Absolute pitch test. Testing your musical ear: how it's done

Online game"Absolute pitch"

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The game asks the first 33 questions from this list. The entire list of 55 questions (from 34 to 55 chips with a stave) is presented in full version of this game included in the program.

Alexey Ustinov, 2011-12-30

Game updated 2013-11-30

Teacher's comment

Absolute ear for music - the ability to determine the pitch of a tone, regardless of other tones, i.e. without comparing sounds with each other and, as a result, assigning a note name to this sound. The nature of this phenomenon has not been sufficiently studied in musicological circles and, apparently, is therefore represented by different points of view. But it is even less familiar to practicing teachers. At the same time, the skill of "absolute musical ear"constantly remains the focus of both interest and controversy among almost all musicians. It is generally accepted that all string players (violinists, cellists) have such hearing, but this is not so! On the contrary, it seems that a pianist does not need it at all - however, those Of those who have mastered this skill, they say that it helps a lot, for example, when reading scores... Another often discussed question is: can it be developed, or is it something innate?...

What to do with a child who easily picks out any melody and does not want to look at the sheet music at all? How to develop hearing for a student who knows musical notation symbols well, but can play false notes, memorizes them, and the teacher cannot help him in any way?

One day, my second grade student asked me to play him Gennady Sasko’s play “Blues,” which was quite complex in rhythm, with a passage at the end. I played it three times... and at the next lesson he played the Blues without notes and at the same tempo as the piece was played. The case of this boy was for me an example of my incompetence in working with a gifted student with absolute pitch... I have not encountered many children with absolute pitch in my teaching practice. And most often such children did not graduate from music school. From the very beginning, they could remember and play the pieces by hand, “by ear,” but reading a complex text caused resistance in them and, as a result, they lost interest in learning.

In other words, the skill of “absolute pitch” is not something separate in the learning process, clearly positive or negative. Both its presence and absence require additional attention from the teacher and a special approach to the student. Still, this skill is extremely desirable!

To help my students, and to avoid repeating the mistakes of my youth, I am now using S.M. Maltsev’s method. - the author of a comprehensive methodology for teaching piano playing, as well as solfegging, synchronized with piano playing. This method helps me identify children with well-developed hearing already in the first year of education and constantly work with them by reading notes from a sheet.

For most students and those who want to master musical wisdom, it is easy to learn and play their favorite melodies on the piano or guitar, they still need to develop their hearing. And the game "Perfect Pitch" is an excellent tool for this. It is suitable for all ages.

Small children, who cannot even read, will guess the right answer from the pictures. (You just need to help them - first play the game NOTES - PICTURES so that the child gets acquainted with the notes hidden in in simple words: HOUSE, TURNIP. There, he will become acquainted with the sound of notes.).

Older children and adults, while playing, will discover that they HAVE absolute pitch and that this skill is developing - verified!

Of course, someone might say that there are no halftones in the game (more precisely, a full chromatic scale). Yes, the game only includes white piano keys, i.e. in fact, we are in a major (C) or minor (LA) mode... Someone may note that the degrees of the mode and intervals play a role here... Absolutely right! But, start with simple tasks, achieve confident recognition of these notes, and you will make big step in improving your musical ear. Believe me, you will get great pleasure from discovering that you can identify the name of a note by ear!

Krivopalova L.N.
Piano teacher, Palace of Children and Youth Creativity, Tomsk
01.05.2011

The Virartek team expresses its gratitude to Lyubov Nikolaevna Krivopalova, who took an active part in the creation of this game and in its testing. THANK YOU! Good luck to you and your students!

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If the need arises to have their hearing checked, not everyone can promptly visit a specialist audiologist. Today, a hearing test can be performed without his participation; there are several methods.

Test No. 1 – hearing diagnostics using headphones

You can check your hearing yourself using a test. It only needs to be done with headphones. To obtain a reliable result, the test should be carried out in absolute silence.

• You must click on the “Continue” button.
• Next, the sound level is calibrated to personal computer, as required by the program. It is important to complete the settings in advance, because no changes can be made during the test.
• The screen will appear brief instructions, according to which the test taker must press the options “I hear” or “I don’t.”
• After completing the test completely, the result will appear on the screen.

Test No. 2 – hearing test with an audiogram, or audiometry method

It is important to set the volume level correctly when performing this test. To hear the sound clearly, you must use headphones. This method allows graphically present the degree of hearing loss, the ratio of hearing thresholds and the range of sounds of spoken language, the configuration of the audiogram and the type of hearing loss.

You need to calibrate the sound using a test signal. Various tones will then be output through the headphones. You won’t be able to hear them all, that’s normal. Increase the volume until a signal is heard. This test starts with a low frequency signal and ends with a high frequency signal.

