EAR TRAINING: ONE NOTE BEGINNING LEVEL
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
| Q | The workbook specifies that you should learn the sound of all 12 pitches against a key and memorize the sounds. Yet the CD that comes with the workbook only has the key of C. Is this adequate to memorize the pitches against all keys? |
| A | You only need to memorize the sound of each pitch against one key because all keys have the same construction. (Remember, we are going for development of RELATIVE pitch, not perfect pitch!) For example the 3rd of every key sounds the same no matter what key you are in: An E sounds like the 3rd in the key of C while a C sounds like the 3rd in the key of Ab. I will mention that I do have students sing melodic exercises in all keys. This is mostly to counteract the frequent habit of memorizing the vocal tension of a note rather than truly hearing the sound of the note. I would highly recommend you work on singing melodic lines over a one chord drone along with working with the ear training CD. There will be a new singing book out this fall (fall of 1999) (untitled at this point but the ISBN will be 189094419X) this book will be an excellent source for melodies but will also explain the proper way to approach this singing. |
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| Q | Good day, I am a mostly self-taught musician with a good grounding in the rudiments of musical theory, and I have done a bit of formal ear training (traditional interval instruction) as well; so I'm obviously not a beginner, but which book would you recommend I buy - "One Note Intermediate Level" or "Advanced"? I can sight-sing simple melodies in the treble and bass clefs and identify simple triads when I hear them with ease. What do you think? |
| A | I would recommend you get the Intermediate level. Let me explain that all three books are essentially the same text, what changes is the content of the CDs that come with the books. The CDs contain aural exercises, and how quickly you hear the note and how quickly the answer is given, from CD to CD, is what changes . The CDs are designed to convey a method for developing fast and accurate answers to this specific type of ear training so I recommend not starting out with the advanced level because it won't give you enough time to think of the answer in the right way. As long as we are on the subject of how to do this ear training correctly I should tell you about two new books of ours that will be out in a month or so called "A Fanatic's Guide to Ear Training and Sight Singing" (which will be an excellent source for Sight Singing) and "Key Note Recognition" which is another Ear Training CD to help with identifing key centers. These could both be very useful to you. When I have my private students work with the CDs and the exercises found in these forthcoming books I find they have great success. Keep in touch and let me know how you are progressing. |
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| Q | I just received book one of ear training. In the CD you provide a I-IV-V-I cadence followed by a note to identify. For example, the first note you play on track 1 is D. Well, what about the key of your chord progression? If your chord progression is in the key of C, then D sounds like a major second. However, if your chord progression is in the key of G, then the D sounds like a perfect fifth. Without knowing the key of your chord progression, the best I can hope for is to say that the note sounds like a 2nd or a flat 5, etc. It seems that to understand relative pitch, which is what you are suggesting I learn, I must know the key of the progression. I can't simply hear a I-IV-V-I cadence and then you play a note and expect me to give you the pitch. That would require that I have perfect, not relative pitch ear training. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks |
| A | The Ear Training CD gives you a I-IV-V-I cadence in the key of C. I overlooked mentioning that the all exercises on the CD are in the key of C Major, although I think it would become apparent after a while. But thanks for pointing it out; because of your feedback I am now putting stickers on the CDs to make this clear. Your other observations about this type of ear training are correct. I hope you find this method as helpful as my students have. Good Luck! |
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| Q | I wonder if you would mind commenting on some of my perceptions after listening to the ear training cd for probably around 9 months. (I'm afraid I may be one of the 4 year people, but I'm sticking with it.) I'm probably around 50% now.
The sounds of the notes are reorganizing themselves in my head, and that's good, but sometimes it feels like I'm going backwards. For example, while E and G (3rd & 5th) are finally become differentiated, I mix up A# and B all the time, even though in the beginning I almost always got them right. |
| A | It's very common for people to reorganize sound in their head. It is also common that you might get a note right for awhile and then lose it for awhile. |
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| Q | Often when listening to the cd, I try to pick up on the particular sounds of notes. This note has this quality and a little of that quality, whereas another note has this quality and that other quality. Some notes sound very much like others, but with microscopic differences. However, most of these qualities I'm referring to change with the octave. And I try to disregard recognizing a note by timbre. You've told me before that the color of the note to listen for is the same in all octaves, so I guess the question is: Am I working too hard listening for the wrong thing? |
| A | This can be kind of subjective so my answer is to just keep listening. Don't think too much about the sound. Just answer within a second as to what you think it is. It's really a matter of hearing these notes over a long period of time until you memorize the sound. |
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| Q | Is it enough to just listen and answer without trying to interpret the sound? |
| A | Yes. |
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| Q | Does it help to listen again to a note that I missed? |
| A | Yes, this is fine and - for some students - it helps a lot. |
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| Q | A note doesn't get the same kind of attention if I've already heard it as it does when it's not expected. Does that make sense? |
| A | Yes, but hearing the note a few times can - with some people - help you to memorize the sound. |
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| Q | I do hear resolution tendencies and melodies that my mind wants to play off of certain notes, but I can usually answer before this happens and try to ignore it. It does give me hope that if I can hear these things, than at least my mind recognizes the note on some level. |
| A | Yes, this is good progress. |
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| Q | I do admit that I'm not using the Fanatics Guide enough since I do a lot of ear training in the car and can't use an instrument to check if I've sung the correct notes. (I live in California so, unfortunately, I spend way too much time driving.) I'm working on solutions to that, like maybe mixing the cd with the notes I want playing after an interval of time. |
| A | One of the main problems with your progress is not doing the Fanatic's Guide. You need both the listening and the singing to really progress quickly. I suggest you get a "chromatic pitched instrument" which is a kinda of pitch pipe sold in music stores. Pick a few exercises from the Fanatic's Guide and stick the Fanatic's Guide CD in your CD player in the car. You can use the chromatic pitched instrument to check to make sure you are singing the right notes. With a little practice you should be able to do this pretty well in the car - especially with California type driving. |
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| Q | I chose the 3rd as my first note to master, but I usually sing the 5th if I just throw a note out there. I can always get to the 3rd from the 5th, but that's not the way to do it. It's so frustating every time I think I find the 3rd, and then hear 'Silent Night'.
This is hard stuff and looking forward to someday applying it to a real musical situation is daunting. But looking back to the beginning shows how far I've come from not doing it at all. |
| A | You sound like you are making about the same progress I made when I started. I really had a hard time getting motivated to do the singing stuff. Only after I really got serious with that did I make great improvement. |
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| Q | Sometimes I find that I am trying to relate the notes to what I have heard in the previous few tracks on the cd, I need to make sure that I only use the chords for reference, correct? |
| A | Yes, you are using the chords as a reference but really the chords are creating a key center and that is what you are using as your reference. |
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| Q | Also should I name the chords in my head C,F,G,C then try to relate the sound of the note to those chords? Should I say I,IV,V,I and try this? |
| A | Absolutely not. The chords are just creating a key so just let them play and when you hear the note just guess what it sounds like. Over time, you will start to remember the sound of each note against the key center. |
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| Q | What happens when the rhythm guitar is playing a II,V,I progression, and i try to play over it? Will having ony used I,IV,V be a hinderance to my "sense of key" in this case? |
| A | Keep in mind that many progressions like II,V,I or I, vi, ii V I will create a key center. When your ears begin to recognize the sounds of all 12 pitches in a key center you will just know what notes are being played. For instance, if someone is playing in a key center and you play one note on your instrument you will be able to tell from that one note the key that is being played. It is fantastic what you can do once you can hear these notes!
