Ear Training - Interval Crash Course

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Instructor

Yannick Lambrecht

Course Type

Workshop

Skill Level

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Duration

02:44:08

Have you ever wished you could hear a melody and figure it out on the piano? It all starts with intervals, the distance between two notes. Intervals are the building blocks of music, and learning to recognize them is the first step to training your ear. Don’t worry if you think you don’t have a “good ear.” This workshop takes it one simple step at a time, and anyone can build this skill with practice.

You’ll start with a few musical basics, like major and minor scales and simple chords. Then comes the fun part: learning each interval by connecting it to a familiar song. For example, the opening notes of “Amazing Grace” can help you remember one interval’s sound. Once you’ve linked a song to each interval, you’ll be able to recognize them much more easily.

Next, you’ll put your ear to the test with listening games. You’ll hear a short pattern of notes, then try to play it back. The sheet music includes blank pages to write your answers on, plus an answer key to check your work. Finally, you’ll use your new skills on familiar melodies, starting with “Ode to Joy,” then “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and finishing with “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a bonus challenge.

For software ear trainers, we recommend the following: Keyboard Relative Pitch, Note Relative Pitch, Intervals, Scales, Chords

Course Objectives

Understand what intervals are and why they're the building blocks of music
Review essential musical vocabulary, including major and minor scales, major and minor triads and the chromatic scale
Recognize every interval using familiar song associations
Practice melodic dictation by listening to note sequences, then playing and writing them back
Apply ear training skills to melodies and harmony in "Ode to Joy," "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Learning Focus

Ear Training
Practice Tips
Reharmonization

Featured Reviews

View PWJ member reviews of this course!

John Falconer verified

First Foray into Ear Training

This was a great introduction to ear-training. I've always been able to sing back a melody by ear, but never tried to identify the intervals or scale degrees. This is going to be a challenging area for me, but I think it will be essential to master it to improvise melodies spontaneously at the keyboard. Thank you, Yannick for a great course!

Robert Chesser verified

ear training awakening

Very challenging for me. As a relatively beginner, I found the this difficult. I feel I got more out of the first three. It is a skill I very much need to work on. I will try to hear and play intervals for at least a few minutes each time I practice.

Sophia Fong verified

this was great! learned a lot!

I still need to practice my ear training with various songs...the explanations were clear. I like the ear exercises.

Ray Mottarelly verified

Very Useful

I haven't given much thought to actively doing this type of suditry training before. I will now.

Lolly Dahlen verified

The enthusiasm of the instructor was catching.

I enjoyed the ay the instructor reviewed the notes. I was thrilled when I got them right-or at least some of them!

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