How to find out if you have a musical ear. How to test your musical ear at home

Are you here: For the service sector

The concept " ear for music"should be considered from the point of view of the ability to quickly capture, identify, remember and reproduce heard sounds. Artificial development and cultivation of musical ear requires the use of systematized methods with which the best results can be achieved.

A correct, high-quality test of musical hearing will reveal in a child, and not only in a child, abilities that should be developed.

When is it necessary to diagnose musical hearing?

In principle – at any time! In general, there is an opinion that a person acquires an ear for music at the genetic level, but this is only half true. In order to become professional musician no special talent is required, and even the presence of some “rudiments” of such guarantees the possibility of obtaining high results in progress regular classes. Here, as in sports, training decides everything.

How is musical hearing tested?

In particular, a musical hearing test should be carried out exclusively by a professional music teacher. The process itself consists of several stages, as a result of which it becomes possible to draw certain conclusions (although one does not have to rely on the reliability of the conclusions obtained - often, often they turn out to be erroneous simply because the child perceives the test situation as an exam and is worried). It is important to diagnose hearing according to three main criteria:

presence of a sense of rhythm;
assessment of voice intonation;
musical memory abilities.

Rhythmic hearing test

This is usually checked like this. The teacher first taps a pencil or other object on the table (or claps his palms) with a certain rhythm (best of all, a melody from famous cartoon). Then he invites the subject to repeat it. If it accurately reproduces the real rhythm, we can talk about the presence of hearing.

The test continues: examples of rhythmic patterns become more complex. Thus, it is possible to test musical hearing for a sense of rhythm. It should be noted that it is the sense of rhythm - in the matter of the presence or absence of hearing - that is the main and accurate assessment criterion.

Voice intonation: is it sung clearly?

This is not the main criterion for “sentencing”, but a procedure to which all candidates for the title of “listener” are subjected without exception. To identify the correct intonation of the voice, the teacher hums a familiar, simple melody, which the child repeats. IN in this case the purity of the voice and the prospects for vocal practice are revealed (timbre beauty - this applies only to adults).

If the child is not too strong, melodious and clear voice, but the presence of hearing is detected, he may well attend lessons in playing some instrument. In this case, it is the test of musical ear that is important, and not the presence of excellent vocal abilities. Yes, and one more thing: if a person sings dirty or doesn’t sing at all, then it’s a mistake to think that he has no hearing!

Guessing notes on an instrument: a game of hide and seek

The one being tested turns his back to the instrument (piano), the teacher presses any of the keys and then asks to find it on the keyboard. The test is carried out in the same way with other keys. The potential “listener” must accurately guess the notes by pressing the keys and listening to the sounds. This is somewhat reminiscent of the well-known children's game of hide and seek, only in this case it is hide and seek.

“An elephant stepped on my ear...” is usually said by people who are sure that they have no ear for music. And they decided this because they didn’t hit the notes while singing, or while learning to play the piano, they couldn’t pick out the melody by ear. And they don’t even suspect how deeply they are mistaken!

How to test your musical ear? How do you know whether to get upset right away or wait a little? How to understand what you need to work on more and more intensively?

If you decide to take up music, but you are afraid that you will not succeed due to lack of hearing, and you will not be able to hear where you played correctly and where you did not, do not rush to get upset.

Hearing test methods

There are several proven ways to determine whether you have ear for music or it just needs to be developed.

For example, ask someone to play one note. After listening to it, memorize it, and then let them press the keys randomly until you hear the one played first. Repeat this several times. If you can guess the note by its sound, then your hearing is fine. Or let them press notes, but in different octaves, and you need to name them. Just don’t be hacky, don’t name it at random. Otherwise, what's the point? Or you can try another option. For example, pick up a pencil and sit down at the table. The assistant silently taps out a rhythm with a pencil for about 5-7 seconds, and you try to reproduce this rhythm as accurately as possible, maintaining all pauses and duration. Repeat this 5-10 times, gradually complicating the drawing.

