An Ear to Hear - Geoff Green

Tappity tap... Most musical skills can be developed apart from your instrument. Rhythm is a big one. Just by tapping (fingers or hands) you can master rhythms that can then be applied when you get back to your instrument. It might be an irritation to others, but they'll get over it :) Music is as much something that happens inside of you (in your mind's ear) as something you hear outside of you; perhaps more so. It's this 'inner hearing' that needs development, and this can be done anywhere, anytime, instrument or no

As musicians we should never underestimate the importance and centrality of listening as the foundation for all musicianship. Every other skill - pitch, rhythm, tone, technique, interpretation etc flows out of it. It is all too often seen as a component of, rather than the foundation of good musicianship and this is why it is treated as optional. It's not easy to listen well. It's probably the most difficult thing, and therefore ought to be the most important pursuit for all musicians from novice to pro.

Melodic and Rhythmic dictation - Many times in tests we 'bite off more than we can chew', trying to absorb the whole of what might be a 4 bar phrase. We may get 4 chances to hear it, but try to take it all in, in subsequent hearings. In doing this it's easy to lose the sense of the beat and the metre. Better to decide to focus on the 1st bar or so in the 1st hearing, the middle in the next and the end on the last. That's my approach, any takers for other methods? I'm happy to start a conversation

Intervals! All the melodic intervals you'll ever need to recognise are already in your head, in the tens of thousands of melodies in your memory bank. The trouble is connecting the interval to the sound you already recognise and can sing. Sometimes students will say they can't sing a perfect 5th but they can sing twinkle twinkle. All that's then needed is to cement the association.

When working on an area that needs work, what you THINK you've heard can often dominate over what's actually played. As a result you can stop listening because you've already decided, instead of resetting a default, 'objective' ear. It's important to be continually refocussing, as though you're hearing for the 1st time.

Good teaching consists not in the teacher telling the student what they know, but in the teacher taking the attitude of a fellow student who has progressed further in some areas. They share their own learning experience in the hope that it will assist the student. Additionally, they are interested in the student's unique thought processes that may either be hindering progress, or that may even provide a new approach whereby student and teacher learn a new way together. No-one has 'arrived'

Programs like Auralia are ok, but are only really helpful to improve your aural when you're 'hit rate' is already decent (say 75-80%). I don't really see how they can help when you are at about 50-50 as they don't really address why you aren't hearing, and how to 'unlock' what seems closed. This often requires an objective view, rather than banging away through exercises expecting mind numbing repetition to somehow unlock your ear.

Some rudimentary familiarity with the piano is a must for every musician, especially if they want to develop their theory and aural skills. Additionally, it is essential that one studies theory and aural at the piano, and not merely out of a textbook or an ear training program. This takes it out of the abstract and makes it more concrete facilitating deeper learning.

When you're picking the quality of a chord (let's start simple, i.e. major and minor triads) you can approach it 2 ways. One is analytical, the other is intuitive. It's important to develop both, but I'd lean towards the intuitive - the 'feel' of a chord. What mood does it induce? What kind of song could you sing over it. 'Happy' or 'sad' might seem simplistic (for major and minor chords), but refinement of the intuitive approach, and the subtlety that's needed for more complex chords will develop in time if you start this way.

A little aural test to have fun with. Next time you hear a car horn, it will usually be a harmonic interval. Which one?

Improving your aural skills starts with a very simple question. The more often you ask the question and pursue finding the the answer, the better you'll get at aural, and the better musician you'll become. It's as simple as asking "what am I hearing, and how do I reproduce it, or explain it?" Whatever you do, don't wait until 'aural class' before you ask it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsO53ydK-yA
Check out this great vid from Bobby McFerrin, showing that the pentatonic scale is a great place to start learning melodic dictation. In 2 minutes he gets an audience of primarily non musicians sight singing. This same exercise can be done solo at the piano, or even just with hand signs.

The Power of the Pentatonic Scale (HD) - 2009 World Science Festival See more clips at http://worldsciencefestival.com/videos Subscribe to the Official World Science Festival Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/worldsc...