What is musical ear definition? There are many categories of musical hearing

Musical ear is 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 the qualities of musical sounds (pitch, volume, timbre), and the functional connections between them in a musical work (modal sense, sense of rhythm).

There is a widespread belief that an ear for music is something unique, a gift given to a person from birth. After all, he can sing, play 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, declaring: “a bear stepped on my ear.”

Among various types musical ear, identified according to various characteristics, the most important are:

Absolute pitch - the ability to determine the absolute height of musical sounds without comparing them with a standard;

Relative hearing - the ability to determine and reproduce pitch relationships in melody, chords, intervals, etc.;

Inner hearing - the ability to clearly mentally imagine (for example, from musical notation or from memory) individual sounds, melodic and harmonious structures, entire pieces of music;

Intonation hearing is the ability to hear the expression of music, to reveal the communication structures embedded in it.

The development of musical ear is dealt with by a special discipline - solfeggio, but musical ear actively develops primarily in the process musical activity.

People hear music differently at different ages

This is true. A child is able to distinguish sound with a frequency of up to 30,000 vibrations per second, but in a teenager (up to twenty years old) this figure is 20,000, and by the age of sixty it decreases to 12,000. A good music center produces a signal with a frequency of up to 25,000 vibrations per second. That is, people over sixty will no longer be able to appreciate all its advantages; they simply will not hear the entire breadth of the range of sounds.

It doesn't matter at what age you start training your hearing.

Wrong. American researchers have found that the highest percentage of people with absolute pitch is observed in those who began studying music between 4 and 5 years of age. And among those who started studying music after the age of 8, there are almost no people with absolute pitch.

Men and women hear music the same way

In fact, women hear better than men. The range of frequencies perceived by the female ear is much wider than that of men. They perceive high-pitched sounds more accurately, distinguish tones and intonations better. In addition, women's hearing does not become dull until the age of 38, while in men this process begins at the age of 32.

Having an ear for music does not depend on the language a person speaks

Wrong. This was proven by researchers at the University of California by comparing data from 115 American and 88 Chinese music students. Chinese is a tonal language. This is the name of a group of languages ​​in which, depending on intonation, the same word can take on several (up to a dozen) meanings. English language- not tonal.

The subjects' absolute pitch was examined. They had to distinguish sounds that differed in frequency by only 6%. The results are impressive. 60% of Chinese passed the test of absolute pitch and only 14% of Americans. The researcher explained this by saying that Chinese more melodic, and the Chinese from birth get used to distinguishing larger number sound frequencies. Thus, if a person’s language is musical, it is highly likely that he will have an absolute ear for music.

A melody heard at least once is stored in our memory for a lifetime.

This is true. American scientists have discovered an area of ​​the cerebral cortex responsible for musical memories. This is the same auditory cortex area that is responsible for the perception of music. It turns out that it is enough for us to hear a melody or song at least once, as it is already stored in this auditory zone. After this, even if we do not hear the melody or song we listened to, the auditory zone is still able to extract it from its “archives” and play it in our brain “from memory”.

The only question is how deeply this melody is hidden. Favorite and frequently heard songs are stored in short-term memory. And melodies heard a long time ago or heard rarely are stored in the “closets” of long-term memory. However, some event or sound sequence can unexpectedly cause our memory to retrieve these forgotten melodies from our “bins” and play them in our brain.

An ear for music is inherited

This opinion has been around for a long time and is widespread. But only recently have scientists been able to scientifically substantiate it. Researchers have found that people without musical hearing have less white matter in the inferior frontal gyrus of the right hemisphere than those who perceive and reproduce melodies well. It is possible that this physiological feature is genetically determined.

Animals have no ear for music

Not certainly in that way. They just hear music differently. Animals perceive many more sound frequencies. And if people are able to pick up up to 30,000 vibrations per second, then dogs, for example, register sound with a frequency of 50,000 to 100,000 vibrations, that is, they even pick up ultrasound.

Although animals have a sense of tact, our pets cannot perceive melody. That is, they do not combine chord combinations of sounds into a specific sequence called a melody. Animals perceive music only as a set of sounds, and some of them are regarded as signals from the animal world.

