Online game "Absolute Rumor". Perfect pitch People with perfect pitch

Intervals Tritones Scales, modes Triads of Reversal
triads characteristic
Intervals of Appeal
dominant seventh chord Introductory
seventh chords All sections

Begin! Begin! Begin! Begin!

Let's get to work!

This simulator is designed to develop practical skills of auditory analysis of pure, small and large intervals of major, minor, augmented and diminished triads of inversions of major and minor triads of characteristic intervals of the dominant seventh chord and its inversions. Your task is to learn to identify them by ear.

Click "Next!" to go to the next page. If necessary, repeat theoretical material on the topic "Triad Intervals Characteristic Intervals of the Dominant Seventh Chord", go to the section "A little theory A little theory A little theory".

Check yourself!

The simulator is designed to develop practical skills of auditory analysis in the main areas used in a music school. It is assumed that a preliminary training was held for each topic.

This section is general in nature, some tasks are given in a compressed form.

Before you start, configure select a few items on the topics covered or the "All" button.

When answering each question, you must first determine the topic of the answer, and then select the correct option from the list that opens.

To go to the next page, click "Next!"

All Random Reset

Home Next!

Which variant statements choose?

You can listen to tasks in two ways - in harmonic presentation (both sounds are taken simultaneously) and melodic (sounds are taken alternately). Usually beginners choose a melodic sound, which helps to "sing along" the sounds of the interval and determine the distance between notes. But the most commonly used harmonic version. So if there is experience in guessing, we choose the harmonic variant.

Choose topic

Before starting the workout, select the desired section: Scales (various types of major and minor) or Frets folk music(for high school students).

Which variant statements choose?

Since some types of seventh chords can only be identified by ear by resolving to another chord, selecting the "No Resolve" option will only offer minor introductory and diminished introductory in the main form.

When choosing options with resolution, it will be possible to listen to the appeals of the reduced introductory seventh chord. Small introductory in this case is not offered.

From-lo-same

Choose a topic

Har-mo-no-che-some Me-lo-di-che-some Scales (frets) Frets of folk music Without permission With permission Without permission With permission With permission through invocations D7

Let's get to work!

This simulator is designed to develop practical skills of auditory analysis of various scales of pure, small and large intervals. Your task is to learn to identify them by ear.

This simulator is designed to develop practical skills of auditory analysis of diminished introductory seventh chords.

By resolution to a particular chord, you need to determine the type of its circulation.

Before starting a workout, set up its parameters: select a few items on the topics covered or the "All" button (for beginners, the number of subsections should be small). Assignments will be given from the selected material.

Click "Next!" to go to the next page. If you need to first review the theoretical material on the topic " Scales, modes Intervals Introductory seventh chords ", go to the section " A little theory A little theory A little theory ".

You-be-ri times-de-ly for pro-listen-shi-va-niya

All Random Reset

Home Next!

Test or training apparatus?

If the task is to train auditory skills, select the "Simulator" mode. If you want to find out how well prepared you are, choose "Test" (knowledge test for assessment). We work in the simulator mode until we get bored (and then we press the "Finish" button). In the test mode, there is a limited number of tasks, the results of which are graded.

Tre-na-zher Test Tre-na-zher Test Tre-na-zher Test Tre-na-zher Test Tre-na-zher Test

It doesn't matter if you're about to sing in a punk band, dream of not getting punched in the face at karaoke, or plan to serenade your sweetheart on her birthday, ear for music- a very useful skill for any developed man. We figure out what it is in general, what exactly is its use and what exercises can drive a bear out of your ear.

Do you love music the way we love it at Men's Health? Surely yes, and that's great. After all, you and I have known for a long time that:

• music can make it easier physical work, whether it's rowing a galley or caring for a huge lawn;
• in the office, listening to your favorite music can reduce the fatigue that accumulates over work time, calm the nerves and relieve irritability;
• music increases enthusiasm and helps to relax;
• Music lessons help you learn foreign languages;
• music strengthens the mind: as Italian scientists found, fast music causes an additional rush of blood to the brain compared to slower or silence;
• music has been proven to help runners and cyclists: the former feel that they spend less effort, and their endurance increases by 15%, while the latter use less oxygen when pedaling to the music;
• pleasant music can effectively block the memory of failures, increasing the overall efficiency of the athlete;
• Finally, scientists have noted the effectiveness of music in reducing pain in cancer patients, improving the response of their immune system, reducing their anxiety and other psychological and physiological symptoms.

And remember how often you imagined yourself on stage with a microphone performing a hit from your favorite team? Some of us are downright delusional about this vision and strive to use every opportunity to make it come true. But, alas, no matter how hard the unfortunate vocalists try, no matter how loud their favorite lines try to voice both in karaoke and in cheerful company, and even alone with the closest people, the maximum that they get is sympathetic looks, in which the plea is clearly read: “Dude, stop making these heartbreaking sounds with your mouth!” In especially severe cases, bar vocalizations ended in scuffles, after which the editorial singers, rubbing fresh bruises and abrasions, complained about the universal misunderstanding and human insensitivity. To help them, we decided to find out if it is possible to develop an ear for music at all. It turned out that it is very possible!