I would also recommend that you get Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training. You need to work on both sides of ear training to really advance at your optimum rate. Remember in the long run the ear training will be the best thing to improve your musicianship. It's a total pain but it's really the most important thing you can do to improve your musical abilities. |
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| Q | You've done a great job with the ear training book/CD, and I think it's going to work well for me. As you've anticipated, the biggest problem is listening to the note itself, rather than hearing it resolving to another note, or sounding like the start of a song. My question is related to that. With a note like B, I can't help hearing it resolve to the tonic. That tension is the "quality" of the note that I hear. That is, the "B-ness" of it is that wanting to resolve up a half step. Is that OK, or do I need to avoid hearing that, even with a note like B? |
| A | The problem with hearing the "B-ness" of it wanting to resolve up a half step" is that a B doesn't always resolve up a half step, so when it doesn't you will have a problem. You need to just recognize the sound rather than the resolution. It's a fine line, but remember tension is one thing, resolution is another. Over time you will know the difference. It's much like how you know color. You know the color green because you have memorized it. You don't need to see it on a leaf in a tree to know the color green. Mostly importantly you just need patience and control to keep yourself from hearing resolutions and doing this ear training many times a day will help your memorize the sounds. |
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| Q | I've been listening to the One-Note CD for a week now, and the jury's still out on whether there has been an improvement in my music listening skills. |
| A | I would give yourself 6 weeks of working on the One Note CD and then evaluate whether you have improved. If you feel you haven't improved as much as you would like then you need to rethink your practice schedule. I would be glad to help you with this if you need it. |
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| Q | Having watched "The Sound of Music" a thousand times, I did notice that I find it somewhat easier to name notes using "Do re mi fa so la ti do" instead of "A B C D E F G". When I use alphabetical characters I tend to do a double translation routine where I relate the letter to the musical syllable first before I can figure out what the note is. In contrast, using solfeggio syllables to identify notes seems to be a much more direct method.
So, is it OK if I were to name notes using "Do Re Mi" or do I have to continue using "ABC"? Or will this hinder my ability to sight read or pick out keyboard keys, since notes are usually denominated as alphabetic characters? |
| A | You can use Solfeggio but keep in mind that you need to know both systems because if you are in a real musical situation and you hear the "may" in the key of Gb you still need to know that that note is Bbb (A) so that you can play it on your instrument. Some people, including myself, also use a numbering/degree system. So when I hear the "may" in the key of Gb I think "flat 3." Of course, once again, you need to instantly know what all the degrees are in every key. If you feel you don't have that ability fast enough I would suggest using one of my theory books to speed up your response time. |
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| Q | I haven't purchased all of the ear training books, but it seems that they are all written in major keys. I understand that C major is "equivalent" to A minor, for example, but you wouldn't use the same C,F and G chords to establish a sense of the A minor key. Maybe this is tackled in the key recognition series, I don't know. Anyway, I was just curious to see what you'd recommend. |
| A | The Ear Training One Note series uses a major key only. This book will teach you how to identify all 12 notes against a key center. All notes have their own unique sound in a key center. It doesn't matter whether this key center is major or minor, the notes will sound the same. You will begin to work with minor keys with the "Key Note Recognition" book which you will begin to study after you have completed the One Note Advanced CD. The "Key Note Recognition" will begin to teach you how to modulate and prepare you for 2 note ear training. I would recommend you get Ear Training One Note Complete and Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training. |
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| Q | I know you've said that we should avoid using "resolution tendencies" to name the pitches. I just want to make sure that i'm not cheating. I don't really hear C# resolving to C, etc. But I do hear other kinds of tendencies. A good example being diatonic vs. nondiatonic. I can tell very easily now whether a pitch is inside C major or not. I've also noticed the dominant, tonic and subdominant "family" trends inside the scale. e.g. G and B have a very strong tendency to resolve to C; D and F kind of sound like they move "away" (actually they sound more like key switches--if that makes sense); and E and A have their own sounds, but they sound relatively "stable." I've also noticed that the most dissonant pitch is the flat five/tritone F#. G# also sounds very dissonant, but in a more "up" way than F#. Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you could give me a rough assessment of how I'm using the CDs. |
| A | Overall I'd say your thinking too much. Remember this isn't referential learning. You are not supposed to be comparing one thing to another. The type of learning you should be doing is very similar to how you learned to speak. When your parents said "say daddy." You didn't start comparing that word to other words you might know. Luckily at that point you just listened to the sound until you could repeat it. If ear training is going to work in real time you can't have any resolution tendencies or other thoughts going through your head because then the ear training will take too long and won't be useful. You need an instant response. To get that you need to memorize the sound of each note. For most people they think, "Oh memorize, that means compare the likes and dislikes, tendencies, color etc. of an object or thing to memorize it's essence." That's what we are taught to do from around 1st grade or so. It's not easy to turn this type of learning off and just listen until you remember. Try thinking less and listening more both as you listen to the CD but also listen to the CD more often in short 5 and 10 minute periods. Concentrated non-referential listening in combination with keeping these sounds in your short term memory will be the fastest way to success.
I also see no mention of any sight singing in your workout. If your not working out of Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training I strongly urge you to get this into your practice schedule. You will improve much quicker. |
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| Q | After looking at the descriptions of your other books I'm led to believe that these books either use one key, C major, or go through all 12 major keys. What happens in minor keys? If you play a minor cadence, how does this alter your perception of relative pitch? (If i'm hearing A minor, do I have to translate it back into C major, etc.?) I guess that leads me to a more fundamental rephrasing of the same question--Is "key" based solely upon the sound/feeling of the tonic, or is there really some component of it dictated by the 3rds of the chords? Would it be worth making another one-note CD? Is this stuff dealt with in one of your other books? These questions are somewhat redundant, but I'd like to know what your approach was to shifting this pitch recognition over to minor keys. |
| A | There is no difference ear training wise between a major or minor key. Don't forget major and minor are only two of hundreds of key types. How about a 7sus4 key i.e. C,F,G,Bb chord/key sound. There is no third in that chord at all. It's neither major or minor. You don't change anything about this key-based system as you move through different types of tonality. You do modulate, though, which will be covered first in Key Note Recognition and then with the Two Note Ear Training Books. Now your statement "If I'm hearing A minor, do I have to translate it back into C major, etc." scares me. You should know from reading the Ear Training Book that this wouldn't be correct. If you play an E while playing a A minor chord and it sounds like the 5th then you are in A minor. If you play a G while playing a C major chord and it sounds like the 5th then you are in C. If you play an A minor chord and E sounds like the 3rd then you are playing the vi-7 of the key of C and the notes of the A minor chord will sound like A=6th, C=1st, E=3re, G=5th of the key of C. Some of this is a little beyond where your hearing is at this point.
Overall I think you should concentrate more on listening and less on thinking. This will all come clear to you over time. You first need to get One Note Ear Training down and have a firm grip on Key Note Recognition and I think a lot of things will start to make more sense to you. I know it's frustrating to not understand how this whole puzzle goes together. But think of it like this: I can't show you how to put words together if you don't know the alphabet and even if I did it wouldn't mean much to you because you wouldn't be able to see much beyond the few words I would show you. Believe it or not once you get near two note ear training you are going to see that your perception of sound will begin to change and at that point I'll be able to guide you further. Keep up the good work. I'm glad to hear your digging into this stuff. Just turn your analytical mind off for awhile and let your basic instincts take over. Also it's always better to ask questions when you are unsure so let me know if I can help further. |
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| Q | I just received my copy of the Ear Training One Note Complete Method, and I can already tell that it is going to help me a great deal. I am tempted to buy The Fanatic's Guide as well, since accurate sight singing is my ultimate goal, but I would like some more information about how the training is set up before I do so.
