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CHAPTER VIII |
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CONCEPTS OF EAR TRAINING |
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efinition: The ear is tht organ of hearing. To have an ear for music is to have a refined or acute sense of hearing and to possess the ability to catch, retain or reproduce music by having heard it Since singing is a form of musical expression, this definition has vocal
applications as well. Ear training in singing may be defined as the process of tecoming proficient and skillful in recognizing, retaining or reproducing vocal tones by means of practice in experiencing their auditory sensations. In other words, it is the means of receiving and retaining mental impressions of vocal tones and tonal relations through the medium of tfie sense of hearing. (W)
The following definitions are also useful. Sound is the interpretation, by the brain, of a succession of atmospheric pulsations capable of producing the sensation of hearing. [Passe 443, p. 1] "To be musical, the pulsations must be periodic." [Redfield 462, p. 30] Tone is musical sound as opposed to noise, having such regularity of vibration as to possess recognizable and individual characteristics of pitch, loudness, duration and quality. Sensations of tone may therefore vary in these four characteristics. Hearing is the capacity for perceiving auditory1 sensations of sound. The extreme range of human hearing includes roughly about 11,000 pitch tones, varying from 16 to nearly 50,000 dv., and about 600 degrees of loudness or intensity. Music commonly employs less than 100 conventional pitch tones (i.e., between 40 and 4800 dv. or about 7 octaves), gaining variety by the fusion of these. (W)
The terminology of ear training is varied but basic to all departments of vocal study. Such terms as sound, lone, hearing, listening, tonal imagery and visualization are fundamental concepts in the discussions wbich. follow. Therefore, simple definitions of these and other pertinent terms are provided, when needed, for purposes of orientation. Detailed technical descriptions of the hearing organs and their functions are beyond the, |
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