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Everything You Need to Know About Musical Ear
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November 18, 2023
How some music teachers ruin dreams for nothing, why people need an musical ear, and how our brains see music
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MG
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Musical ear is the ability to distinguish between the individual qualities of musical sounds (pitch, volume, timbre, and duration) and how they are related to each other.
Human's musical ear began to develop even before the advent of speech. Primitive people, like animals, initially communicated with sounds. The primitive way of communicating through sounds was a key factor in the survival and social development of people. It allowed them to transmit messages, communicate, coordinate actions, and pass on knowledge from generation to generation. It was this first sound method of communication that laid the foundation for the further development of speech.
But in order to learn how to understand and reproduce that wide range of different sound signals, people needed to be able to distinguish sounds by their strength, duration, pitch, and timbre. This is what people call musical ear.
Despite thousands of years, we, like our ancestors, use our musical ear all the time. You probably have no trouble distinguishing loud sounds from soft ones, long sounds from short ones, high squeaky sounds from bass low sounds.
We use our musical ear all the time and it is very accurate,. Without it, we wouldn't recognize people by their voices. But we can tell a lot about the person we are talking to by their voice. The intonations of the speech give us more information than the words spoken, we recognize who we are talking to and what mood the interlocutor is in.
Human's musical ear began to develop even before the advent of speech. Primitive people, like animals, initially communicated with sounds. The primitive way of communicating through sounds was a key factor in the survival and social development of people. It allowed them to transmit messages, communicate, coordinate actions, and pass on knowledge from generation to generation. It was this first sound method of communication that laid the foundation for the further development of speech.
But in order to learn how to understand and reproduce that wide range of different sound signals, people needed to be able to distinguish sounds by their strength, duration, pitch, and timbre. This is what people call musical ear.
Despite thousands of years, we, like our ancestors, use our musical ear all the time. You probably have no trouble distinguishing loud sounds from soft ones, long sounds from short ones, high squeaky sounds from bass low sounds.
We use our musical ear all the time and it is very accurate,. Without it, we wouldn't recognize people by their voices. But we can tell a lot about the person we are talking to by their voice. The intonations of the speech give us more information than the words spoken, we recognize who we are talking to and what mood the interlocutor is in.
How musical ear works
To process music, we have a structure of specific neural networks. We know that they are independent of the networks responsible for processing speech and ambient sounds. It is known that people who stutter while speaking can sing without stuttering (By the way, I got rid of stuttering in my childhood thanks to singing).
When we listen to a musical composition, various processes are activated in our brain: melody analysis, musical memory, recognition, emotional reaction, and many others. The integration of all these processes occurs as a result of a complex brain process in which several neural networks are simultaneously or sequentially involved.
Based on studies of patients with brain damage, researchers Peretz I. and Coltheart M. have developed a model of the functional architecture of music processing. According to this model, music processing is organized in two independent and parallel systems.
The melody system processes all information about the melody
It distinguishes between two key components: tones (each note of a melody) and intervals (the distance and direction between notes). To perceive the contours of a melody, you need to integrate them into a single way of perception.
The time system is responsible for embedding the melody in the time space
It also operates with two components: rhythm (the duration of sounds and pauses) and musical metre, which are integrated into a single way of perception.
When we listen to a musical composition, various processes are activated in our brain: melody analysis, musical memory, recognition, emotional reaction, and many others. The integration of all these processes occurs as a result of a complex brain process in which several neural networks are simultaneously or sequentially involved.
Based on studies of patients with brain damage, researchers Peretz I. and Coltheart M. have developed a model of the functional architecture of music processing. According to this model, music processing is organized in two independent and parallel systems.
The melody system processes all information about the melody
It distinguishes between two key components: tones (each note of a melody) and intervals (the distance and direction between notes). To perceive the contours of a melody, you need to integrate them into a single way of perception.
The time system is responsible for embedding the melody in the time space
It also operates with two components: rhythm (the duration of sounds and pauses) and musical metre, which are integrated into a single way of perception.
