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AuralRoom

Trinity · Grade 7

Trinity Grade 7 aural test: practice for every question

Grade 7 keeps the Grade 6 pattern but allows minor keys, so a modulation can lead to the relative major as well as to the subdominant or dominant. The change question grows to three changes. You take aural as the alternative to improvisation, alongside compulsory sight reading, and it's marked out of 10.

Aural test

Name the time signature; comment on the dynamics and articulation and on two other characteristics; name the key the music modulates to; locate and describe three changes.

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The tests at Grade 7

Aural test

Name the time signature; comment on the dynamics and articulation and on two other characteristics; name the key the music modulates to; locate and describe three changes.

Time and touch: two playings, then the time signature and comments on dynamics and articulation. Characteristics: two more playings; comment on two other features of the music. Modulation: hearing the first four bars again, say where the music goes — subdominant, dominant or relative key — or name the key. Changes: following a copy, hear the piece twice with three alterations, and say where each is and whether it's pitch or rhythm; pitch changes stay in the melody. Our trainer names the type of each change in its question, so you practise locating them.

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Tips for Grade 7

  • In minor keys, a move to the relative major often sounds like the music stepping into the light.
  • Tick off the three changes on the copy, in your head, as you hear them.
  • Widen your comment vocabulary: legato, staccato, accents and phrasing; crescendo, diminuendo and sudden contrasts.
  • Work through modulations with our modulation guide.
  • Practise answering out loud — it's how you'll answer in the exam, and our trainer can mark spoken answers.

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A full Grade 7 mock, marked

The examiner runs every test in order, plays as many times as the board does and gives an estimated mark out of 10, with where you lose marks.

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Questions people ask

What's new at Grade 7 compared with Grade 6?

The piece can now be in a minor key, so the modulation can go to the relative major as well as the subdominant or dominant. The change question has three changes rather than two. The rest — time signature, comments on dynamics and articulation, two other characteristics — follows the Grade 6 pattern.

How do I tell a move to the dominant from a move to the relative key?

A move to the dominant usually sounds brighter and lifted, often with a new sharp or a cancelled flat. A move to the relative key keeps the same key signature but changes mood: major to minor sounds darker, minor to major brighter. Listen closely to the cadence at the end of the passage.

Can pitch changes be in the accompaniment?

Not at Grade 7: Trinity specifies that pitch changes are in the melody line, so keep your eyes and ears on the tune. At Grade 8 that limit isn't repeated, so listening to the whole texture becomes more important there.

What do examiners look for in comments?

Accurate observations, given promptly and confidently. Trinity marks the whole aural test out of 10 on how well you perceive the music across all the questions and how readily you respond, rather than awarding marks per answer. Short, precise comments with a location ('from bar 5') work well.

Independent practice. We are not affiliated with Trinity College London; the tests here are generated by our engine from the published format, not taken from the board's books. Mock marks are estimates — the examiner's judgement is final.