What is it anyway?

An ear for music is a person's ability to fully perceive the musical palette of a work and comprehensively and adequately evaluate it, as well as reproduce it. Determining how developed your musical ear is is very simple.

• Choose your favorite song.
• Listen to it once, and then try on your own, a cappella (that is, without accompaniment), to sing the melody of the song, while keeping in rhythm.
• Neighbors banging furiously on the water pipe? Sorry, it looks like your hearing is not good. Wait, or did you perform something from Napalm Death?

But don't get upset. An ear for music is either given to a person by nature, or he is brought up over time by hard training. As scientists have established, in the auditory area of ​​\u200b\u200bour brain there is a bundle of nerve endings responsible for musical hearing. And if it is regularly and correctly stimulated, then things will eventually go smoothly.

In addition, if you didn’t really distort the melody, but constantly fly out of rhythm and tempo, then you need to work on coordinating the auditory and vocal apparatus - yes, and this can be pumped.

Varieties of musical ear

Out of almost 20 types of musical ear, we will highlight the 6 most important for us in this article.

Perfect Pitch

A fairly rare innate talent that gives its owner the ability to accurately determine the musical note (pitch) of absolutely any sound without comparing it with a tuning fork (that is, a well-known ideal). With all its advantages, it can cause a decent amount of inconvenience, such as difficulties with learning foreign languages, and most importantly, it has nothing to do with musicality and does not guarantee the career of Svyatoslav Richter or Mstislav Rostropovich.

inner hearing

But the ability to accurately represent a piece of music, its melody and the sound of individual instruments is much more important for your musical future. Let's say, if you suddenly (God forbid) go deaf, you can still compose songs for your group, just playing them in your head - remember our Ludwig van Beethoven.

Relative (interval) hearing

The ability to determine height musical sounds, comparing them with those already known, most successful musicians possess, while not having absolute hearing. And this is exactly the skill that can be developed.

Rhythmic hearing

In dry academic language, this is the ability to distinguish the duration of the sound of notes in their sequence, their strength and weakness, as well as to feel the tempo, that is, the change in the speed of the music. But in fact, the presence of rhythmic hearing means that you are able to catch the sensation that musicians call "pitch" or "groove", that is, to feel the emotional expressiveness of musical rhythm.

pitch hearing

If you possess it, then you hear the slightest difference in pitch: for example, the difference between adjacent piano keys or guitar frets. It is easily developed through training and will help you become, if not a musician, then a concert technician or piano tuner.

melodic hearing

The most important ability to perceive the melody of your favorite song as a whole, with all its expressive changes in the course of the piece, and to assess its expressiveness and intonation. As they say in solfeggio lessons, the melody either runs, then jumps, then freezes in place.

What to do to develop musical ear?

We will not touch here on the countless applications and programs designed to help develop your ear, learn to sing and master the basics of musical instruments. And let's talk about the good old analog exercises.

Learn to listen to music

Yes, it's that simple. But now you will not just mindlessly drive your favorite tracks in a circle - you have to delve into them. Figure out how many instruments sound in a particular composition, how the sound of electronic drums differs from real ones, what effects distort the sound of guitars, how intensely the bass player plays his part. We guarantee: having mastered thoughtful listening to music, you will get a new and tremendous pleasure.

By the way, direct and frequent listening to music is perhaps the main condition for the development of musical ear and, more importantly, musical taste. And here it is better to turn to boring audiophiles who like to get confused with high-quality equipment, rather than treat it with a disregard, since the price of the issue is your hearing. Inexpensive tweeters (which sound engineers call "shit-control" - understandable, right?) and cheap in-ear headphones will easily beat off your musical bundle of neurons completely and are certainly unlikely to make it possible to correctly decompose the composition into instruments. Therefore, approach the choice of a device for listening to music wisely - and especially for headphones.

Editor's Choice MH: Audio-Technica ATH-DSR7BT Headphones

This is just that rare case when almost everything is perfect in headphones: sound quality, quality of materials, convenience and price. The ATH-DSR7BT full-size wireless ears from legendary Japanese brand Audio-Technica feature the Pure Digital Drive system, which redefines wireless audio, delivering impressive sound quality without any of the effects of digital-to-analogue conversions. It works like this: the digital signal remains as such until it reaches the drivers. In most Bluetooth headphones, from this point on, multi-stage signal processing begins, which in the end often results in a noticeable deterioration in sound. Pure Digital Drive at the same time excludes strong signal processing, as a result of which the alignment is perfect: no distortion or additional sound coloration.

Get to grips with the instruments playing your favorite song with 45mm True Motion D/A drivers designed specifically for the DSR7BT, recreating every detail of the recording with a natural, balanced sound.