Test No. 3 – what sound level in Hz can you hear?

A healthy person perceives waves in the range of 16-20 kHz - the audible range. Of course, with age some changes occur and the audible range decreases. Some people do not perceive certain frequencies. There are those that a person perceives not by hearing, but by touch; these are frequencies below 100 Hz. This happens due to the refraction of sound, so you can perceive sound that is not within the human audible range.

Using this hearing test, a person has the opportunity to determine the limits of the sensitivity threshold of the ear. Moreover, this method can be carried out for the purpose of diagnosing acoustic equipment. To configure it, an audio frequency generator is usually used.

If, as a result of the test, despite the fact that the subject is a middle-aged and healthy person, it turns out that he does not hear sounds above the 15 kHz mark, then it is time to visit a doctor, there are problems and they need to be solved. As a rule, impaired sound perception occurs with hearing loss. To avoid illness or at least delay the onset of hearing loss, it is recommended to reduce the duration of perception of loud sounds. In turn, hearing loss can be caused by a rupture of the tympanic cavity.

Hearing loss can be of two types, depending on which ear (inner or outer) is affected. In order to determine this, it is necessary to compare the hearing thresholds for air and bone conduction of sound. Let's get back to the test.

If the person being tested is mature or even elderly, these indicators can be considered normal, this is due to the fact that the body has undergone age-related changes. Frequencies closer to 20 kHz are usually only heard by children. Age threshold - 10 years.

It is worth noting that there is such a thing as absolute pitch. This is the ability of a person to determine the pitch and name the notes heard without listening to the sounds. According to statistics, there is one person per 1000 people in the world with absolute pitch.

Video test for ability to catch frequency

This text introduces pure-tone audiometry. This is not just a test, but a video test with which you can determine the capabilities of each ear. The test tracks how the sensitivity of each ear individually changes over the years. Sounds are played at different frequencies. Afterwards the frequency must be increased. The extreme frequency that the test person will pick up will be an indicator of hearing age.

• 12 kHz - age less than 50 years;
• 15 kHz - you are under 40 years old;
• 16 kHz - the hearing of a person under 30 years old;
• 17 -18 kHz - you are under 24 years old;
• 19 kHz - hearing under 20 years of age.

In order for the result to be as reliable as possible, you should use high-quality headphones and watch videos in maximum resolution. The test can be performed on children.

Video test for the sharpest hearing in the world

Mobile phone applications

Today you can examine your hearing using gadgets. To do this, you just need to install the following applications on your phone.

uHear

The uHear app will allow you to find out your hearing sensitivity and determine how a person is able to adapt to the noise around them. To do this, you will need to take two tests; it will not take more than five minutes. A mandatory attribute is headphones, and you can choose any, the main thing is to indicate their type in the test. The testing principle is extremely simple: noises of various frequencies are reproduced, thus determining the hearing limit.

The test taker presses the button as soon as he hears the sound. This should not be a reflex, you must answer truthfully, you should not press a button in order to improve the result.

The operating principle is the same as that of Hörtest. If a person hears sound with his left ear, he should press the Left button, if with his right ear - Right. The result is very simple to read: a person’s age is estimated according to the sensitivity of his hearing. If it matches or borders on your real age, then everything is fine. If the difference is quite large, drastic measures need to be taken.

How else can you test your hearing?

Hearing acuity can be checked at home using a live speech hearing test. For this you will need a partner. The subject should take a comfortable sitting position and tightly cover one ear with his hand. The second person should whisper two-digit numbers. You need to move at least six meters away. With normal hearing, a person will understand the numbers mentioned from a given distance. Often, during a patient’s appointment, a similar phonemic hearing test is carried out by an ENT specialist.

You can undergo a tympanogram. During the procedure, it is forbidden to talk, move or swallow saliva. A probe is inserted into the ear, and then, using a special pump, air is pumped in, which is immediately sucked back out. Thus, the membrane begins to move and it becomes possible to evaluate the resulting pressure. The sound signal evaluates the reflection of sound from the membrane.

To study the level of hearing, a tuning fork with an oscillation frequency of 2048 Hz is also used. Using this examination, you can determine the condition of the sound-conducting and sound-receiving apparatus. The tuning fork should be brought as close to the ear as possible and held with your fingers. The result is assessed by a specialist.

In order to have your hearing checked, it is not at all necessary to immediately go to see a doctor. In addition to passing the tests described above online, you can find on the Internet many different questionnaire tests, which are a series of questions, based on the answers to which the program will make its conclusion regarding the quality of hearing. This option is suitable for those who do not have an obvious problem. Otherwise, you need to visit a doctor.

