If you have a lot of experience with theory classes or with playing in an organized ensemble, you’re probably familiar with two different but equally important types of ear training method.

When we sit down to practice though, we tend to focus only on one of them: the basic, practice-the-interval-until-you-could-recognize-it-asleep memorization method (or derivatives of it, like sight-reading). I like to refer to this approach as “melodic”, as it emphasizes the musical elements necessary in carrying a tune or solo improvisation.

It’s the second type, “harmonic”, that musicians sometimes forget: training your ear to hear the subtly different types of chords beyond the basic triad. Practicing one type improves the other, and a well-balanced approach is the fastest way to start hearing results from your training in everyday jam sessions.

In this post we’ll take a closer look at both of these styles of ear training and identify the best techniques for developing them.

Before we move on it’s important to note that any classifications like these are, of course, only effective as basic guides to help these concepts sink in. For instance, you might find it just as helpful to adapt what we’ll refer to as “melodic” methods to do harmonic training, and vice versa. These subdivisions of ear training are not rules – just a logical dichotomy between the two general types that, if practiced in parallel, could help you develop a better ear.

Type 1: Melodic

Melodic ear training is the type we tend to emphasize – sometimes to a fault! If you’ve ever quizzed yourself on intervals with a keyboard or practiced sight singing, you’ve been training melodically. This type of training can be extremely important in developing the ability to solo instrumentally or in composing vocal melodies, and it will help you become familiar with different types of scales and modes. If, for example, you were working on a song built around a harmonic minor scale, you could practice running the notes up and down to get acquainted with the distinctive characteristics of the scale.

Click to read the rest…

Your teenage daughter can rattle off the lyrics to her 320 favorite tunes on her iPod but doesn’t remember you asking her to babysit her younger brother on Saturday night. Your high school senior can improv the sweetest guitar riff complexities by ear on the spot, yet blanks out during the chemistry lecture at school.

What is it about music that imprints a solid memory in adults and teens? Are there ways to use music to improve communication and high school performance? How important is listening? Can music improve parent and teen communication? How important is ear training for young musicians and teens?

Music and Teen Identity

What is your teen thinking?

Every parent attempts to answer this question. Try paying attention to your teen’s latest playlist. Listening to music has become a large part of identity in Click to read the rest…

Ear training doesn’t have to start when you are in elementary school or college. Music activities like ear training benefit you no matter what your age, from eight months to eighty.

This article provides useful information for:

• Older adults who want to discover the benefits of music
• Music students and health professionals interested in creative ways of working with the geriatric population, and
• Family members who want to use music to communicate with elderly loved ones in their lives.

So, what are some ways that ear training and music help older adults? Does musical training increase mental capacity and overall quality of life? Can music increase happiness?

1. Music therapy techniques, such as listening to live music, significantly increase the quality of life in elderly patients. Benefits included more restful sleep and a need for less medication. [1][4]
2. Musical activities increase communication in patients with dementia and reduce overall anxiety. Activities like singing and listening to music lightens mood and help elderly patients suffering from dementia self-express. [2]
3. Exercising to music can help older adults maintain balance and reduce falls. In fact, exercising to music yields better results than similar exercises performed without music. [3]
4. Studies suggest that leisurely enjoyment of music increases psychological well-being in the elderly, allows for self-expression, and can “facilitate successful aging.” [5]
5. Even musical interactive video games like Nintendo’s Wii Music can benefit the overall health of the elderly in long term nursing home facilities by increasing balance and reducing falls. [6]

Geriatric music therapists have discovered that Click to read the rest…