Essentials Of Good Ear Training

Ear training for the musician is like linguistics for the translator; colors and contours for the painter; functions and relations for the mathematician.

Central To All

Of all the things the pianist must train, listening is the most crucial. Sure, technique is very important, so is sight reading, as well as repertoire. I believe improvising skill is a very important part of musicianship as well. All that being said, understanding by ear is the center and kingpin of it all. For the musician everything improves when the ear is improved.

The Truth For Most Pianists And Musicians

Unfortunately, for most musicians, training the ear is a hit and miss prospect. We all like to do what we enjoy the most. Which usually means things that we're comfortable with or that come easily to us. That's what I've seen in my 25 years of teaching. It's no wild stretch of the imagination to see that we all do this, in many other parts of life as well.

So those of us that love chords spend most of our time playing around with chords and getting better at what we're already good at. Others that pick up melodies quickly love to spend time getting better and faster at melodies.

Crucial And Doable

A good, well rounded ear is not only crucial, taken in the right steps, it is also very trainable. Always remember that.

There is always a way to break down what seems impossible and make it tangible, real and attainable.

Here's some more of my experience in ear training, including valuable information about Perfect Pitch and Relative Pitch.

If you haven't seen it yet the Play Piano By Ear page has a very useful exercise for any level of experience and will lead to other useful pages.

For a primer on progressions visit the Chord Progressions page.

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