C’MON, DO WE REALLY HAVE TO DO THIS?

Why practice ear training? Ear training is the most important exercise the student can perform. More than performing, more than conducting, even more than practicing an instrument. After all, we simply learn a musical instrument to express the inner convictions we possess. It is those inner convictions and their expression through music that are the most important aspects of being a musician. Ear training assists in making the translation of those inner emotions into music. It is what links our emotional composition to the materials of music. If we are not insistent in developing this all important aspect of musical performance (by "performance" here I mean not only public performance but the actually creation of music audible or not), we will never achieve the level of musicianship that we are capable of achieving.

Ear training assists aural understanding and musicianship, is useful for determining errors in the musical score or in a performing ensemble’s performance of a musical work, and enables the musician to "hear" musical scores without an audible performance. Above all, ear training helps the music student to internalize sound. We internalize sounds so those sounds can become a part of us. When they are a part of us, music becomes like an internal spiritual language that has no boundaries and can develop and exist freely within our minds. Think about it! We are what we eat. We will only understand the materials of music if we take the time to study them and make them an integral part of minds and spirits. A virtuosic musician has all the parameters of music at his or her command.

The daily and focused practice of ear training gradually develops the ability of internalized sound that is the core of any musical activity. How can we perform a piece of music if we don’t understand it’s sonic properties and how those sonic properties exist in time? How can we conduct an ensemble if we don’t know what the score sounds like? If someone plays a wrong note can we determine who it was and what that note should be? How do we determine if a musical score fits a particular situation or program if we’ve never heard it? How can we compose a piece of music if we can’t initially hear in our mind’s ear what we are writing? How can we improvise if we lack inner melody? Pitch, intonation, expression, rhythm, and all parameters of music can and should be part of one’s basic ear training. The frequent practice of ear training will ultimately create a sensitivity to and understanding of the various aspects of the complex language of music, making musical production a much more individual and emotional activity.

LEARNING

How do we learn? Many computer software programs and books include the saying "Makes learning fun!" Well, the truth is, learning can be fun but it also can be very challenging. In fact, many times learning requires a lot of "blood, sweat, and tears" to achieve a thorough understanding of something. Here are some elements of learning:

GOALS AND LIMITATIONS: Have a goal in mind that you can accomplish in the time you want to accomplish it. The goal doesn’t have to be a huge amount of information. In fact, a small amount of information is probably more practical. However, the amount of information you decide to study is largely up to you. Start simply and add more information when you feel comfortable. And don’t feel intimidated by other students who seem to progress/learn at a faster rate. Learn at your own rate! "Know your limitations!" – Dirty Harry. It doesn’t matter how much you learn, just as long as the learning experience is a constant one. If you try to "cram" too much information at any given time, you risk "burn out" and also confusion.

FOCUS: Make sure that your work area is free from distractions. Turn off the TV, unplug the phone, go to a quiet place, whatever it takes to provide yourself with a distraction-free environment. Then, isolate what you want to study in front of you. Remove other materials.

REPETITION: One of the most basic functions of learning is the element of repetition. There is really little that is "fun" about repetition. You simply go over and over and over something until that something is clear and understandable to you. This takes time so it’s important that you don’t feel rushed. The amount of repetition is largely individual. If it takes you 3000 repetitions so be it! But it doesn’t matter. At the end you have learned something and that is what is important.

BUILD ON WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW: Learning is a gradual process. The pieces of the puzzle should gradually fall into place. But each piece or subject is important. Don’t rush through your study but take time to consider everything and criticize everything. Once you feel confident, move on to another subject. Then combine the two subjects to see if they could possibly be used together, or complement each other. Maybe there are similar aspects between the two subjects.

CREATIVE THINKING: You should try to be creative with what you are studying. After all, we learn by doing! If you are learning musical intervals, put those intervals to work by writing some music that uses them or improvising some melodies on your instrument based on those intervals. Whether your assigned a creative homework assignment or not, find ways to be creative with the materials you are learning.

RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR SUCCESS!!: You will feel a great deal of accomplishment and progress after learning something!! Congratulate yourself for fighting through the learning experience. Go have some fun!