If you already know the basics of playing the piano, then it will be useful for you musical dictation. To begin with, you can do this. Single sounds are played for you in turn in the octave where it is convenient for you to sing. And you are trying to get your voice in unison with the sounds that you hear.

When you have practiced this way for a while, then move on to the most the exact way check your musical ear. We open the notes for the first class and ask the assistant (especially good if this person owns the instrument) to slowly play a couple of bars, maintaining all the pauses and duration of the notes. At this time, you write down what you hear in your notebook. After writing, check and, seeing errors, if there are any, make every effort to correct them in the future.

Don't give up if something doesn't work out the first or second time. Everyone starts somewhere at some point. Believe in yourself and your abilities, more practice and training, and then success will definitely await you!

The applications that we will discuss below will help you understand how normal your hearing is. If the results are far from optimal, it makes sense to consult a doctor.

uHear

uHear measures your hearing sensitivity and how well you adapt to environmental noise. The first test takes approximately five minutes, the second - no more than a minute. For each test you will need headphones, and in the application you can choose their type - in-ear or on-ear.

The test determines the sensitivity of each ear separately. This is achieved by playing noise of different frequencies and determining the upper and lower limits of your hearing.

Hortest

Hörtest for Android works on the same principle. You need to press the button every time you hear sound in the headphones. I'll say the obvious, but don't fool yourself and don't press a button just to improve your test results. You go through it for yourself.

Mimi Hearing Test

Mimi Hearing Technologies is a company that produces equipment for deaf people. If you have an iOS device, I would recommend taking this test. The application works on a similar principle to the previous ones. Every time you hear a sound in your left or right ear, you need to press the Left or Right button, respectively. The test result is your age based on hearing sensitivity. If it matches your real age, great. If the difference is very large, then your hearing is not normal.

Bonus

If you don't have iOS or Android devices, you can use this video test on YouTube. As with all previous applications, headphones are required.

Tell us at what point you stopped hearing sounds and how old you are.

Since ancient times, it has been believed that a person’s ear for music is a gift from God. Scientists explain this concept by the ability to recognize notes, perceive sounds and reproduce them using the voice. There are two main types of musical ear: absolute and relative. Nature bestows an absolute ear for music from birth. People who have it can easily repeat any piece of music. Relative hearing can be gradually developed by playing music.

In order to discover that you have an ear for music, you don’t have to turn to musicians. The easiest way to test your ear for music is to try to repeat the melody you heard as accurately as possible, while trying to reproduce the rhythm. Even if you couldn’t repeat it the first time, this does not mean that you have no ear for music. This may be a consequence of coordination problems in the hearing or vocal apparatus. In this case, you can develop your ear for music with the help of special exercises.

So, how to develop your hearing? There are many ways. You can sing more often with an accompanist, try singing two-part melodies, sing the same melodies in different tones, or sing up-and-down scales. Singing as part of a choir helps develop your hearing well, especially if these are the parts of the second voices.

Having discovered that they have an ear for music, many people wonder how to improve their hearing. Firstly, you can train your ear for music using special online programs. You need to try to duplicate the songs with your voice. Listening to the melody, you can try to distribute it to the sounds of any musical instrument, for example a guitar.

The guitar is the most common and convenient musical instrument for home use. If you have a guitar at home, and with the help of exercises you still managed to pull your ear out from under the bear, you need to know how to tune the guitar by ear.

To do this you need to: tune the first string, which corresponds to the note “E”, the second string needs to be tuned by pressing it at the fifth fret. Tuning continues until the same sound as the first string is achieved. The third string is pressed on the fourth fret, and must match the tone, open second string. The fourth string is pressed at the fifth fret, and should match the tone of the open third string. The fifth string is pressed at the fifth fret, and should match the tone of the open fourth string. The sixth string is pressed at the fifth fret and should match the tone of the open fifth string.

