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

Relative Pitch Ear Training

If you want a truly GREAT ear for music, then check out the Relative Pitch Ear Training SuperCourse, by David Lucas Burge. I've found it to be the most effective way ever to develop Relative Pitch. You'll learn to recognize intervals and chords at lightning speed.

Ear training is required in every college music program. It's essential. But in college courses, the instructor must teach you a certain amount of material over a given span of time. It's too easy to fall behind and become lost. Students often refer to it anxiously as FEAR training, not EAR training.

Ear Training is a lot like math. You have to know your basic addition and subtraction before you try algebra. The great thing about Burge's course is he starts you out from scratch and then moves you through it step by step. You go at your own pace. And you move to the next lesson only when you've passed the lesson you're on. He'll drill you up and down, left and right, backwards and forwards on all your chords and intervals, so that by the end of the 41 lessons, you'll know what you hear -- which is the goal of ear training.

I wish I would have had this before my ear training classes in college. I would've sailed through instead of having nightmares over them.

Burge is now THE ear training coach, also known for his classic Perfect Pitch Ear Training course.

Go here for more information on his Relative Pitch Ear Training SuperCourse.

-- Vasili Kulikov

Absolute pitch - absolutely necessary?

Does it help a musician to have absolute pitch? Some argue that it does whereas others say you don't need it.

What is absolute pitch? Simply put, it is the ability to recognize a pitch, like C or C# without any relation to any other pitch.

Some say you need to be born with such a skill. I wasn't and I have developed it fairly well. In my opinion, it's not absolutely necessary but it does add a layer of hearing perception and enjoyment to the music I listen to and play.

I would highly recommend developing this skill. How do you do it? I will be talking about this in a future blog. Stay tuned!!

Along with absolute pitch or "perfect pitch" you do need to understand the fundamentals of music and basic theory. A great course which I highly recommend is found here:

Click here for course!

Hope you enjoy it!!

Master your hearing, master your instrument

Music theory vs music technique, which is more important?

It depends. Are you a composer or a performer? What genre are you pursuing?

Both elements are essential to any musician regardless of musical preference. But developing one without the other is detrimental. Both must be mastered to have any fluency as a musician.

Want to learn how? Click here for a good starting point!!