Q. I have a pretty good musical ear. I can hear individual tones but I'm not to the point that I can easily hear intervals or chords. When trying to find them on an instrument, it's trial and error until I finaly find it.
One cannot be a performer if they can't recognise these things on demand.
A. It won't happen overnight, but practicing daily will improve your aural skills immensely. The most important part of ear training is audiation, which is a fancy word for your musical imagination, the tape recorder in your mind that holds the melodies that you hear. I'm sure you've had a song stuck in your head before. The trick to ear training is getting all of the musical rudiments (intervals, chords (arpeggiated, of course), scale degrees (using numbers or solfege syllables), and rhythms) stuck in your head one by one, over and over until you never forget what each one sounds like.
I don't recommend using well-known songs for identifying intervals. Here's why: Let's say you use "Here Comes the Bride" for an ascending perfect fourth. This is scale degree 5 ascending to 8 (or 1 an octave higher), or "sol do". Now that you've learned it, you can recognize that pattern whenever it happens. What will happen if you hear scale degree 3 jumping up to scale degree 6, though ("mi la")? (Listen to the beginning of Brahms's Intermezzo for piano in A minor, Op. 76/7 (http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&PWB=1&EAN=90266388622 click on track 6). This too is a perfect fourth, and sounds VERY different from "sol do"! Would you recognize that as a fourth? Only if you had also learned to hear that one too! Another different-sounding P4 is 7 to 3 ("ti mi")! When I teach ear training, I teach all of my students (and make them memorize) an interval drill that groups together all of the scale-degree combinations that form a single type of interval. My students sing this etude at the beginning of every class.
A far better approach to ear training than using intervals is using scale degrees. When you practice ear training, do identification drills, always singing what you hear (in a comfortable octave) after listening and then after you've learned the correct ID for the rudiment. Also do dictation. Try to write down melodies that you hear (and have the music for so that you can check your work when you are done). Finally, do a lot of sight-singing. Find melodies that you've never heard before and find out how they sound by singing them from the music. Try to avoid using the piano to help you sing, until you get lost. Then back up and find where you went astray using the piano. There's a difference between producing the right pitches for yourself and matching the pitches you hear. (You must be able to do one before you can do the other, of course.)
There are lots of great online ear training resources. One is http://www.good-ear.com/, and another is http://www.musictheory.net/. I'm sure you can find others on your own. Good luck, and let me know if I can help you in any other way!
How can I teach myself to play the piano and write songs professionally?
Q. I am a teenage boy and I was wondering how I would go about teaching myself the piano and how hard it would be. I have had piano lessons for 2 year in the past when I was about 9 years old, and until recently I have been working on pianos in school for small projects so I know the basics pretty well, however I want to be able to play Professionally so that piano comes naturally to me like a real musician,, instead of learning little easy songs online and taking ages to figure out each chord etc. I'm not necessarily interested in Classical piano playing, but I would like to be able to play the piano well so I can write modern songs more easily and to a high standard.
Is this achievable without the help of a tutor? How long would it take for me to become of a decent standard and how much time would I have to put into it. I know it's not just going to happen overnight, but if I put for example an hour or more per day of learning the piano, how long would it take for me to become naturally able to play well? Would it take several months? Maybe Years?
To make this clear, I do not want to be a massively perfect classical grand pianist virtuoso, but I want to have the ability to write my own songs easily and at a high quality instead of struggling to play the right notes and turning my song ideas into pathetic little melodies, simply because I currently lack the skill to play my song ideas exactly as they are in my head.
How would I go about learning? How long would it take?
A. While you already have a lot of comments, I want to make a few things clear that might not have been emphasized.
I DO think that what you're asking IS achievable, but it's not the sort of thing that will come quickly. It's a several-year process that requires constant work.
My advice is to focus on developing a skill called 'audiation'. Reading music probably isn't the most useful skill for what you want to do - don't get me wrong, it's an invaluable skill to a musician, just not nearly as relevant as using your ears in your context
Practise learning songs from listening to them rather than using tutorials or sheet music.
Start with the melody, then add the bass.
Start with songs that you listen to a lot, and know quite well. When you listen to music, try and hear whether the chords behind the melody are major or minor.
The more you do it, the better you'll get at it, and eventually, you'll be able to add chords.
Remember, getting good at this type of learning takes years.
If it's something that you haven't done a lot of, it can be frustrating, but there are interval training apps out there, or chord recognition apps that can help.
Obviously, there is no substitute for private lessons, but I would recommend finding a contemporary tutor, or a jazz tutor - someone that understands the skills you're trying to develop.
keep in mind that while i think this kind of training might be the most useful, ALL musical insights that musicians learn, formulate the way that they play.
What is expected from Music Theory majors in college?
Q. I'm currently a sophomore in high school and I've been thinking about majoring in Music Theory in college. Next year I will be taking AP Music Theory in high school. I've been playing music since I was in kindergarten. I played piano for 6 years, clarinet for 1, flute for 4, and I taught myself a bit of guitar. I am also a professional singer and a dancer. I love music and I was just wondering what sort of classes that are required for Music Theory majors, what is expected of them, how hard it is and if this is a good idea for me. Feel free to ask any questions. Thanks
A. Hey,
I study in the a Music Degree in the UK so it may be slightly different, but here are some of the 'theoretical' aspects of my course.
Advanced Music Theory - This class focuses on all things theoretical - Jazz Harmony, Voice Leading, Scales & Modes, Chords (extensions, inversions etc.) and Compositional Aspects.
Aural/Ear Training - This class focuses on the implementation of theory - Identification of Chords (Major/Minor, Extensions, Inversions) Rhythmic Identification, Scale Identification, Metronome Practice, Interval Identification, Time Signature Recognition.
Composition - This class is, essentially, the study of Harmony in practice and helps you learn how and when to use these theoretical concepts and most importantly of all, what EMOTIONAL RESPONSES you can evoke by using them. After all that's what Music is all about isn't it? :)
Improvisation - This ties all of the above aspects together and allows you to develop through applying all you have learned in a creative environment.
Just remember that the key principal is practice, maintenance and most importantly to enjoy it. It is technical and demanding at times but you sound to me like you are ready to study it, and you obviously love it. So I say go for it!
I hope this helps.
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