Although the headphones are wireless, they have a USB cable that supports audio when connected. high definition(up to 96kHz/24bit). In addition, the headphones support the latest aptxHD Bluetooth codec, which provides lossless wireless audio transmission.

Editorial tests - and we usually conduct them from the heart, to the maximum, often at the risk of simply breaking the device - showed impressive results.

Headphones sit quite comfortably on the head and are able to adapt to any ears thanks to the ear cushions with shape memory. They do not slip off the head either when playing sports (boxing was an exception), or when vigorously shaking the head to the classic Metallica compositions. Although, of course, the natural conditions for the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR7BT are peaceful and calm listening to music not only at home, but also at work. And since these are wireless Bluetooth headphones, you can not be attached to space at all.

Touch control deserves special attention. To accept or complete phone call, as well as start the song, just touch the special point on the right earcup with your finger. And of course, thanks to various switching options, the headphones are ideal for the player, and for the smartphone, and for the vinyl player.

Scales

Yes, just like in the movies. You approach the piano (well, okay, to the synthesizer), find the note C and play the C major scale from it - the “do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si” you know. And then you begin to sing every note. Ideally, you should get a clean gamma on the first try.

Sounds

When getting ready for work in the morning, try to leave ten minutes early so that you have the opportunity to take your time and concentrate on distinguishing the sounds around you: the rustle of tires on asphalt, the sound of heels, the click of dog claws, snatches of telephone conversations, the squeal of zippers, and so on. . Learn to separate sounds from general noise and memorize them. Do the same while sitting at home: an apartment building is full of sounds that make up an incredibly interesting palette.

Surely many have heard the expression "absolute pitch". In everyday life, it is often attributed to people who are well versed in music, musical notation, with outstanding vocal abilities. However, being a top musician does not automatically mean perfect pitch. Moreover, only a few percent of the world's population can boast of this gift.

Mysterious Phenomenon

Absolute ear for music is one of the rare phenomena, whose status is difficult even to determine. Is it the result of some natural factors or a physiological (hereditary) feature? The result of the unique development of the individual or the consequence of the influence of the social environment (family, society)? Or a complex combination of all factors? This is a mystery, even after centuries of study, shrouded in twilight.

Presumably, most babies have this gift, but rather quickly it is “overlapped” by other skills that are more important for survival. The main question, due to which the element of mystery arises, is the following: why in the same environment of education, under the same conditions for musical development, one of the children develops absolute pitch, while the other does not?



Statistics

Over the years of deep research, scientists have accumulated rich statistical material. It turned out that absolute pitch is formed exclusively in childhood, moreover, it is precisely in the preschool period, during the period of dominance of involuntary mastering of skills. This fact is unanimously confirmed by all researchers of absolute pitch. At the same time, the formation of a rare skill requires, as a prerequisite, the presence in the child's family of a musical instrument with a fixed pitch. For example, keyboards, a number of wind instruments (bayan, accordion) and others. The reasons for this, presumably, lie not so much in the field of the psychology of human abilities, but in the psychology of individual differences (differential psychology).

An absolute ear for music steadily retains its status as a phenomenon as an outstanding, exceptional phenomenon in a certain respect. This is due to its relatively low prevalence. According to researchers, 6-7% of professional musicians and no more than 1% of all music listeners have absolute pitch.

Definition

Absolute pitch is the ability of people to determine "by ear" the absolute pitch of sounds. Musicians with this gift remember the absolute pitch scale of the 12-semitone octave scale. They are able to accurately determine the pitch of any sound without outside help. In turn, absolute pitch is divided into:

• Passive - the ability to match the pitch of an audible sound.
• Active - the ability to reproduce a given sound with a voice (the owners of "active hearing" are an absolute minority).



There is also the concept of relative hearing - not an innate, but a learned skill, when people are able to correctly determine the pitch with the help of "tips" (an object of comparison, such as a tuning fork).

The development of absolute pitch: pros and cons

For more than a century there has been a debate about whether this rare natural ability can be developed and trained. Theoretically, this is possible, because under the influence of some factors it is formed in children. However, critics of teaching methods argue that there is no mass “influx” of musicians trained in absolute musical pitch.

IN different time different people methods of artificial acquisition of absolute pitch were invented, which were not widely used in practice for a very simple reason: they were not in demand among professional musicians. According to the general opinion, absolute pitch, although it greatly facilitates the implementation of musical activity, does not guarantee its success, and sometimes even complicates it. In addition, numerous reliable facts indicating that not all famous musicians had absolute pitch confirm the thesis that this ability is not mandatory or decisive.

Moral aspect

And yet, the problem of absolute pitch claims to be eternal, since it consists in dividing all members of the musical community into two “camps”: people who have a gift and those who do not. This confrontation cannot be avoided.

In other words, the possession of absolute pitch is not the subject of a conscious choice, but a kind of "blessing from above." At first glance, people who have a relative ear seem to be disadvantaged: in comparison with the “absolutes”, they need the help of a tuning fork or any other source of sound standards. In addition, when performing one or another operation related to determining the pitch of sounds, the “absolutes” demonstrate unconditional superiority, which cannot but affect the self-esteem of the owners of relative hearing.