I admit to being somewhat surprised that the One Note method is training us to recognize relative pitches instantly by using the note names of the C scale, since once we switch to a different key, all those names that have been drummed into our heads will be wrong (i.e., when I hear "Fa" in relationship to "Do" in the key of F and I've been trained to think "F!" for that relationship). I am not sure why solfege or numbered scale degrees are not taught instead so that the pitch relationships will still be named accurately within every scale. |
| A | As far as how you should think of the notes as you hear them, you will need to have both ways together before you can apply this ear training to all keys. You will need to know what degree the sound is that you hear and then what the note name is for that degree so you can find it on your instrument.
For many beginning students just starting out they have no clue as to what the 12 degrees of a key are, much less the names of the notes. This was one of many reasons why I chose to use note names rather than degrees. (more students seem familiar with note names rather than degrees). It is of course important for anyone who wants to use this ear training in real time to have a good knowledge of all keys and both diatonic and altered degrees contained within. For people (like myself) who can instantaneously identify what a note is in any key with note name or degree, whether I think note name or degree really doesn't matter. Because of the multiple possible situations that one encounters when interfacing ear training with playing music I suggest you develop both methods of recognizing pitch using both name and degree in all keys if you haven't already. If you currently possess this ability then congratulations; you are in an elite class. Now we just need to get your ability up there so you can hear any of these notes in any key and correctly identify them. Hopefully along with the Ear Training One Note CD you are also working with the Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training. You will need to do both listening and singing to progress at your optimum rate. If by any chance you don't know the names and degrees of all notes in all keys I would suggest you get Music Theory Workbook for All Instruments Volume One or Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume One and/or Two if you are a guitar player. These books will give you 100 pages of exercises to engrain these relationships. Remember you should be able to name any note diatonic or altered in any key using note names or degrees in under a second if you can't then you need to improve your response time. |
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| Q | I'm also not sure why the idea of learning relative pitches by their sound within a key is being presented as so revolutionary---isn't that what a solfege method is supposed to be doing too? Teaching you to know how "La" sounds? I agree that a systematic listening tool like these CDs is extremely helpful and much needed, at any rate. |
| A | Well you would think it would be used in every ear training method. Unfortunately most methods just have you memorize or attempt to memorize the distance between notes by learning intervals. There may be a passing mention of the fact that each note has it's own unique sound in a key but few, if any, give you exercises to improve this relationship. |
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| Q | What is the difference between the 'Ear Training' and 'Fanatic's Guide' books? |
| A | Ear Training One Note books are for listening and identifying pitches within a key center. Fanatic's Guide is a sight singing book in which you will sing various exercises along with a CD. I recommend you work out of both books to progress at the fastest rate. |
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| Q | I just ordered your complete ear-training book. I am a professional singer/pianist and when I listen to recordings of my voice, I sometimes notice my pictch slip slighty out of key. I want to fix this and am looking for a good tool. Will your book help me with this or should I be using a different book that you have available? |
| A | It's hard to say whether this book will be the answer for you. If your problem is that you aren't sure of the sound of each note in a key and therefore slip on your intonation, then this book will help a lot. Sometimes pitch problems can come from other sources like improper breath support. In any event, a singer with great ears will not only be acutely aware of their pitch but will function much better as a musician in general and will be much more musical in their singing. |
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| Q | Thank you for your wonderful approach to ear training. When I first understood, it was like a light coming on; "Yeah that's the way I should be able to identify notes." However the application takes much work, just like you have stated. I started working with the One Note Complete in September, along with the Fanatic's book. I was at the point of getting close to 90% consistently right on the advanced CD. However in keeping track of the wrong answers I noticed that the notes that weren't in the key of C were the ones that I made mistakes on. In order to become better at this I created a play list that consists of all the tracks in F# pentatonic major from the CD plus one track for each of the notes in the Key of C. (I tried it with just the notes in the F# Pentonic Major and what I noticed is that they became very consonant sounding which made the notes almost equally disonant against C major.) Do you think this will help with the problem.
The really hard work for me is eliminating interval training habits. Sometimes when I'm listening to the CD the first thing that I hear about a note is the interval distance from the last note, usually the whole or half steps. Is this bad? I'm working at trying to eliminate the interval identification tricks. How do I know when I really have your method down? Are there some things I can do to test myself? |
| A | It is common that people have more problems with the notes that aren't in the key of C. Many people make tapes or CDs with the notes that are causing them problems. I'm not so sure this speeds up the recognition process for everyone but it does seem to help some students. I have found that working with the Ear Training Complete CDs and singing out of the "Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training" in short 5 to 10 minute practice periods many times throughout the day to be the best thing to speed up note recognition.
It is common for students, particularly those with previous interval training, to have interval relationship popping up in their mind. This is one of many reasons why I feel that interval training can be detrimental to your progress with this type of "key" based ear training. When you are listening to the CD what you want to keep in your head is the sound of the key not the sound of the note in the previous example. I think you will know that most of your interval problems are behind you when you can do the "Key Note Recognition" book. Make sure though before you move on to this book that you can get around 90% correct on the Advanced One Note CD. Also remeber when you start to work with "Key Note Recognition" to also spend a little time refreshing yourself with the Advanced One Note CD. |
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| Q | Thanks for recommending the pitch pipe for the singing exercises. I've been doing them for a couple months now and making progress sloooooooooooowly. I think I'm writing you this time more for encouragement than anything because the answer to any question I have now would be to keep practiciing. I'm doing the all the basic recommended exercises about three times a day, 30-45min each time more or less. But the progress now still seems so incremental and some days decrimental. I'm determined to do this because I know it will be worthwhile if it really works how I think it will. I will really be able to identify any given note in a song (or in my mind) by listening? It's actually going to happen? I've been at it more than a year, probably a bit better than 50% and feeling pretty dense. Is this what the 'eek' is muse-eek is refering to? Will a light suddenly go on and I'll say "that's a #5 because it sounds like a #5 and that's all there is to it!"??
Would you maybe say a few words about ignoring resolution tendencies? Sometimes I hear them as soon as I hear the note. |
| A | It actually sounds like your doing pretty good. It took me 1 and 1/2 years to get one note ear training. It still wasn't at 100% at that point but strong enough to move on. I think you should look at the glass being half full, not half empty. It will take years before you totally change your way of hearing over to this method. By that I mean this ear training method will be the natural way you hear, so be patient. Remember once you can hear one note ear training at close to 100% you will be in the top 5% of all musicians on the planet. Isn't that worth a couple of years of work? It will take time to forget about resolutions and other little tricks your mind gravitates to. Just be vigilante and resolute and you will get a great reward at the other end. |
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| Q | I'm interested in starting your ear training courses, but am having problems deciding which book(s) to buy. Could you please help me sort out the following questions?
