The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Ear Training

Author: Matt74
Date: 2014-02-09 11:04

I need help. Here's the deal:

I failed sight singing and musical dictation twice back when I was in college. The resulting despair was one of the reasons I quit playing. However, we weren't given any instruction whatsoever, so it wasn't all my fault.

In spite of my difficulties I was able to play well. Right now I sing a cappella Russian style music in church and do well. I sing bass. I actually do best if I'm the only one singing my part. I can sing in tune (as long as the choir is mostly in tune), and hit the notes, but the parts are simple an formulaic, and my note is usually in one of the other parts. I have been praised for my voice, and for my "ison" in Byzantine music (a drone held a fourth below the "root" of a modal melody).

I do have intonation problems when playing my instrument by myself and when singing by myself. I have a hard time tuning to pitches more than an octave above myself. If I try to sight sing a simple melody I usually wreck it the first time, but can nail it after a few tries. If I can sing a melody, I can easily transpose it. Sometimes I have a hard time matching a random pitch on the first try. It's like I can't tell what pitch I will come out of my mouth until I actually sing it. I have very little ability to imagine melodies.

I have been doing some ear training, and am making some very slow progress. I'm using a program that plays a I-IV-V-I cadence in a random key, and then plays a note more than an octave above the root, and asks me to identify which step of the scale it is. It's discouraging. Two things are disastrous. When the key changes by a whole step up or down, or when the note to identify in two successive keys is exactly the same pitch. In either case I get lost. I think sometimes the cadence is not in the same inversion and this confuses me, but I'm not sure. I can identify the root reliably, but it requires concentration - I may gravitate to one of the other pitches if it has a strong relation to the previous root and I'm not paying attention. If I have the program stay in C, without changing keys it's easy, but mostly I'm just remembering the exact pitches themselves, not hearing their "relative" pitch.

I think my biggest problem is that I tend to hear the notes in isolation, rather than as related in a key. It is my observation that most people, even with no training or aesthetic taste, can sing popular melodies much more accurately than I can. I know I'm not singing them correctly, but I can't remember exactly how they go.

My question: Have any of you had students with similar problems, and what sort of exercises would you suggest to help me improve?

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics