VCE Intensive Four Day Aural and Listening Analysis Course

VCE Intensive Four Day Aural and Listening Analysis Course

Venue: South Yarra Baptist Church Hall, 12 Surrey Rd, South Yarra.

April Term One Holidays 2013

Covering Listening analysis and aural skills required on the Victorian Certificate of Education Music Performance Exam.

A lovely group of students who have been receptive but also daunted by the scope of what is required in the final exam. Kodaly says a good music education needs to begin “Nine months before the birth of the mother“, so for some they’re a fair way behind, but we do our best to catch up! These are skills for life, not just for the end of Secondary School.

I had a student who is  at University studying Jazz and I first met him when he was a 16 year old doing these intensive courses when they were at Melba Conservatorium.  He knew something was missing in his education and got back in touch with me years later.  Music Performance as a subject hints at the essential skills required to be musically literate but this is only a starting point.

Again, I quote Kodaly:

“The characteristics of a good musician can be summarized as follows:
  • A well-trained ear,
  • A well-trained intelligence,
  • A well-trained heart,
  • A well-trained hand.
All four must develop together, in constant equilibrium. As soon as one lags behind or rushes ahead, there is something wrong […] Sol-fa and the science of form and harmony together teach the first two points. To complete this teaching, a musical experience as varied as possible is indispensable; without playing chamber music and singing in choirs, nobody can become a good musician.”
 

In Australia most musicians have very well trained hands, but the well trained ear? This is lagging behind in many students. While those I talk about this acknowledge the importance of aural skills, and all seem to feel that it is a skill they need to improve and will make them better musicians, most wouldn’t know where to start to improve their skills. VCE can be a start, but it in itself is not enough.

I hope the students this week go away wanting to learn more and believing this has importance in their musical lives that goes beyond doing well or passing an exam at the end of a year.