The Musician's Guide to Aural Skills: Ear-Training and Composition

All the practical skills students need to succeed as professional musicians―in a single pedagogical program.

The Musician’s Guide to Aural Skills integrates all critical aural skills in a single teaching and learning program coordinated (chapter by chapter) with a companion text in theory and analysis. The two volumes, organized by skill type, contain a wide range of exercises, and a diverse repertoire of real music―classical, popular song, film and TV themes, folk songs. There is absolutely no need for supplementary materials, and students are involved in creative music-making from the very beginning.

Volume 2 develops listening and writing skills in a complete ear-training, dictation, and composition manual. Each of the 40 chapters, corresponding to chapters in The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis, Second Edition, is organized in two parts―“Inductive Listening” and “Contextual Listening.” A final “Composition” section leads students through individual and group compositions in a variety of styles. The text is packaged with a companion DVD that contains recordings for all the listening examples.

Joel Phillips is professor emeritus of music theory and composition at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and recipient of its Distinguished Teaching Award. His compositions are published by G. Schirmer, Transcontinental, GIA, and Shawnee Press. A long-time member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, Phillips served five years as Chief Faculty Consultant for the Advanced Placement (AP) Examination in Music Theory and is the longest-serving College Board presenter for AP Music. Phillips is a founding member and past president of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic and a former editor of the Society for Music Theory’s Newsletter.

Paul Murphy is Professor of Music at Muhlenberg College. He is author of the Spanish/English edition of General Rules of Accompaniment: José de Torres's Treatise of 1736 and has published articles in Theoria, Studies in Medievalism, The American Dalcroze Journal, and the Journal of Music Teacher Education. He holds a Certificate in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from Carnegie Mellon University and has many years' experience as an accompanist for ballet and modern dance.

Elizabeth West Marvin is Minehan Professor Emerita of Music Theory and former dean of academic affairs at the Eastman School of Music. She has published in the areas of music cognition, music theory pedagogy, theory and analysis of atonal music, contour theory, history of theory, and analysis and performance. She is past president of the Society for Music Theory and past co-chair of the Advanced Placement Music Theory Test Development Committee. Marvin is the 2012 recipient of the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Music Theory Teaching and Scholarship.

Jane Piper Clendinning is professor of music theory at the Florida State University College of Music. She has published articles reflecting her interests in the history of theory, theory and analysis of twentieth-century music, computer pitch recognition, and computer applications in music. Her current research interests include theory and analysis of popular and world musics. She has served as the chair of the Advanced Placement Music Theory Test Development Committee and as an AP reader, and is a regular consultant at AP workshops and summer Institutes.