LEVEL ONE EAR-TRAINING EXERCISES: LESSON ONE
introduction to Ear Training
WHY STUDY EAR TRAINING?
Being able to identify what you hear (without having to sit down at an instrument to figure it out) is an incredibly useful skill for a musician, especially for composers and improvisers, who are often required to come up with ideas on the spot, in reaction to what they're hearing around them. Good ear-training also helps your ability to sight-sing; or rather to hear music you look at in your head, again without having to work it out on your instrument first.
1) SOLFEGE (PART ONE - MAJOR KEYS)
Solfege has been around for hundreds of years. This is a method where the musician trains their ears by associating a particular syllable with each step of the major scale. There are several approaches to solfege. We're going to study one called 'Movable Do'
STEP ONE: LEARN TO SING THE MAJOR SCALE!
FIRST TRY THIS...
Sing up and down the major scale, using solfege
Now do it again (and again...and again)
Then try this...
Again, sing along with this video. It's essentially more of the same (a lot more!) but it's great to really drill these in. Once you've got a handle on it, mute the video and try to sing the syllables on your own!
Singing Patterns
Sing along with these patterns daily, until you sing them effortlessly! Again, once you've got them all down, try singing through them with the video muted.
more patterns
You know what to do.... and Repeat all of the above patterns EVERY DAY!
SONGS USING SOLFEGE
Using solfege, you can sing up and down a major or minor scale to find the distance between two notes. Start on the lower note and sing up the scale until you reach the top note. After a while you will start to recognise wider intervals without having to sing up the scale. However, if you want to fast-track this process, the next step is learn how to sing songs (take ones that you already know) using solfege. Here are a few of them to get you started...
HOT CROSS BUNS
THE ALPHABET SONG
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT
YANKEE DOODLE
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
DID YOU EVER SEE A LASSIE
HOME ON THE RANGE
DANNY BOY
AURA LEE
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME
AMERICA
Write the solfege syllables under the noteheads in each of these pieces of music, then try singing them!
EXERCISE 1
EXERCISE 2
EXERCISE 3
EXERCISE 4
EXERCISE 5
EXERCISE 6
DAILY SOLFEGE CHALLENGE 1
Write out the solfege syllables for this song. (after working out what key it's in, and finding 'Do'). Then try to sing it!
For bonus points:
What is the name of this song? What is the solfege for the missing line of the melody? Can you transcribe it?
DAILY SOLFEGE CHALLENGE 2
The can-can
Write and then sing the solfege to this tune.
Extension: Write a harmony part (using the chords provided to guide you...), then again write and sing the solfege. Once you're feeling confident, team up with a friend and try singing both solfege parts at the same time...
DAILY SOLFEGE CHALLENGE 3
CANON IN D
Write out and sing the solfege to this musical extract.
Extension: Harmonise this extract (add chords) using chords from the chord family of D major. Sing the roots of these chords using solfege.