With the increased time at home due to the pandemic, I have taken the opportunity to work more on aural skills. My most recent endeavors in this area involve learning to play relatively short compositions from memory through efforts grounded in ear-training study.
Here are the steps I have followed during practice:
- Sing the music using scale-degree numbers, and focus intently on how each of the individual pitches relates back to tonic. Use a keyboard as a pitch reference.
- As singing improves, gradually commit the composition to memory. Continue to check pitch accuracy through reference to a keyboard.
- After memorization is complete, proceed to playing the material on the flute. Rely solely on the ear-training efforts. No music sheets allowed!
- Record the instrumental playing, and analyze the recordings. Determine what improvements are needed in the areas of pitch accuracy and intonation. Return to the practices of step one, and refine the inner ear.
The learning process has been fun, and has yielded noticeable improvements in my aural skills and intonation.
After stumbling upon a video of jazz musician Leo Wright performing “Greensleeves” on flute, it occurred to me that selecting some material from “Greensleeves to a Ground” would work nicely for my aural skills project. This music required me to hear scale degrees six and seven in two different ways, 1) as indicated in the key signature and 2) raised by a half step.
Choosing this tune also worked well because when a local church invited me to provide a musical postcard for Christmas, I happened to already be in the midst of getting some fitting material ready to go. I share my recorded performance here, coupled with images from The Art Institute of Chicago. Happy holidays!