Piano lessons Video Overview - "Ear Training 101" (Section 2 of 2)

Ever wonder what is the greatest gift that a musician can possess?

 - Lightening fast fingers on the piano?
 - The ability to read music?
 - A complete knowledge of music theory?

I must confess that at one time or another, each one of those items was my main pursuit as a musician. However, I've been given great advice along the way, and I'm just starting to really understand that...

One of the greatest gifts that a musician can possess is the ability to listen well.

Not just hear music. After all, monkeys can hear music. (Ha) I'm talking about the kind of listening that enables you to hear and understand all the intricate notes within the chords and melodies of music.

How can you develop this kind of skill?

Pure and simple >> you must spend time with Ear Training. This involves teaching your ears to recognize the intervals of music (distances between notes) and will free you up to express yourself on the piano like nothing else can.

Having said all that, I'd like to share with you something that I'm very excited about. For the last 4 months, I've been upgrading our interactive Piano Lessons program titled "Ear Training 101". The program is now at Version 4.

The previous version of this program gave you the ability to train your ears using a maximum of 2 notes. In the current version of "Ear Training 101", we've increased the interaction of the program to include up to 4 notes - either in "Melody Mode" (notes following one another) or "Chord Mode" (notes together). The program will teach your ears to hear intervals up through an Octave + a Major 7th! In addition, we've included both "Melody Mode" as well as "Chord Mode" up to level 4 in the downloadable demo version.

4 notes versus 2 is not just an addition of 2 more notes - now your ears have got to learn to have a musical "memory" and play back all the phrases and chords played by the program. It's an incredible tool.

I hope you'll take advantage of this powerful program and develop big, beautiful ears! :)

Go practice -

David Sprunger,
Music Unlimited Inc.