An ear for music is a gift from birth and cannot be developed.

Wrong. Those who entered music school They probably remember that they were asked not only to sing, but also to tap out the melody (for example, with a pencil on the table top). This is explained simply. The teachers wanted to assess whether the applicant had a sense of tact. It turns out that it is the sense of tact that is given (or not given) to us from birth, and it cannot be developed. And if a person doesn’t have it, then music teachers won’t be able to teach him anything.

By the way, the percentage of people who lack a sense of tact is very small. And everything else can be taught. Including developing an ear for music. There would be a desire.

An ear for music is a rarity

Anyone who claims this is mistaken. In fact, any person who can speak and perceive speech has it. After all, in order to speak, we must distinguish sounds by pitch, volume, timbre and intonation. It is these skills that are included in the concept of musical ear. That is, almost all people have an ear for music. The only question is what type of musical ear do they have? Absolute or internal?

The highest stage of development of musical ear is absolute pitch. It is revealed only as a result of playing music (playing a musical instrument). For a long time it was believed that it could not be developed, but development methods are now known absolute pitch.

The lowest level of hearing development is internal hearing, uncoordinated with the voice. A person with such hearing can distinguish melodies and reproduce them from memory, but not sing.

The absence of musical hearing is called the clinical level of hearing development. Only 5% of people have it.

Those who have an ear for music can sing well

This is true, but only partly. To sing well, it is not enough to have an ear for music. You also need to be able to control your voice and vocal cords. And this is a skill that is acquired through learning.

Almost every person can hear falsehood in singing, but not everyone can sing clearly themselves. Moreover, it often seems to those who sing that they are singing without falsehood, but those around them can see all their mistakes. This is explained by the fact that every person listens to himself with his inner ear and, as a result, hears something completely different from what others hear. So a novice performer may well not notice that he is not hitting the notes.

In fact, in order to sing well, it is enough to have just a harmonic ear. This level of hearing development is considered one of the lowest. This is the name given to the ability to hear a melody and reproduce it with the voice. And yet, its development is possible even in the initial absence of such ability. That is, 95% of people can play music and achieve results. Moreover, the more you practice music, the more your ear for music will develop. Up to the absolute - there are no limits to perfection. The main thing is to have a desire and not doubt your abilities.

Music teachers, passing the verdict “the bear stepped on your ear,” put an end to singing and musical career many people. But is ear for music really the preserve of a select few, or is there something they’re not telling us? Find out the answer here, and at the same time take the music aptitude test.

Lack of hearing for music - myth or reality?

Scientists conducted an experiment to study the presence of musical hearing in dogs. While playing one of the notes on the piano, they gave the dog something to eat. After a while, the dog developed a reflex, and when it heard the desired sound, it ran to the bowl of food. The animal did not react to other notes. But if even our smaller four-legged brothers have an ear for music, then why are there so many people in the world who do not have it?

Lack of hearing for music is a myth we have been led to believe. Scientists say: everyone has the ability to hear notes and reproduce them, it’s just not developed equally well in everyone. Therefore, musical ear can happen:

• absolute - such a person is able to determine the pitch of notes without comparison with a standard. Such unique people are born one in ten thousand. Usually this gift is possessed by violinists and parodists who imitate sounds;

• internal - allowing, looking at the notes, to correctly reproduce them in the voice. This is taught in solfeggio lessons in music schools and conservatories;

• relative - endowing its owner with the ability to accurately determine the intervals between sounds and their duration. This is usually characteristic of trumpet players.

The sense of rhythm is also part of musical ear. It is best developed among drummers.

To determine the level of development of musical hearing, they usually turn to a specialist. He offers to complete several tasks:

• repeat the melody. A musical phrase is played on the instrument, which the subject must reproduce with his voice, clapping in time;

• tap out the rhythm. Using a pencil, a rhythmic pattern is set that needs to be repeated. You will have to complete several such tasks, and each time the rhythm will become more complicated;

• reproduce intonation. The person checking hums the melody, and the person being checked must repeat it, maintaining all the intonations of the performer.

