How to Train Your Ear
Protect your hearing., Know the theory behind the sound., Identify the kind of ear training you want to do., Listen to various kinds of music., Learn an instrument., Train with a professional., Do use moveable solfege., Root out the root notes...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Protect your hearing.
Hearing loss is the third most common problem in the US and can result from overexposure to chronic loud noise, like the kind you might listen to with headphones.Damaged hearing can even limit your physical ability to hear a certain range of sound or cause a persistent ringing in your ears.
Defend your ears by listening to music at moderate to low volumes and wearing ear plugs around loud, chronic noises, like a construction site.
Sounds as loud or louder than normal traffic can be harmful to your hearing. -
Step 2: Know the theory behind the sound.
Music is represented by a set of rules, referred to as music theory, and by knowing these rules you can help your mind interpret the sounds you hear.
Understanding that a basic chord has at least three notes in it, for example, will help your ear pick out the three different tones.
You'll want to have a functional understanding of:
The musical staff and bass and treble clefs.
The staff is comprised of five lines and four spaces that represent the notes in a scale, with each line/space corresponding to a white key on the keyboard.
A treble clef, which is shaped similar to an "and" sign (&), or a bass clef, shaped similarly to a backwards C, start each staff.Ledger lines.
Ledger lines are small lines drawn above above or below the five line, four space staff to represent notes that are higher or lower than the common notes of the regular staff.Common intervals.
Music is arranged according to lines of a staff or, comparable, to the white and black keys of a keyboard.
The distance between the two neighboring white keys is a whole step, also called a second.
Black keys represent half steps between white key whole step intervals.A major third, like the interval between C and E, is made up of two whole steps (C, D, E) or four half steps (C, C#, D, D#, E).
Scale degrees, which are the special names for notes your scale.
These names, starting from the root of a major scale like C major, are: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, with the seventh interval called a leading tone if the interval between it and the tonic is a whole step or subtonic if that interval is a half step., There are many goals you might want to accomplish over the course of your ear training.
One of the most impressive is "perfect pitch," which is where an individual can identify and recreate a musical tone without any point of reference.Even among master musicians, perfect pitch is rare, but more reasonably you might hope to gain:
The ability to identify intervals, musical keys, and/or recreate notes from memory.
The ability to tune pitches by telling if they are sharp or flat.
The ability to imagine the sound of music from notes without a point of reference. , Different regions and cultures produce different kinds of music, and knowing these will further expand the powers of your musical ear.
Some Asiatic music is based around a five note scale, called pentatonic, while Western music is characterized by an eight note scale.Listening to classical music can expose your ear to many difficult and intricate composition.
There are also many difficult intervals that are infrequently occurring in contemporary music that are more common in a classic style, like opera.
Sing along to your favorite pop artists in the car.
Though you should be careful when doing this, as it is easy to pump the volume of your favorite tunes and sing too loudly, which can lead to vocal strain., Throughout the process of mastering an instrument, you will be exposed to musical theory and practical exercises.
Your practical exercises likely take the form of learning specific songs for practice.
Through these songs you'll gain a better understanding and intuition of how notes work within a piece of music.
Studying piano will familiarize you with both treble and bass clefs, as well as different keys and styles.
Due to its versatility, this instrument is considered by some to be ideal for studying and training music theory. , A professional musician has years of experience tuning instruments, listening to music, and hitting pitches spot on in the hopes of creating the best possible music.
Working with such a person will be an invaluable resource for developing your ear. , The great thing about the "Do, Re, Mi" scale, called solfege, is that it can be done without an instrument.
Moveable solfege is frequently used by vocalists, as it teaches you relative pitch with relation to the scale of notes for the key in which you are singing.If you already know the solfege scale and only need a refresher, check out how to sight sing.
The basic solfege scale is:
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do.
Like the notes of a normal musical scale, these tones repeat at every octave (eight note) interval.
Practice by starting your solfege scale on the root of your key.
For example, you could start "Do" on C, and with each white note interval up the keyboard, you ascend the solfege scale. , If you know how chords and scales naturally develop from a root note, like C, you will be able to recognize more complicated arrangements of notes.For example, if you are already well familiar with a diminished chord, once you hear the tonic (root note) of it, you will be able to predict, either with your voice, your instrument, or in your head, the sound of that chord.
