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Preparing for the Musicology/Aural skills examination

Duration

Duration refers to the lengths of sounds and silences in music and includes the aspects of beat, rhythm, tempo, pulse rates and absence of pulse.

Aspects of duration	Duration and its terms
Students need to be able to discuss the following aspects of duration as relevant to the music studied: Beat: the underlying pulse in music. Rhythm: patterns of long and short sounds and silences found in music. Tempo: the speed of the beat. Music may be relatively fast or slow and may become faster or slower. Metre: the grouping of the beats. Beats can be grouped in any combination including 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and so on. Where appropriate to the musical context, the following should be observed: regular and irregular metres metric groupings tempo rhythmic devices such as syncopation, augmentation and diminution methods of notating duration, both traditional and graphic.	Metre and phrasing Beat (steady/strong) Time signatures: simple and compound (common are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8). Absence of time signature Multimetre (changing time signature) Rhythmic phrase is regular or irregular Rhythmic phrase is balanced or imbalanced. Rhythm Metrical (with regular pulse) Syncopation Rubato Rhythmic ostinato Repetitive patterns Polyrhythms Cross rhythms Hemiola Motivic development. Tempo How fast or slow? Changing or constant? Do changes accentuate a musical climax?

Aspects of duration

Duration and its terms

Students need to be able to discuss the following aspects of duration as relevant to the music studied:

Beat: the underlying pulse in music.
Rhythm: patterns of long and short sounds and silences found in music.
Tempo: the speed of the beat. Music may be relatively fast or slow and may become faster or slower.
Metre: the grouping of the beats. Beats can be grouped in any combination including 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and so on.

Where appropriate to the musical context, the following should be observed:

regular and irregular metres
metric groupings
tempo
rhythmic devices such as syncopation, augmentation and diminution
methods of notating duration, both traditional and graphic.

Metre and phrasing
Beat (steady/strong)
Time signatures: simple and compound (common are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8).
Absence of time signature
Multimetre (changing time signature)
Rhythmic phrase is regular or irregular
Rhythmic phrase is balanced or imbalanced.

Rhythm
Metrical (with regular pulse)
Syncopation
Rubato
Rhythmic ostinato
Repetitive patterns
Polyrhythms
Cross rhythms
Hemiola
Motivic development.

Tempo
How fast or slow?
Changing or constant?
Do changes accentuate a musical climax?