EAR TRAINING COURSES
- Kev Leighton
- Apr 18, 2016
- 3 min read
There are a lot of ear training courses available today, a simple google search will return many choices.
Here are my favourites with a brief review:
This is a great course put together by another Aussie, Scott Edwards. In summary, the concept centers around developing your ability to hear tones in relation to the key centre. For example, if the song you are listening to is in the key of C and you hear an F you will recognise it is the fourth note in the key centre. You develop the ability over time by listening to a chord progression (I IV V I) and then singing the tonic, second, third etc. The recordings Scott has put together are professionally produced and the best I have heard to date. It was well worth the money and I recommend it. I am constantly playing the recordings in my car and in particular the Hear Sing Win recordings. I use these recordings mainly wih my mouthpiece now. I would like to point out that I did not receive any monetary benefit for this review.
I have included a review of this on line course in my ear training apps post. But I cant speak highly enough of this product. It has a comprehensive course (150+ progressive drills over 4 levels) orgainsed in a logical progression. The exercises become increasingly difficult and I like the awards system ie an award for answering 50 correct intervals in a row, Chuck Norris status etc. There is an arcade which helps break up the monotony and the ability to create custom drills which I use almost exclusively now. I try to spend 2-3 hours a day with this app. I am committed to achieving Chuck Norris status!!
Progressive Sight Singing - Carol Krueger
An absolute must have. The vocal pitch exercies in this book have taken my ear to an entirely new level. I cant say enough about it.
A comprehensive, student-centered, and flexible introduction to sight singing, Progressive Sight Singing, Second Edition, by Carol Krueger, presents students with the underlying grammar and syntax of musical structure and prepares them to perceive that structure with both the ear and the eye. Working from the premise that students learn musical skills in much the same order as they do language skills, the book trains the ear first--through hearing and imitating patterns--before teaching students to read and write
I have this loaded on my mac laptop and used it regularly when I first made the commitment to start bringing my ears back up to speed. I think its a good product but rather expensive given the choices available. Still, it served its purpose and the stats were useful. I think it is probably best suited in a high school environment.
Lars Edlund/Modus Vetus - Sight Singing and Ear-Training in Major/Minor Tonality
This is an outstanding book that every serious musician should own and study. It contains about 150 pages of graded sight-singing exercises in major/minor, and modal tonalities of increasing chromaticism. These are accompanied by nearly a hundred more pages of rhythmic, figured bass, and keyboard harmony exercises. Each of these four sections is coordinated so the student can work through all sections at the same time. Throughout, the author offers advice for approaching each topic as well as recommendations for expanding upon the exercises.