Practicing scales and arpeggios encourage ear training by conditioning it to innately know and predict the flow of notes through a piece of music.Some might believe scales boring, but true musicians know the value of this kind of practice., Singing is something you are able to do most of the time when you're on your own.
Choose a note and start practicing your own made-up melody.
Try to include intervals or chord structure you have learned, like augmented chords.
Do this frequently to gain greater familiarity and mastery over your mental representation of the sounds you have learned. , This can help you better internalize the role of that instrument in the music.
You might sing along with the rhythm of the bass, or follow along with a reoccurring cymbal.Singing along with specific instruments also challenges your ear, as you will have to listen to the sound carefully to match it. , Check that you are maintaining your pitch either with a tuned instrument, a digital pitch tuner, or a pitch pipe. , There are a few ear training apps available now that are designed to test and analyze your musical ear.
Some even include ear training exercises.You should investigate these through an online search before purchasing; some might be oriented toward sound engineers and not necessarily students of music. , Training your ear to a certain level may take a very long time.
Professional musicians train their entire careers to perfect their musical ear.
Even so, perfect pitch is still something of a mystery to scientists and will likely take you much practice for you to attain., If you're a vocalist, this might entail putting on some soft music and singing along with it, or if you're an instrumentalist you might sit down at your instrument after breakfast every day.
Hearing the movement of sound among intervals will reinforce these in your mind. , These experts can help you fine tune your technique, but they can also point out areas where your musical ear might be weak.Once you've identified a specific problem, like difficulty hitting high C because it's close to the top of your vocal range, you can practice it until you improve. , Once your ear for music improves, you should challenge it often, either at your instrument or with your voice.
Use your imagination to recreate sounds that you have heard, try to capture the quality of sound exactly in your head.
You might start with a tonal element that's easier to hear, like the root of the chord.
Then you can add new tones to it with an instrument, or move vocally from that root to discover the other tones that are a part of the chord progression. -
Step 3: Identify the kind of ear training you want to do.
-
Step 4: Listen to various kinds of music.
-
Step 5: Learn an instrument.
-
Step 6: Train with a professional.
-
Step 7: Do use moveable solfege.
-
Step 8: Root out the root notes.
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Step 9: Sing your own melodies to practice intervals.
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Step 10: Sing along with a single instrument while listening to music.
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Step 11: Compare yourself to a musical point of reference.Especially when singing without reference or accompaniment
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Step 12: it can be easy for your pitch to become flat.
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Step 13: Consider making use of an ear training app.
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Step 14: Be consistent while learning.
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Step 15: Set aside regular time in your schedule to practice.
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Step 16: Jam with other musicians.
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Step 17: Exercise your ear regularly.
Detailed Guide
Hearing loss is the third most common problem in the US and can result from overexposure to chronic loud noise, like the kind you might listen to with headphones.Damaged hearing can even limit your physical ability to hear a certain range of sound or cause a persistent ringing in your ears.
Defend your ears by listening to music at moderate to low volumes and wearing ear plugs around loud, chronic noises, like a construction site.
Sounds as loud or louder than normal traffic can be harmful to your hearing.
Music is represented by a set of rules, referred to as music theory, and by knowing these rules you can help your mind interpret the sounds you hear.
Understanding that a basic chord has at least three notes in it, for example, will help your ear pick out the three different tones.
You'll want to have a functional understanding of:
The musical staff and bass and treble clefs.
The staff is comprised of five lines and four spaces that represent the notes in a scale, with each line/space corresponding to a white key on the keyboard.
A treble clef, which is shaped similar to an "and" sign (&), or a bass clef, shaped similarly to a backwards C, start each staff.Ledger lines.
Ledger lines are small lines drawn above above or below the five line, four space staff to represent notes that are higher or lower than the common notes of the regular staff.Common intervals.
Music is arranged according to lines of a staff or, comparable, to the white and black keys of a keyboard.
The distance between the two neighboring white keys is a whole step, also called a second.
Black keys represent half steps between white key whole step intervals.A major third, like the interval between C and E, is made up of two whole steps (C, D, E) or four half steps (C, C#, D, D#, E).
Scale degrees, which are the special names for notes your scale.
These names, starting from the root of a major scale like C major, are: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, with the seventh interval called a leading tone if the interval between it and the tonic is a whole step or subtonic if that interval is a half step., There are many goals you might want to accomplish over the course of your ear training.