Metre defines the basic pulse or beat of the music. It creates a sense of movement, organizes musical time and determines its tempo.
Metre can be felt as a pulse, in the form of beats that repeat at regular intervals. Some of them will be more accentuated (strong beats), some less so (weak beats). For example, the metre of a waltz is ONE (strong beat) two, three (weak beats).
Metre can be felt as a pulse, in the form of beats that repeat at regular intervals. Some of them will be more accentuated (strong beats), some less so (weak beats). For example, the metre of a waltz is ONE (strong beat) two, three (weak beats).
Information received by both networks is sent to the center where it's stored, forming a kind of archive where information about all the music you have heard throughout your life is stored.
Thanks to this, we can then combine different elements (melodic sequence, harmony, pattern, rhythm) in a new way, creating new music with on our own.
Thanks to this, we can then combine different elements (melodic sequence, harmony, pattern, rhythm) in a new way, creating new music with on our own.
Types of musical ear
We learned that musical ear is the ability to distinguish between sounds with different properties.
Some people can do this immediately and accurately all the time. These people have absolute pitch.
Most people have relative pitch, meaning that they not always distinguish sounds accurately and often need to compare them with other sounds. Relative pitch is the norm for people because most people, including musicians, were born with it. Yes, most musicians have a relative pitch.
Usually, before starting to perform a piece of music or write a musical dictation, the performer is played a note to start with or a chord in the key in which he or she will continue to work. As a rule, the piano provides the tuning because it has a constant pitch. But a piano is not always at hand, so musicians use a tuning fork, a device for reproducing the sound of a reference pitch (a U-shaped vibrator-idiophone with a stable structure and a frequency of 440 Hz (the note "A").
Some people can do this immediately and accurately all the time. These people have absolute pitch.
Most people have relative pitch, meaning that they not always distinguish sounds accurately and often need to compare them with other sounds. Relative pitch is the norm for people because most people, including musicians, were born with it. Yes, most musicians have a relative pitch.
Usually, before starting to perform a piece of music or write a musical dictation, the performer is played a note to start with or a chord in the key in which he or she will continue to work. As a rule, the piano provides the tuning because it has a constant pitch. But a piano is not always at hand, so musicians use a tuning fork, a device for reproducing the sound of a reference pitch (a U-shaped vibrator-idiophone with a stable structure and a frequency of 440 Hz (the note "A").
Tuning fork
There are also smartphone apps for this task.
Just as people distinguish between similar shades of color, someone can immediately tell whether it's foliage green or pine green, while others need to see them side by side to distinguish.
Just as people distinguish between similar shades of color, someone can immediately tell whether it's foliage green or pine green, while others need to see them side by side to distinguish.
Foliage
Pine
In addition, it happens that a person is completely unable to distinguish sounds according to certain indicators. This is called amusia. According to various sources, there are 2 to 4 percent of such people.
Amusia is manifested in the fact that people do not recognize well-known musical pieces, do not enjoy music, have difficulty perceiving and reproducing rhythmic combinations of sounds (arrhythmia) and even perceiving speech (because of the importance of questioning or affirmative intonations and emotions).
Amusia is a medical diagnosis. It can be congenital or acquired. Acquired cases of amusia occur after brain damage, which, depending on the localization, can change various musical functions (impaired perception and reproduction of rhythm, tone, timbre, musical memory, etc.) Congenital amusia is a rare phenomenon, its occurrence is associated with genetics, but it is also believed that it is also due to limited exposure to music in childhood. Often, amusia is combined with auditory agnosia, in which people cannot distinguish even everyday sounds or noises.
Amusia is manifested in the fact that people do not recognize well-known musical pieces, do not enjoy music, have difficulty perceiving and reproducing rhythmic combinations of sounds (arrhythmia) and even perceiving speech (because of the importance of questioning or affirmative intonations and emotions).
