Ear training
Encyclopedia
Ear training or aural skills is a skill by which musician
s learn to identify, solely by hearing, pitche
s, interval
s, melody, chord
s, rhythm
s, and other basic elements of music
. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in written/spoken language. Ear training may be contrasted with sight-singing, which is analogous to reading aloud in language. Ear-training is typically a component of formal musical training.
. Once a tonic has been established, each subsequent pitch may be classified without direct reference to accompanying pitches. For example, once the tonic G has been established, listeners may recognize that the pitch D plays the role of the dominant in the key of G. No reference to any other pitch is required to establish this fact.
Many musicians use functional pitch recognition in order to identify, understand, and appreciate the roles and meanings of pitches within a key. To this end, scale-degree numbers or movable-do solmization
(do, re, mi, etc.) can be quite helpful. Using such systems, pitches with identical functions (the key note or tonic, for example) are associated with identical labels (1 or do, for example).
Functional pitch recognition is not the same as fixed-do solfege, e.g. do, re, mi, etc. Functional pitch recognition emphasizes the role of a pitch with respect to the tonic, while fixed-do solfege
symbols are labels for absolute pitch values (do=C, re=D, etc., in any key). In the fixed-do system (used in the conservatories of the Romance language nations, e.g. Paris, Madrid, Rome, as well as the Juilliard School
and the Curtis Institute in the USA), solfege symbols do not describe the role of pitches relative to a tonic, but rather actual pitches. In the movable-do system, there happens to be a correspondence between the solfege symbol and a pitch's role. However there is no requirement that musicians associate the solfege symbols with the scale degrees. In fact, musicians may utilize the movable-do system to label pitches while mentally tracking intervals to determine the sequence of solfege symbols.
Functional pitch recognition has several strengths. Since a large body of music is tonal, the technique is widely applicable. Since reference pitches are not required, music may be broken up by complex and difficult to analyze pitch clusters, for example, a percussion sequence, and pitch analysis may resume immediately once an easier to identify pitch is played, for example, by a trumpet—no need to keep track of the last note of the previous line or solo nor any need to keep track of a series of intervals going back all the way to the start of a piece. Since the function of pitch classes is a key element, the problem of compound intervals with interval recognition is not an issue—whether the notes in a melody are played within a single octave or over many octaves is irrelevant.
Functional pitch recognition has some weaknesses. Music with no tonic or ambiguous tonality does not provide the frame of reference necessary for this type of analysis. When dealing with key changes, a student must know how to account for pitch function recognition after the key changes: retain the original tonic or change the frame of reference to the new tonic. This last aspect in particular, requires an ongoing real-time (even anticipatory) analysis of the music that is complicated by modulations and is the chief detriment to the movable-do system. The problem is analogous to simultaneously mentally diagraming text that is read aloud (analyzing the parts of speech) - an impractical approach which is not well-suited for [unrehearsed] sight-singing.
recognition is also a useful skill for musicians: in order to determine the notes in a melody
, a musician must have some ability to recognize intervals. Some music teachers teach their students relative pitch by having them associate each possible interval with the first two notes of a popular song. However, others have shown that such familiar-melody associations are quite limited in scope, applicable only to the specific scale-degrees found in each melody. Here are some examples for each interval:
In addition, there are various systems (including solfeggio, sargam, and numerical sight-singing
) that assign specific syllables to different notes of the scale. Among other things, this makes it easier to hear how intervals sound in different contexts, such as starting on different notes of the same scale.
The essential goal for the advanced student of music is to gain a sense of each tone's place in the scale and its function in the key, learning to hear its position, tendency, and relationship to the other pitches with the "mind's ear." Solfege systems and mnemonic melodies are tools used to help realize this goal.
Ear training is a very important skill for timpanists and is used in tuning.
out of context, just to hear the characteristic sound of the chord. They also learn chord progression
s to hear how chords relate to one another in the context of a piece of music.
s and eighth rests, and then proceed to string different four-note patterns together.
