear scores in my head quite easily without being able to sight sing some ludicrous melody with jumps everywhere, at an Allegro speed.
AB Test - Clapping the rhythm back - Ok, still a memory test which is rubbish for pupils with an awful memory, it's ok, don't think it's going to be able to turn awful instrumentalists into top flight soloists though.
AB Test - Cadences and chords - Good to know what they are and recognise them, although that's from a general music point of view, doesn't really help playing. Chords tend to be randomly guessed
.AB Test - Modulations - Quite amusing things, even though I can't do them, I see more use in them than some of the other tests.
I won't go through all of Trinity Guildhall's aural tests, there's too many
.One appears at grade 3 upwards - interval recognition - that's ok but in my opinion only helps a bit in hearing what you've played incorrectly in a piece and so forth
Another reasonable one is the recognise changes to printed music. I think this is more useful that trying to hear changes with no music.
So, to conclude, I think aural, as in listening to yourself and pieces of music is important and I think that can help playing/performing improve. I still don't believe that being able to sing back melodies and sight sing is of that much relevance. No-one can surely accuse me now of not being able to form my own opinions on this - even though I've been doing this all along - it is however easier to see now I have been teaching a variety of pupils for about a year. This is also based on my own experience of my own playing.
I cannot sing back umpteen melodies and am not great at sight singing in strict time but like it or not it hasn't prevented me from gaining a first in saxophone performace in my first year at uni - and a scholarship, and it hasn't prevented me from getting 2 grade 8 merits. If it means that I remain unable to do all this singing lark, but somehow still get decent marks in performance then I'll take that option. If it means I get called by some merely an instrumentalist and not a musician then I'll accept that. I'm past caring.
.
.