Ear training is essential for anyone who wants to become a musician. I have been playing guitar for a while now and my poor ear skills have been holding me back. I recently decided to fix this problem and chose Ear Master Pro 5 software to help me improve my musical ear skills.
This lens shares my ear training experiences with this software...
This lens shares my ear training experiences with this software...
Ear Master Pro 5 Review
Ear Master Pro 5 is a software program for PC or Mac designed to help you train your musical ear. I recently chose to use this program as part of a goal to train my ear to recognize notes, intervals and chords. Here is a review of my experience with Ear Master out of the box.
Getting Started
The program is very easy to install. You download a single file from the web site and execute it on your PC.
Once installed you can choose your language from a wide selection. Ear Master then prompts you to choose the audio device you want it to use to play sounds. I selected the Microsoft MIDI mapper it proposed by default and it works fine on my Dell laptop PC.
Finally, Ear Master asks you to choose your preferred instrument for note input. In addition to the musical stave you can also input notes using a piano keyboard or a variety of graphical fretboards for string instruments, guitar, banjo, bass, violin, etc.
Ear Training Tutors and Exercises
Once started Ear Master offers the choice of three training modes:
Standard Tutor - a selection of progressive ear training exercises
Jazz Tutor - A supplement to the standard tutor focusing on skills relevant for jazz.
Customized Exercise - where you can select your own exercises.
The rest of the review discusses the standard tutor which is suitable for ear training.
Exercise Areas
The standard tutor proposes a very complete selection of exercise areas: interval comparison, interval identification, interval singing, chord identification, chord inversions, chord progressions, scale identification, rhythm reading, rhythm imitation, rhythm dictation, rhythm correction, and melodic dictation.
Each area presents a number of exercises that are gradually more complicated. So far I've used the interval comparison and interval identification exercises. These present you with pairs of notes and you have to to identify the interval.
Entering Notes
Ear Master offers several ways of entering notes or intervals in response to questions so it should be easy to find something you are familiar with.
On the screen you can enter notes onto a musical stave, or using a simulated piano keyboard or stringed instrument fretboard - guitar in standard or non-standard tunings, bass, banjo, violin, cello. You can also set up your stringed instrument to be left-handed.
Notes can also be input using a MIDI instrument connected to the PC or using a microphone you can clap, sing or play notes on your favourite instrument.
Online Help
The progam is very easy to use and intuitive so you should have little need of help in using it. The online help provides descriptions of music theory terms and gives useful guidance on training your ear, though.
Conclusion
Ear Master Pro 5 makes a very good first impression and is easy to download, install and use. There are no heavy manuals or theory to wade through, you can get started on the exercises in only a few minutes. Entering answers is easy with a large choice of input mechanisms.
The screen layout and on screen instructions are very intuitive and easy to follow. The exercises are enjoyable and of a good length and pace. I am looking forward to working with them more in the coming weeks and months.
Follow my ear training experience on my Ear Guitar blog.
Getting Started
The program is very easy to install. You download a single file from the web site and execute it on your PC.
Once installed you can choose your language from a wide selection. Ear Master then prompts you to choose the audio device you want it to use to play sounds. I selected the Microsoft MIDI mapper it proposed by default and it works fine on my Dell laptop PC.
Finally, Ear Master asks you to choose your preferred instrument for note input. In addition to the musical stave you can also input notes using a piano keyboard or a variety of graphical fretboards for string instruments, guitar, banjo, bass, violin, etc.
Ear Training Tutors and Exercises
Once started Ear Master offers the choice of three training modes:
Standard Tutor - a selection of progressive ear training exercises
Jazz Tutor - A supplement to the standard tutor focusing on skills relevant for jazz.
Customized Exercise - where you can select your own exercises.
The rest of the review discusses the standard tutor which is suitable for ear training.
Exercise Areas
The standard tutor proposes a very complete selection of exercise areas: interval comparison, interval identification, interval singing, chord identification, chord inversions, chord progressions, scale identification, rhythm reading, rhythm imitation, rhythm dictation, rhythm correction, and melodic dictation.
Each area presents a number of exercises that are gradually more complicated. So far I've used the interval comparison and interval identification exercises. These present you with pairs of notes and you have to to identify the interval.
Entering Notes
Ear Master offers several ways of entering notes or intervals in response to questions so it should be easy to find something you are familiar with.
On the screen you can enter notes onto a musical stave, or using a simulated piano keyboard or stringed instrument fretboard - guitar in standard or non-standard tunings, bass, banjo, violin, cello. You can also set up your stringed instrument to be left-handed.
Notes can also be input using a MIDI instrument connected to the PC or using a microphone you can clap, sing or play notes on your favourite instrument.
Online Help
The progam is very easy to use and intuitive so you should have little need of help in using it. The online help provides descriptions of music theory terms and gives useful guidance on training your ear, though.
Conclusion
Ear Master Pro 5 makes a very good first impression and is easy to download, install and use. There are no heavy manuals or theory to wade through, you can get started on the exercises in only a few minutes. Entering answers is easy with a large choice of input mechanisms.
The screen layout and on screen instructions are very intuitive and easy to follow. The exercises are enjoyable and of a good length and pace. I am looking forward to working with them more in the coming weeks and months.
Follow my ear training experience on my Ear Guitar blog.
ear training on Amazon
by NotPlayingGuitar
A hobby guitar player has to spend a lot of time not playing guitar. There's bills to pay, family, friends and all that stuff to do.
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