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…

This month, Tokyo-based company Theta Music launched a new website with a range of online ear training games, sure to be of interest to Easy Ear Training readers. I got a sneak preview of the site and caught up with Steve Myers, one of the founders of Theta music, to ask him a bit about what they’re working on.

Site Overview

First, let’s take a quick look at Theta Music Trainer. The site provides ten (Flash-based) ear training games in four categories:

• Melody – Games based on sequential notes
  (tunes, intervals, etc.)
• Harmony – Games based on simultaneous notes
  (chords, chord sequences, etc.)
• Rhythm – Games based on timing
  (note lengths, rhythm notation, etc.)
• Sound – Games based on sound
  (instruments, mixing, timbre, etc.)

The games are quite easy to get to grips with and cover a good range of difficulties, from beginner level through to very challenging aural exercises! You can try the first few levels of each game for free right now to get a feel for how the games work, and what they teach.

After you’ve played a few games, you can look at your Training and Progress reports which clearly show how you’re getting on with the different training areas (and each game individually).

The later levels of each game are available to subscribers, for a very reasonable monthly fee. You also have the option to sign up for a training course, which then structures which levels you play when, and helps you track your progress better.

Here’s a short video showing a few of the games in action:
Click to read the rest…

Well, it seems like it’s Rock Band week here at EasyEarTraining.com!

The new Fender Squier Stratocaster Pro controller for Rock Band 3 (Source: Engadget.com)

I’m a big believer in using music video games to learn actual musical skills, whether it’s improving your rhythm and group play with Wii Music, using music games on your phone or improving your singing with Rock Band, like Sabrina wrote about this week. But the power of video games to improve your musicianship just took a big leap forwards as Rock Band creators Harmonix, and guitar design legends Fender announced a real, playable guitar as a controller for the upcoming Rock Band 3 game.

The Squier Stratocaster Pro controller was just announced at the E3 conference in Los Angeles, Click to read the rest…