MY DAILY EAR TRAINING ROUTINE

Ear training with this ear training tool is one of the most important parts of my overall practice routine. Each day I warm up with melodic intervals, then move on to harmonic intervals and chords, and finally I end my ear training practice with call-and-response exercises using random melodies, simple songs, and jazz licks (Update 3/2/2010: My skills have progressed to a point where I now skip intervals and begin each day with 4- or 5-note melodies). In total, I probably spend 20-30 minutes on ear training each day (including playing songs by ear), but I'd definitely do more if I had the time.

To help you understand how I use this ear training tool in my daily practice routine, I recorded clips of myself actually using it. Next to each clip you'll see a [CONFIGURE TRAINER] link. If you click on that link, the ear training tool will auto-configure itself so all you need to do is click the ear trainer's PLAY button and it will use the same settings that you hear in the clip.

MY EAR TRAINING CLIPS - RECORDED ON NOVEMBER 18, 2006

- Random intervals played melodically [CONFIGURE TRAINER]

- Random intervals played harmonically [CONFIGURE TRAINER]

- Random chords played harmonically [CONFIGURE TRAINER]

- Random melodies, 6 notes [CONFIGURE TRAINER]

- Random melodies, 4 notes with modulation [CONFIGURE TRAINER] - This exercise is new to my routine and it's very challenging for me right now. BTW, if you configure your ear trainer to use this clip's settings, you can turn off modulation under the Advanced tab. Also, clicking any of the above CONFIGURE TRAINER links will turn off modulation.

ADDITIONAL NOTES ABOUT MY EAR TRAINING CLIPS

As you'll notice, each of these clips demonstrate call-and-response ear training. In other words, the ear trainer plays some notes and then I try to play them back on my instrument, by ear. I believe that this is the best ear training method because it simultaneously improves our aural skills and ear-hand coordination (the ability to play something by ear on our instruments). Both of these skills are necessary for jazz improvisation. If you try call-and-response ear training and end up making a bunch of mistakes, make sure you've mastered interval identification first (see GETTING STARTED for more info). Also, remember to start with slow tempos and just a few notes/options.

While recording these clips, I didn't look at the ear trainer's staff for starting notes. Instead, I relied solely on my ears to find each note. Yes, there are some mistakes in these clips and yes I hesitated before playing several of the notes, but with each passing month/year my accuracy improves. You should have heard how many mistakes I made two years ago!

Once I've finished this ear trainer's exercises, I fire up my other ear trainer and play simple songs by ear.

GETTING STARTED WITH EAR TRAINING - LEARNING INTERVALS

Intervals (distances between 2 notes) are the building blocks for all chords and melodies. Learning every interval, in both ascending and descending order, will greatly improve your ability to play music entirely by ear.

SINGING INTERVALS

The first step toward interval mastery is the ability to sing each interval sound. I suggest you start with a few intervals (3 or 4). Master them in ascending order. Then add more intervals. Once you can sing all of them in ascending order, learn to sing them in descending order.

Using the ear training tool to sing intervals:

• Select the "Intervals" tab of the ear trainer and make sure the tab's checkbox is checked
• Select one or more intervals you'd like to work on from the "Intervals to Play" options
• Select the "Note Direction" you want to work on (I suggest starting with ascending)
• Set the Play Mode to "Sing: No Play"
• Click the "Next >" button to generate the intervals
• When an interval appears in the staff, click the bottom note to establish its sound. Sing that pitch aloud. Now try to sing the second note. Click the second note to check your accuracy. If you've missed, try finding the note you sang on the keyboard and then listen to the difference between the correct sound and the sound you sang.

TIP: It might help to associate each interval (or at least some of them) with sounds from popular tunes. A perfect fourth (ascending), for example, is the sound heard in the first two notes from "Hear Comes The Bride". Further down on this page, you'll find a list of intervals and song associations.

IDENTIFYING INTERVALS

As you learn to sing intervals, you should begin to test your ability to identify intervals by sound. These tests will help reinforce the your mastery of each interval. Additionally, the tests will start you on your way to identifying and playing intervals (by ear) in real music.

