Aural Skills Training

Aural Skills Training: A Practical Approach to Sight Singing and Dictation offers a streamlined method for developing aural skills vital for musicians. The book focuses on developing the ability to sight-sing through understanding solfège and the major scale, incorporating rhythm into singing, and exploring tonal variations such as minor scales, diatonic mixture, and melodic skips across different chords.

The material is structured in three parts, each dedicated to singing, rhythm, and dictation respectively, delving into intervals, chromatic alterations, secondary dominants, modulations, augmented triads, and atonality. The text provides a hands-on approach to ear training without inundating students with excessive exercises, allowing for targeted practice on specific musical elements. Examples within the book are intentionally free of tempo markings or dynamics to encourage personal interpretation and performance. Additionally, the book is designed to seamlessly align with theory lecture content, creating synergy between practical ear training exercises and theoretical understanding.

Aural Skills Training is recommended for aural skills courses, such as sight singing, ear training, music theory, and musicianship classes. The methodology and structure make it suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students seeking a focused and practical approach to improving their aural skills.