Aural Matters – by David Bowman and Paul Terry

It is packed with examples of dictation and discrimination exercises, which are carefully graded in difficulty. This extensive text provides
a systematic approach to aural training melody and two-part dictation, harmonic recognition, identifying errors in performance, frequent hints and tips. All combine to enable the student to develop increasing skill and confidence in the tests.

This book also provides a complete recorded anthology of the compositional techniques with which students are expected to be familiar at Advanced level. A huge variety of extracts have been specially selected from British folk song, world music, pop, jazz and the main periods of art music from the late Renaissance to modern times. A detailed commentary shows how to recognise periods, styles, structures, instruments and techniques in this music, with all these features copiously illustrated in the examples on disc. The complete work provides an invaluable resource not only for the A-Level syllabus, but also for any study of style and analysis in the wide variety of music that is encountered today.

David Bowman was for 20 years director of music at Ampleforth College and a chief examiner for the University of London Schools Examination Board (now Edexcel) from 1982 to 1998. His publications include Sound Matters (co-authored with Bruce Cole, Schott, 1989), Aural Matters (co-authored with Paul Terry, Schott, 1993), Aural Matters in Practice (co-authored with Paul Terry, Schott, 1994), Analysis Matters (Rhinegold, Volume 1 1997, Volume 2 1998) and numerous articles for Music Teacher. He is a contributor to the Collins Classical Music Encyclopedia (2000) and author of the Rhinegold Dictionary of Music in Sound (2002).

Book only.