(1) What's the difference in the One/Two-Note series and the "Fanatic's Guide"? (2) Is the material in "Lines Volume One: Sight Reading and Sight Singing Exercises" included in the "Fanatic's Guide"? (3) If I obtain the complete One Note + Key Note Recognition + Two Note series, do I still need the Fanatic's Guide (or vice versa)? (4) Do you have a combined book for all six volumes of the Two Note series (like the One-Note-Complete Level)? |
| A | We recommend the following books for the ear training course:
Start with: Ear Training One Note Complete Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training After you have completed Ear Training One Note Complete you will move on to: Key Note Recognition After you have completed this book you will move on to: Ear Training Two Note Series (6 books currently in series. We don't have a combined version). After you have completed Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training you will move on to: LINES We would also recommend you develop your rhythm along with your ear training skills. For this we recommend: Rhythm Primer Rhythms Volume One Rhythms Volume Two Rhythms Volume Three Odd Meters Contemporary Rhythms Volume One Contemporary Rhythms Volume Two |
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| Q | What do you think of Rick Stone's ear training method? It is based on recognizing chords and inner harmonies in various chord voicings by recording chords one wants to know on a tape and drilling that. He says each chord has a "color" much like your one-note series. At first glance, it seems like a logical extension of your series. Myself, I have trouble in situations where I'm trying to put out a bassline to what the piano/guitar player is doing especially when he goes off the regular chord sequence into substitutions and reharmonizations. Or not knowing the tune and having to rely on my ears to play a workable bassline. I have trouble hearing what the chord is when played in open voicings, too. Knowing what chords he's playing would help me out alot. |
| A | I took a look at Rick's ear training recommendations and I have a few problems with it. First let me say that if all the chords were "one" chords in the key then this type of ear training would be fine if you are hearing each note of the chord as a unique sound within the key. The problem comes first with the dominant chords. Let's say you hear a G7b9,b13 and the notes in this voicing are G,F,B, Eb, Ab the first problem you will have is does the G sound like the root or is it functioning in C (because that is it's natural resolution) in which case the G would sound like the 5th? Here is another example if your in the key of C and then hear a F major chord. If you are still in the key of C then the F major (notes F,A,C,E) will sound like Fa, La, Do, Me. You can see that just memorizing the sound of each chord may help in one chord vamps but you get into a lot of trouble when these chords are functioning in a key not to mention all the possible ways a chord can be voiced. You could just forget about key centers and just memorize the sound of each chord but then of course you wouldn't have any idea what the the bass note of the chord was but would only know the chord type. I wouldn't recommend this either.
I will say this to help you identify chords in a jazz situation. If you have lots of chords going by quickly no one can identify these sounds accurately. There is a limit on how quickly the mind will work. Therefore what I do and other musicians with this ability listen for the note(s) that are out of the key and make educated guesses as to what the chords are. For example if I'm playing along and hear a chord change and also hear a #4 in the voicing there is a strong chance this chord is a two dominant seventh. If I have a little more time I'll use my ear to check the root if it's the second then I'm 99% sure it's that chord. You can see from this rough example that you don't need to hear all the notes of a chord to make an educated guess as to what the chord is. I should note that you also take into account the style of music you are playing. For instance if you are playing jazz standards then an F# heard in the key of C will most likely be a two dominant. There are of course many other possibilities for this F# but the most common place an F# happens in a standard in the key of C is on the two dominant. For a bass player hearing piano player voicings, you have the problem in that the piano will probably not be playing the root of the chord. Therefore if you can hear which notes are out of the key by hearing their function within the key you can make educated guesses on what bass note to play. If you can develop this skill even when you are wrong you will be playing something pretty musical so it will sound good. |
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| Q | I am very interested in your material. I have been playing guitar and mandolin for 30+ years and am interested in a wide variety of music so I'm sure I'm not totally tone deaf but I do feel I am being held back by my inability to hear better. I cannot sing on pitch and I have a terrible time tuning anything without using an electronic tuner, so I know that is the main area I need to work on. I am interested in getting the Fanatic book and the Ear Training One Note book but there is one thing I don't understand. How do I get feedback to know when I do the exercises correctly? I mean, I am assuming there will be exercises to sing along with or repeat back, if I am singing off pitch and can't accurately tell, how will I get better. |
| A | Thanks for contacting me. Many students that have similar problems as you have been helped by my ear training method. Although your problems could come from a few different sources, one of the main problems is your mind's interpretation of what it is listening for when it hears a pitch or tries to sing a pitch. Usually when people have problems like this it takes awhile to reeducate your ear/mind to perceive pitch in another way. So you must be patient with yourself as you start to work on these weaknesses because it will take dedication and time for you to change it.
As far as feedback on whether you are doing the exercises right the Ear Training One Note book tells you the correct answer so you won't have a problem there. Fanatic's Guide will require you to check that you are singing the right note using an instrument. As long as you can tell most of the time if the note you are singing is the note you are playing you shouldn't have a problem. |
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| Q | It surprises me that on the online forum and in the books, no-one has commented on how one note will sound quite different at a higher or lower octave. For me, at least, I can hear an 'A' in the middle of a keyboard/guitar much easier than on the very high or low end of the instrument. You have included higher and lower versions of the same note on the CD and the answer key tells me what note it is, but not which octave it is in, and all the permutations are not covered. I hope that future editions of the CD may include each note in all octaves. |
| A | Thanks for your kind comments. Although many students feel that all 12 notes sound different in every octave you will find when you truly hear the "sound" of each note in a key center the octave placement won't matter. This is why I didn't methodically include every note in every octave on the CD. I appreciate you bringing this up because you are right, no student has mentioned this on-line, but many of my private students have over the years. As students progress with the ear training method there are a few places were this idea that somehow each note's "sound" has changed. For instance many students feel this when they are working with Key Note Recognition. In this situation they feel that when the notes are heard against a minor key they sound different. This is not true and over time you hear the correct sound of each note. When this happens the octave, key type and other considerations don't matter. |
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| Q | I wanted to ask your opinion about solfege techniques for hearing Jazz that someone like Thom Mason teaches from his book "The art of hearing." Or what they use to teach at dick grove school of music.I have been playing Jazz for years and have been looking for a practical way to develop my hearing and have been working with the solfege technique lately.I am wondering how your system compares and what the differences are..Am I wasting my time again in trying to learn the solfege technique? What's your experience with all this. |
| A | When you say "solfege technique" this is simply the act of using solfege syllables to sing an exercise, i.e. Do, Me, So. Many times this general idea of singing melodies and exercises using solfege is referred to as "Sight Singing." I think the question you need answered is what kind of ear training courses are there available and which will work. There are basically two systems available for "relative pitch" ear training. One uses the idea of learning the distance between every note (intervals) and one uses the idea of memorizing the sound of each note within a key center (contextual). Most schools and universities use the interval method. My method is the contextual method which I have found from personal experience and 25 years of teaching to be the only method that truly brings a students ear up to the ability to hear sounds and instantly know what they are. This is crucial for an improvising musician and my method is one that is used extensively by many jazz musicians. Though I haven't seen the methods you have mentioned I would be very surprised if they weren't interval based systems, therefore, I personally wouldn't recommend them especially for a jazz musician.
One thing both systems have in common is that they recommend singing and listening. This is the best way to improve at your maximum rate. If you would like to use my ear training system I would recommend you get two books: Ear Training One Note Complete Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training These two books with give you the foundation you need to work on both sight singing using solfege and listening CDs to improve your note recognition. Overall it's important to realize that doing the wrong system of ear training can have devastating consequences on your development. Please choose wisely because unlearning the wrong method can take years. |
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| Q | I have started a serious practice regimen focusing on one of my weak points: ear training. I have had absolutely no previous ear triaining lessons so I don't have any bad habits to break, but I also have to start from scratch. I have completed my first week of ear training with 3-5 short sessions per day. Since listening to the complete beginner's CD was a bit too much for my ears I have made some subset CDs with 3, 4, 5 and 7 notes to work on before returning to the complete chromatic CD. I'm currently working on 4 notes and getting 50-60% correct. When listening I either recognize a note immediately (or think I recognize it) or have to guess. Some notes I get always right (hurray!). Yesterday I started the Fanatic's Guide and had a fairly easy time getting the tonic in the various keys (actually I had to concentrate for a few drone chords before "hearing" and being able to sing "one" on the tonic). Now for my question: as I progress from the tonic to the 3rd, 5th etc should I keep singing respectively "three", "five" etc. or should I be singing the "Mi and Sol" in the key of C and "La and Do" in the key of F. Should I be advancing randomly through the various keys or is it ok to follow straight through the CD? |
| A | Thanks for contacting me. It's OK to make subsets but also listen to the CD with all notes. Maybe do 4 times with your subset and once with all notes everyday.