Using the ear training tool to identify intervals:

• Select the "Intervals" tab of the ear trainer and make sure the tab's checkbox is checked
• Select one or more intervals you'd like to work on from the "Intervals to Play" options
• Select the "Note Direction" you want to work on (I suggest starting with ascending)
• Select the "Sequence Type" you want to work on. It's probably best to begin with melodic sequences (notes are played one after another). Once you master melodic sequences, try harmonic sequences (notes are played together).
• Set the Play Mode to "Play: Manual"
• Check the "Delay Results" checkbox. This will allow you to hear the interval before the results are shown. Of course, you can always look away from the screen to avoid seeing the results.
• Click the "Play >" button to generate and play the intervals.
• When the interval sounds, sing both notes of the interval, listening closely to the each tone. Try to identify the interval distance and note name before the results are displayed. If you guess the wrong interval, use the keyboard to compare the sound of the guessed interval and the correct interval.

PLAYING INTERVALS

Once you've gotten good at singing and identifying intervals, you should try to play the notes on your instrument as you hear them. You will basically want to follow the instructions shown in the IDENTIFYING INTERVALS section, however there is one import option. Beneath the "Play Mode" box, you'll see an option to "Show First Note". Checking this box will always display the first note, so you'll have a pitch reference to use when playing the next note in the interval. As you gain more experience with these exercises, try un-checking the "Show First Note" box.

If your ear is having trouble locking in on the notes, slow down the tempo and/or reduce the number of intervals you're trying to play. When my ear is struggling to find the notes, I'll set the tool to a simple interval (e.g. seconds) and play along with that for a while. After a few minutes, my ear is re-tuned and ready for harder/farther intervals.

Suggestion: Once you get good at melodic intervals, be sure to try harmonic intervals. When listening to harmonic intervals, try to pick out each note from the bottom up. Listening from the bottom up is useful because chords are often played with the root note as the lowest pitch. Consequently learning to identify harmonic intervals and chords from the bottom up can help you to identify chords/keys.

RANDOM MELODIES

Playing random melodies by ear is similar to playing simple songs (or any other music) by ear, however the ear training tool provides a controlled environment that helps you to gradually improve and challenge yourself. As with intervals, you should practice both singing and playing random melodies by ear.

Using the ear training tool to generate random melodies:

• Select the "Melodies" tab of the ear trainer and make sure the tab's checkbox is checked
• Select which notes or keys you want to use in the random sequences. When starting out, I'd suggest picking 3 or 4 notes. Be sure to select "Single Note" where it says "Each box is a...". If that option is set to major scale, then each checkbox will pull-in every note in the major scale(s) identified by your selected "Note/Scale Options".
• Select the number of notes you want in your random sequence. Once again, 3 or 4 is probably a good place to start.
• To prevent large interval jumps, check "Restrict to Single Octave"
• The play settings should be familiar at this point, so make your selections (Sing vs. Play, Delay, etc) and click the "Play" button to begin.

ADDITIONAL EAR TRAINING SUGGESTIONS

When playing along, be sure to set the "Key center" to your instrument's key (Bb: trumpet, clarinet, tenor sax, Eb: alto sax, F: french horn, C: you know who you are) so the notes and pitches will match your instrument... unless, of course, you'd also like to work on transposing.

As you become more familiar with how the ear training tool works, you'll probably want to use the automatic looping function for many of the exercises. This is done simply by selecting one of the "Auto" Play Modes.

Looking for more material to play by ear? If so, be sure to check out my simple song randomizer.

Need help with basic theory? If so, try this site or this one.

ADDITIONAL READING

Learning To Improvise - Introduction: This article discusses my jazz education and the odd absence of adequate ear training.

Learning To Improvise - Ear Training: This article discusses the importance of ear training in jazz improvisation.

Suzuki Method & Music Education: This article discusses some of the principles behind the Suzuki Method and how those principles help students learn to play by ear.

John Murphy - Ear Training Interview: In this article, I present an interview I did with University of North Texas professor, John Murphy.

John Murphy - Musical Fluency: This is a short article by a University of North Texas Professor which compares fluency in a language to having strong aural skills.

INTERVAL ASSOCIATIONS FOR EAR TRAINING

You may find it helpful to associate each interval with the beginning of a popular tune. Below are some associations that I use.