The most striking consequence of this situation is the formation of a kind of professional inferiority complex in persons with relative hearing. This happens despite the rather widespread assertion that a highly developed relative ear is quite consistent, and sometimes even more effective in the implementation of musical activity.

Scientific approach

Musical ear today is considered differentially in the following gradation of levels: melodic, harmonic, tonal, polytonal, modal, internal, orchestral, polyphonic, rhythmic, physical (natural), singing-intonation, subtle, sharp, absolute, choral, opera, ballet, drama , stylistic, polystylistic, poetic, ethnic and polyethnic (absolute pitch).

Composers, conductors, folklorists, the first violinist of the orchestra, arrangers, piano and organ tuners have it. Many researchers agree that absolute ear for music is a product that has concentrated on the basis of versatile natural phenomena, human genetics. It should be developed by capturing the voices of nature, the singing of birds, the cries of animals, and even man-made (industrial) sounds.

How to develop absolute pitch

Whether it is possible to develop 100% hearing by training is a moot point. Usually people seeking good results, are called owners of pseudo-absolute pitch. It is advisable to develop talent in preschoolers if they are capable of music. It has been proven that for a full-fledged perception of music, the most favorable time is childhood, when the basics are perceived in the family from parents musical culture, the ability to perceive, understand, feel, experience musical images is brought up.



Models of the development of absolute pitch

Several development models are practiced in Russia. They are based on two principles of controlling intonation and hearing:

• oral (according to the text);
• associative (according to notes).

The mastering process boils down to the fact that at each lesson the whole scale with words is sung, then each student sings it at breaks, on the way home, after completing homework, at leisure. He has it in his head all the time. When basically the text of the model is fixed in memory, which is not difficult by analogy with poetic texts songs, the text is sung in breakdown in the most various options. In the future, the tonality should be changed and try to sing the text already in new key, as a result of which the student begins to operate, modulate in any key.



Regular chanting exercises develop an inner ear for music. The student begins to hear and determine what sound is emitted - mi, sol, fa, la, etc. By analogy with what composers, folklorists, ethnographers, conductors with absolute pitch have been taught.

History lessons

What is a person with absolute pitch capable of? In history, there is a case that happened to the great L. Beethoven. It so happened that his physical hearing disappeared while conducting a work at a concert, but an absolute, inner ear for music helped, which helped the composer to be able to conduct a symphony orchestra (310 musicians).

Physical deafness did not prevent another opera composer- N. S. Dagirov (operas "Aigazi", "Irchi-Cossack", in collaboration with G. A. Gasanov "Khochbar", ballet "Partu Patima"), who did not hear the productions of his monumental works, but who felt and perceived them with internal absolute hearing. With the loss of the physical, inner hearing does not disappear. A person with absolute pitch will be able to syntonate accurately enough, display, beat the rhythm as close as possible to what he heard.

Conclusion

Seeing, memorizing, writing down, learning to catch and hear the music living around is the goal and task of the absolute pitch development model, first in preschool, then in school education and education. The development of musical ear into absolute leads to a differentiated perception of timbres-voices of folk, symphonic, jazz and other groups. After all, the main goal human society on Earth is the study and improvement surrounding life in space and time on a new turn of the spiral of evolution.

D. K. Kirnarskaya

Perfect Pitch

Possessors of absolute pitch, or, as musicians call them, absolutes , cause many white envy. Ordinary people with good relative hearing recognize the pitch of sounds. compare them: if you do not give them a standard for comparison, then they will not be able to name the given sound, which any absolutist can easily do. The essence of this ability is not fully disclosed, and the most common version boils down to the fact that for the owner of absolute pitch, each sound has the same definite face as a timbre: just as easily as ordinary people they recognize by the voice of their relatives and friends, distinguishing timbres, absolutists "recognize by sight" each individual sound.




It is likely that absolute pitch is a kind of "super-timbre" hearing, when the distinction of timbres is so subtle that it affects each individual sound, which is always slightly thinner and lighter than the neighboring sound, if it is higher, and also barely noticeably "darker" than the neighboring sound. if below it. A group of American psychologists led by Gary Krammer experimented with absolute musicians, non-absolute musicians, and non-musicians. The subjects were asked to distinguish sounds different instruments. All people recognize timbres very well, so it is not surprising that all the subjects did an excellent job. But absolutes responded much more confidently and faster than their fellow musicians or non-musicians. This means that absolute pitch includes a timbre element or even as a whole, as many psychologists believe, is an ultrafine offshoot of timbre pitch. Some self-observations of musicians support a "timbre version" of the origin of absolute pitch. Composer Taneyev recalled: “A note for me had a very special character of sound. I recognized her just as quickly and freely by this certain character of her sound, as we immediately recognize in the face of a familiar person. The note D already had, as it were, a completely different, also quite definite physiognomy, by which I instantly recognized and called it. And so are all the other notes.