With the Fanatic's Guide you want to sing let's say the 3rd in every key. So if it is the key of C you will sing E and call it "me." If you are in the key of F you will sing an "A" and call it "me" also. You can either skip around on the CD or go straight through for now it doesn't matter. Just make sure as you progress to singing other notes than the root that you don't first sing or think the tonic in your mind and then think up or down to the note. You want to just hear the cadence and sing "pre-hear" the note in question. This is much harder but you need instant recognition in order for this ear training to be useful, so even though it's harder it will be more beneficial in the long run. You are tackling some hard stuff but if you stick with it over the next few years you will see amazing things happening. |
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| Q | I am a novice keyboard player and I am wondering if any of your ear training courses could help me find out what chords my left hand should play to harmonize the melody being played by my right hand. I know all about the circle of fifths, but I was hoping I could simply listen to the melody notes and somehow figure out instantly what chord comes next vis-a-vis the melody line.
Same is true with my guitar playing - how do I know what chord comes next, and will your ear training course help me with this? |
| A | In order to develop the ability to harmonize a melody by ear you will find my ear training course to be of great benefit but you will also need a good understanding of harmony and music theory so you know what notes are in each chord in any key. In general many of the notes in a melody are also found in the notes of the chord that is used with the melody. Therefore knowing what notes are in each chord is crucial. Musicians many times use a combination of ear training and music theory to make decisions on which chord to use. By using my ear training method you will develop an ability to recognize the notes you hear which with the addition of some theoretical training you will be able to add in the correct harmony. Keep in mind that this will not happen overnight. Since I don't know your current aural recognition skills nor your music theory understanding it is hard to give you a time frame. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a novice player 2 to 3 years before they could harmonize fairly complicated songs. The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to develop the follow:
1. A firm sense of key 2. Knowing the sound of each note in a key center 3. Theoretical understanding of chord structures You would need to apply yourself everyday to this. I would recommend you use the following books. Ear Training One Note Complete Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume One or Music Theory Workbooks for All Instruments Volume One (will work well for piano). |
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| Q | Should I sing the tonic before attempting to guess a note on the ear training cd? Will this help me recognize the relationship between the notes? |
| A | You shouldn't sing the tonic before guessing the answer to each exercise. Once you have guessed the answer for each exercise it is fine to sing the note. |
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| Q | I need to fine-tune my understanding a little, and make sure my approach to listening to your CD is not going to get me in trouble later. Let me start by explaining what instruments I play. I'm a singer first. I also accompany myself on guitar. I use the guitar extensively to help me work out harmonies and I'm starting to develop some light soloing skills. I've added a new word to my music vocabulary: "degree". Let me make sure I'm using this word correctly. If we're in the key of C and I play an F, I would call that the 4th (or IV) degree. Is that correct or would it be the 6th degree (counting chromatically C to F)? I assume the first way is right. |
| A | Calling F the 4th would be correct. When you count up from C to F it is 5 half steps not 6.
C,C#,D,D#,E,F 0 1 2 3 4 5 When you use this method, you call it an interval class. So in other words the distance between C and F is interval class 5 or more commonly written "O5" This is more advanced Post Tonal Music Theory but thought I'd throw it in there for thought. |
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| Q | I see where you're coming from about some students being able to understand the note name more than the degree. I can see also how this could start people thinking about intervals more than the feel of that degree relative to the key. For me with where I'm at right now, though, I wish you had another version of the CD that went by degree. It would universalize it for me. I guess I'm saying that my priority is on feeling the degree versus naming the note. I play the guitar. With movable scales and all, it's easier once I know the key to just hear the minor third and go right to it on the fret board rather than naming the note.
Please don't get me wrong, though. I love this approach. It definitely won't be a waste for me to internalize the association of the name of the note in the key of C with the degree. I'll probably end up using that in a similar way that most people use solfege. Will that get me in trouble later? |
| A | No it shouldn't, you just have to learn all pitches and scale degrees in all keys and learn all that anywhere on the guitar neck. This is NOT an easy job, but you will be a first class musician if you can do it. |
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| Q | I've tried other ear training with solfege, and I just couldn't get over the hump of associating the solfege syllable with the degree. Maybe it will be easier to use the notes from the key of C. Interestingly enough, mode names are LOOSELY associated with the corresponding degree in the key of C (i.e. Dorian, Aeolian).
I guess with either solfege, the notes in C, or the name of the degree, the important thing is understanding the "personality" of each degree. I think your CD will help unlock these mysteries for me. I'm looking forward to diving into it, I just want to make sure my approach will work in the long run before I start the difficult task of this training. |
| A | You'll be fine. You will probably end up with different ways you relate sound in different situations. By knowing the note name, degree and location on the guitar you will be set for anything anyone throws at you. |
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| Q | I have been very diligent with my ear training, but I am finding it a little harder to find the right moment for the Fanatics Guide singing exercises.
I have noticed a constant though slow progression in recognizing the notes since starting the course. I'm currently able to recognize the "C" notes in all there octaves wtihout any problems, but have trouble putting the other notes "sound" in my long term memory. I seem to get the low octave notes correct and recognize them from day to day much more easily than the middle and higher notes. I was hoping that once I could recognize a note in one octave, I would be able to do the same in all the others. It almost seems that I have to memorize the sound of every note in every octave even though, when I listen for example to a series of G's in different octaves, I "hear" them as having the same sound against the I-IV-V-I cadence. |
| A | Well it sounds like your progressing at a normal rate. The Fanatic's Guide would certainly help you progress quicker. Try to slow building up the amount you work out of that book.
It is common to hear notes well in a couple of octaves but have more problems in others. It will take your ear/mind awhile to figure out what the unique sound of each note is in each octave. "Me" is the same sound in all octaves but it will take your mind awhile to focus in on that unique sound. That's why it's important to do the notes in all octaves because even though it's harder it helps you narrow down what each note sounds like over time. You should try to think of ear training as a life long pursuit. You will find over the next months that your ear will improve dramatically but don't look at this like there is an end. It's a life long process of challenging your mind/ear to hear more and more. |
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| Q | I have just purchased your "Fanatics Guide to Ear Training and Sight Singing Volume 1" and also the "Ear Training One Note Beginning Level" to help me with some melodic transcriptions I have to do in music college. Many of my jazz professors agree that intervals are useless when trying to hear a melodic phrase, and instead advocate the type of method you use in your book, so I think you are on the right track.
However, I am concerned about the limitations of your practice exercises. I am not sure that practicing hearing and identifying pitches against a Major Key Center is going to help me all that much when it comes to transcribing a solo. A typical jazz progression might go: Cmaj7 Db7 Gmi7 C7 Fmin7 Bb9 Em7 Ebdim Dmi G7 E7 A7 Dm G7 Cmaj. If you are really skilled at hearing pitches against a major chord which is the key center, how does this help when the root moves to bIII diminished or IV minor or bVII dominant? If you can quickly identify the pitches played against the I maj7 chord, that is a great start, but the I maj7 will usually only occur at the beginning and the end of the piece. What is guiding you the rest of the way? Are you hearing each new chord and melodic phrase and still trying to compare it to C maj where the piece began? Are you thinking of each new chord as a new key? I think your book will really help me pass my melodic transcription class, but I don't want to spend 5 or more years on this method unless it meets my long term goals of hearing modes, root movement and chord changes, chord quality, and transcribing solos which occur over typical jazz progressions. |
| A | Since you are only at the beginning of this ear training journey I'll go lightly.