The concept of “musical ear” should be considered from the point of view of the ability to quickly capture, identify, remember and reproduce heard sounds. For artificial development, cultivation of musical ear, the use of systematized methods is required with which one can achieve best result.

A correct, high-quality test of musical hearing will reveal in a child, and not only in a child, abilities that should be developed.

When is it necessary to diagnose musical hearing?

In principle – at any time! In general, there is an opinion that a person acquires an ear for music at the genetic level, but this is only half true. In order to become professional musician no special talent is required, and even the presence of some “rudiments” of such guarantees the possibility of obtaining high results in progress regular classes. Here, as in sports, training decides everything.

How is musical hearing tested?

In particular, a musical hearing test should be carried out exclusively by a professional music teacher. The process itself consists of several stages, as a result of which it becomes possible to draw certain conclusions (although one does not have to rely on the reliability of the conclusions obtained - often, often they turn out to be erroneous simply because the child perceives the test situation as an exam and is worried). It is important to diagnose hearing according to three main criteria:

• presence of a sense of rhythm;
• assessment of voice intonation;
• musical memory abilities.

Rhythmic hearing test

This is usually checked like this. The teacher first taps a pencil or other object on the table (or claps his palms) with a certain rhythm (best of all, a melody from famous cartoon). Then he invites the subject to repeat it. If it accurately reproduces the real rhythm, we can talk about the presence of hearing.

The test continues: examples of rhythmic patterns become more complex. Thus, it is possible to test musical hearing for a sense of rhythm. It should be noted that it is the sense of rhythm - in the matter of the presence or absence of hearing - that is the main and accurate assessment criterion.

Voice intonation: is it sung clearly?

This is not the main criterion for “sentencing”, but a procedure to which all candidates for the title of “listener” are subjected without exception. To identify the correct intonation of the voice, the teacher hums a familiar, simple melody, which the child repeats. IN in this case the purity of the voice and the prospects for vocal practice are revealed (timbre beauty - this applies only to adults).

If a child does not have a very strong, melodic and clear voice, but is found to have hearing, he may well attend lessons in playing an instrument. In this case, it is the test of musical ear that is important, and not the presence of excellent vocal abilities. Yes, and one more thing: if a person sings dirty or doesn’t sing at all, then it’s a mistake to think that he has no hearing!

Guessing notes on an instrument: a game of hide and seek

The one being tested turns his back to the instrument (piano), the teacher presses any of the keys and then asks to find it on the keyboard. The test is carried out in the same way with other keys. The potential “listener” must accurately guess the notes by pressing the keys and listening to the sounds. This is somewhat reminiscent of the well-known children's game of hide and seek, only in this case it is hide and seek.

We often ask ourselves the question: “Do I have hearing”? Looking into the blue TV screens, we see a variety of vocal competitions. And sometimes the winners of these competitions don’t even have music education, they just have hearing and a voice, and the rest comes with it.

People who cannot distinguish a false note from a real one are usually considered musically untalented. Those who cannot pick out a melody by ear. First of all, sing any melody into the recorder and ask a couple of friends to listen to it. Your friends should be completely honest. If they say that you don't "hit" the notes, then most likely you have no hearing. But it doesn't matter. Remember that hearing can always be developed.

The next step is to go to a professional. This person must sing and play himself. He is the one who can give you the first answers to your questions and help you understand what exactly you need to work on in order to develop your hearing.

The big problem is that hearing is needed in order to play musical instruments. You will simply need to hear where you are playing correctly and where you are making mistakes.

Determining if there is a rumor

At the moment, there are several ways to check whether you have an ear for music or not.

• Ask someone who can play the piano to play you one note. At the same time, you do not see which key the person played. Remember this note by ear. After pressing the piano keys yourself, find this key. If you were able to find the same note, then you have hearing.
• How to check if a child has hearing? Children are tested for hearing by clapping their hands. Clap the melody with your hands, just not the simplest one, and ask the child to repeat it.
• Take a pencil or pen in your hands. Your friend should tap out any rhythm at intervals of five to eight seconds. You must repeat this rhythm with great precision. Pauses and duration should be the same.

How to find out if there is a rumor in a more accurate way?

If you can already play the piano yourself, then the “music test” is suitable for you. They play you one sound after another in the octave where you feel comfortable singing. And you must “get” in unison with the sounds that you hear.

After the tasks described above, you can make the task more difficult for yourself. Notes are played for you, and you must write them down. music notebook. This is the clearest way to determine the level of development of your hearing. But don’t worry, over time there won’t be a single mistake in your notebook.

The most important thing is not to be upset if your ear for music is not perfect now.

Always work on your improvement. You should always remember that almost all vocal stars developed their abilities through long and hard work.

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 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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