Best Method

Dear Ear Training Deputies,

One question I get a lot is about what the best method for ear training is. Well, what is the best method?

The first thing to do to make sure you get the most out of the time that you spend ear training starts with getting good night’s sleep, eating well and being active. I know that’s a mouthful of stuff you’ve heard 100 times before, but if you’re in a good state of health you will be able to learn more, faster, and retain it for longer. Fact!

The second thing to do is to practice for short periods of time. Your ear training practice will be quite a bit different than your normal practice. Unlike practicing your instrument or singing, you don't need to warm up. You do need to focus your attention, but you don't have to loosen up your muscles or joints, and you don't have to gather your dexterity. As a result you can get into the grit of your ear training faster than you can with your normal practice which will really test your mind. When your practice your instrument part of what you're doing is teaching your body parts to move as you want them to, which requires much less mental activity than ear training does. I am sure you're aware of how mentally relaxing, almost meditative working on a repeated passage again and again can be. Well ear training is different, it's all brain cells, flaring white hot all the time. Your brain will fatigue faster during ear training than it will during practicing, and so the best length of time to spend ear training is between 20 and 45 minutes, depending how you feel that day. You can trust that the first half hour will be many times more productive than the second.

Thirdly, how often should you practice ear training? EVERYDAY! For serious guys! How much time do you spend a day watching stupid t.v. show x, or lame web game y? There's a lot of good reason to watch those shows or play those games, because everyone needs a break. Well guess what, ear training is our new break. If you're just looking for 30 minutes where you can put your problems aside and not worry, look no further. If you manage to put aside that much time a day for your ear training it will show dividends in no time at all. You'll learn music faster, enjoy your playing more, and be a more perceptive and gathered musician over all. I figure that's worth 30 minutes of your time.

Last of all, make sure you're working at a good level of difficulty. You don't want your training program to be so easy that you get every question right every time, because you'll never get any better, you'll actually get worse! It shouldn't be too hard either, because you'll start to feel your efforts are futile, and that confident and interested learning is quick learning. Make sure you practice something until you are confident and comfortable with it, and then find a way to increase the difficulty. Are you having no problems with identifying your chords? Well you only need to add in some new types of chords to stretch your understanding.

That's all for today, keep sending in those questions,

The Ear Trainer