First: The major chord cadence that you used as your reference is just that a reference to put your mind into a key center. Your cadence could be a II-V-I of major or minor or a repeating one chord vamp of any chord type. Basically the type of key (i.e. major, minor, dominant) doesn't matter the notes will always sound the same in the key. Second: If you have a progression like Cmaj7 Db7 Gmi7 C7 Fmin7 Bb9 Em7 Ebdim Dmi G7 E7 A7 Dm G7 Cmaj. depending on the tempo you may hear this entire progression in C major or you may modulate (probably when you go to Fminor) Any notes you heard over this progression would be heard in the key of C (unless you modulate which depends on you, the tempo, and your affinaties). So your one note ear training skills would work here. Third: You need to get further into this method before you are going to hear and/or understand a number of things. Modulation will be covered when you do Key Note Recognition and 2 note ear training. In general, using your example, you are hearing each new chord and melodic phrase and still trying to compare it to C maj. But considering you don't even know how to modulate using this method I would highly recommend you not work with progressions that may or may not modulate until you first understand and can do one note ear training. Otherwise you will most likely develop bad habits based on your limited understanding. If you want to work on transcriptions I would use modal tunes like So What or Impressions or transcribe Indian ragas where there is a repeating drone and no key change. Once you are getting 80% on the Ear Training One Note Advanced, get the Key Note Recognition then write me back and I'll help you out with more complicated progressions. Of course if you have other questions please ask. |
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| Q | I've decided I want to go with your approach.
I can devote the following time slots for my practice schedule: On weekdays, I spend half an hour each day walking back and forth from the train station to the office (15 minutes each way) during which I usually listen to tapes or CDs on my Walkman. I should be able to spare an additional 30 minutes during lunch break listening privately to tapes or CD instruction. Also during weekdays, I can spare 2 hours every night playing with my MIDI controller keyboard at home . Right now, I practice using Band-in-a-Box and/or Yamaha PSR arranger accompaniment, though I really would like to play the keyboard more like a regular piano than as an electronic instrument . But I'm thinking of getting a drum machine because metronome work is kind of boring. Thus, I would like to use the piano as my main instrument. I also have done a fair amount of reading and self-study on music theory, so I can use a fake book and read a single note melody on the treble clef. I also use the chord symbols above the treble clef to play accompaniment. I am familiar with pitch and rhythm as well (note duration, tempo, the various keys, etc.) However, I have neglected to use the bass clef since I rely mostly on chord symbols for my left hand work. I know about the circle of fifths, how chords are formed, i.e., minor, 7th, 6th, major, diminished, augmented, chord progressions, etc., at least in theory, but I have not yet memorized all the chords in all the keys since I do most of my practice in the key of C. My single biggest challenge, and the reason why I find your approach so appealing, is being able to play on the fly, i.e., without referring to a chord sheet or notation. In other words, solely by ear. I can do that with single note melodies. My problem is on the chord progression side where I am unable to distinguish different chord "colors" to the point where I can know what chord shape or progression goes with what melody note in progress. Otherwise, using a fakebook is no problem. |
| A | I would recommend listening to the Ear Training One Note CDs 4 to 5 times a day for 5 to 10 minutes. This will work great as you walk to and from a train station or other places that you can use a discman to listen. I would spend two 15 minute periods of your 2 hour practice time singing out of the Fanatic's Guide. You can join the "member area" of the muse-eek.com website to download some sample lessons. These lessons would be a good place for you to start.
If you can within one second say the correct answers to these 6 questions then you don't need the Music Theory Workbook. (answers at bottom of email) 1. What is the flatted 6th degree of Gb? 2. What is the sharped 4th degree of Db 3. What is the flatted 3rd of Bb 4. E is the flatted 6th of what key? 5. Gb is the flatted 7th of what key? 6. E is the sharped 4th of what key? With my ear training it is important that you have quick recognition of these crucial music theory questions. If not you need to develop your music theory to the point that it is like the English language to you and you don't have to think very hard to get the correct answer fast. If you are using the piano I would recommend the Music Theory Workbook for All Instruments if you feel you need to quicken your response. |
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| Q | I have a couple questions about the single-note drills. Any advice for learning the high notes? I mean, as the octaves go up, the notes seem to curve up too. For example, a high octave A (6th) sounds like a B (M7) no matter how many times I listen to it, even if I alternately listen to a lower A. In fact, most of the notes in the top one or two octaves sound like B or C.
I can tell that doing the singing exercises has made an improvement, although in testing myself with the single-note cd every week or so lately, my success rate has dropped from the 70's% to low 60's%. I like to think it's because my ear is moving to a deeper level of hearing and needs to catch up again. Or maybe it's just tired. Most of the missed notes are high ones, but often they are ones that I guess right on most other occasions, so that is a bit frustating. But the notes that I do get right I'm usually certain about. I try to ignore resolution tendencies, but sometimes it gives me a clue, even though other times I guess the note as soon as I hear it. If I hear a resolution tendency and that gives me the note, rather than just hearing the note immediately, should I count that as a wrong answer? Or if I inadvertently hear that a note is higher or lower than the preceding note? Gotta be ruthless, right? In that case I'm probably around 50%. |
| A | The high notes and even the very low notes give everybody a problem. Most people find if they just work in those extreme octaves that they start to recognize the differences. I have also found that over time your ear will get more and more discerning so these extreme notes will come into focus.
It is not uncommon for people to go up and down in their ability with the single note ear training. Your mind will be adjusting and readjusting as you work through this method so you are correct that you are moving into a deeper level of aural perception. Keep your progress in perspective also. Remember that even getting 50% puts you in about the top 25% of all musicians on the planet. Professional musician's ear training skills are pretty bad in general. It's only the really hard working musicians - many of whom are the best of the best - that can really hear music. |
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| Q | I've been practicing your "One Note" beginning level recently, and I've found that I often mistake a note for a fifth above it. For example, when the recording is a "D," I will often call it an "A." Do you have any advice for overcoming this particular problem? I guess that it has something to do with the overtones of a note, but that doesn't really help me fix the problem. |
| A | Missing a note by a 5th is very common with students. There is nothing specific that you need to do to fix this problem it will go away over time. You should of course be working with the CD many times each day for 5 to 10 minute practice sessions. You should also be working out of the Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training. By using a combination of both books you will improve at your fastest rate. |
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| Q | I bought an acustic guitar about 2 years ago, and like every beginner I was very frustrated. I stopped playing for a while and picked it back up and have been practicing as much as I can the last few months. I have a couple of beginner books, and they helped some, (with configuration of chords etc.) but I didn't know why. I found your book on amazon (1st steps) and a lot of people who reviewed it said it was great. I bought it and I love it. My problem is, I tend to jump around too much, from reading theory, to chord progressions ,to barre chords, back to theory, etc. I want to be able to play songs on the guitar, so I was wondering if it is ok to try some songs on the guitar before knowing most of the fundamentals from your books? I want to purchase "Music Theory Workbook Volume One" and also "One Note Ear Training," should I wait till I'm knowledgable enough with 1st steps before buying the other two books so I don't jump around and get involved with these books prematurely? |
| A | I think it is fine if you learn other songs while you are studying the 1st Steps book. From your description of your situation though I think what you really need is a regimen of practice so you get to the things you want to do and the things you should do to improve your musicianship. If you could religiously practice one hour a day with some other extra time thrown in while commuting or use anyplace where you have some down time to do some other music work. Here is what I'd do;
1. For 15 minutes practice the chord progressions from the 1st steps book. Make sure you can play the progression in time and that you get to each chord when you need to. Use the midifiles or audio files to check your progress. You should try to master one progression every other week. 2. Download scales from http://www.arnoldjazz.com/workshop/index.html Download the major scales from the music workshop. I want you to learn the C major scale in 7 positions on the guitar. Make sure you are learning this by either saying the note names or degrees. Do not learn the scales by fingering patterns. I want you to do a new scale position each week. So week one you will learn the C scale starting from F. The next week you will learn the C scale starting from G. When you finish the C major scale you should then learn the C dorian scale then C phrygian etc. Practice this for 15 minutes. 3. Spend the last 1/2 hour learning songs you like or improvising with the scales you have learned. Muse Eek will have a "site license" available to you in a few months. By paying a modest fee you will have access to 100's of mp3 files that I've recorded. You can use these as backing tracks to improvise over. 4. Ear Training One Note Complete. Do 5 times a day for 5 to 10 minutes. This is best done while commuting or lunch breaks or before you go to bed. etc.. 5. Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume One. Do one page a week so about 3 to 4 exercises a day. You will have to work up to this because the first ones will take you awhile to figure out. Once again this is a excellent book to do if you commute by train or have other times when you are sitting with nothing to do. I should also mention that you should get the e-book Guitar Technique so you learn your scales with the proper technique. Make sure to check out the pictures and videos on the website so you see exactly what you should do. You should take the next couple of months to work into this kind of schedule. It takes time to rearrange your life to include music. So be patient and look at this as a long term process. |
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| Q | I've been unable to listen to ear-training one note beginner CD for the past two weeks (hectic life!). I started listening again today. Now I find that I can still hear the final chord (pre-hear?) even though the actual sound has completely died away. And I'm doing somewhat better at identifying the notes.
