Do you really need ear training?

Ear training has been a lost skill that many musicians do not do or try to do on a systematic basis. They may think it unimportant or irrelevant to what they want to accomplish.

So, do you need it! The answer is: YES!!

Why? Because music is a HEARING art and your skill in music is directly linked to how well you can hear it when others are playing or you are playing your own music.

Being aware of the need for ear training is at the very core of the message I try to get across to every musician and student I teach.

If you want to progress to your maximum potential as a musician then you MUST involve yourself with some form of ear training.

I highly recommend the following resources which have helped me personally:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

The following are helpful resources as well:

Music Theory Course

Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

I hope they help you as well and please let me know how and in what way these courses are helping you!

Vasili-

Relative pitch - how long to establish?

I question I get asked often regarding relative pitch is: how long does it take to establish? Are there any shortcuts? Can I speed up the process?

These are good questions which deserve more than an answer like "it just depends".

First question: how long to establish? Well, for each person it is different. Some are quick to catch on and for others it takes more time. For some, 2 - 3 months or sooner and others it takes years.

Rather than ask such a question, the real question you should ask is: am I improving my musical ear awareness every day and learning to recognize and categorize what I learn better and better? That is, is my ear improving? Acquiring relative pitch may take months or years but having an ear like a great composer like Mozart takes a lifetime.

This leads to the answer to the second question: can I speed up the process? Sure you can by practicing more often your ear training drills, but the amount of time it will take depends on how fast your ear can grow accustom to the sounds you are hearing.

So I would advise to not take any shortcuts to your ear training and develop at a moderate pace that you set. If you haven't begun yet or don't know where to start the following resources will help:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Music Theory Course

Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

I hope this helps and please let me know how these courses are helping you!

Vasili-

Is good ear training all you need?

Some have asked me about the value of ear training, is it all I need to be a well polished and accomplished musician?

The answer is if course not. To be a good musician you need to know your instrument, have a good technique, understand music theory, be exposed to a variety of genres, and develop your own artistic and interpretive style.

Ear training is merely a tool that will help you to get where you want to go faster and more effectively. It is not an end in itself but is a very good means to your musical end.

By having a well developed ear for music you can do much more than if you do not work on developing it. How do you begin?

The following links will provide you with what you need to start:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Music Theory Course

Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

I hope this helps and please let me know how these courses are helping you!

Vasili-

How to get the most out of an ear training routine

So, you've started an ear training routine and you want to get the most out of it.

How do you do this?

First of all, you need to not stress out while doing any ear training. If it does not come natural and effortless then take it easy. The ear has to grow accustomed to the routine of training. It's sort of like working out. You don't go to the gym and do a 3 hour intense workout right at first. That would wear you out and perhaps be damaging.

Same with ear training. You must start gradual and slow, adding to your routine little by little. You should always do some sort of ear training every day and keep pushing yourself and challenging yourself. In this way your growth as a musician will continue and your horizons and opportunities will expand further and further.

What if you haven't even begun any ear training? What courses can help you begin?

The following links will provide you with what you need to start:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Music Theory Course

Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

I hope this helps and please let me know how these courses are helping you!

Vasili-

Is interval training a waste of time?

I've read several articles about interval training which cast a bad light upon it basically saying that it's a waste of time. I'm going to personally debunk this line of reasoning.

When you learn any foreign language, you first learn its alphabet. Then combinations of letters and how they sound together. Then words, then sentences and then thoughts and ideas. You have to build your knowledge on a solid foundation and it must be progressive.

It's the same with music. The basic building blocks of all music are the intervals. When you learn them and learn how they formulate chords and scales this helps you to understand structure in music. Without it you are lost. There are no shortcuts to solid ear training.

Don't let anyone into suckering you into buying a shortcut "ear training course" which doesn't solidly drill every interval, up, down, melodic, and harmonic into you. This is what you will be building your musical foundation upon.

So what courses are there that will help you to set a real ear awareness foundation?

The following links will provide you with the education you need:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Music Theory Course

Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

I hope this helps and please let me know how these courses are helping you!

Vasili-

Getting down your melodic and harmonic intervals

Melodic and harmonic intervals, how do you learn them?

One way is to study the structure by learning music theory. This is head knowledge and it is very useful to know as a musician.

To really excel though, it has to be more than an intellectual exercise. You must be able to recognize the quality of the interval by ear and be able to do this lightning fast.

How does one do this? By studying relative pitch and doing ear training exercises.

Where do you begin? The following links will provide you with the education you need:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Music Theory Course

Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

I hope this helps and please let me know how these courses are helping you!

Vasili-

Practice makes perfect, does it?

Practice makes perfect, how many times have you heard that expression? Probably countless times. Your music teacher had probably drilled in your head the importance of practice. This was for good reason, if you didn't practice you would never master the musical concepts taught.

But does practice alone make perfect? No, for if you practice incorrectly or the wrong thing you will just learn bad habits and your playing will be perfectly awful. Not a good outcome!

How do you avoid this? By knowing how to practice right. Perfect practice makes perfect. That should be your motto. Also, solid ear training and theory will help your practice to be 1,000 times more productive.

Check out the following links for making your practice "perfect".

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Want to learn music theory? Click Here!

Click here for Virtual Sheet Music - Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

How long does it take to learn a song?

When you sit down to learn a piece of music, how long does it take to learn it?

For some, it takes a couple of months whereas others a couple of days or even hours.

It all depends on 2 things:

1. The complexity of the piece of music you are learning.

2. The skill level and experience of the musician learning the piece of music.

The first thing you can't really change unless you chose a piece which would be easier. The second thing you can by increasing your skill level as a musician.

How can you do this? One way is by developing your ear and awareness when  you listen to music. Perfect pitch and Relative pitch are vital in this regard. Another step is to increase your musical knowledge and technique. The following highly recommended courses will help with this:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Want to learn music theory? Click Here!

Click here for Virtual Sheet Music - Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads

Do you need ear training?

Well, do you need ear training? Some say you can do without. In my opinion, your musicianship will explode by leaps and bounds with it. And having a finely tuned and sensitive ear can help you excel in other areas of life such as language. Your appreciation for music will deepen and you will enjoy it far greater with good ear training than without.

Music is a hearing art. It's true that you need good technical skills on your instrument or voice as well but without ear training your growth and development will not be as acute.

So what ear training should you receive? You could go through some college courses on this but in my opinion, the best courses can be found here:

Perfect Pitch Ear Training

Relative Pitch Ear Training

Want to learn music theory? Click Here!

Click here for Virtual Sheet Music - Virtual Sheet Music - Sheet Music Downloads