Working One Key or Multiple Keys for Ear Training

Q: When learning Ear Training One Note Complete, is it better to stick to one key at a time and work on multiple tones within that key, or study one tone and jump around to all 12 keys very quickly to drill that note?

A: It is better to work out of the Ear Training One Note Complete CDs in combination with exercises in the Fanatic's Guide to Ear Training and Sight Singing.

Honestly I get a lot of email like yours which in a way I don't understand. I give you two books with exercises that I have found advances the student at the fastest rate. I spend 20 years testing it and then put the books out with clear instructions. Then I get multiple questions with people trying to alter a method that they have only known about for a short period of time. While I salute your ingenuity I suggest you first try working one of my methods as laid out in my books for a year or two to see if it works. If you want to contemplate anything contemplate the following:

1. Your ability to memorize sound.
2. Your mind's ability to concentrate.
3. Your mind's ability to look elsewhere when things get hard.
4. Your perception of sound and how it changes as you learn new sounds.

These questions will ultimately help you more than trying to find other exercises and there are many references to these things in the FAQs for Ear Training One Note Complete and Fanatic's Guide to Ear Training and Sight Singing. I often think about if a medical doctor gave you a prescription, would you go home, get out your chemistry set and start trying to change it? Of course not, not without going to school and learning all the subjects behind the medicine. I also get a few students who read the FAQs and figure they can do this on their own and don't need the books. This usually results in a limited understanding of the subject and ultimately bad habits and limited improvement. Bad habits is the key here. It can take years to undo bad habits - I know I've been there. This is why I set up the ear training and the FAQ the way I do. I'm trying to avoid students spending years undoing techniques that were either misunderstood or misapplied, and instead having students working one method that works effectively across the board.

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.

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