Amusia is a medical diagnosis. It can be congenital or acquired. Acquired cases of amusia occur after brain damage, which, depending on the localization, can change various musical functions (impaired perception and reproduction of rhythm, tone, timbre, musical memory, etc.) Congenital amusia is a rare phenomenon, its occurrence is associated with genetics, but it is also believed that it is also due to limited exposure to music in childhood. Often, amusia is combined with auditory agnosia, in which people cannot distinguish even everyday sounds or noises.
Statistically speaking, most of us have relative pitch but mistakenly believe that we have no musical ear at all.
Dedication is more important than talent
«The so-called "tone deafness" is largely a myth. Most people who are labeled as tone deaf appear to be so only because of a lack of musical development, not because of any real hearing impairment.»
David Burge
Unfortunately, even vocal teachers sometimes make the same mistake, telling people with average abilities that they have no chance in music. These words mean only one thing - you are not dealing with the best teacher, who either doesn't know how to help you tune your voice or is simply too lazy to work. Unfortunately, unscrupulous teachers benefit from selecting only students who already have a certain skill and write it down in their achievements, instead of asking themselves "How can I help here?".
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has been studying the way of thinking for 20 years. In the course of her research, she discovered that success depends primarily not on innate intelligence or talent, but on the type of thinking that affects the attitude to life's obstacles. So the path to mastery depends more on habits and skills than on a student's talent.
We have already learned that musical ear is not something unique. The vast majority of people are born with a knack for music. It is known that even before babies learn to speak, they demonstrate their musical ear by responding to the regularity and speed of tempo, consonant and dissonant intervals.
I'm going to tell you a real story about how some teachers ruin a child's dream of playing music by assuring parents that their child has no musical ear.
This story happened many years ago to a person I know. As a child, he was interested in music and playing musical instruments. In elementary school, he enrolled in cello and saxophone lessons, but in order to get into a music school, he had to pass an audition.
The test didn't demonstrate level of musical ability and the teacher didn't have a goal to determine the level of ability. The music school was only interested in the presence of talent, if you have it, you are welcome to the lessons, and if not, you have no musical ability.
The idea that he had no musical ability haunted him throughout his life, giving rise to a persistent complex and self-doubt. However, the desire to express his emotions through melody didn't disappear, so as an adult he bought an instrument and began to learn on his own. Now he plays his favorite songs well, but he is shy about singing in front of anyone.
Perhaps he would not have become a musician if he had started playing the cello or saxophone back then, or perhaps the world lost a great performer because of the persistent myth in society that musical ear is a unique gift that only a few people have. Nevertheless, the self-doubt he gained as a child definitely had a negative impact on his life.
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has been studying the way of thinking for 20 years. In the course of her research, she discovered that success depends primarily not on innate intelligence or talent, but on the type of thinking that affects the attitude to life's obstacles. So the path to mastery depends more on habits and skills than on a student's talent.
We have already learned that musical ear is not something unique. The vast majority of people are born with a knack for music. It is known that even before babies learn to speak, they demonstrate their musical ear by responding to the regularity and speed of tempo, consonant and dissonant intervals.
I'm going to tell you a real story about how some teachers ruin a child's dream of playing music by assuring parents that their child has no musical ear.
This story happened many years ago to a person I know. As a child, he was interested in music and playing musical instruments. In elementary school, he enrolled in cello and saxophone lessons, but in order to get into a music school, he had to pass an audition.
The test didn't demonstrate level of musical ability and the teacher didn't have a goal to determine the level of ability. The music school was only interested in the presence of talent, if you have it, you are welcome to the lessons, and if not, you have no musical ability.
The idea that he had no musical ability haunted him throughout his life, giving rise to a persistent complex and self-doubt. However, the desire to express his emotions through melody didn't disappear, so as an adult he bought an instrument and began to learn on his own. Now he plays his favorite songs well, but he is shy about singing in front of anyone.
Perhaps he would not have become a musician if he had started playing the cello or saxophone back then, or perhaps the world lost a great performer because of the persistent myth in society that musical ear is a unique gift that only a few people have. Nevertheless, the self-doubt he gained as a child definitely had a negative impact on his life.
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