What's the best approach to ear training?

electric keyboard player

I have tried many different methods of ear training over the years and I'm totally confused. Should I be focusing on interval training, scale degrees, perfect pitch or is there some other method?

Learning to recognize chords by ear

image of recognizing chords by ear

Sometimes I have to listen to a chord progression between 5-10 times before I can recognize the chords. Is this normal? Or should I be able to do this instantly?

Why nursery rhymes are great ear training for improvisers

I'm currently singing and playing short tunes like nursery rhymes, hymns, etc. I'm not yet able to sing the tonal numbers but when I play it I often know where to go for the right note. I'm not 100% there but I can feel improvement, which is encouraging. Is this approach a good one?

How do musicians play by ear?

Most people assume that only a musical genius could listen to a piece of music and instantly know how to play it in any key. But what I will try to show you in this article is that this "genius" is available to all of us. In fact, it's nothing more than the ability to...

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IFR Student Question: Hopeless at ear training

musician struggling with ear training

I have always had a terrible ear and I feel that it's preventing me from making the most of your method. Your method includes singing exercises and I can see if you had a naturally good ear then IFR would help tremendously because it teaches you how to label those sounds. But to someone with a bad ear it can be a struggle to even match a pitch let alone...

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How to build a strong sense of tonal orientation

Losing the tonal center in Seven Worlds

When I'm practicing Seven Worlds, sometimes I lose my tonal orientation and I can't feel the note that is supposed to be acting as the tonal center. So for example note 2 doesn't feel like the 'floor' and 'ceiling' anymore. Instead my ear keeps on wanting to resolve to note 1. Do you have any tips for this?

Is singing the tonal numbers a crutch?

Guitarist singing while he practices

I play the guitar and in order to avoid getting lost on the fretboard I say the numbers of the scale out loud. So I literally say "1, 2, 3" etc out loud as I'm playing. Will this be like a crutch in the future where I can't move around unless I count the notes?