I’m afraid that I can’t dedicate enough time to practicing if I also add Direct Application Courses and  MetroDrone. I’m a bit confused because there is a lot of books and a lot of information to cover but i don’t want to lose something important. Do you have any idea how i can combine all another books with what i’m doing now? I’m currently playing bass in a cover band and I want to get best schedule for the most effective growth in both my playing ability and my ear training ability.
Thank you!

A: Yes you should get 80% on the Key Note Recognition on the 1st level before moving to “Ear Training Two Note.” Make sure you do all levels of the Key Note Recognition because that will help you hear various types of key centers.

When you are playing a gig and trying to use ear training to prehear let’s say the notes you are playing on bass this gets a little tricky because you need to know if you are modulating.  If you have a song that is all in one key or one section of a song that is all in one key then trying to pre-hear notes is fine.  But if you are playing a jazz standard like “Giant Steps” then I would hold off on ear training with songs like that until you have master Ear Training Two Note which will teach you how to modulate. Direct Application CDs should be done a few times a day.  So if you are practicing Key Note Recognition 6 times a day.  Practice it 4 times a day and add in one of the Direct Application CDs.  Once you get 80% on each of the songs on the CD then you don’t need to listen to that track anymore and just concentrate on the tracks that hard for you. Direct Application is important because right now you are doing mostly clinical types of exercises which is not real music.  By adding in these direct application CD you are working on applying your skills to real music which is your goal in the long run.

A MetroDrone would be used for instance if you practice scale, arpeggios, sight reading, rhythm on the bass anytime each day.  If you are working on a C Dorian b2 scale then put on a C MetroDrone at a tempo that makes sense for you and then you will be hearing the scale in the right key center.  Scales like the modes of Melodic Minor Ascending and Diminished for instance are very hard to keep your ear in the right key center sop the MetroDrone will help this.  If you are working with ear training on any of my rhythm books which are all on one pitch you can put on a MetroDrone and use that to focus in on a pitch where you might have problems.  For instance if b6 is a hard note for you.  Put on a C MetroDrone and read the rhythm exercise on an Ab this will reinforce that pitch.  There are many other applications.  There is a video that comes with the MetroDrone download showing you how you can use the MetroDrone as a way to learn to play faster by thinking less so that is another perk of using the MetroDrone.

I hope this gives you some guidance on Ear Training Exercises Bass Players

It is also recommended that you read Bruce Arnold’s Blog at his artist site. It contains more discussion of the musical topics found in these FAQs as well as other subjects of interest. You will also find the “Music Education Genealogy Chart” located here which shows you the historic significance of the music education products found on the Muse Eek Publishing Company Website.

Ear Training Exercises Bass Players