Ear training is a useful skill that involves developing your musical ear to understand and identify what you hear in music. Sound like a lot? Don’t worry, Skoove is here to help. This article will help you understand ear training for beginners, with rhythm, pitch, chord, scale and harmonic progression recognition with simple explanations, perfect for beginners. We will also include some fun ear training games! Let’s delve into the realm of piano ear training together.
What is ear training in music?
Ear training is the practice of learning to identify pitches, rhythms, chords, and other music theory concepts by ear. When learning how to play piano practicing aural skills exercises will increase all aspects of your musicianship. It will help you become a better player and develop a deeper relationship with the music you study.
Ear training exercises
There are many apps and websites you can find to help you with ear training exercises. We have linked to a few of our favorites throughout this article. Let’s take a look at the main aural skills you can develop and how you can improve your listening skills with each of them.
Rhythm ear training
Rhythm ear training allows you to recognise rhythms and reproduce them without needing to write anything down. This skill helps you improve your time, feel and groove. This is an essential skill for any pianist when developing their aural awareness. You can practice your rhythmic awareness by figuring out rhythms in your favorite songs or using online rhythm games.
Interval ear training
The ability to evaluate and audiate pitches is a foundational element of ear training. There are two main categories of pitch recognition abilities: perfect pitch and relative pitch. Relative pitch is the ability to hear and identify notes in relation to one another, either melodically or harmonically. As this is a skill you can develop at any age it is what we will focus on in this article. In simple terms relative pitch means if you know the pitch of one note, you can identify another note based on its intervallic relation to the known note.
This relative pitch training tool gives you a reference pitch and then plays another note after. Your job is to identify the second note based on the first note, this is often called interval recognition.
Scale ear training
Another key element in piano ear training is learning to identify scales. Being slightly more advanced than hearing intervals, learning to identify different scales is the next step after learning interval identification and relative pitch.
This scale training tool plays scales one note at a time in ascending order. The difference between some scales is subtle. However, the difference between the major scale and the harmonic minor scale is more tangible. Over time, you will develop the ability to distinguish these sounds quite quickly and you can increase the difficulty of this exercise accordingly. Combined with relative pitch and interval recognition training you will be able to hear and play melodies on the piano without the need for written sheet music.
Chord and chord progression
Once you have a solid grip on interval training and are developing your relative pitch skills, the next step is to spend some time learning to identify chords and chord progressions by ear. Chord progression ear training is learning to hear chords and common chord patterns. This skill will open many doors for you and help your understanding of piano music immensely. Let’s take a look at some basic chord identification skills and how to work on them.
Identifying chords:
Identifying chords is the skill of hearing a chord’s quality and composite parts by ear. This chord identification tool features a range of different chords, from triads to more advanced seventh chords. Can you hear the difference between a major and minor chord? As you get more comfortable try adding a variety of chord types.
Identifying cadences:
The next step is to understand cadences. Cadences are the punctuation of the harmonic world and dictate whether musical pieces or phrases sound harmonically finished. Learning to identify cadences is a great first step to hearing and recognising chord progressions by ear.
Identifying chord progressions:
Once you can hear cadences you can start to apply your newfound listening skills to longer sequences of chords known as chord progressions. Practicing chord progression identification will help you learn full chord sequences that make up a song with just your ear. It’s best to start with diatonic chords and build your ear from there, gradually increasing the variety of chord progressions you are familiar with.
How do I develop my ears?
Training your ears is certainly not an impossible task for anyone, however like all musical skills, it takes dedication and consistent effort. There are many ways to go about developing your aural skills. Let’s have a look at our top tips for ear training mastery.
- Start simple – Start with simple intervals, scales and chords and build from there. It’s like learning to understand a new language. Start slow and simple, be patient and you will see steady and consistent results.
- Consistent practice – Consistency is essential for developing your ear. Set aside dedicated time each day to work on ear training exercises. Even short practice sessions can yield significant improvements over time.
- Actively listen to music – Pay attention to the individual elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm and dynamics. Try to identify specific musical elements and analyze their characteristics. You can do this while you play too. Practice singing or playing scales and melodies using solfege or scale degrees to improve your pitch recognition skills.
- Transcribe music by ear – The best way to develop your ear training skills is learning songs by ear. Start with simple melodies or chord progressions and gradually work your way up to more complex pieces.
Start your ear training journey today!
Ear training is a vital skill for all musicians and by starting on this journey you have taken your first step towards a more holistic and intuitive understanding of music. Learning these skills takes a bit of time, patience and effort but the rewards you get back are huge. Start small, stay consistent and let Skoove guide you as you train your ears and unlock your full musical potential. Keep up the good work and happy listening!
Frequently asked questions on ear training
Yes, absolutely! While some individuals may have a natural inclination towards music or possess innate musical abilities, a good musical ear is certainly a skill that can be developed through consistent practice and dedication.
The frequency of practice depends on your individual goals and schedules. However, practicing ear training regularly, even for short durations each day, is more beneficial than sporadic, intense practice sessions. Consistency is key to improvement.
No, perfect pitch is not necessary for developing strong ear training skills. While perfect pitch can be advantageous, especially in certain musical contexts, relative pitch (the ability to identify and reproduce pitches in relation to each other) is more commonly developed through ear training practice and is sufficient for most musicians.
Perfect pitch is the rare ability to name or play any note without hearing another note. Relative pitch means recognizing notes after one another or in harmony e.g. hearing that a note is a fifth higher than another. Both are valuable, however relative pitch is the skill you can train through practice whereas perfect pitch is a skill developed in early life.
Definitely. Strong ear training allows you to hear chord changes and respond instinctively, making your improvisation more natural and expressive.
Author of this blog post:
Matthew Dickman
With over a decade of experience in music education Matthew holds a BA in Music from Paul McCartney’s LIPA and an MA in Composition from the University of Salford. Mathew has developed a distinctive compositional voice and approach to music theory education through his research and work in the music industry. Matthew’s writing for Skoove combines experience from orchestral and media composition, and as a gigging jazz musician, to create a wholistic and accessible pedagogy for musicians of any level. Away from music, he enjoys reading and exploring nature to expand his horizons and knowledge contributing to his holistic teaching style.