Another way to practice rhythms is by muscle memory
, or teaching rhythm to different muscles in the body. One may start by tapping a rhythm with the hands and feet individually, or singing a rhythm on a syllable (e.g. "ta"). Later stages may combine keeping time with the hand, foot, or voice and simultaneously tapping out the rhythm, and beating out multiple overlapping rhythms.
A metronome
may be used to assist in maintaining accurate tempo.
techniques to achieve the same pitch through a variety of timbres. If these timbres are essential to the melody or function, as in shakuhachi
music, then pitch training alone will not be enough to fully recognize the music. Learning to identify and differentiate various timbres is an important musical skill that can be acquired and improved by training.
recorded music as a way to practice all of the above, including recognizing rhythm, melody and harmony. The teacher may also perform short compositions, with the student listening and transcribing the piece onto paper in a practice known as dictation.
can remove the need for a partner, customize the training to the users needs and accurately track scores and progress. University music departments often license commercial software for their students such as EarMaster
, Auralia (Ear Training Software)
and MacGAMUT, allowing them to track and manage student scores on a computer network. A variety of free software also exists both as browser based applications and downloadable executables. For example, free
and open source software under the GPL can provide many comparable features to popular proprietary
products. The majority of ear training software are MIDI based, allowing the user to customize the instruments that play and even accept input from MIDI compatible devices
such as electronic keyboard
s. TrainEar is a recent browser-based ear trainer specifically for helping associate musical intervals to songs. Ear-training applications are also available for mobile phones; the iTunes AppStore has several "apps" for the iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s learn to identify, solely by hearing, pitche
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
s, interval
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
s, melody, chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s, rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
s, and other basic elements of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in written/spoken language. Ear training may be contrasted with sight-singing, which is analogous to reading aloud in language. Ear-training is typically a component of formal musical training.
Functional pitch recognition
Functional pitch recognition involves identifying the function or role of a single pitch in the context of an established tonicTonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
. Once a tonic has been established, each subsequent pitch may be classified without direct reference to accompanying pitches. For example, once the tonic G has been established, listeners may recognize that the pitch D plays the role of the dominant in the key of G. No reference to any other pitch is required to establish this fact.
Many musicians use functional pitch recognition in order to identify, understand, and appreciate the roles and meanings of pitches within a key. To this end, scale-degree numbers or movable-do solmization
Solmization
Solmization is a system of attributing a distinct syllable to each note in a musical scale. Various forms of solmization are in use and have been used throughout the world.In Europe and North America, solfège is the convention used most often...
(do, re, mi, etc.) can be quite helpful. Using such systems, pitches with identical functions (the key note or tonic, for example) are associated with identical labels (1 or do, for example).
Functional pitch recognition is not the same as fixed-do solfege, e.g. do, re, mi, etc. Functional pitch recognition emphasizes the role of a pitch with respect to the tonic, while fixed-do solfege
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
symbols are labels for absolute pitch values (do=C, re=D, etc., in any key). In the fixed-do system (used in the conservatories of the Romance language nations, e.g. Paris, Madrid, Rome, as well as the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
and the Curtis Institute in the USA), solfege symbols do not describe the role of pitches relative to a tonic, but rather actual pitches. In the movable-do system, there happens to be a correspondence between the solfege symbol and a pitch's role. However there is no requirement that musicians associate the solfege symbols with the scale degrees. In fact, musicians may utilize the movable-do system to label pitches while mentally tracking intervals to determine the sequence of solfege symbols.
Functional pitch recognition has several strengths. Since a large body of music is tonal, the technique is widely applicable. Since reference pitches are not required, music may be broken up by complex and difficult to analyze pitch clusters, for example, a percussion sequence, and pitch analysis may resume immediately once an easier to identify pitch is played, for example, by a trumpet—no need to keep track of the last note of the previous line or solo nor any need to keep track of a series of intervals going back all the way to the start of a piece. Since the function of pitch classes is a key element, the problem of compound intervals with interval recognition is not an issue—whether the notes in a melody are played within a single octave or over many octaves is irrelevant.
