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Hi, everyone. Together with a group of other music educators, we have recently come up with an ear training course. However, this course is done a little differently since there will not be any 1 on 1 teaching involved. Read on.
Ear training is crucial for any serious musician. It is the key to improvisation. It allows you to recognise the intervals in music, the qualities of chords, and helps you to hear the 'right' notes to be played over chord progressions etc. Music is all about hearing. You can't play what you can't hear.
The training of one's ear involves the practise of listening drills, all of which have been carefully designed after plenty of research and preparation. We guarantee that they work - only if you're willing to put in the hard work as well. That is why a teacher is not needed. All that is needed is for you, to follow the instructions given, follow the drills carefully, and persevere to the end without expecting quick results. Its all about discipline.
This course will be mailed to you via local postage once payment has been made.
Details are as follows:
4 Lessons. $75 for the entire course.
Payment to be made via bank transfer.
Lessons will be mailed out via postage upon recipient of fees.
For more information or to receive this course, send an email to earsalive@live.com to make arrangements or for questions.
Please do leave a reply to this thread as well once you have sent your email. And we will get back to you as quickly as possible.
1. This course does not prepare you for perfect pitch. We believe that relative pitch is a much more useful & relevant skill.
2. This course will not help you to put a chord progression behind a melody. Harmonising melody lines is a technique that you should approach a music theory instructor to learn.
But, this course will help you to hear a suitable melody over a chord progression. When listening to chord progressions, this course will help you to discern what the quality of the chords are so you then know how to approach them.
Hi, i'm very interested to know your views on this too.
But so as not to throw people off, here is an instance to illustrate our standpoint.
When you hear a chord, with relative pitch, your ear recognises the harmonic intervals present in the chord. This then allows you to immediately recognise the quality of the chord, say maybe a maj9 chord. Then you would immediately know how to approach improvisation over that chord, with the execution of the right intervals, rather than notes.
For example, hearing the harmonic intervals would allow you to recognise the tonality of the maj7th in a maj9th chord, and hence you would know the intervals to target in order to improvise a line over that chord.
Also allow me to mention what most people who have perfect pitch face. Since perfect pitch forces you to recognise a note exactly for what it is, they find it extremely jarring and uncomfortable to listen to music that is slightly sharp or flat. It is a blessing, and also a curse.
I hope this provides people who have an interest in ear training with a new perception of the importance of relative pitch. Hearing individual tones and recognising them has its benefits, but in terms of practicality, you might want to think again.
Just to clarify some doubts again: We will not be able to issue you one lesson to 'try out' because it is not possible for you to train your ear properly with just one lesson. You will need all 4 as they all complement and build on each other. Otherwise, you will be merely shortchanging yourself and your learning. We hope you understand.
Also, in response to some indications that the programme is too pricey, we are reducing the fee to $75 for 4 lessons. We believe that your pursuit of music should not be hampered by financial difficulties.
I agree that relative pitch is more useful. But be careful of what you say about perfect pitch. It's not like what you say at all. If you have perfect pitch, you'll know what I mean. And most of the time, we use relative pitch TOGETHER with perfect pitch.
In telling a chord, we DON'T identify individual notes! It's extremely obvious what the chord is (be it a maj9 or halfdim or whatever, even without using relative or perfect pitching). But because the root can be easily picked up, we can tell whether it is a Cmaj9 or a Ebmaj9. That's the difference. We don't go: C, E, G, B, D - that's silly and extremely slow.
And when the chord gets complex (something like Cmaj9 #4 or whatever unconventional chord), both skills come into play. We can tell the sharpened 4th by relative pitch from the root, and at the same time check it with perfect pitch to see if it's an F#. This happens unconsciously and simultaneously, within a few seconds.
And it's not unpleasant to listen to music that is slightly off the standard tuning. Orchestras are all tuned differently depending on whether you are from America or Europe etc (range from 338 to 443 Hz). Does it make any difference? No! Everything adjust. What irritates is when ONE instrument goes out of tune from the rest. And really, you don't have to have perfect pitch to tell that (and get irritated by it)!
So, while I agree that relative pitch is indispensible and perfect pitch is not absolutely important to most people, I would be careful on how you define people with perfect pitch and what goes on inside our heads. While we don't put down those without perfect pitch (because I really believe it's not the most important thing in aural skills), but please don't put us down by implying that it's anything less than relative pitching and less effective. Because it is not. It's extremely useful, albeit not an absolute must. All people should know relative pitching. Not all need to have perfect pitch. But if you do, you'll find you can identify chords faster and easier.
However, all the best for your course. Although I think 4 lessons is a little too short - almost an introduction. Depending on the content of the course, I believe those who attend will find any aural training helpful in their musical journey. Let us know how it goes!
My sincere apologies if it seemed like i was putting down perfect pitch or people with perfect pitch. It was not my intention at all. And i'm speaking from experience working with people whose ears are so finely tuned to the exact notes that it drives them crazy to listen to music that is out of tune.
The course only covers 4 lessons because it covers the essential exercises that is needed to train the ear. I agree that ear training requires extensive preparation. But we are trying to make such a training programme available to all musicians in an accessible way.
I believe if you talk with your friends, you'll find that the irritation is when instruments or certain notes played that went out of tune. And if that happens, then something really needs to be done! It doesn't require a perfect pitch person to realise it. If an instrument is out of tune, you can't say, "Oh, that's OK. Not everybody will hear it." Same goes for the case when one note went out of tune - depending on the instrument, it's a skill problem of that player that needs to be addressed.
If the entire band/orchestra is tuned differently, then it's not "out of tune". It's just tuned differently. Then doesn't cause problems.
Wow, Cheez, your explanation really opened my eyes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheez
I agree that relative pitch is more useful. But be careful of what you say about perfect pitch. It's not like what you say at all. If you have perfect pitch, you'll know what I mean. And most of the time, we use relative pitch TOGETHER with perfect pitch.
True, I think. Hmm. I never realized that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheez
And when the chord gets complex (something like Cmaj9 #4 or whatever unconventional chord), both skills come into play. We can tell the sharpened 4th by relative pitch from the root, and at the same time check it with perfect pitch to see if it's an F#. This happens unconsciously and simultaneously, within a few seconds. ... Not all need to have perfect pitch. But if you do, you'll find you can identify chords faster and easier.
I transcribe symphonies to the piano almost in half of real-time (for those "complex" chords or pieces you mentioned). Does that mean I have perfect pitch?
But I'm pretty sure I don't have perfect pitch. Heck, I don't even have good relative pitch. But I've been able to take apart any music at all since I could remember.
Maybe I need help...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheez
However, all the best for your course. Although I think 4 lessons is a little too short - almost an introduction. Depending on the content of the course, I believe those who attend will find any aural training helpful in their musical journey. Let us know how it goes!
I do agree that the course is really very basic. But to be fair, I've seen aural training that are really expensive (and people claim that's normal). Some schools will sorta "lie" and say "everyone can do it, come on in!". And then, you hear some of their students come out saying "reality is something else".
The ability to match (or create) a melody to chords is simpler than matching (and/or creating) chords to a melody. But I guess that "simple" ability to hear isn't intuitive to all at first.
I would be really interested in a theory course in matching AND/OR creating chords to melodies. I want to formalize what I do naturally into a concrete science.
And yes, we do CREATE chords to a melody, not just match. Slight variations in the chords (even as simple as inversions) can change the mood and sound of a passage.
I know nuts about chords, though. Oh well. I feel like I'm dyslexic when it comes to music. I do read notes, actually. Not so bad.
Ear Training Course