The second popular version about the nature of absolute pitch emphasizes not the moment of timbre sensation, but the moment of super-memory to the musical height. It is known that a common person can remember the pitch of a given sound for one and a half minutes - after a minute and a half he can sing this sound or recognize it among other sounds. Musicians have a stronger memory for musical pitch - they can produce a sound even eight minutes after they heard it. Absolutes, on the other hand, remember the pitch of sounds for an indefinitely long time. Psychologist Daniel Levitin believes that perfect pitch is just a long-term memory.




Absolute pitch can be active or passive. Passive hearing allows you to recognize and name the pitch, but if you ask such an absolutist to “sing the note in F”, then he is unlikely to sing it instantly and accurately. The owner of active absolute hearing will do this without difficulty, not to mention the fact that he can easily recognize any sound. In discussing the nature of active absolute pitch and passive absolute pitch, researchers find a place for both timbre and pitch versions of its origin. Many believe that passive recognition of sounds is based on timbre absolute pitch, and the possibility of their active reproduction is based on pitch. The question of the nature of absolute pitch still remains open, but no matter what absolutes memorize - timbre, pitch, or both, they are extremely rare, one out of a thousand people has absolute pitch.




Professional musicians while studying in music schools, schools and conservatories constantly perform a lot of auditory exercises: they write musical dictations, sing from notes, guess chord sequences by ear. During the work of a conductor, choirmaster, singer and in the most different types musical activity, the ear facilitates a lot and often serves as a convenient help. Colleagues of happy absolutes sometimes set themselves the goal of mastering absolute pitch, developing it, even if by nature they do not have absolute pitch. In the course of many hours of training, fanatics eventually develop the coveted absolute pitch and use it for some time, at least in a passive form. But as soon as they stop training, the absolute pitch they had won disappears without a trace - the skills gained with such difficulty turn out to be very ephemeral and fragile.




Infants, who are already prone to manifestations of absolute pitch, can learn it even in active form. Psychologists Kessen, Levine and Vendrich asked mothers of three-month-old babies to inspire them with a special love for the note "fa" of the first octave. This note is good for children's voice, and when the babies hooted on their note, the mothers had to remind them every time “fa”, as if to prompt this particular pitch. After forty days of training, twenty-three babies, participants in the experiment, hummed together on the note "fa" - they managed to remember exactly this height and they no longer strayed from it. After some time, when the meaning of this special love for “fa” did not become clear, and the mothers ceased to endlessly remind this particular note, the babies switched to their usual cooing. So finished my short life barely broken absolute pitch. From many such trials and errors, both with infants and with adults and children, the researchers made a preliminary conclusion about the uneducability of real, durable and not requiring additional work of active absolute hearing. The reason for all sorts of fiascos in trying to acquire absolute pitch is due to its genetic origin, confirmed many times.




Neuropsychologists also consider perfect pitch to be an innate and genetically determined quality. A group of neuropsychologists led by Gottfried Schlaug focused on research on the left hemispheric planum temporale, which is slightly enlarged in all people compared to the corresponding section of the right hemisphere. This department is in charge of sound discrimination, including the distinction of phonemes, and, as already mentioned, a certain increase in this brain device of the “speaking person” was formed in chimpanzees 8 million years ago. However, on closer examination, it turned out that absolute musicians have even more planum temporale than all the others. Homo sapiens, and even more than non-absolute musicians. “The results of the study show,” the authors write, “that outstanding musical ability is associated with an exaggerated left hemispheric asymmetry in the brain regions involved in musical functions.”




Judging by the data of neuropsychologists and geneticists, absolute pitch as an ultra-high ability of sound discrimination and auditory memory is not brought up and developed, but is bestowed from above. “Abandon hope, ye who enter here!” one should write not on the gates of hell, but in the solfeggio class, especially zealous teachers who captivate gullible students with promises to develop absolute pitch in them. However, a more important question is different: does a musician need this gift of fate, is absolute pitch such a valuable quality, without which it is difficult for a musician to do? Since absolute pitch was brought to public attention, many almost anecdotal stories have been collected about it, telling about the incredible human auditory abilities. But these quasi-anecdotes do not bring absolute pitch closer to music, but move it away from it, reinforcing doubts about its usefulness as a purely musical quality, and not a curiosity of nature, which has a very indirect relation to the art of music.




