Grade 1Test A · Pulse and time. Clap along with the music as soon as you can. Clap a little louder on the strong beats.Test B · Singing echoes. You will hear the key chord and the first note. Then two bars are counted in.Test C · Spot the change. You will hear a phrase twice. A note changes the second time.Test D · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its dynamics and its articulation.
Grade 2Test A · Pulse and time. Clap along with the music as soon as you can. Clap a little louder on the strong beats.Test B · Singing echoes. You will hear the key chord and the first note. Then two bars are counted in.Test C · Spot the change. You will hear a phrase twice. Something changes the second time.Test D · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its dynamics and its tempo.
Grade 3Test A · Pulse and time. Clap along with the music as soon as you can. Clap a little louder on the strong beats.Test B · Singing echoes. You will hear the key chord and the first note. Then two bars are counted in.Test C · Spot the change. You will hear a phrase twice. Something changes the second time.Test D · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its dynamics and its tonality.
Grade 4Test A · Singing from memory. You will hear a melody twice.Test B · Sight-singing. Sing these five notes in your own time. Choose treble or bass clef.Test C (i) · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its dynamics and its character.Test C (ii) · Clapping a rhythm. You will hear a few bars of the tune twice, without the accompaniment.
Grade 5Test A · Singing from memory. You will hear a melody twice.Test B · Sight-singing. Sing these six notes in your own time. Choose treble or bass clef.Test C (i) · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its character and its style and period.Test C (ii) · Clapping a rhythm. You will hear a few bars of the tune twice, without the accompaniment.
Grade 6Test A · Singing the upper part. You will hear a two-part phrase twice.Test B · Singing at sight with accompaniment. Read the melody. You may sing it through once to prepare.Test C · Cadences. You will hear the key chord. Then a phrase is played twice.Test D (i) · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its texture and its dynamics.Test D (ii) · Clapping a rhythm. You will hear a few bars of the tune twice, without the accompaniment.
Grade 7Test A · Singing the lower part. You will hear a two-part phrase twice.Test B · Singing the upper part at sight. Read the upper part. You may sing it through once to prepare.Test C (i) · Cadences. You will hear the key chord. Then a phrase is played twice.Test C (ii) · Identifying the chords. You will hear the key chord. Then two chords from a cadence are played as a pair.Test C (iii) · Modulation. You will hear the key chord of C major. Then a passage is played once.Test D (i) · Features of a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its style and period and its texture.Test D (ii) · Clapping a rhythm. You will hear a few bars of the tune twice, without the accompaniment.
Grade 8Test A (i) · Singing the lowest part. You will hear a three-part phrase twice.Test A (ii) · Cadences. You will hear the key chord. Then a phrase is played twice.Test A (iii) · Identifying the chords. You will hear the three chords of that cadence in turn. Then each is played on its own.Test B · Singing the lower part at sight. Read the lower part. You may sing it through once to prepare.Test C · Modulations. You will hear two passages. Each is played once, after its key chord.Test D · Describing a piece. Listen to the piece. Then answer questions about its notable features.
Questions and answers
Are the aural tests timed?
No clock runs. You hear each piece and then answer, as you would for the examiner.
Which grades are covered?
Every grade from Grade 1 to Grade 8 has its own practice paper, with the tests in the order the examiner gives them.
Are the answers explained?
Yes. Each test plays the music, takes your answer and then explains what you heard.