How to develop a musical ear - for self-taught and not only!

Musical education, especially for adults, can be difficult if a person has an insufficiently developed ear for music. That is why most music teachers do not recommend ignoring solfeggio classes, whose main task is to develop a musical ear in all directions.

What does the ear for music really mean? First, you need to decide what kind of hearing you need to develop. If you are learning to play, you need a harmonic ear, that is, the ability to hear harmony, like - major or minor, coloring of sound. If you do vocals, your goal is to develop a melodic ear that will help you easily memorize a melody consisting of separate intervals.

True, these are local tasks; in life, musicians have to be specialists in a wide profile - to sing, play several instruments, and teach others (to play the instrument through singing and, conversely, to sing through the instrument). Therefore, most of the Methodists, who talk about how to develop a musical ear, agree on the opinion that both melodic and harmonic hearing must develop simultaneously.

It also happens that a person hears and distinguishes intervals, even notices mistakes from other singers, and cannot sing purely and correctly. This is because the rumor (in this case, melodic) is, but there is no coordination between it and the voice. In this case, help regular vocal exercises to help establish the link between voice and hearing.

What determines the purity of singing?

It happens that a person as if sings cleanly and according to notes, and when he starts singing into a microphone, out of nowhere, mistakes and wrong notes are taken. What is the matter? It turns out that singing just notes is not everything. To sing cleanly, you need to take into account some other parameters. Here they are:

1. Vocal position (or vocal yawn, or singing yawn) is the position of the sky when singing. If it is not raised enough, it creates the feeling that a person sings unclean or, more precisely, “underestimates”. In order to eliminate this defect, it is useful to sit down for a few minutes before practicing vocals. If it is difficult for you to do this, lift your tongue vertically and push the sky upward until you yawn.
2. The direction of the sound. Each person has his own unique voice timbre. About what types of voices are, read the article "Male and female singing voices." But the sound (or the color of your voice) can be changed depending on the content of the song. For example, no one will sing a lullaby with a dark and strict sound. To make such a song sound better, it needs to be sung with a light, gentle sound.
3. Move the melody down. There is one more peculiarity in music: when a melody moves downwards, it must be sung as if its direction is exactly the opposite. For example, take the famous song "Little Christmas Tree". Sing a line from this song "... it's cold in winter ...". The melody moves down. Intonation falls, in this place false is possible. And now try to sing the same line, while performing a smooth movement of the hand from the bottom up. Has the sound color changed? He became lighter, and intonation cleaner.
4. Emotional setting - Another important factor. Therefore, you must periodically sing for the audience. At least for their home. Fear of the scene will gradually go away.

What prevents the development of hearing and clean singing?

There are some things that can negatively affect the development of hearing. You can not play on an upset instrument, at the same time to work together in one office. Such music, like hard rock and rap, is unlikely to help you develop the ear, as it does not contain an expressive melody, harmony is often primitive.

Methods and exercises for the development of hearing

There are many effective exercises for the development of hearing. Here are just some of them:

1. Singing gammas. We play the instrument do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do and sing. Then without a tool. Then top down. Again without a tool. We verify the last sound. If you hit - very well, if not - we train further.
2. Singing intervals. The simplest option is the intervals based on the same C major scale (see the previous one). We play and sing: do-re, do-me, do-fa, etc. Then without a tool. Then the same from top to bottom.
3. "Echo". If you do not know how to play, you can develop a hearing, as in kindergarten. Turn on your favorite song on the phone. We listen to one line. Click on the "pause", repeat. And so the whole song. The phone, by the way, can be a great helper: you can record intervals on it, gamma (or ask you to play if you do not know how), and then listen during the day.
4. The study of musical notation. An ear for music is a thought, an intellectual process, so obtaining even the most basic knowledge of music in itself automatically contributes to the development of hearing. To help you - a music certificate tutorial as a gift from our site!
5. The study of classical music. If you are thinking about how to develop your musical ear, do not forget that classical music is most conducive to the development of hearing thanks to the expressive melody, rich harmony and sound of the orchestra. So, begin to study this art more actively!

THAT'S NOT ALL!

Do you really want to sing, but do not sleep at night because you do not know how to develop a musical ear? Now you know how to get what you thought these nights! In addition, get a good video lesson on vocals from Elizaveta Bokova - she talks about the “three whales” of vocals, the basics of the basics!