David Burge - Perfect Pitch Ear Training Handbook

EXERCISE 6 Instead of singing tones for two minutes, alternate back and forth, naming just one tone to the other to sing for a total time of 4 minutes. Next do ten minutes of aural chords analysis, except this time use 3 tones. You may spread tones but stay with in 4 octaves. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy

EXERCISE 7 The schedule is now: a) 4 minutes of alternate pitch singing (don't forget to choose and sing a pitch before you start) b) 5 minute of pitch naming with C, C#, Eb, F# and A ; switch with partner c) 5 minutes of aural chords analysis using two and three note chords, switch partner Note the addition of C# to your list.... spend additional few minutes listening to the color of C# within 4 octaves range. what does C# sounds like ? (do you notice a "vibrant" quality similar to F#?). When practicing aural chord analysis don't tell your partner you are using 2 or 3 notes ! Total time 25 minutes. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy.

EXERCISE 8 Add E to your list of tones and do Exercise 7. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy.

EXERCISE 9 Add G to your list of tones. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy.

EXERCISE 10 Add Bb to your list of tones. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy. Use 2, 3 and 4 notes on the aural chord analysis. EXERCISE 11 Add D to your list of tones. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy. EXERCISE 12 Add F to your list of tones. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy. You may wish to spend more time, but no more then 30-35 minutes (Instrumentalists not practicing aural chord analysis may go to 20 minutes of they wish). EXERCISE 13 Add B to your list of tones. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy. EXERCISE 14 Add F to your list of tones. Proceed only when you reach 95 % accuracy. You may wish to spend more time, but no more then 30-35 minutes (Instrumentalists not practicing aural chord analysis should change their instrument to piano or guitar and return to exercise 7 upon mastery of this exercise). Having gained color discrimination this will enable further ear-training with chords simultaneously developing universal color discrimination). Aural chord analysis is very different from pitch naming with single tones and will secure much greater clarity of pitch color recognition. Having become sensitive to colors on your instrument your ear will learn groups of tones. For (a) and (b) of each exercise use chromatic tones, but for aural chord analysis use only the tones included in the exercise - part (c)

EXERCISE 15 All chromatic tones within the four octaves have been included... if you have beem practicing at a moderate rate then the abstract sense of color awareness has now been cultured at the point where you have color discrimination.

The focus now is to expand in order to include all the "tints" of a tone is all octaves. You are familiar at this point how the each tones sound the same in each octave, except that each octave seems to be a different "shade" of that same color. To distinguish between octaves we will label each tone with an unique name. The easiest way to do so is to simply number consecutively each of the twelve chromatic tones from bottom to top.. thus the lowest notes on the keyboard are: A1, Bb1, etc. Middle C is C4. (The lowest guitar tone is E2. For instruments not pitched in C use the number of the identical piano pitch. For example, Bb5 on a piano would be a C5 on a Bb clarinet). Practice this exercise exactly as the last but learn the specific name you have been using. A good technique for pitch naming drill is to plat at a fast, constant speed to see how quickly you or your partner can perceive and name tones. It is not necessary to name which octave the tone is when practicing speed. You are now ready to use and advanced method to help you remember the pitch color tone. The best way to imagine what a tone sounds like is to imagine the color sound fo a major chord which uses that tone as its keynote. For example if your partner asks you to sing an A, effortlessly try to remember how an A chord sounds like. Then after attempting to sing an A, have your partner play a A chord with A, C# and E in close position. After practicing this way, you will quickly learn the different color patterns of major chords. This will greatly aid your color memory because you will hear the color of a pitch and also the color pattern of a chord as different as other chords. When errors are made in this exercise you have not yet remembered the pitch colors correctly. Listen carefully to the chord built on that note. Then without playing hear this chordal color pattern in your head. Sing the keynote. Pitch singing in this manner is now extremely important... when practicing aural chord analysis use these same major chords from time to time.

EXERCISE 16 Continue as before but add one octave in each direction. Play single tones frequently in these extremes. Chord tones may be spread out as far as you'd like. Don't strain with chords on the low register, they would be so muddy that even Mozart wouldn't recognize them. Complete chords should be used in the extreme upper range. EXERCISE 17

Add the remaining tones. These will be "ear teasers" but in time you may master them. EXERCISE 18 You have now cultured your ear to a high degree of color discrimination. You should now broad your pitch color discrimination to include all instruments, even a grandfather clock striking the hour. One way is to go to the piano, open it up and pluck the strings inside. Have friends sit with their instruments so you can get used to the sound of pitch color of their instruments. Check in which key a song is played, on the radio, concerts, records. Listen to any sound: church bells, horns, water, cats !! The most important exercise to practice is pitch singing. When you can remember a tone without hearing it first you have mastered color hearing technique. Proceed when you have 95 % accuracy in naming any pitch for any instrument (universal color discrimination) and pitch singing (aural recall).

XIII - EAR TEASERS FOR SUPER EARS... These are not impossible exercises and should be approach with fun. I had a colleague during high school and both of us used to create outrageous exercises to test each other. - Locate an entire octave of a diatonic scale. Leave one out and play all the others simultaneously in one tone cluster. Have your partner name the missing tone.... repeat using scales in different keys. Hint: first listen for and identify the key tone. Then climb the scale and listen to the "gap" - Play all but one of eight consecutive whole-tone scale tones together. Name the missing tone. - Play five to ten tones in any kind of chord. Name all tones in order. Be sure the player strikes in even manner. Watch out because you may hear overtones... this is a better exercise if all the intervals and half and whole tones. - Play all but one of the seven to ten consecutive chromatic tones together in one tone cluster. Name the missing note as well as the low and high tones.

_ Find a partner who plays the same instrument. One individual plays scales starting in any key, moving up to successive chromatic keys upon completion of each key, while the other tries to locate where the tones are. _ Listen to some progressive modern music... choose any note and listen for it somewhere in the music. Go up the chromatic scale until you have listened for and picked out each tone. - Try to tune your guitar or other string instrument to concert pitch by ear all alone. Check yourself on a tuning fork or piano. - Use any musical score, take a melodic line and slowly listen mentally to the pitch color of each tone. Go very slowly and listen closely to the pitch in your mind. XIV - PERFECT PITCH , MUSIC AND HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS These chapter talks about how the awareness of perfect pitch and its relation to Yoga and how gaining perfect pitch makes you become more conscious of other things.. UF !

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