You may be offered another task: guess the note. Standing with your back to the musical instrument, you must name which octave sound the teacher played.

Let's say right away: this method of determining the level musical abilities most accurate. Although at home you can also try to check whether you have a developed ear for music or not. The “Everything for Children” website will help you with this, where in the “ Music tests» you will find far from children's task, by completing which you will receive an objective assessment of your musical abilities, and also find out how to quickly learn notes on the guitar; it turns out that this is not at all difficult.

Music is the universal language of humanity. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You can also test your ability to recognize musical sounds using the tasks offered in this video:

Ways to develop an ear for music

Why are some people born with perfect pitch, while others have less than perfect pitch? Our brain is to blame for this. A small part of the right hemisphere is responsible for the development of musical hearing. There is white matter, which controls the transmission of information, including sound.

The ability to correctly reproduce notes largely depends on the amount of this substance. It is impossible to increase its volume, but it is quite possible to speed up the processes occurring there. For this purpose, there are exercises to develop musical ear. We will present the most effective of them.

Scales

Play all seven notes in order on the instrument and sing them. Then do the same without the tool. When you are satisfied with the result, the order of the notes should be reversed. The exercise is boring and monotonous, but effective.

Intervals

When playing two notes on the instrument (do-re, do-mi, do-fa, etc.), then try to repeat them with your voice. Then do the same exercise, but moving from the “top” of the octave. And then try to do the same thing, but without the piano.

Echo

Teachers use this exercise kindergarten, but it's great for adults too. Use any player (your phone player will do) to play a few musical phrases from any song, and then repeat them yourself. Did not work out? Make several attempts until you are satisfied with the result. Then proceed to the next song segment.

Dancing

Turn on any music and dance - this is how you develop a rhythmic ear for music. Reading poetry to music also helps with this.

Melody selection

Try to find a familiar melody on the instrument. It won’t work right away, but when it does, you will, firstly, believe in your strength, and secondly, you will make a big breakthrough in learning.

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!

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Fundamentals of musical psychology Fedorovich Elena Narimanovna

2.3. Musical ear, its types

2.3. Musical ear, its types

Music is the art of sound, and in the structure of musical abilities the most important place belongs to the musical ear. Auditory sensations are leading for musical activity, since sounds that exist objectively, that is, independently of a person, are transformed into music as a result of their processing by the auditory organ. That is why the first studies of scientific music psychology were devoted to musical hearing (G. Helmholtz, K. Stumpf, E. Kurt, G. Seashore, K. Revesh, etc.)

Currently, there are different classifications of types of musical hearing. We are closer to the classification of V.V. Medushevsky, who bases the structure of hearing on perceptual And intonation hearing. At the same time, there is no fundamental difference between the classifications, so we will supplement the characteristics of perceptual and intonation hearing in accordance with the views of other scientists.

Perceptual called rumor directed at structure recognition. It includes:

1. Pitch hearing

2. Melodic

3. Harmonic

4. Timbre-dynamic

5. Polyphonic

6. Textured

7. Interval

These types of hearing are varieties auditory sensations. They interact, but each has its own characteristics and is responsible for a certain part of the structure of the musical fabric that is to be recognized.

Pitch hearing occupies a leading place among the types of perceptual musical hearing. It manifests itself most clearly, and the degree of its development is often mistaken for the level of musical hearing in general, which is incorrect. This role of pitch hearing is explained by the fact that of such types of auditory stimuli as height, duration, volume, timbre, the most powerful is the pitch stimulus. A change in sound in pitch is heard more strongly than a change in its other characteristics.

B. M. Teplov, noting important role pitch hearing in musical activity, believed that the term “musical ear” has two meanings. In a broad sense, he included all types of musical ear, and in a narrow sense he considered pitch hearing to be musical ear, since pitch movement is the main carrier of meaning in music.

Unlike the American psychologist K. Seashore, who argued that hearing mainly has the nature of a natural inclination, B. M. Teplov proved that pitch hearing is largely developable. For example, from practice music education it is well known that the most subtle pitch hearing (distinguishing 1/16, 1/32 and less tones) is characteristic of students learning to play the violin; This type of hearing develops more slowly in pianists. This is due to the characteristics of the instruments: the need to find sound in the first case and a fixed tempered tuning in the second.

