Perception and Understanding

Before we practice ear training, lets realize that we are not actually training our physical ears but rather training our minds. We are not trying to hear more, but learning to “understand what we already hear = perception”.

A visual artist learns to “understand what they already see”. When they sketch they learn to break down complex images into a collection of simple shapes. They practice daily drawing simple objects and compare their reproductions with them. They are developing the mind’s ability to “understand what they already see”. As their perception increases they can more accurately draw both what they see with their eyes and what they imagine.

A musician’s ears are like a painters eyes. Just as the visual artist ‘trains their eyes’ to better perceive what they already see, we ‘train our ears’ to better perceive what we already hear. Ear Training is a process of learning to understand, to give conscious meaning to our sonic landscape so that we can sing, play and write the music that is already within us with increasing effortlessness.