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Hi everyone,

The aural aspect of piano exams is a bit of a nerve-wracking nightmare for me.I would like to see how much I can improve by putting some effort into developing my ear for music. My local music shop has sample aural tests from Trinity Guildhall and ABRSM, but these are not courses as such.
There are a huge number of courses available online for download, but I'm cautious as a lot of them look like they over promise and are probably not great quality. Can anyone recommend a worthwhile course or approach?

Thanks.

Hi KVN,

Ear training is simple. Here's how you do it. Learn the l - lV - and V7 chords and the corresponding scale. For example, let's begin with C Major. First learn the scale, then learn these chords - C Major, F Major and G7.

That's pretty much it. Once you start playing and improvising with these 3 chords, you will be learning simple diatonic harmony which, in the western world, is the key to ear training.

It doesn't have to get more complicated than that. Although many like to complicate things.

I got the Ear Master and I am REALLY happy about it, I recommend it to anyone, professional or not

Thanks for the replies eweiss and Jose!

KVN - do you know what you're looking for? It seems like there are different things you can train for...

A couple ideas...

- Do you have a teacher that can do solfege with you? I started this (and stopped b/c the piano was sooo badly out of tune in the middle of the summer) - but you learn to sing pitches. My teacher seems to be a big fan, and just with the little bit I did, I can see how it helps get intervals in your head.

- There's a cool free program that drills you on "functions", teaching you to hear where a pitch is within its scale (ie is it the 1/tonic, 4/subdominant, etc.)

I've done a little with it... you should check it out (and did I mention, it's free!)

It's on this page, and it's just the first (basic) version...
http://www.miles.be/

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply Saerra! That ear training resource is exactly what I was looking for.
I do have a great teacher, but I get very nervous when doing ear tests, so want to do more drill on my own.

Thanks again.

I've been using this ear training product - downloaded both the basic and advanced versions. I really think it is helping. Thanks so much.

For improving pitch recognition and a non-software approach take a look at PitchPaths
It is a PDF manual and set of mp3 files of exercises and tests. I burnt tutorial CDs and listened to them driving to and from work. The approach is based on some interesting research. It is also very affordable.

Thanks Elwyn! I'm surprised at how many good resources there are. This one makes a lot of sense - it seems like it's based on associating the first note(s) of a tune with the pitch you're trying to learn. I've noticed that I've been doing that to some extent: trying to "hear" the pitch in my head is definitely easier if the root and the note form a familiar tune. I think I will give this a try. It seems to complement the usual solfege methods, rather than replacing them.

<<it seems like it's based on associating the first note(s) of a tune with the pitch you're trying to learn.>>

That's it exactly. All the well known tunes he used worked for me except G (Beethoven's 5th), but I was OK once I mentally substituted "Smoke on the Water" ;-) Initially, when identifying a note you feel yourself searching for the matching key note/tune, after a while this becomes automatic (a bit like learning to drive).

Although it only covers 1 octave, I found it useful outside this immediate range (this is described in pitch "chroma").

The manual has several courses using the supplied MP3s. I did the "at your own pace" route, which took me several months. The author (Joshua Jobst) was very helpful, and once I completed the course he provided additional help and guidance.

Whenever I ask a person who seems to me to be a good "ear" player about their history it turns out that they've somewhere (often so far back in childhood that they've forgotten) acquired the habit of listening with a view to duplication - most often either with the voice or at a piano - rather than just listening to bask in the beauty. Thus, I suspect, their listening experience is, at every step throughout life, more involved.

I can't prove it, but I suspect that learning to sing the scores of piano pieces one is interested in, or alternatively, learning to figure them out by plunking away, is a very good way to "improve one's ear".

When you're starting out it's probably smart to start with very simple tunes - hymns, say. You want to realize that training your ear is probably going to be as tough, and take as long, as training your fingers. Don't start with stuff that'll discourage you and don't feel compelled to figure out a whole tune or to start at the beginning of the tune.

As a teacher of 50 years, when I was taking piano lessons from a great concert artist from Europe, he gave me a test to give students before they started piano and after they had been exposed to 27 white key music patterns,first to see what they lacked, then how they had improved.

Right now, if you play a major 7th like C+B, keep/practice that sound in your head to create perfect pitch.

You can also work on the other intervals in your head, great for sight-reading too.
Song: Pink-Pathered beginning....perfect fifths.
Song: Oriental song with 4th.
Song: Blue Danube with 3rds or do a run with blocked 3rds.
Song: That has 6th...or do a run with blocked 6th.
Pattern: play chromaticly major 7th (dissonant tones).
Pattern: Octaves scale-wise, like Key of C.
Song: Chop Sticks, noting 2nds (whole step), good to hear 1/2 steps too.
Have someone mix these up and test you.
What ever music patterns you have learned, play them on a recorder and see if you recognize them.

I hope this has been helpful, it worked for my students, creating perfect pitch (not always good to have) and they could recognize all their music patterns after 6 months of study.