Prolobe Online Absolute Pitch Ear Training

Can anyone recommend ear training software? I am specifically looking for something I can program which notes to quiz me on. I want to learn the degrees of Spanish Phrygian and Harmonic Minor down to a science. Maybe a couple other metal scales like gypsy or double harmonic.

Yesterday I received a masterpiece of a program called 'Audiation Assistant 2.0' and have never been more thoroughly pleased with a piece of ear training software both in terms of method and execution (most are faulty executions of faulty methods haha) -- there's a demo version available for download if you're interested in trying it out.

There's also a program called 'Chord ID', which trains one to recognize the seven fundamental chords in all major and minor keys + a few borrowed chords (might be too easy for you though).

also a program called 'PitchPlayer' -- think Prolobe except with much smarter hot keys and customizable. The trouble is finding it -- you'll have to join the Yahoo Group 'Developing_AP' and check the files section (... and I really should have mentioned this one first, not only because it answers your question but also because it's free).

hmm I didn't like it much, but maybe that's cause it's just the demo. How do I program the scale into it?

Audiation Assistant is an excellent way to teach pitch function (and the beginnings of chord function) in all twelve keys, but unfortunately doesn't have any scale exercises for some reason. What it does do, however, it does very well (especially for the beginning student who knows how to use it). Hey you ever get a chance to try out PitchPlayer though?

Now this is cool (... though at times needlessly complex).

http://www.musicalmind.org/dalcroze/solfege.pdf

Hmm so it's learning the modes but practicing keeping the tonality on Ionian? Seems interesting. I already know the 7 modes extremely well so is there any benefit to this dalgzo method? (I didn't read the whole thing)

I'll break it down for you like this:

establish key center

now, using fixed-do, sing the diatonic pitches of established key center from C4 to C5

let's use Eb major as an example:

establish key center using a I IV V7 I cadence

then sing the Eb major scale from C4 to C5 using fixed-do solfege:

do (C4)
re
me (Eb)
fa
so
le (Ab)
te (Bb, I suppose)
do (C5)

... and then back down to C4 before finishing up with the tonic of said key.

this exercise is even better if you pre-hear the pitches in your mind before singing them

then, perhaps establish the key of G and repeat (C becomes the fourth scale degree instead of the sixth as it was in Eb):

do
re
mi
fi (F#)
so (G)
la
ti
do

and so on

if you find the major scale to be just a tad on the boring side (either that or too easy) then why not do a Gypsy scale in all keys instead?

i tried it.

good drill thanks

just tried earmaster 5. IT'S THE BEST. Nice software holy cow

What about Ear Master do you like so much?

I am speechless:

http://www.pgmusic.com/realtracks6.htm

William Murderface would be pleased.

I like it cause it has a great GUI. The drills are simple and easy to use.

Band in a box is awesome btw. I can't afford the packs, but I have the midi version of the program. Some real musicians programmed that thing.

I dislike the software because it is very lacking in contextual ear training exercises. Sure it gets the melodic dictation right (as does every other piece of software out there), but the chord progression exercises could be done much better (... to say the least).

hmm Maybe so. I don't know what constitutes a good chord progression drill. I guess I like ear master because it had all scale degree tests which is all I really care about. I don't play classical or jazz so I guess I don't need advanced chord recognition yet. I train what I need, not what I might need. If I get interested in jazz or classical and find my ear weak in some area, i'll train it.

I wish Ear Master had scale degree recognition exercises, but I can't seem to find them (are we talking about the same software here?).

go to melodic dictation and pick custom. Then you can pick any set of notes you want to train on or a generic scale. For me, Phrygian, minor pentatonic, Locrian, and Aeolian are good picks. most metal songs are based on those.

Then pick a measure length of 1 bar. Then pick quarter notes.


I guess this isn't as true scale degree recognition because it plays more than one note, but I actually think it is better.

You can actually have it play a random melody with 8ths, 16ths, etc and it is a fantastic simulation for hearing scale degrees in a musical setting.

Actually depending upon how you treat the exercise it could (and should) simply enough be thought of as a slightly more advanced version of the basic one note drill. Same goes with the chord progression exercises, but my basic complaint is that the jump in difficulty from dealing with single lines in succession to dealing with four note chords in succession is more than enough to insanely frustrate the average person -- much akin to going from your basic algebra class to calculus 101, but for those who don't even have the one note technique down it'd be like jumping from arithmetic to calculus. If one cannot adequately discern the function of even a single pitch, then how can one be expected to discern the individual (and collective) functions of multiple pitches played simultaneously (... and in rapid succession at that)? This is why I don't use programs like Ear Master, because being based on the interval method they are inherently flawed no matter how flawless the execution might be (... and as you know Ear Master is a nicely polished and easy-to-use piece of software).

well it doesn't take more than a week to learn to instantly recognize the scale degree of a single note: two weeks to get damn near 100% accuracy. I don't really bother with it anymore. Dictation is definitely my favorite exercise. I also like to listen to music and visualize how to play what I am hearing (for chords and stuff, instantly hearing the exact voicing is pretty hard so I just think of the bass note, top note, and place the notes of the chord any which way. )

I am so happy to hear such a well presented discussion on the Ear Master software because I was thinking seriously of sacrificing to purchase it. But now, I'll just hold off.

Thanks.

Tone Quiz is what I use for doing chords.

I think it is the best software I have yet used for my personal purposes.

Peace

Tone Quiz, eh? But doesn't that just test you on triads in root position? I remember when I tried out that software I'd cheat on the chord section by only listening for the bass tone of each chord (as opposed to all three tones). That's one of many reason why I prefer Pitch Player, because the chords one is tested on are always of a random nature.