Absolute hearing works in automatic mode, fixing everything that hits. Absolute pianist Miss Sauer's dentist distracted her from her discomfort by asking questions about what note the drill was buzzing on. Just like the young Mozart, who knew how to name the sound of a glass filled with water, the note on which the clock ticked and the creaking of doors, Miss Sauer distinguished the pitch of all sounds in general. Once, while learning the piece, she heard an uninvited accompaniment in the form of the sounds of a neighbor's lawn mower, which buzzed on the note "salt". From now on, whenever Miss Sauer performed this ill-fated piece, the sound of a lawn mower on the same note was awakened in her mind, and the concert piece was irrevocably ruined. Miss Sauer's colleague, the Reverend Sir Frederick Usley, professor of music at Oxford University, also had a legendary perfect pitch. At the age of five, he told his mother: “Just think, our dad blows his nose on “fa”. At any age, he could determine that thunder rumbles on G and the wind blows on D. At the age of eight, listening to Mozart's famous G-minor symphony on a hot summer afternoon, young Sir Frederick claimed that what he was actually hearing was not G-minor at all, but A-flat minor, located a semitone higher. It turned out that the boy was right: the instruments were so hot from the heat that their system slightly increased.




Says a lot about ancient origin absolute hearing, even more ancient than human speech. The same melodies people sing and play on different height, the same music very often sounds either higher or lower. IN musical creativity Relative hearing dominates, for which absolute height is not important performed music, and sound relations. Not so with birds: they sing their "music" at the same pitch, memorizing not so much bird melodies as the absolute pitch of the sounds included in them. This set of sounds is for them a sign, a signal, but not an artistic message. Dolphins do the same, making sounds of a certain height, where each frequency acts as a certain sign-signal. Animals forced to communicate over long distances use the frequency of sound as its most stable characteristic, not subject to distortion. From ancient times, the frequency of sound vibrations transmitted information in a storm, and in snow, and in rain, cutting through forests and oceans and overcoming all sound interference. In some species of animals, absolute pitch was thus formed, capable of distinguishing several commonly used frequencies and using them.




The works of the Englishman Sargent shed light on many phenomena associated with absolute pitch. He claims that almost every person could become an absolutist if he began to study music in early childhood. His survey of one and a half thousand members of the English Society of Musicians shows that there is a definite connection between the time of the beginning music lessons and absolute hearing. Absolute pitch is dying out due to the fact that the same music, when it sounds in different keys, is perceived as practically the same; if this phenomenon, which musicians call "transposition", did not exist, then absolute pitch could be preserved. To suggest such a thing would be, however, a complete fantasy - singing as the basis of music-making could not live without the performance of the same melodies either by a soprano, or by a bass, or by a tenor. All data - both the phenomena of absolute pitch in animals (musicians sometimes call absolute pitch “canine pitch”), and the ease with which infants perceive the absolute pitch of sounds - makes us think that absolute pitch is not at all the highest achievement of human hearing, as is sometimes believed, but on the contrary , an auditory rudiment, a vanishing shadow of the evolutionary process, a trace of the auditory strategy of our distant ancestors. In ontogeny, in child development, reflecting phylogeny, historical development can be clearly seen as absolute pitch, having barely begun to emerge, dies off without receiving practical reinforcement: it is not necessary either in music or in speech, and being unclaimed, this rudiment calmly dies off as Once upon a time, the animal tail fell away from people.




Among the advantages of absolute musicians, the so-called “color hearing” is often referred to, when musical tonalities seem to the perceiver as if colored, colored, and steadfastly evoke certain color associations in memory. Rimsky-Korsakov considered the key of E major "blue, sapphire, brilliant, nocturnal, dark azure" thanks to the prompting of fellow composers. Glinka wrote in this key the choir “Darkness of the night falls in the field”, and Mendelssohn used this key for the overture “Dream in midsummer night"and for the famous" Nocturne ". How was it possible to avoid “night and dark azure” associations here? In F major, Beethoven laid the foundation for the "Pastoral" symphony, connected with the life of innocent shepherds and peasants in the bosom of nature, and this tonality in the composer's community began to naturally gravitate towards green. E-flat major Rimsky-Korsakov and Wagner were associated with water - the first with Ocean-Sea Blue, and the second with Rhine Gold, although Rimsky-Korsakov could boast of absolute pitch, but Wagner did not. This further strengthens the idea that “color hearing” is a historical and cultural phenomenon, not connected with absolute pitch. Scriabin also gravitated towards color associations of keys, but like Wagner he did not have perfect pitch.




Comparison of absolute musicians with non-absolute musicians emphasizes their fundamental equality in the main: both hear and fix sound relations and remember the pitch of sounds, but use different strategies at the same time - where the absolute does not think and does not compare, acting instantly, there the non-absolute achieves the same with minimal effort, but with the same result. Except when it is required to tune the instrument with an accuracy of a few hertz or recognize a false sound. So is it worth envying the absolutes, and how to interpret this gift of nature, knowing about its rudimentary origin, and also that some great composers, including Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Scriabin, did without absolute pitch.




The very phrase "absolute pitch" suggests something perfect, the highest, unattainable. This name reflects public reverence for absolute pitch, if only because of its very low prevalence. The very fact of possessing absolute pitch is already suggestive of ultra-high musicality. However, even an approximate review of the facts and views of specialists forces us to abandon such reverence. “Absolute pitch is not a panacea,” writes Ms. Sauer, who knows how to find out what note drills and lawnmowers are buzzing on. “He is only what you can do with him and how you can use him. One does not automatically follow from the other.




