← Music syllabus

SAMusic

Music Theory and Aural

8 dot points across 8 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do I transcribe melody, rhythm and harmony accurately from what I hear?

Apply listening strategies to transcribe melodic, rhythmic and harmonic material and to recognise chords, cadences and intervals by ear
Aural skill turns sound into notation. Reliable transcription works in passes: establish key and metre, sketch the rhythm, then pitch by interval, checking chords and cadences against the harmony.
6 min answer →

How do chords move in functional progressions, and how do cadences shape phrases?

Explain functional harmonic progression and voice leading, and identify and write cadences that punctuate musical phrases
Functional harmony moves chords through tonic, pre-dominant and dominant areas toward resolution. Smooth voice leading connects them, and cadences punctuate phrases as perfect, plagal, imperfect or interrupted endings.
6 min answer →

How are triads and seventh chords built, labelled and connected into functional progressions?

Construct and label triads and seventh chords, and explain how they function within a key using Roman numerals and figured bass
Triads stack thirds into major, minor, diminished and augmented qualities; seventh chords add a fourth note. Roman numerals show function within a key, and cadences mark phrase endings.
6 min answer →

How do I identify, build and hear intervals and the major and minor scales accurately?

Identify and construct intervals by number and quality, and build major, natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales
Intervals are measured by number and quality (perfect, major, minor, augmented, diminished). Major and minor scales follow fixed tone and semitone patterns, and the three minor forms differ only in their sixth and seventh degrees.
6 min answer →

How do key signatures work, and how does the circle of fifths organise every major and minor key?

Identify and write the key signatures for every major and minor key and use the circle of fifths to relate keys and find relative and parallel keys
Key signatures fix the sharps or flats of a key in a set order. The circle of fifths arranges all twelve major and minor keys by the number of accidentals, and shows relative, parallel and closely related keys at a glance.
6 min answer →

How do I notate a melody I hear and sing an unfamiliar melody at sight?

Develop melodic dictation and sight-singing skills using solfege, interval recognition and rhythmic reading
Melodic dictation turns a heard melody into accurate notation by tracking pitch and rhythm. Sight-singing reverses the process, reading and performing an unseen melody using solfege, interval recognition and steady rhythmic counting.
6 min answer →

How do note values, time signatures and tempo combine to organise music in time?

Notate and interpret rhythm using note values, simple and compound time signatures, and common tempo and metric devices
Note values divide the beat into proportions; simple and compound time signatures group beats differently. Tempo, syncopation, tuplets and metric devices shape how music feels in time.
6 min answer →

How do I read different clefs and transpose music accurately for voices and transposing instruments?

Read and write in treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs and transpose melodies by interval and for transposing instruments
Clefs fix which pitches the lines and spaces represent, with treble, bass, alto and tenor in common use. Transposition shifts music to a new pitch level, either by a chosen interval or to match transposing instruments such as the B flat clarinet.
6 min answer →