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Aural and Music Theory
Quick questions on Modes and Improvisational Devices - TCE Music (Tasmania)
2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are the seven modes?Show answer
The simplest way to learn the modes is from the white notes of the piano. Starting on C gives Ionian (the major scale). Starting on D gives Dorian, on E Phrygian, on F Lydian, on G Mixolydian, on A Aeolian (the natural minor), and on B Locrian. Each mode keeps the same set of pitches but a different note becomes the tonic, so the pattern of tones and semitones shifts and the character changes.
What are hearing the devices?Show answer
In the aural paper you may be asked to identify a device in a short played excerpt. Train by predicting: when you hear a pattern repeated higher or lower, name it as a sequence before the answer is given. When a held note grates against a new chord then steps down, call it a suspension. Singing motifs and their inversions aloud fixes the shapes in your ear far faster than silent study.
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