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Introduction To be able to hear the structure of music, and to be able to play what you hear, it is essential that you can both recognize and sing scale degrees. This program will teach you how to do this, as easily and effortlessly as possible. This program teaches the fixed-DO solfege system. This means that there is a syllable for you to sing for every note on the keyboard, and that "DO" is always C natural.
Using the Program For best ear-training results, you must have a microphone, headphones, and a MIDI keyboard. It is ideal to have a headphone/microphone combination headset. Headphones and a MIDI instrument are not strictly required, but a microphone is required for some of the exercises. The best kind of microphone is in a built-in headset that has both headphones and a microphone (like these), but second best is a standalone microphones (like these). You may be able to use a notebook computer's built-in microphone, but it will not work as well as a headset because of the distance from your mouth and the additional background noise. In the Microphone menu, you can choose which microphone source to use, and a Sensitivity level. If there is a lot of background noise, you will see the red arrows flickering and occasionally trigger a false answer; setting the sensitivity lower may reduce this problem but may also mean you need to sing louder. In the MIDI menu you can choose both the input MIDI source (where you press your keyboard keys in response to question) and also where output MIDI is sent (which plays the questions). MIDI Out volume & channel can be changed. Do I really need to sing? Yes, you do! Singing is the fastest way to learn to identify scale degrees. Any difficulties you have in identifying tones, degrees, or chords can always be overcome by learning to sing the pitches involved. Close the door if you don't want anyone else to hear you. In time, you'll be able to sing in tune easily, and you won't be embarrassed to sing any longer. What if I don't have a microphone? You can still use the Identification steps. But, you may find yourself progressing much, much slower than someone who can practice all lesson types. Learning to sing the scale degrees is critical to identifying them. Microphones are inexpensive, go get one! Can I play my instrument instead of singing? You are encouraged to do both. Repeat every lesson using multiple input methods. If you have a MIDI keyboard, do the Identification drills with the sound on, then again with the sound off -- your brain learns differently when it hears the answer echoed versus silence. For Mimic mode, sing the answer, whistle the answer, play the answer on your instrument. The more ways you respond to the questions, the more thoroughly you will integrate the nature of music into your mind.
Every time you start a lesson, it will automatically put you on the highest level you have mastered. This serves several purposed. One is to be a warm-up for the next level which you have not yet mastered. Also, it serves as a review, and, it helps solidify your abilities on that level. If you find it difficult to "re-pass" a level you've mastered, that's normal -- it means you need to spend some more practice time on it.
Help for each of the Steps:
Complete keyboard shortcut reference
Ear training tips Practice daily! Even just a few minutes of singing & identification each day will build a solid foundation for hearing. Don't practice too much! It's commonly agreed that 20 minutes once or twice per day is all you should do, followed by your normal music practice. If you push your ear-training too much, you will slow down your progress and increase your frustration. Often you will find that a difficult lesson will suddenly be easy the following day. Do not give up when it seems you can't pass a level, no matter how many times you've tried. It is not uncommon to take weeks or months (hundreds of attempts) before you begin to hear the essential differences between sounds. Once you've mastered the sound, though, it becomes as obvious as night and day. Just keep at it! Sing solfege (fixed or relative) all the time while playing your instrument. If you have trouble on an Identification lesson, practice the same level in Mimic mode. Singing will always make hearing easier, and after you've learned to sing the trouble tones correctly, you will find you can identify them more easily. If you want to spend extra time practicing a level without being promoted to the next level, turn on Practice Mode in the Lesson menu. There are a lot of great ear-training and music education resources to complement and enhance your studies. See HearAndPlay.com, EarTraining.com, and DickGrove.com for some great home-study courses.
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