My question: is this good, or am I somehow using a crutch? I am not mentally singing "do" or trying to resolve the note or trying to figure out the interval from "do"--at least not consciously. |
| A | If you still hear the final chord in your head that is fine. I wouldn't try to hear it but if you notice it's there that's OK. Really the chord progression is just establishing the "key center" so a better description of what needs to happen is you need to feel like you are in the "key center" rather than hearing the last chord. A subtle difference but an important one. My best advice is to stay conscious from time to time of the steps you are taking as you do the ear training. This will help you notice any tendencies which you can then bounce off me if you think they might be questionable.
Keep up the good work and make sure to do this ear training every day even if it's for only a few minutes. Consistency is extremely important. |
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| Q | I have purchased your ear training books. I have a few questions:
How do you work out chord progression via ear? Do you have a daily training program? Is it OK to use a CD player with ear jacks to listen to the CD? |
| A | You will begin to learn how to hear and transcribe chord progressions when you begin to work on the 2 note ear training books. I would recommend you first work with Ear Training One Note Complete and Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training.
I would also suggest you read the FAQs associated with these book on the muse-eek.com website. You might also want to read the recommendation file found at: http://www.muse-eek.com/books/books.html There are some very good recommendations for a daily ear training program found at: http://www.muse-eek.com/books/ET_1_note_complete/eartrngfaq.html It is definitely recommended that you use a CD player with ear jacks to do your ear training. It's a great idea to carry a discman with you and do ear training in any situation where you have a few minutes time to concentrate. |
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| Q | I have been working with your Ear Training One Note Beginner for about two months now and I believe it's working well. However, I would like to describe to you my practice regimen and see if you think its okay or if I should alter it in any way. Here it is: I have made a subset cd consisting of every C, E, and G in every octave. I try to listen to this two or three times a day for ten minutes at a time, but usually I only do it once. I also try to listen to the main cd with every note once a day for ten minutes, although often I don't get around to it. Then I also do the Fanatics singing cd for about twelve minutes a day (this I do every day). I'm being honest about the actual work that I've been doing because maybe it'll help you advise me. Hopefully I will be able to increase to what I know I should be doing soon. With the Fanatic's CD on track one I'll sing an E for about a minute and then go to track two where I'll either switch to G or sing another E just like I did on track one. In this way I'll alternate between E, and G for the whole cd which lasts about twelve minutes because I'm doing one minute on each track. In the beginning I was singing only C, but after I got that perfect I moved onto E, and then G and once I got each of those perfect I combined them. So that is where I am now. With both the Fanatics Guide CD and the One note subset CD that I made of just C, E, ang G I am now getting close to 100%. However when I listen to the full CD with all 12 notes I can only get C and thats only if its in the middle octaves.
My plan is to now make a subset that now includes D, in addition to C, E, and G and work on getting those all correct and then move onto include F and so on in the order that you recommend working through in the Fanatics Guide book. In terms of the Sight Singing work that I'm doing I plan on now trying to sing D. So, a few questions: 1) Do you think this is a good practice plan? Should I be focusing this much on the subset CD that I made or should I be spending more time listening just to the main CD with all 12 notes? 2) How do you recommend I practice my Sight Singing? The thing that troubles me is that as I move onto singing a new note I feel I neglect the ones I already have practiced and learned and that I forget them. This is why I am now alternating between E, and G within the same practice time. But once I move onto more notes, I won't have time to be focusing on all of them. Should I just periodically review the previous notes? 3) Is it okay to be doing only one session of Sight Singing per day with three or four sessions of One Note listening or should I be doing an equal amount of each? |
| A | Thanks for your detailed explanation of your practice regimen. My main question is about your work with the Fanatic's Guide CD. Just checking but you do realize that if you sing E with the first track you are listening for how a 3rd sounds against the key of C and when you switch to the second track which is in the key of F and you continue to sing an E you are now singing the 7th of the key and that is how you are hearing the E in the key of F. If this is not what you are doing then this is VERY wrong. Remember you are trying to hear what each note sounds like against a key center and when the key center changes each of the 12 notes will sound differently.
It is OK to make CD with fewer notes BUT make sure to always listen to the CD with all the notes each day. In some cases using a smaller group of notes can help people remember the sound of each note but in other cases people just get a false sense that they are memorizing sound. Remember it's sometimes hard for your brain to memorize something when it doesn't have the complete picture of all the components involved. This is why listening to all the notes is an important step each day. Overall it sounds like your on the right track as far a your practice habits go. It is very important with this ear training that you do it every day and never miss a day. I would get your response up to around 90% for each note before moving on to the next with the Fanatic's Guide. I usually have students work through the notes in the following sequence C,E,G,B,D,F,A,C#,Eb,G#,Bb,F#. The more practicing you can do out of both the One Note and Fanatic's Guide the better. You should at least spend 1/2 hour on both books each day. Of course you want to break this up in the short sessions. Remember you are dealing with your memory with these books so you need to reinforce the information often. |
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| Q | I just got Ear Training One Note Beginning Level and I have a few questions before I begin the course. My concerns mainly center around perfect pitch vs. relative pitch. In the FAQ section you say that perfect pitch can be learned (i.e., with the Lucas Burge course), but also that it's less useful for performers than perfect pitch is. So here are my questions:
1. Can I have both relative pitch and perfect pitch? How would that work? Could I turn them on and off? 2. What exactly are the differences between perfect pitch and relative pitch as far as performing is concerned (piano and voice, specifically)? What will I be able to do with perfect pitch performance-wise, but not with relative pitch, and vice versa? Would relative pitch be more useful for me if I am performing pre-modern classical or musical theater? 3. What are the differences between the two as far as composing is concerned? What aspects of composing would be easier with relative pitch? With perfect pitch? Burge claims that with perfect pitch each note has a particular color, and you have a sense of key which is imbued with a certain feeling, different for each key. Is that true? Is it different for relative pitch? I'm worried about missing out on certain aspects of music if I train myself for one pitch as opposed to the other. When I'm composing I don't want "not to see certain colors in the palette" so to speak. 4. What are the differences between the two as far as listening and enjoyment of music is concerned? I don't want to lose the emotion that I feel when I listen to music, yet I want to understand the language better, as it were. |
| A | Let me first say that perfect pitch is learnable. I haven't used the David Burge course so I can't say that his system works, or maybe I should say works for everyone. Let me also say that it is my experience that most great musicians with perfect pitch also have great relative pitch abilities. So that answers your first question, you can have both perfect pitch and relative pitch and you can use them at your choosing. There is no conflict in the human mind for using more than one tool to get an answer to a question. Perfect pitch is learning the sound of all 12 notes by their individual characteristics. A person can develop a sensitivity to the sound of a note when a note is played by itself with no reference key. Relative pitch requires you to have a reference. My ear training requires you to have a "key center" reference in order to hear the note(s) correctly. Both are learned with the same process of memorizing the sound through exercises. Because each is a different technique, you will use different exercises to master the technique.
