Cover of B.B. KingEar training is especially important if you want to improvise, compose, or figure out melodies and chords to songs by ear. A good musical ear is an acquired skill, not a gift! and like other skills, it is acquired through practice!The more we train our ear to recognize this connection, the more we enjoy playing music, because we learn to understand what we play.
Who needs ear training?
All musicians need to
train their ear in order to know what they are playing and to anticipate what
they are about to play!
Why do ear training?
Because understanding the
sounds we hear will be necessary to:
Jam with other musicians
Compose music
Sing in tune
There are 3 qualities that
every good jazz musician must possess:
- a great ear, a strong
sense of time, and a unique sound.
While there are many
different ways to approach these skills, the first two always require a certain
amount of drilling. The ear can be thought of as a muscle and to a certain
degree must be trained like one. Improved ears will lead to better intonation,
improvisation, ensemble playing and transcription skills. With that in mind,
here are three great ways of dramatically improving your students' ears and,
hopefully, their overall playing.
Associating a familiar
melody with each interval is a quick way to learn an interval’s distinct sound.
For example, a melodic interval can be ascending or descending. Either way,
it’s still the same interval. Now, you don’t want to get confused with interval
inversions because a minor third will is still a minor third no matter which
note comes first.
Intervals can be
classified can be classified as consonant or dissonant. I can tell you that
it’s much easier to hear the consonance or dissonance of harmonic intervals
than melodic ones.
Here’s a list showing you
the relative stability (consonance) or instability (dissonance) of the octaves
up to an octave.
Consonant: Perfect,
unison, m3, P4, P5, m6, P octave.
Dissonant: m2, M2, +4.
(05), m7, M7.
Another gentle approach is
to describe Hollow Sounds, like austere and earthy, Indian drones and Scottish
bagpipes or heavy metal rhythm- guitar.
Hallow: Perfect unison,
P4, P5, P octave. This would be perfect intervals and their inversions.)
Sweet: m3, M3, m6, M6.
(thirds and sixths)
Now there are active and
passive methods for ear training. A passive drill would be to play two notes in
succession and listen to that interval. Sometimes you will be asked to name the
next note.
Harmonic intervals can be
drilled the same way. These types of drills can be done with chords or chord
progressions.
Are you familiar with the underlying scales and moveable "Do" solfege?
It's essential that you learn to sing a chromatic scale. As chromaticism is prevalent throughout modern jazz, this exercise will improve both intonation and students' understanding of the genre. When singing through the chromatic scale, remember to use sharps when ascending and flats when descending.
Chromatic Scale Ascending:
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C
Do, Di, Re, Ri, Mi, Fa, Fi, Sol, Si, La, U, Ti, Do
Chromatic Scale Descending
C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G, Gb, F, E, Eb, D, Db, C
Do, Ti, Te, La, Le, Sol, Se, Fa, Mi, Me, Re, Ra, Do
Target Tones
Target tones are an essential part of any ear training regimen. They force students to hear not only chordd tones, but surrounding tones as well. Now, many students can correctly sing a major scale but they have some difficulty picking out specific intervals at random.
With respect to the scales and scale degrees, the best way to practice this is through the use of target tones. Here are a few exercises:
C, // C, D, C // E, D, C // F, E, D // C, G, A // B, C, A // B, C, B // C
Do you know the sound of these chords?
Major seventh, Major seventh b5, Major seventh +5, Sus major seventh
Minor seventh, Minor major seventh, Half diminished seventh (aka minor seven flat five), Fully diminished seventh
Dominant seventh, Dominant seventh b5, Dominant seventh +5, and Sus dominant seventh
You might be interested in these resources:
Jazz101
Jazz201
Pitch Ear Training Software
Pitch By Ear
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King
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