Melodic ear provides a holistic perception of the melody. It is based on pitch in its manifestation in relation to the movement of a single-voice melody. The basis of melodic hearing is modal feeling(B. M. Teplov), which is the ability to distinguish the modal functions of melody sounds, their stability and instability, mutual gravity. One of its simplest manifestations is the feeling of tonic - the desire to finish the melody on it and perceive all other sounds of the scale as incomplete.

Another basis of melodic hearing is musical-auditory representations (see below “internal hearing”), since melodic hearing presupposes pre-hearing, which allows one to perceive the melody as a whole.

Sometimes melodic hearing is divided into interval hearing - the ability to analyze intervals as the melody moves.

Melodic ear develops well in singers, string players, and wind players, and much worse in pianists. One of the typical shortcomings of pianists is performing “one note at a time,” in which the player seems to be doing everything correctly, but the melody breaks up into separate sounds. This comes from insufficient development (or activation) of melodic hearing. In singing, for example, such a performance is impossible, since in vocal sound production there is only one sound. naturally goes into another.

Harmonic hearing, on the contrary, develops intensively among pianists (accordion players, accordionists) and more slowly among representatives of musical specialties who deal primarily with single-voice melody. This is a hearing focused on consonances (chords). It arises on the basis of pitch hearing and modal sense and allows you not only to simultaneously hear the vertical, but also to comprehend the sounds that make it up as belonging to certain functions.

Timbre-dynamic hearing sometimes divided into its components timbral, aimed at recognizing timbre, i.e. sound quality, and dynamic, which determines changes in its strength. However, in practice, timbre is closely related to dynamics: it can change depending on changes in force. For example, a sound whose timbre can be conventionally defined as “silver” will not remain so with a large crescendo leading to fortissimo. Therefore, these types of hearing are often defined as one - timbre-dynamic. The musician’s professionalism and his ability to convey subtle sound gradations largely depend on its development. For a non-professional music lover, a developed timbre-dynamic ear allows them to enjoy the colorful sound - for example, orchestral.

Of all types of musical hearing, it is in timbre-dynamic hearing that the mechanisms of synesthesia are most clearly manifested. Synesthesia They call this interaction of sensations in which, under the influence of irritation of one analyzer, sensations characteristic of another analyzer arise.

In music, the most common manifestation of synesthesia is that in which stimulation of the auditory analyzer causes a visual sensation. This can manifest itself in visual images, and sometimes takes the form of so-called colored hearing A person with such hearing hears musical tones in a certain color. N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A.N. Scriabin, M.K. Ciurlionis had such a rumor.

Polyphonic And textured hearing, like harmonic hearing, is associated with hearing polyphonic structures. The difference between them is that harmonic hearing allows you to simultaneously hear the sounds that make up the vertical; polyphonic - to recognize the horizontal movement of voices, and textured - to distinguish texture layers, which usually contain both vertical harmonies and the movement of horizontal lines.

Textural hearing is not always distinguished as an independent type of musical perceptual hearing, but in the practice of training pianists and conductors, the problem of distinguishing texture layers is relevant, therefore it is still advisable to separate this type of hearing from harmonic and polyphonic. All types of hearing associated with polyphony develop naturally and relatively easily among performers. keyboards and conductors, and much more difficult for vocalists, string players, and wind players.

Interval hearing - the ability to hear, distinguish and comprehend intervals - is formed in the process music training and can be considered as an element of melodic hearing.

The second major type of musical hearing, in contrast to perceptual hearing, is intonation rumor that is aimed at meaning recognition. As V.V. Medushevsky points out, comprehension of music has two sides: analytical and intonation-semantic. In accordance with this, the musical ear, which is the first to process information entering the brain music information, has perceptual-analytical and intonational-semantic components. They are closely related and must act simultaneously. “In the specific sound of music, the analytical organization is always built into the semantic one,” writes V. V. Medushevsky. “...The secret of the hearing of a brilliant musician... is not only in the even development of the parties, but also in their close cooperation.”

