Guitar Ear Training Report #1
My guitar ear training challenge started one week ago so here’s a first report on my results.
This week I installed the Ear Master Pro 5 application I selected and started to work with it. You can find an initial review of the software here if you’re interested.
Interval Comparison
I started work on the first exercise area, interval comparisons. The standard tutor proposes 42 lessons covering all intervals from unison to octave ascending, descending and harmonically.
The software plays two intervals, either melodically - one note after another, or harmonically - both notes sound together. You must choose which of the intervals is the larger.
The first exercises work with minor and major second intervals, that’s one fret and two frets respectively on the guitar.
Initial scores
Each exercise proposes 15 pairs of intervals to compare. I did quite well with the first on ascending intervals, scoring 82%. The descending intervals were harder for me and I scored only 42% at my first attempt.
Harmonic intervals were much easier for me to identify, I got around 90% here.
Progress?
After doing the exercises for about five to ten minutes each day this week I have improved my scores. More importantly, I am starting to really recognize the sound of the different intervals as soon as I hear them played.
Here are my scores at the end of the first week:
Ascending minor and major 2nds - 90%
Descending minor and major 2nds - 67%
Harmonic minor and major 2nds - 93%
Ascending minor and major 3rds - 100%
Ear Master Remarks
The software has performed reliably and was easy to use. I tried out note entry in Ear Master on the virtual guitar fretboard, stave, and multiple choice. All three work well.
Conclusion
I was surprised to discover I scored so differently at identifying ascending, descending or harmonic intervals. But in all the areas I made quite good progress.
Next week I’ll continue with interval comparisons and will explore some of the other exercise areas. I’ll also try to bring you a report on Ear Master’s history reports that allow you to monitor and track your progress.
Ear Master Pro 5
Read my Ear Master 5 Pro review.
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