Ear training software

[ghmerrill]

I don't know about software, but I have found Klaus's drone tones to be especially useful in training my own ear and being able to play (particularly low notes) in tune.

Take a look at

viewtopic.php?p=387381#p387381" target="_blank" target="_blank

[Michael Bush]

One of my sons had a hard time with this, and (therefore?) landed in the percussion section. That was fine until he came across timpani, which he loves.

So my wife (the real musician in the house) worked with him on singing pitches she would either sing or play on the piano. That worked for a while, but then we found that it was "just mom" and his willingness to learn from her waned.

So then we paid a colleague at the college where I was working to give him ear training "lessons." For him, the son would practice matching pitch and hearing intervals on the piano. It made a big difference. Along the way, my wife found a web site that she used with him some, but she didn't find it very effective.

[SFA Tubajack]

For my college level Aural Skills class, we used a program called MacGamut (http://www.macgamut.com/)
It's a great program for beginning ear training. When I entered my freshman year at college, I had not had ANY type of ear training. It works perfectly for begining students.

[bwtuba]

Try Auralia. It think it is great and can help most any musician with their ears. Try it yourself on the harder settings and see how you do!

[Ken Herrick]

Tuba players are MEN
MEN do not sing
Tuba players have bad ears

Singing has got to be the best ear training possible.

Great tuba playing is really singing, using the lips instead of vocal chords to do the vibrating.

For those who have some experience with the instrument, good ole trad jazz playing is a great way to develop one's ear. Like singing, especially in an ensemble of 2 or more, input and output occur together.

By the way, "Tuben", I like what you said - feel free to say something more often.

I'm NOT knocking the idea of using audio/visual feedback.

[averagejoe]

Don't waste any money on software if you don't need to. These websites are both full featured and free; more than enough for a beginning or intermediate student.
http://www.teoria.com/" target="_blank
http://www.sonicfit.com/" target="_blank
Try sonicfit and click on "scale degree exercise."

[ParLawGod]

http://www.musictheory.net

[bearphonium]

I would guess that the visual feedback of an auditory event would be really helpful to someone whose primary processing style is visual. I would suspect that most really talented musicians also "see" pitch in a way that other folks do not. I have personal knowledge that an auditory processor who is not gifted musically really needs a lot of multiple kinds of feedback to help her determine pitch

To my dismay, I had never heard the phrase "Aural skills training" until a friend of mine went back to school last year as a post bac music ed student. I had never been exposed to the concept of hearing the pitch before you played it. I am working hard to make up for lost time.

On a complete tangent; I have a god awful time singing the pitch I play, since I do not come close to singing in the register in which I play. Any input on that?

[ppalan]

Here's another link.
http://www.teoria.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank
I used this in my classroom when I was teaching music theory years ago. At the time, there weren't nearly as many web resources as today. Some students who had internet access were really able to progress quickly.
EDIT
Whoops, sorry I just now saw that someone had already mentioned this site.