If you want to truly succeed as a musician or singer then being able to recognize note intervals, chords and rhythms automatically by ear will be of tremendous benefit to you. This is known as ear training and is a skill that is relatively easily learned with the right training and some practice. In the early days ear training was available on tapes and CD’s but the quality was questionable. The good news is that these programs have improved dramatically and there are some very good ear training programs on the Internet.
So what is ear training? The chief objective of any ear training program is the instant recognition of relative pitch. This is where you can detect and accurately identify music intervals successfully. Taking this to another level is the mastering of perfect pitch. Perfect pitch gives you the ability to predict how notes should sound in your mind without the need to hear them being played. Quite a few musicians have this perfect pitch skill and with it they can identify all music types with absolute ease.
When starting out a musician who is learning will tend to focus on the technical elements of how to play whatever instrument they want to master and pay no attention to the aural skills needed. Ear training skills should never be neglected and the trainee should be aware that the ability to master music by ear will likely mean that they will become very superior musicians. Without the proper aural music training a musician will never realize their full potential and will always be behind those that have the skills. A musician that has good ear training skills can pick up the instrument of their choice and immediately start playing with any group of musicians.
With good aural training you will be able to join another band with no problem or even decide to start your own band. Once you have mastered this skill you will be able to understand and immediately respond to what your fellow band members are doing with their music. You will know instantly the chords that are being played as well as the key that the music is being played in once you have mastered ear training. You will certainly have arrived as a musician once you get to this level. When playing with other band members it is vital to know if you are in tune with the others and perfect pitch will give you this.
If you are a singer then relative pitch skills will definitely improve your ability to sing the notes that you are reading perfectly. Great composers use their relative pitch training skills to create amazing music in the heads with harmonious melodies and rhythms and then write these down at a later date.
The benefits of ear training are immense and any aspiring professional musician should take advantage of it if they want to truly be successful. The ability to play it by ear is a truly remarkable skill where you can create whole musical pieces in your head. If you really want to be a top musician and thrill people with your musical ability then quality ear training is something that you must do.