Functional pitch recognition has some weaknesses. Music with no tonic or ambiguous tonality does not provide the frame of reference necessary for this type of analysis. When dealing with key changes, a student must know how to account for pitch function recognition after the key changes: retain the original tonic or change the frame of reference to the new tonic. This last aspect in particular, requires an ongoing real-time (even anticipatory) analysis of the music that is complicated by modulations and is the chief detriment to the movable-do system. The problem is analogous to simultaneously mentally diagraming text that is read aloud (analyzing the parts of speech) - an impractical approach which is not well-suited for [unrehearsed] sight-singing.
Interval recognition
IntervalInterval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
recognition is also a useful skill for musicians: in order to determine the notes in a melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, a musician must have some ability to recognize intervals. Some music teachers teach their students relative pitch by having them associate each possible interval with the first two notes of a popular song. However, others have shown that such familiar-melody associations are quite limited in scope, applicable only to the specific scale-degrees found in each melody. Here are some examples for each interval:
| interval | ascending | descending |
|---|---|---|
| unison Unison In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance... |
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|
| minor second Minor second In modern Western tonal music theory a minor second is the interval between two notes on adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them to be one semitone or half-step apart, such as B and C or C and D.... |
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| major second Major second In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions... |
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| minor third Minor third In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major... |
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| major third Major third In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three... |
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| perfect fourth Perfect fourth In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there... |
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| tritone Tritone In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones... |
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| perfect fifth Perfect fifth In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones... |
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Seven Steps to Heaven Seven Steps to Heaven (album) -Side two:-2005 reissue bonus tracks:-Personnel:*Miles Davis — trumpet*George Coleman — tenor saxophone on "Seven Steps to Heaven," "So Near So Far," "Joshua"... What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor? Swan Lake Swan Lake Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger... The Flintstones Theme The Flintstones The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It... |
| minor sixth Minor sixth -Subminor sixth:In music, a subminor sixth or septimal sixth is an interval that is noticeably narrower than a minor sixth but noticeably wider than a diminished sixth.The sub-minor sixth is an interval of a 14:9 ratio or alternately 11:7.... |
Bashana Haba'ah Bei Mir Bistu Shein Black Orpheus Black Orpheus Black Orpheus is a 1959 film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. It is based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting it in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during the Carnaval... Conquest of Paradise, Vangelis, Theme of 1492 Pity and Fear (Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr .... Song) saxophone hook from Baker Street Baker Street (song) "Baker Street" is a ballad written and first recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. Released as a single in 1978, it reached #1 in Canada, #2 in the US, #3 in the UK, #1 in Australia and #9 in the Netherlands... A Change of Seasons I. The Crimson Sunrise - Dream Theater (second and fourth notes) The Entertainer The Entertainer (rag) "The Entertainer" is sub-titled "A rag time two step", which was a form of dance popular until about 1911, and a style which was common among rags written at the time.Its structure is: Intro AA BB A CC Intro2 DD.... (big interval after pick-up) Because (The Beatles song) Because (The Beatles song) "Because" is a song written by John Lennon and recorded by The Beatles in 1969. It features a prominent three-part vocal harmony by Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison, overdubbed three times to make nine voices in all... |
You're Everything Light as a Feather Light as a Feather is the second studio album of fusion band Return to Forever, led by keyboardist Chick Corea.The second and last album by the first line-up of Return to Forever was recorded in the same year eight months later. The style of the music remains mostly the same though vocal tracks... Where Do I Begin? (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story " Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film Love Story. The lyrics were added after the theme music became popular.-Covers:The song has been covered many times... (Theme from the movie Love Story Love Story (1970 film) Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story... ) |
| major sixth Major sixth In classical music from Western culture, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six staff positions , and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two... |
Two of Us (The Beatles song) My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" is a traditional Scottish folk songwhich remains popular in Western culture.-History:The origin of the song is unknown, though it is often suggested that the subject of the song may be... NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... Theme Song Leia's Theme (from Star Wars) It Came Upon a Midnight Clear It Came upon a Midnight Clear "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" is a poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Lancaster, Massachusetts... Jingle Bells Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857... (on "dashing" through the snow) America the Beautiful America the Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward.... (on "America," America) My Way (song) My Way (song) "My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the... volta la carta (verse) Rimini (album) Rimini is the name of an album released by Italian singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. It was first issued in 1978 on Ricordi and then re-released by BMG... |
A Weaver of Dreams Take the A-Train Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen is a spiritual. The song is well known and many cover versions of it have been produced, although the rendition by Louis Armstrong is the best known. Marian Anderson had her first successful recording with a version of this song on the Victor label in 1925. Lena... The Music of the Night Over There Over There "Over There" is a 1917 song popular with United States soldiers in both world wars.It was written by George M. Cohan during World War I. Notable early recordings include versions by Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, and Charles King.... |
| minor seventh Minor seventh In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the... |
Theme from Star Trek Star Trek: The Original Series (theme song) "Theme from Star Trek" is an instrumental musical piece written by Alexander Courage for Star Trek, the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry and originally aired between September 8, 1966 and September 2, 1969.-History:The tune was played over both the opening and closing... Somewhere Somewhere (song) "Somewhere" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story which was made into a film in 1961. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the... (West Side Story) Embers Fire (Paradise Lost Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse... ) The Take Over, The Breaks Over (Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist, guitarist and composer Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five studio albums from 2003–2008... ) |
Watermelon Man An American in Paris An American in Paris An American in Paris is a symphonic tone poem by the American composer George Gershwin, written in 1928. Inspired by the time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s. It is one of Gershwin's best-known compositions.Gershwin composed the piece... Lady Jane (refrain) |
| major seventh Major seventh In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as major because it is the larger of the two... |
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| octave Octave In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"... |
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Willow Weep For Me Doogie Howser, M.D. Doogie Howser, M.D. Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr.... Theme To Zanarkand, Final Fantasy X Bulls on Parade intro |
In addition, there are various systems (including solfeggio, sargam, and numerical sight-singing
Numerical sight-singing
Numerical sight-singing, an alternative to the solfege system of sight-singing, is a musical notation system that numbers the diatonic scale with the numbers one through eight . Scale degree...
) that assign specific syllables to different notes of the scale. Among other things, this makes it easier to hear how intervals sound in different contexts, such as starting on different notes of the same scale.
The essential goal for the advanced student of music is to gain a sense of each tone's place in the scale and its function in the key, learning to hear its position, tendency, and relationship to the other pitches with the "mind's ear." Solfege systems and mnemonic melodies are tools used to help realize this goal.
Ear training is a very important skill for timpanists and is used in tuning.
Chord recognition
Complementary to recognizing the melody of a song is hearing the harmonic structures that support it. Musicians often practice hearing different types of chords and their inversionsInversion (music)
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices...
out of context, just to hear the characteristic sound of the chord. They also learn chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
s to hear how chords relate to one another in the context of a piece of music.
Rhythm recognition
One way musicians practice rhythms is by breaking them up into smaller, more easily identifiable sub-patterns. For example, one might start by learning the sound of all the combinations of four eighth noteEighth note
thumb|180px|right|Figure 1. An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.thumb|right|180px|Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together....
s and eighth rests, and then proceed to string different four-note patterns together.
Another way to practice rhythms is by muscle memory
Muscle memory
Muscle memory has been used synonymously with motor learning, which is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to...
, or teaching rhythm to different muscles in the body. One may start by tapping a rhythm with the hands and feet individually, or singing a rhythm on a syllable (e.g. "ta"). Later stages may combine keeping time with the hand, foot, or voice and simultaneously tapping out the rhythm, and beating out multiple overlapping rhythms.
