EAR AND MEMORY TRAINING
Memory isn’t only about remembering everyday things like the shopping, or things you need to get done – or even school subjects. It is also about remembering things like notes/tones/sounds. Think about how quickly you learn to tell one voice apart from another. Each sound someone makes is quite unique in terms of the different elements that go into it. So how can you go about increasing your ability to remember sounds? Musicians have to be particularly good at this it is called ‘ear training’.
Musicians need to learn how sounds go together and their relationship with one another. For example, they need to be able to recognise chords. To help them learn how to recognise the chords that make up a melody they will practice by listening to different chords played backwards and forwards.
Chords may form the skeleton of a piece of music but the rhythm is another very important component in making up the melody. Teaching the body the different rhythms is a popular method of helping students learn about this. They may start by tapping a rhythm with their hands and feet,, or by singing a syllable (e.g "ta") in a specific beat. Later they may combine keeping time with the hand, foot, or voice and simultaneously tapping out the rhythm, and beating out several overlapping rhythms.
Lastly learning how to recognise timbre is important for a musician as they become skilled at their craft. Timbre is not the same as loudness or pitch it is to do with the resonance the instrument makes because of its structure and the material it is made up of. Students can be given the task of listening carefully to a violin where it is being plucked and then again when a bow is drawn across it – each sounds different and this is the timbre of the instrument.
Making it easier for students
Musicians need a great deal of practice and often this involves a partner – such as the teacher – who can play notes on an instrument while the student reproduces them and learns as they do this technical activity. This is very intensive and can be made a little easier if software is used which is specially designed for students. University music departments often license popular commercial software for their students such as: EarMaster, Auralia and MacGAMUT]; There is also a lot of free software such as GPL open source software which can provide many good features such as allowing the user to customize the instruments that play and even accept input from MIDI compatible devices such as electronic keyboards. This gives a great range of possibilities to students as they learn their instrument or practice music and song writing.