A few statistics are in tune with these chilling tirades. If the total number of absolutists in the world is about 3%, among students of conservatories in Europe and America it is already 8%, then among Japanese music students there are already 70% absolutists, probably due to the fact that Eastern languages ​​are genetically closer to tonal languages, and the auditory capabilities of Asians are generally higher. Isn't that why it's complicated classical music Europe so quickly gained popularity in the Far East that the auditory resources of these peoples are extremely large compared to Europeans? It is easy for them to perceive the global sound constructions of sonatas and symphonies, since their hearing is very perfect. However, the percentage of outstanding musicians among Asians is by no means greater than among Europeans. Absolute pitch all over the world is possessed by quite ordinary musicians, and just piano tuners, and even people who are not at all music lovers and not interested in it. “Having perfect pitch in no way makes you a good musician, - writes one of the absolutes, professor of the solfeggio class at the American University De Paul, Dr. Atovsky. – It does not mean that you understand musical relationships, it does not indicate a sense of rhythm, it simply means that you have perfect pitch. Many people think it means something much more.”




At the same time, among the outstanding musicians, the number of absolutes is very large. On the heights of the musical Olympus, at the height of Mozart-Bach-Debussy and the like, non-absolute pitch is a big exception. The same can be said about outstanding performers of the rank of Richter-Stern-Rostropovich. In a special study of outstanding cellists, it was noted that 70% of them are absolute players. There is a certain discrepancy: on the one hand, absolute pitch and musical talent are clearly related, and among the geniuses of music, a non-absolute is as rare as a white musician among the black titans of jazz. At the same time, absolute pitch does not guarantee even tolerable musical abilities: the possession of absolute pitch, apart from the absolute pleasure of recognizing the door of one's home by its unique creaking, does not promise any other pleasures.




Even a superficial analysis of the auditory capabilities of the great ones can bring some clarity to the mythology of absolute pitch. “When I was two and a half years old,” recalls the composer Saint-Saens, “I found myself in front of a small piano that had not been opened for several years. Instead of hitting randomly, as children usually do, I played one key after another and did not release it until its sound died out completely. Grandmother explained the names of the notes to me and invited the tuner to put the piano in order. During this operation, I was in the next room and amazed everyone by naming the notes as they sounded at the tuner's hand. All these details are known to me not from other people's words, since I myself remember them perfectly. In this description, it is not at all surprising that absolute pitch manifested itself so early - it always wakes up early; surprising and not that the child so confidently called all the sounds, only once hearing them - this is absolute pitch. It is amazing that the love of music awakened early in the child, when he listened to the sounds with such attention, with such unprecedented interest, perceiving the piano as his interlocutor, who must be listened to, and not as a toy that must be beaten so that it responds with offended strumming.




Absolute pitch is rudimentary in its origin, it is an atavism, but among gifted musicians, on the one hand, and among ordinary "tuners", on the other hand, it is preserved for various reasons. Outstanding musicians are gifted in terms of hearing not only with absolute pitch, their general high musicality, their sensitivity to the meaningfulness of sound enhances all sound-distinctive abilities, including absolute pitch. It does not die out in the mind of an outstanding musician, because it is included in the context of other auditory data, among which there is necessarily an excellent relative pitch: outstanding musician equally freely uses both absolute pitch and non-absolute pitch, if necessary.




Absolutes, which can be conditionally called "tuners", are essentially non-musicians. Their absolute pitch is just a vestige preserved as a curiosity of nature. Sometimes in a family of musicians, this rudiment is delayed because the child is overloaded with sound impressions, his hearing aid is working in an enhanced mode. In addition, the children of musicians have a hereditary tendency to preserve absolute pitch. However, in all such cases, the tendency to retain absolute pitch does not come from within consciousness, from within the awakening musicality, and as a result, a dead absolute pitch arises, which can push one to choose a musical profession - the recognized fetishism of the phrase “absolute pitch” will play its treacherous role here. The seeming ease of mastering the basics of the profession will obscure the bitter truth from such a “pseudo-talent”: nature did not endow him with a real creative gift, but only a surrogate in the form of absolute pitch.




Even if absolute pitch and its preservation are caused by internal causes, and the child is indeed endowed with excellent intonation pitch, a good sense of rhythm, and even a remarkable relative pitch, all these qualities taken together do not mean that musical talent is evident. These hearing properties are operational properties that make it possible to successfully dissect the musical fabric, understanding why it is constructed this way and not otherwise. But these properties of hearing do not yet mean that the absolute player has at least a small fraction of musical fantasy, imagination and artistry. It is still very far from the requirements that society imposes on gifted performers and composers. In addition, in the musical profession, it is quite possible to get by with a good relative pitch, which once again warns society against excessive enthusiasm about the magical properties of absolute pitch. Its rudimentary origin and fundamentally conscious, reflex nature once again emphasize that the concept of "absolute pitch" is just another myth. To believe in it or not - everyone chooses for himself.





