In a previous post we talked about solfege. Solfege is translating notes on paper to sound without help of an instrument. Going in the opposite direction is interesting as well; analysing melodies and harmonies, in other words, notating music by ear.
In ear training you are practicing to analyse melodies and harmonies. This may consist of the following:
- Analysing the intervals. Whenever the notes are sounding successively, we are talking about melodic intervals. And when the notes are sounding at the same moment, they are called harmonic intervals.
- Analysing the rhythms.
- Analysing the chords. Just like the intervals, the notes of the chords can be played successively or simultaneously.
- Analysing the chords in scale degrees.
Practicing
What is the best way to do ear training? By working actively as a musician! Every time you try to find out what exactly it is what you are hearing, you will be training you ears.
The most complete way to do ear training is to notate songs without using the piano and analysing the chords as well. You might do this as follows. Pick a song by your favorite artist. Use the piano to find out what the key is of the song. (Or better: try to figure it out using your tuning fork.) Then go on by ear:
- Notate a part of the melody. When you’re finished, check the notes on the piano.
- Write down the bass line of the same passage. Probably this is the part of the bass guitar, or perhaps the left hand of the piano.
- Try to figure out the chords. The bass part you wrote down will help you a lot with this, because each time the chord is changing the root of the chord will probably be played in the bass.
Computer
For writing down a song as described above, you need a lot of concentration. Luckily, there is a less exhausting way train your ears. You might use the computer or iPad to provide small exercises. The best software for that is earmaster. The best free software is solfege. And the best sites to do free ear training are www.teoria.com and www.musictheory.net.