Ear training is the procedure by which a student can learn to differentiate between various periods, chords and rhythms. These aural skills are important for musicians as they allow them to transcribe, perform by ear, and sight-read accurately, and even developing advantages with regards to composition (such as, being able to transfer the tune in your head to paper or your instrument), and more.
Aural skills must be learned by doing, consequently it's important to have effective workouts in order to cultivate them. To start with, students can try simple call-and-response-type exercises such as recreating single notes: you can use a recording, or have a partner or tutor play one note, thereafter attempt to sing or perform the same note. This is called an "absolute pitch" exercise, and it will develop a perception in the student for what a given note sounds like; if you're able to determine the note right away, you may have excellent pitch. This form of training can also be carried out with a variety of notes took part in a series, becoming more and more difficult, which will focus on memory along with recognition of notes.
Another significant section to focus on is the identification of intervals. Listen to two notes played one after another and try to determine the interval between the two, beginning with the basics like octaves and perfect fifths before moving to other intervals. Being able to accurately determine intervals implies you have relative pitch, which is believed as an essential skill for musicians. As soon as you can recognize intervals, you can use that skill to distinguish chords. Students might also think about using relevant workouts with the objective of distinguishing instantly between minor and major chords. Moreover, once intervals have been perfected, students can proceed to exercises to distinguish among different types of scales.
