books on ear training?

[WVNicholson]

I was wondering if anybody found any books on ear training useful (either in their own right or when used in conjunction with EarMaster, possibly for ideas for creating custom exercises)? I have some books already - mainly bought for solfege and sight singing exercises (the Berklee books "Beginning Ear Training" and "Essential Ear Training for Today's Musician" and also a Musicians Institute book "Ear Training For the Contemporary Musician"). It seems like books (even those with CDs) are at an inherent disadvantage compared to software. However, glancing through the chord progression exercises I realise I don't understand what is being tested for - I would need to read a book on harmony theory or intermediate/ advanced ear training. I'm thinking about buying something like the "Real Easy Ear Training Book" by Roberta Radley (another Berklee academic) or the "Training the Ear" books by Armen Donelian,

William

[saxysm]

as an aid to practice, imho. Even with an included CD.

But Aebesold gave some good tipps on how to train your ear. But mostly it is practicing. I just realised that there is passive and active ear-training. Passive meaning to recognise intervals, chords etc. Active to sing them.

Additionally there is the topic of intonation, which is also important for many instruments. And there too, one has to hear the small(est) difference first, to be able to apply them

[lottie]

there is a great series of ear training books available at musix.com,3 books with 11 cds that work on identifying intervals based on the 6 basic tetrachords of western modal music.the authour is Elvo S. D'Amante.

[saxysm]

Die neue Jazz-Harmonielehre: Verstehen, Hören, Spielen by Frank Sikora is a great book. It is in German and not available in English! I think it is what one learns (more or less) when one studies with him in Berne (Switzerland). It contains a lot of theory and a lot of practical experience and a lot of exercises. If I could work on his book an hour a day, it would take me years to work it all through. So it can be a little bit too much.

But I already learnt a lot. For me it was useful to realise that learning the intervals with beginning of songs is not really the best way to do it. Or at least, as he puts it, it is more important to learn an interval in the context of harmony and in reference to the root, than to learn for instance a song as a sequence of intervals (first maj-third down, then fifth up, then ...)

[Adi052]

Thanks again guys! I actually already figure music out this way- singing it first then matching my bass with my voice. I find it easier to just match the pitch with my voice as opposed to fumbling around the neck, it's faster for me. So I'm on the right track then?

Also, I play all my scales incessantly every time I practice; ascending, descending, in every key, different fingerings, everything I can do to pound them into my head, (what I think you're describing.)

So I could assume then I should just keep doing the things I'm doing, except try to sing my scales as well as play them?

Thanks again for the feedback, much appreciated!