To make it easier to tune your guitar, the sounds of the strings can be downloaded. Makes setup even easier special program– tuner. The most convenient program to use is AP Guitar Tuner 1.02. It can be easily downloaded on the Internet. With the help of these programs, with a minimum of effort, you can achieve perfect guitar tuning that will surprise even experienced musicians.

Music teachers, passing the verdict “the bear stepped on your ear,” put an end to singing and musical career many people. But is ear for music really the preserve of a select few, or is there something they’re not telling us? Find out the answer here, and at the same time take the music aptitude test.

Lack of hearing for music - myth or reality?

Scientists conducted an experiment to study the presence of musical hearing in dogs. While playing one of the notes on the piano, they gave the dog something to eat. After a while, the dog developed a reflex, and when it heard the desired sound, it ran to the bowl of food. The animal did not react to other notes. But if even our smaller four-legged brothers have an ear for music, then why are there so many people in the world who do not have it?

Lack of hearing for music is a myth we have been led to believe. Scientists say: everyone has the ability to hear notes and reproduce them, it’s just not developed equally well in everyone. Therefore, musical ear can happen:

absolute - such a person is able to determine the pitch of notes without comparison with a standard. Such unique people are born one in ten thousand. Usually this gift is possessed by violinists and parodists who imitate sounds;

internal - allowing, looking at the notes, to correctly reproduce them in the voice. This is taught in solfeggio lessons in music schools and conservatories;

relative - endowing its owner with the ability to accurately determine the intervals between sounds and their duration. This is usually characteristic of trumpet players.

The sense of rhythm is also part of musical ear. It is best developed among drummers.

To determine the level of development of musical hearing, they usually turn to a specialist. He offers to complete several tasks:

repeat the melody. A musical phrase is played on the instrument, which the subject must reproduce with his voice, clapping in time;

tap out the rhythm. Using a pencil, a rhythmic pattern is set that needs to be repeated. You will have to complete several such tasks, and each time the rhythm will become more complicated;

reproduce intonation. The person checking hums the melody, and the person being checked must repeat it, maintaining all the intonations of the performer.

You may be offered another task: guess the note. Standing with your back to musical instrument, you must name which octave sound the teacher played.

Let's say right away: this method of determining the level musical abilities most accurate. Although at home you can also try to check whether you have a developed ear for music or not. The “Everything for Children” website will help you with this, where in the “ Music tests“you will find a task that is far from childish, after completing which you will receive an objective assessment of your musical abilities, and also find out how to quickly learn notes on the guitar; it turns out that it is not at all difficult.

Music is the universal language of humanity. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Test your recognition abilities musical sound You can also use the tasks offered in this video:

Ways to develop an ear for music

Why are some people born with perfect pitch, and for others it is far from perfect? Our brain is to blame for this. A small part of the right hemisphere is responsible for the development of musical hearing. There is white matter that controls the transmission of information, including sound.

The ability to correctly reproduce notes largely depends on the amount of this substance. It is impossible to increase its volume, but it is quite possible to speed up the processes occurring there. For this purpose, there are exercises to develop musical ear. We will present the most effective of them.

Scales

Play all seven notes in order on the instrument and sing them. Then do the same without the tool. When you are satisfied with the result, the order of the notes should be reversed. The exercise is boring and monotonous, but effective.

Intervals

When playing two notes on the instrument (do-re, do-mi, do-fa, etc.), then try to repeat them with your voice. Then do the same exercise, but moving from the “top” of the octave. And then try to do the same thing, but without the piano.

Echo

Teachers use this exercise kindergarten, but it's great for adults too. Use any player (your phone player will do) to play a few musical phrases from any song, and then repeat them yourself. Did not work out? Make several attempts until you are satisfied with the result. Then proceed to the next song segment.

Dancing

Turn on any music and dance - this is how you develop a rhythmic ear for music. Reading poetry to music also helps with this.

Melody selection

Try to find a familiar melody on the instrument. It won’t work right away, but when it does, you will, firstly, believe in your strength, and secondly, you will make a big breakthrough in learning.

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!