Here are a few things you might have missed in the world of aural skills development and ear training lately. Let us know if you have any to add!

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• Halloween Sound Design Contest
• Theta Music Marks 1 Year With a Major Update
• Expert learning advice from the Dallas School of Music
• Black keys improvisation (video)
• Win an app with the Discover, Learn, Play blog

Halloween Sound Design Contest

It’s October, and you know what that means… Halloween!

The Designing Sound website put us onto this exciting and fun contest from

Prizes include a copy of SONOPEDIA 2.0 from Blastwave FX, an autographed set of limited edition Hollywood-is-Dead poster prints from Matt Busch, an autographed copy of the Halloween 4 Soundtrack by Alan Howarth and an autographed copy of “The Sound Effects Bible” by Ric Viers.

Read the full contest information at BlastwaveFX.com. And then what are you waiting for?

If you need a little help getting spooky, keep an eye on EasyEarTraining.com over the next few weeks……

Theta Music Marks 1 Year With a Major Update

About a year ago we covered the launch of Theta Music Trainer, a new suite of online games designed to make ear training fun. We couldn’t agree more with the spirit and goals of Theta Music’s games, so we’re delighted to congratulate them on a successful first year – and the major update they’ve just released. Check out the video below for a tour of the training on offer and the new additions to the Theta Music programme:

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Learn to hear how the Dorian Mode can add brightness to a minor song

So let’s add the Dorian Mode to your aural tool-box!

Reminder: A mode is derived by taking the notes of a scale and changing which note in the scale is used as the root note. You don’t need to know much theory to learn from this article, but if you want to check the theory background, there’s a great lesson available from Gary Ewer’s Easy Music Theory (which specifically introduces the Dorian):

• Music Theory Lesson on Modes

To summarize: the Dorian is a mode of the major scale that is formed by using the same notes as the major scale, but using the second note as the root. This creates a group of notes nearly identical to the natural minor scale, except that the minor sixth note is sharpened to the major sixth. This creates a brighter spot in Dorian when that note is played.

The examples below consist of the minor scale and the Dorian mode for comparison:

The Natural Minor Scale (click to enlarge)

The Dorian Mode (click to enlarge)

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In this article, I’m going to introduce you to the minor pentatonic scale, explain where it comes from (and why you should care), and give you some tips on how to use and recognise it in the real world.

The minor pentatonic scale is a staple of rock and blues guitar, which is also quite common in metal, punk, and other genres of music influenced by those styles. As implied by ‘pentatonic’ in the name, the minor pentatonic scale is a five note scale which shares its scale notes with the natural minor scale.

While the two scales share notes, the use and overall sound of the minor pentatonic scale is quite different from the natural minor scale. The examples below show the A natural minor scale and A minor pentatonic scale.

A Natural Minor Scale (click to enlarge)

Listen to the A Natural Minor Scale
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