Intonation hearing is the most ancient and holistic, its origins are in the depths of the unconscious. Music and speech as leading communication systems developed in close interaction with intonation hearing. Intonation hearing is a function of the right hemisphere of the brain; it is aimed at recognizing emotional content, transmitting and understanding the main basic emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear. This type of hearing is the basis of musical perception and musical creativity. At the same time, it has the property of universality: every person possesses it, it is detected already in infancy in children.

According to the research of D.K. Kirnarskaya, distinctive features intonation hearing are as follows: intonation hearing is aimed at identifying the meaning of music; includes bodily-motor reactions of a person through associations with movement, gestures, pantomime; activates the human speech apparatus through “singing along” and pronouncing sounds (speech intonation); leads to the emergence of spatial and color associations, creates a visible, tangible and infinitely diverse world of human emotions.

It should also be noted that the ability of intonation hearing to instantly “grasp” musical meaning and musical syntax in combination with a structural-analytical approach to understanding musical patterns.

Intonation hearing is closely related to speech hearing. Its essence lies in the parallel differentiation of semantic and sound planes. In speech, intonation may not coincide with the verbal meaning and even contradict it, and in order to understand the interlocutor, we simultaneously process the verbal and intonation meaning. Similarly, we hear the sound side in music (pitch, timbre, consonance, etc.) and intonation meaning.

The intonation side of hearing should be leading. However, in the practice of music education, this provision is constantly violated, and this occurs either from a misunderstanding of the essence of intonation hearing, or from its underestimation. Most of the musical disciplines studied, especially solfeggio and harmony, are aimed at developing perceptual hearing. This same hearing is constantly activated when practicing a musical instrument, especially the piano.

As a result, musicians are formed with a developed perceptual ear and an underdeveloped intonation ear; the performance of such musicians at any, even the highest technical level, will have different negative characteristics: from “senseless” to “soulless”, “unemotional”. An opposite example – a developed ear for intonation with a possible weak development of the perceptual ear – can be the stage speech and singing of dramatic actors. From the biography of Andrei Mironov it is known that he had poor pitch hearing. He didn't have a singing voice either. Moreover, his concerts, at which he sang, gathered an audience comparable to that of the most outstanding singers. The solution to this phenomenon lies in the excellent ear for intonation of outstanding artists and the ability, on this basis, to convey the subtlest shades of meaning of prosaic and poetic text and melodies.

There is another qualitative difference between the types of musical hearing, which does not fit into either the “perceptual - intonation” structure or the internal structure of perceptual hearing. The peculiar qualities of musical hearing are reflected in the division into absolute And relative. This division is usually referred to as pitch hearing, since in it the quality of absoluteness is most clearly expressed; but this is hardly true. A person with absolute pitch hearing always has a very pronounced (or quickly developing?) timbre-dynamic hearing, melodic, harmonic, etc. The fact is that in these types of perceptual hearing there is no mechanism for accurately measuring absoluteness and its criteria, but in pitch there is: this is the ability to instantly determine the absolute height of any sound, regardless of its relationship with other sounds or an internal sound standard.

A child with absolute pitch hears pitch so accurately that he may find himself in a vulnerable situation compared to other children if the instrument is not tuned correctly. All children will believe the teacher who said that the dictation will be played in such and such a key, and a child with perfect pitch will find himself in a situation where the named key does not match what sounds real, and will not be able to write this dictation. There is also a known case with four-year-old Maurice Ravel: after making sure that the F-sharp (black) key responded with the sound F (white), the child shouted that the key needed to be painted with white paint.

Absolute pitch cannot be developed: it is a genetically predetermined inclination. At the same time, attempts to develop relative hearing to absolute do not stop, and lead, it would seem, to excellent results: students begin to accurately name the pitch of any sounds. Such hearing is called almost absolute (B. M. Teplov uses the term “pseudo-absolute”); it serves its owner in almost the same way as the absolute one, but the qualitative difference still remains.