A metronome
Metronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
may be used to assist in maintaining accurate tempo.
Timbre recognition
Each type of musical instrument has a characteristic sound quality that is largely independent of pitch or loudness. Some instruments have more than one timbre, e.g. the sound of a plucked violin is different from the sound of a bowed violin. Some instruments employ multiple manual or embouchureEmbouchure
The embouchure is the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments or the mouthpiece of the brass instruments.The word is of French origin and is related to the root bouche , 'mouth'....
techniques to achieve the same pitch through a variety of timbres. If these timbres are essential to the melody or function, as in shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
music, then pitch training alone will not be enough to fully recognize the music. Learning to identify and differentiate various timbres is an important musical skill that can be acquired and improved by training.
Transcription
Music teachers often recommend transcribingTranscription (music)
In music, transcription can mean notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated, as, for example, an improvised jazz solo. Further examples include ethnomusicological notation of oral traditions of folk music, such as Béla Bartók's and Ralph Vaughan Williams' collections of the national...
recorded music as a way to practice all of the above, including recognizing rhythm, melody and harmony. The teacher may also perform short compositions, with the student listening and transcribing the piece onto paper in a practice known as dictation.
Software training methods
Accurate identification and reproduction of musical intervals, scales, chords, rhythms, and other aspects of ear training often can require a great deal of practice. Exercises involving identification often require a knowledgeable partner to play the questions and validate the answers. Software specialized for music theoryMusic theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
can remove the need for a partner, customize the training to the users needs and accurately track scores and progress. University music departments often license commercial software for their students such as EarMaster
Earmaster
EarMaster is a music software launched in 1996 by Danish editor Miditec, who changed its name to EarMaster ApS in 2005. The first prototype version of the software was DOS-based, but since 1996, it has continuously evolved with the Microsoft Windows OS. In November 2008, EarMaster became...
, Auralia (Ear Training Software)
Auralia (Ear Training Software)
Auralia is a drill based Ear training software package. The software covers a range of lessons and ear training topics to improve musicianship skills and aural awareness...
and MacGAMUT, allowing them to track and manage student scores on a computer network. A variety of free software also exists both as browser based applications and downloadable executables. For example, free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source software under the GPL can provide many comparable features to popular proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
products. The majority of ear training software are MIDI based, allowing the user to customize the instruments that play and even accept input from MIDI compatible devices
MIDI controller
MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....
such as electronic keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
s. TrainEar is a recent browser-based ear trainer specifically for helping associate musical intervals to songs. Ear-training applications are also available for mobile phones; the iTunes AppStore has several "apps" for the iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
See also
- Tonal memoryTonal memoryIn music, tonal memory is the ability to recall a previously sounded tone. Tonal memory assists with staying in tune and may be developed through ear training. Extensive tonal memory may be recognized as an indication of potential compositional ability....
- Musical aptitudeMusical aptitudeMusical aptitude is the ability to intuitively learn or appreciate music, and especially to distinguish off-key and off-pitch music....
- Learning music by earLearning music by earLearning music by ear is done by repeatedly listening to other musicians and then attempting to recreate what one hears. This is how people learn music in any musical tradition in which there is no complete musical notation...
- Tone deafnessTone deafnessTone deafness is the lack of relative pitch, or the inability to distinguish between musical notes that is not due to the lack of musical training or education...
- Electronic tunerElectronic tunerThe term electronic tuner can refer to a number of different things, depending which discipline you wish to study.In the Discipline of radio frequency electronics an electronic tuner is a device which tunes across a part of the radio frequency spectrum by the application of a voltage or appropriate...
External links
- MusicTheory.net
- EarMaster - Ear Training Software - Ear Training Interactive Software including Jazz exercises
- Teoria.com
- Trainear.com
- Solfege
- IWasDoingAllRight.com - Ear Training w/ Jazz Exercises
- LenMus - An open source software for music theory