Improve Your Aural! Grade 6: Grad 6 Workbook & CD

This workbook strips away the anxiety that often surrounds aural training by embedding listening skills into activities students actually enjoy. The integrated approach of combining singing, playing, writing, and improvising alongside focused listening means students aren't drilling aural in isolation but connecting ear training to everything else they do musically.

The experience is conversational rather than clinical. You move fluidly between listening tasks, writing exercises, hands-on activities with your instrument, and creative work like improvisation, so the workbook never feels like test prep. The CD provides immediate audio reference, making abstract listening concepts concrete and accessible.

This workbook suits Grade 6 students preparing for ABRSM examinations or any intermediate-advanced instrumentalist wanting systematic ear training that connects listening to playing. It works equally well for self-directed practice and classroom use, since the varied activity types keep engagement high across different learning preferences.

• Work through the activities in sequence rather than jumping ahead; each section builds foundational listening skills that inform later, more complex tasks.
• Use the included CD consistently during practice sessions to build familiarity with different timbres, styles, and musical contexts before attempting written tasks.
• Pair the workbook exercises with playing on your instrument so that aural recognition becomes physically connected to technique and intonation.

Assign this systematically as students approach Grade 6 exam preparation, either as independent study or as a structured unit within group lessons. The integrated nature of the activities means students improve listening skills without sacrificing practice time on their instrument.

• Identifying melodic shape and contour in unfamiliar excerpts
• Recognizing harmonic progressions and chord qualities by ear
• Notating rhythm patterns and pitch sequences from recorded examples
• Discriminating between articulation, dynamics, and timbral changes in performance
• Improvising and composing with awareness of melodic and harmonic conventions
• Connecting aural perception directly to instrumental technique and intonation