Ear for music

- a set of abilities necessary for composing, performing and actively perceiving music.

Musical ear implies a high subtlety of perception of both individual musical elements or qualities of musical sounds (pitch, volume, timbre), and functional relationships between them in piece of music(modal feeling, sense of rhythm, melodic, harmonic and other types of hearing).

Among the various types of musical ear, distinguished by various characteristics, the most important are:

There is a widespread opinion that an ear for music is something almost unique - a gift from God, and a person who has an ear for music is very lucky. After all, he can sing, make music, and in general, he is, in a sense, the chosen one.

How many people experience a feeling of inferiority when it comes to music, saying: "I got a bear in my ear."

Is it really such a rarity - an ear for music? Why do some people have it and others don't? And in general, where did he come from in man? Why did it show up at all? Maybe it's some sort of psychic ability?

It is worth remembering that human abilities do not just happen. All our ability comes from a vital necessity. Man learned to walk on two legs because he needed to free his hands.

Approximately the same situation with the musical ear. This feature appeared when living beings needed to communicate using sounds. A person's ear for music developed along with speech. In order to learn how to speak, we need to be able to distinguish sounds by strength, duration, pitch and timbre. Actually, it is this skill that people call musical ear.

Types of musical ear

Perfect Pitch

The ability to recognize by ear any note (do, re, mi, etc.) and reproduce it with a voice without prior tuning. This also applies to sounds performed not only on musical instruments (siren, telephone call, knocking on a metal pipe, etc.).

Relative hearing

It differs from the absolute one in that in order to determine or sing notes by ear, tuning is necessary - a sound or chord, relative to which the scale will be mentally built.

melodic hearing

The ability to hear and understand the structure of a melody (pitch, direction of movement and rhythmic organization), as well as to reproduce it with a voice. For more high level development - write notes.

Develops in the process of learning music.

Harmonic hearing

The ability to hear harmonic consonances - chord combinations of sounds and their sequences and reproduce them with a voice in an unfolded form or on musical instrument.

In practice, this can be expressed, for example, in the selection of an accompaniment to a melody by ear, even without knowing the notes, or singing in a polyphonic choir.

Its development is possible even in the initial absence of such an ability.

inner hearing

Internal representation of the correct pitch intonation, without voice reproduction.

1. Internal hearing uncoordinated with the voice. First level.
   In practice, it is expressed in the selection of a melody, possibly with accompaniment, by ear on an instrument or by understanding errors by ear in the work being studied.
2. Inner hearing coordinated with the voice. Professional level. The result of serious solfeggio training. It involves hearing and anticipating the musical text and the ability to work with it without a musical instrument.

Develops in the process of learning music.

foreshadowing

Mental planning with the inner ear of the future pure sound, rhythmic figure, musical phrase. It is used as a professional technique in vocals and for playing all musical instruments.

Is it possible to develop an ear for music?

We use an ear for music, and very accurate, all the time. Without it, we would not recognize people by their voices. But by the voice we can tell a lot about our interlocutor. It gives us the opportunity to determine what mood the person we are talking to has, whether we can trust him, and much more. Non-verbal, that is, non-verbal, characteristics of speech sometimes give us much more information than spoken words.

Is it possible in this case to say that someone does not have an ear for music? Yes, of course not! Every person who independently learned to speak has an ear for music.

Lack of ear for music is as rare as, for example, congenital blindness!
Of course, for someone it can be developed very well, and for someone it is worse, but for the vast majority of people, the ear for music is quite developed enough to make music and achieve excellent results without special enhanced training for the development of ear for music. The problem is that very often musical ability judged by a person's ability to sing. If you don’t know how to sing, it means “a bear stepped on your ear”, “no ear for music”.

But in order to sing, it is not enough to hear well. You also need to be able to control your voice well. And voice control needs to be learned in the same way as drawing, dancing or swimming.

And besides, if you hear that you sing badly, then your hearing is definitely all right!
And, finally, if you love music, listen to it, then you have a normal ear for music, you don’t have to worry about this.

Ear for music, like any function of our body (for example, the ability to swim), develops only when we actively use it. If you play a musical instrument or sing, it will help you quickly develop an ear for music. By the way, Dmitry Kabalevsky devoted his life to debunking the myth about the uniqueness of the musical ear. He developed a whole system that proved that every person can and should be taught music. And the results of his activities have shown that almost anyone can successfully engage in music.

Specialists are engaged in the development of musical ear. discipline - however, actively musical ear develops primarily in the process of musical activity.

One of the methods of developing intonation hearing is through movement, breathing practices and dance. Various manifestations of musical ear are studied in musical psychology, musical acoustics, and psychophysiology of hearing. Hearing is dialectically connected with general musicality, expressed in high degree emotional susceptibility musical phenomena, in the strength and brightness of the figurative representations and experiences caused by them.

If you have a desire to make music in one form or another, cast aside any doubts about your abilities, act, study, and success will surely come to you!