Ear training exercises are meant to ensure that the singer is also a good music listener and can tell a note that is played on an instrument. The ear training exercises are mainly given to someone who has already learnt the music basics like the keys and the scales. It is through ear training exercises that one knows whether they are singing and playing an instrument in the right note.
The ear learning exercises include the ability to detect melodies, rhythms, chords and intervals. They are drills that one can use to write music that is being played from a music sheet. The best level that one can get with the ear training exercises is recognizing all music notations of every song that is sung or played.
Ear training exercises start with a short stunt where the learner sings while they record their voice and the instructor later plays the recorded voice pointing various keys and notes and also identifying sharps and flats. The recorded voice is the best illustration and it involves concentration for one to recognize all the music notes. From the short-recorded music, one graduates to listening to a complete song and recognizing the vocal mistakes made. This then spreads to various genres of music like pop where there are various styles and a mistake could easily be mistaken for a singing style thus excellent music listening skills are required.
Aural comprehension involves listening and recognition of syllable singing, detecting errors and sight singing. This includes recognition of the problem encountered by the singer when they sing off-key so that one can correct the mistake. One should start with recognition of various notes played singly then move to combination's and when they can identify the scales, they can move on to the complex combination's of all parts of music. Amazingly, since the learner practices recognition with instruments, the proficiency that one learns from the ear training exercises also comes together with proficiency in playing many instruments.
There is software that aims at assisting people in the ear training exercises. It is divided into various levels depending on the proficiency of the learner. It has prerecorded music pitches and the learner listens to the prerecorded scales then does a test to assess their proficiency. It is advisable though, to get an instructor instead of learning the ear training exercises with a computer since an instructor identifies one’s weak areas and improves on them.
Music adjudicators and other people in the music profession like raters and producers, do most of the ear training exercises. The ear training exercises are applied in every song that is produced since the producer has to listen to the song and detect any flaws like sharps and flats. One has to take the ear training exercises prior to becoming a singer or other music professional.