A person with almost perfect pitch accustoms himself to the sound of an internal standard (most often it is “C”, “A” or “G” of the first octave), remembers it and always “carries” it with himself. If it is necessary to determine the pitch of a sound, he quickly correlates it with his standard, determines the interval and names the sound. There may be some delay in issuing it due to internal work, as well as occasional errors of a tone or semitone.

A person with absolute pitch does not compare the sound he hears with anything and names it immediately; he cannot confuse it with a nearby sound, just as healthy man won't confuse different colors. He will never make a mistake by a semitone, because keys separated by a semitone are very far from each other in sound quality.

But a person with absolute pitch can make a mistake that even a person with average relative pitch would not make—he can confuse the most distant “do” and “sol” (“fa”). They are far apart from each other only in terms of distance on the scale, but qualitatively (and in terms of circle of fifths) they are much closer than, for example, “C” and “D-flat”. K. Stumpf also wrote about the “fifth similarity” of sounds.

The phenomenon of absolute pitch has so far been little studied - probably because only 7% of professional musicians have it (according to B. M. Teplov), and musicians are not inclined to analyze their sensations. At the same time, it is hardly possible to deeply study this phenomenon without the active participation of its owners themselves.

Absolute pitch is an extremely convenient tool for a professional musician, but its presence is completely optional for successful musical activity at any level, including the highest. Among musical geniuses approximately equal amount who had absolute and excellent relative pitch. R. Schumann, R. Wagner, E. Grieg, P. Tchaikovsky and other brilliant composers did not have absolute pitch.

A special form of musical hearing is inner hearing, or musical and auditory performances. It should not be listed among the types of musical hearing, since all types can exist in internal form. Inner hearing is the ability to hear sounds, their combinations, melodies, etc., up to entire musical works outside of their real sound, in consciousness. Inner musical ear has the same mental nature as internal monologue(thought), visual representations (visual fantasies). Musical and auditory representations can perform the function pre-hearings, but can exist relatively independently. In the first case, they ensure the implementation of the “see - hear - play” formula, which is strongly recommended for music students by all major musicians - performers and teachers.

“I see” refers to the musical text, “hear” means musical and auditory representations based on the text, “play” means the implementation of these representations in sound. The learning process largely loses its meaning when the sequence changes to “see - play - hear”, since in this case the real sound will be heard, which cannot be influenced, it has already happened. If “I hear” occurs in an internal form, then this sound can be corrected even before being translated into the real one.

The independent existence of musical-auditory ideas can be voluntary or involuntary. Everyone is familiar with the involuntary and even annoying internal sound of some obsessive melody. Musicians can evoke internal auditory ideas arbitrarily, which is associated with the processes of perception, thinking, memorization, and preparation for a concert performance.

In any case, only that which corresponds to general auditory capabilities and musical experience will be heard in internal form. this person. A musician with absolute or excellent relative pitch, with evenly developed types of it, will internally hear the musical fabric in the desired key, fully, volumetrically, etc., and a person with underdeveloped hearing will hear “inside himself” vague musical contours. At the same time, a musician with excellent “external” hearing may have an underdeveloped internal one if he does not pay special attention to its development. Internal musical ear, thus, is a form of external, but a form that needs to be developed, since musical-auditory ideas precede and accompany all musical-cognitive processes.

Speaking about musical hearing, including internal hearing, it is necessary to note the difference between musical and so-called physiological hearing, that is, the ability to hear sounds in general, which any healthy person is endowed with. The acuity of physiological hearing depends on the state of human health (the auditory organ and the entire nervous system), as well as occupations during which hearing may decrease (for example, under the influence of noise) or, on the contrary, become worse (if the profession requires acute hearing - for example, hunting). Musical hearing is a complement to physiological hearing. But there is no close connection between musical and physiological hearing. A person may have acute physiological hearing and very weak musical hearing; the opposite cases are known (Beethoven’s deafness was physiological in nature, and his rare ear for music was preserved, completely moving into the internal form). In most cases, musicians also have good physiological hearing, since constant listening also sharpens it. But with age-related and painful changes, the acuity of physiological hearing may decrease, which does not entail a decrease in the quality of musical hearing.