One of the most impressive is "perfect pitch," which is where an individual can identify and recreate a musical tone without any point of reference.Even among master musicians, perfect pitch is rare, but more reasonably you might hope to gain:
The ability to identify intervals, musical keys, and/or recreate notes from memory.
The ability to tune pitches by telling if they are sharp or flat.
The ability to imagine the sound of music from notes without a point of reference. , Different regions and cultures produce different kinds of music, and knowing these will further expand the powers of your musical ear.
Some Asiatic music is based around a five note scale, called pentatonic, while Western music is characterized by an eight note scale.Listening to classical music can expose your ear to many difficult and intricate composition.
There are also many difficult intervals that are infrequently occurring in contemporary music that are more common in a classic style, like opera.
Sing along to your favorite pop artists in the car.
Though you should be careful when doing this, as it is easy to pump the volume of your favorite tunes and sing too loudly, which can lead to vocal strain., Throughout the process of mastering an instrument, you will be exposed to musical theory and practical exercises.
Your practical exercises likely take the form of learning specific songs for practice.
Through these songs you'll gain a better understanding and intuition of how notes work within a piece of music.
Studying piano will familiarize you with both treble and bass clefs, as well as different keys and styles.
Due to its versatility, this instrument is considered by some to be ideal for studying and training music theory. , A professional musician has years of experience tuning instruments, listening to music, and hitting pitches spot on in the hopes of creating the best possible music.
Working with such a person will be an invaluable resource for developing your ear. , The great thing about the "Do, Re, Mi" scale, called solfege, is that it can be done without an instrument.
Moveable solfege is frequently used by vocalists, as it teaches you relative pitch with relation to the scale of notes for the key in which you are singing.If you already know the solfege scale and only need a refresher, check out how to sight sing.
The basic solfege scale is:
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do.
Like the notes of a normal musical scale, these tones repeat at every octave (eight note) interval.
Practice by starting your solfege scale on the root of your key.
For example, you could start "Do" on C, and with each white note interval up the keyboard, you ascend the solfege scale. , If you know how chords and scales naturally develop from a root note, like C, you will be able to recognize more complicated arrangements of notes.For example, if you are already well familiar with a diminished chord, once you hear the tonic (root note) of it, you will be able to predict, either with your voice, your instrument, or in your head, the sound of that chord.
Practicing scales and arpeggios encourage ear training by conditioning it to innately know and predict the flow of notes through a piece of music.Some might believe scales boring, but true musicians know the value of this kind of practice., Singing is something you are able to do most of the time when you're on your own.
Choose a note and start practicing your own made-up melody.
Try to include intervals or chord structure you have learned, like augmented chords.
Do this frequently to gain greater familiarity and mastery over your mental representation of the sounds you have learned. , This can help you better internalize the role of that instrument in the music.
You might sing along with the rhythm of the bass, or follow along with a reoccurring cymbal.Singing along with specific instruments also challenges your ear, as you will have to listen to the sound carefully to match it. , Check that you are maintaining your pitch either with a tuned instrument, a digital pitch tuner, or a pitch pipe. , There are a few ear training apps available now that are designed to test and analyze your musical ear.
Some even include ear training exercises.You should investigate these through an online search before purchasing; some might be oriented toward sound engineers and not necessarily students of music. , Training your ear to a certain level may take a very long time.
Professional musicians train their entire careers to perfect their musical ear.
Even so, perfect pitch is still something of a mystery to scientists and will likely take you much practice for you to attain., If you're a vocalist, this might entail putting on some soft music and singing along with it, or if you're an instrumentalist you might sit down at your instrument after breakfast every day.
Hearing the movement of sound among intervals will reinforce these in your mind. , These experts can help you fine tune your technique, but they can also point out areas where your musical ear might be weak.Once you've identified a specific problem, like difficulty hitting high C because it's close to the top of your vocal range, you can practice it until you improve. , Once your ear for music improves, you should challenge it often, either at your instrument or with your voice.
Use your imagination to recreate sounds that you have heard, try to capture the quality of sound exactly in your head.
You might start with a tonal element that's easier to hear, like the root of the chord.
Then you can add new tones to it with an instrument, or move vocally from that root to discover the other tones that are a part of the chord progression.
About the Author
Sophia Griffin
Brings years of experience writing about DIY projects and related subjects.
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