EXERCISE: SOME TIPS FOR PRACTICING OR APPLYING EAR TRAINING
1. Make your own exercises (or have your teacher design some for you).
Determine your deficiencies and develop some exercises that attack those deficiencies.
2. Start with simple exercises and gradually increase the difficulty. Do not
practice difficult examples without feeling confident about the more simple examples.
3. Transpose. Practice each example at a variety of pitch levels.
4. Listen for examples of the sounds (intervals, chords, etc.) that you are
studying in performances.
5. Practice exercises in a variety of tempi. If an exercise becomes easy, speed it
up.
6. Play everything you study in ear training on your instrument. Hear the sound
as you play it!
7. Have a plan or a goal each time you sit down to study.
8. Improvise on your instrument using the materials you are learning.

TIPS FOR PERFORMING DICTATION

In class and on tests you will have to hear an interval, chord, melody, rhythm, etc., and translate that sound into musical notation. This is musical dictation. On the dictation examples, consider the following tips:

(1) Expectations – Have expectations when hearing a particular example. If the subject matter has included major chords, then listen for major chords. For exercises involving tonal, harmonic progressions, consider the harmonic flow chart.
(2) Use Your Knowledge of Theory - Constantly apply your knowledge of music theory. The aural exercises you are required to do will synchronize with the material you are learning in theory class. If you are learning about the dominant seventh chord, you will study where this chord may be found in a progression, how it resolves, to where it has a tendency to resolve, its voice-leading requirements, and how to spell it. Listen for these things in the aural exercises.
(3) Conduct – Conducting can help you to place rhythms. By beating the beats in the air you can visually tell where the rhythms fall within the beat pattern and when a new measure occurs.
(4) Look for General Comments in the Early Hearings – Normally you will have several hearings to write out an example. In the first few, don’t be trying to write out the entire example. Listen for generalities such as is it major or minor? If it’s a melody is it conjunct, disjunct, or both? Are there repetitions? Motives? What is the character? Etc.
(5) Memorization - Memorize the example quickly. If you can record the melody in your inner hearing, you can play it back as many times as you like.

TIPS FOR PERFORMING SIGHT SINGING

Sight singing involves looking at a piece of music for the first time and singing it minimal preparation. It is generally a pretty stressful event for most students, since the student doesn’t get to prepare the actual example. However, have confidence in your preparation as well as in you teacher to create an appropriate example. You may also consider the following tips:

(1) Know Your Vocal Range – Know exactly what notes are too low and too high.
(2) Take a Deep Breath and Relax - Get focused and try not to let your nerves distract you. If you have prepared to the best of your ability, that is all your teacher can ask and expect.
(3) Quick Orientation – Take a quick glance through the example. Determine key, range, rhythm, solfeggio syllables, cadences, awkward leaps, etc. Determine your tempo by looking for the smallest rhythmic value. If it is the sixteenth note, make sure you can say the solfeggio syllables for that passage in the tempo you set.
(4) Prep Measure or Two – Begin with a FULL measure of preparation in order to set a steady tempo.
(5) Sing Straight Through – This will normally be a requirement. No stopping will be allowed. Continuous sight singing is the goal.

TRANSCRIPTION

One of the most important types of ear training is transcription. Transcription involves the transcribing of musical sound into musical notation. You may do this with a recording or a live performance. If something interests you or catches your ear, you may want to write it down.
Transcription involves five steps:

(1) LISTEN – If the example is a recording, listen to it several times before trying to notate it. Get the sound of the example in your ear as much as possible.
(2) MEMORIZE – Memorize as much of the example as possible. This will save you a lot of time as it will reduce the amount of time it takes to go to the tape recording and back.
(3) DISCERN – Determine what it is that you are hearing. You may consider not only individual pitches and rhythms, but also the harmonic progression, character, meter, articulation, and other parameters.
(4) NOTATE – Transcribe the musical sounds into musical notation.
(5) PLAY – Try the notated version by playing it on your instrument. You may have to transpose depending on which instrument you are playing.

You may choose to only work on a phrase or two of the example at a time. If so, go through the above steps for each portion of an example.