Since all music is in a key it all depends on your ability to hear it. Realistically speaking, a musician with both perfect pitch and relative pitch can pick and choose where they use each technique based on their personal choice. There isn't a preferred use of one technique over the other. A common example of where Perfect Pitch would be used is when you hear one pitch with no known key to compare it to. Obviously relative pitch would be used if a person was improvising so they know what key they are in. Either or both could be used in composing and it would be up to the composer which technique they would use. I use relative pitch about 90% of the time when I'm composing The color of notes in perfect pitch is used as a device to help you memorize the sound of a note. Once you know the note you are not seeing/hearing color you just know what the sound is. You would not be seeing certain colors in a palette. I would not advise starting both ear training methods at the same time. To gain perfect pitch on one instrument is a lot easier than learning good relative pitch. If you decide to start with relative pitch I encourage you to read the Ear Training One Note Complete book carefully and check out all the FAQs on line. I would also encourage you to purchase Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training. This book will greatly speed up your progress. As with everything, once you understand this ear training method it's easy. Getting to the point where you drop all your preconceptions about what you think you are suppose to do and truly realize that you are just memorizing sound can take some time. Once you "understand" the process and the path you will be well on your way to gaining great aural recognition skills. Don't expect this to happen overnight. |
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| Q | Are there books that train you to hear chord progressions? |
| A | My ear training method prepares you step by step to hear more and more complicated aural situations. You can't learn to hear chord progressions before you can hear one note, two note, modulations etc. You have to build up to hear multiple notes that either modulate or don't. If you feel this makes sense to you I would start with Ear Training One Note Complete and Fanatics Guide. Once you have finished those books write back and I'll give you the next group of books and exercises to do. You can also check the many FAQs and additional suggested materials posted on the muse-eek.com website for more information. |
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| Q | I am an amateur choral singer (7 yrs church choir, 2 yrs community chorus (Messiah, Mozart Requiem) trying to improve the speed at which I learn new music with the ultimate goal of being able to sight sing. I have been working with the One Note Beginning Ear Training for several weeks 2 to 3 times a day (as much as my work schedule allows). Of course I find the process very frustrating, in line with all the FAQ material. I have some questions that I don't think I have seen so far in the FAQ.
(1) The concept of key center is still very fuzzy to me. However it is fairly easy to hold the last single note played (after the chord sequence) in my head during the following chord sequence. Since the single note is a much more solid and definite piece of information for me it is a real temptation to use it against the next single note rather then the amorphous key center chords and thus fall into the trap of using intervals to identify the second single note. (a) At least for very beginning learning purposes why isn't the order of the music on each track reversed? That way one could at least in the learning stages hold a note in one's head while listing to the chords and learning what a note sounds like against a key center? (b) A more basic question is could one work on the sound of a key center by itself without any of the solitary notes first? For example by hearing a series of chords that establish a key center compared to a series of chords or notes that are NOT a key center (or is this too wide open)? (c ) Sometimes I think I hear notes in terms of dullness or brightness against the "key center." Is this part of what I should be working for? (2) I find the different nature of the very high and very low notes, perhaps the word is timbre, adds to the difficulty. Some days I can identify a G# in one of the last octaves used but still have no clue on the lowest two octaves when I hear it. Some days I can identify one of the lowest B's but not have a clue about the very high B's. (a) Am I listening to the wrong thing in the notes? For example the initial attack of the note versus the middle or the decay moments? (b) As a singer (tenor) could I get around this problem by just listening to samples from the octaves used by the human voice, say two octaves up from middle C and one and a half down? (c ) Given the difficulties of hearing a "key center" and the extreme octaves would I be better off to "narrow the field" and just try and learn the absolute pitches of the notes in the singing range? |
| A | The concept of key takes time to build within a person's mind. A key center isn't something you think about, it just exists in your mind because you have done exercises that have built this sense. In a way it's like when you speak. You don't think through each word you say you have a general idea and you express it through language. If you concentrated on every word you were saying it would be unintelligible to others because it wouldn't flow as an idea. The same is true of a key center, the more you concentrate on the last pitch you heard as a key center the weaker you make your key center recognition. The more you just take in the key center as a general expression of the chords and the cadence the more it will become a natural part of the way you hear. What you will realize over time is when you hear each note played after the cadence in the exercises found in the One Note Beginning CD you will start to hear a unique sound in let's say the 3rd degree of a key center. You hear that unique sound because you have an underlying key center that is coloring the sound you hear.
You wouldn't want to sing a note in your head and then listen to the other note because many bad things could happen if you weren't supervised. First you might have weak key retention so that the note you are singing could become some other note besides the tonic. Secondly playing another note may make you modulate and third this isn't how you listen to music. You don't sit in a rehearsal singing a note to help you identify other notes. I understand that you are saying why not start like that. I agree that that could work under a very controlled situation where you are giving private lessons to a student every week and can guide them by doing various tests. But to just tell people to do that unsupervised with all the background I've had in teaching ear training you are asking for a disaster. You certainly can work on key center development with the One Note Beginning book. What you really need to do is work with the exercises in the Fanatic's Guide to Sight Singing and Ear Training. The singing exercises found within this book will help you build your key retention. The combination of both books will build your ear training skills much quicker. I think this is especially true in your situation based on the questions you have asked. The dullness and brightness you are hearing is the beginning of perfect pitch not relative pitch. For instance many students find that after doing my ear training for a couple of years they memorize the sound of C. Perfect Pitch on one instrument is actually easier to learn than good relative pitch. Although perfect pitch is useful relative pitch gives you the expression and understanding of how notes sound within a key center and the ability to hear how most great musicians hear music. Also remember most people with perfect pitch also have acute relative pitch. It is very common to have problems with notes in extreme registers because your sense of the uniqueness of a pitch isn't well defined. This disappears over time. What you need to do is improve your perception of sound. This is done by improving your memory of the sounds you are hearing. The only way to do this is to practice more so that your mind remembers better. I recommend you do many short 5 to 10 minute practice periods throughout the day. Using both the One Note Beginning CD and the Fanatic's Guide book. Think of this once again like how you learned language when you were a small child. Your mother said words over and over to you until you memorized the sound. This is what you need to do with the ear training. Don't think in relationships like one plus one equals two think in memory relationships i.e. I do something over and over and then I start to remember it. The more I do it the more it goes into my permanent memory. On one hand it is great that you are thinking this through and trying to come up with logical exercises and directions to take. But think about this. Is some of this searching being driven by your inability to do the exercises? I know for myself I thought that the exercises just weren't working and I needed to find something else to help me. Over time I realized it was just that I had a very weak sense of key and had been taught intervals for years. So... It took me a couple of years before I was able to do the one note ear training. Mine was a pretty severe case. Usually my students get the one note ear training in six months to a year. But remember if you haven't gotten it in a year that doesn't mean there is something wrong with you it just means you need to continue to work and it will improve. EVERYONE GETS THIS EAR TRAINING THAT TRYS. Don't think about how much time you are spending just immerse yourself in the exercises. |
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