About Us

Hofnote was set up to help music students develop aural skills. 

Aural skills are tested in many instrumental and singing exams because good aural skills reflect in performance and enable the performer to play with understanding and sensitivity.

On Hofnote all the exercises are tailor made to prepare for specific exams. So if you enrol for a particular grade, you can be sure that you will be gettting the right practice to prepare for that exam.

We hope you enjoy using Hofnote

Christine explains why the site is important to her...

"I would love to have taken my violin playing further but gave up because I developed the art of reading my teacher’s face to see whether I was playing in tune rather than learning to listen and build up my intonation. One day his face told me something was badly wrong and I ground to a halt, only to find that the reason for his agony was that he had got his foot stuck under the piano stool and my playing was fine. In shame I stopped but even then wished I was more musical. I have spoken to others who have dropped out of music lessons, and often the reason has boiled down to not learning to listen and understand the music. It is great now to bring this resource to help others develop the skills I needed and give music teachers another tool for them to use."

Lester Hough on the other hand ...

 is a very talented musician; pianist and composer, who has developed and tested our training package over a number of years, testing it on his own pupils.

• Lester is the Principal of Hofnote Music Academy in Yorkshire and a qualified musician and teacher. He has taught in state schools, privately and in sixth-form colleges, working with adults and children for over 30 years, and served on the Local Education Authority Music Consultative Committee.
• He has also worked as musical director in staging musicals and as a composer, he has composed a wide variety of works, which have been performed from symphonies to pop operas.

During his varied career, one thing has remained constant and that is the satisfaction he gets in seeing people exceed their expectations and come alive to the wonderful world of music.

Lester Hough, Pianist, teacher, composer, with Christine system administrator. We are here to help all music students understand and enjoy their music.

Lester Hough...

• Is a graduate of the University of Hull
• Now lives and works in Yorkshire
• Is a composer, pianist and teacher
• Has had his music performed in various parts of the UK
• Speaks German, French, Spanish and, of course, English
• Enjoys all sorts of music

Christine Hough...

• Lived in the forests in Northern Argentina as a child
• Graduated in Engineering and Management from Durham University
• Worked in engineering and planning for a major multinational company
• Before leaving to bring up two boys
• Launched Hofnote online aural training with Lester in 2006
• Enjoys listening to a wide range of music, and especially music with a Latin influence