Can a Musical Ear Be Further Developed?

At the age of nine, I recall taking a test in a classroom at the Music Conservatory to determine if I had a musical ear. The professor played some musical tones and asked me to sing the tones he played on the piano to see if I could match the sounds. Then, he played some varied pitches in both the low and high registers. He asked me to determine which ones were lower and which were higher.

This is a typical mini-test that a music teacher can use to determine if a student has a good musical ear. What followed was years of playing my instrument and developing my listening along the way.

Is it possible to further develop your musical ear, or is it enough to be born with it? Can a person who cannot recognize tones further develop their listening skills and enjoy playing their instrument?

It is a common concern among people who want to learn to play a musical instrument: whether they have a good musical ear. One of the first things you will do in a music listening class is assess your listening ability.

The teacher might play a tone and ask you to match the tone. What do you do? You try your best to listen and match the sound.

Someone who is not a musician or does not play an instrument might be able to do it if they are born with a good musical ear, and some people might not. That means people in the latter group have to work extra hard to hear the tones and match them.

How is this important?

In string playing especially, it is crucial to be able to hear and produce tones correctly. The reason for that is the tones are not readily available to you on the strings. You have an approximation on your instrument; that is, you know more or less where a particular tone is. Therefore, you should be able to correct yourself when you don't place your finger in the correct position. And you do that by listening and matching the tone you produce to what you hear in your head.

If you are naturally gifted with the ability to hear the correct pitches, you will further develop this skill through playing music. I have worked with students who were naturally blessed with good musical ears and had to develop the skill of listening to their intonation when playing. It can be further developed because even in the listening realm, there is much to be learned.

If someone is not born with it, then they have to work harder to develop that skill. In the case of the latter, it might be easier to play a keyboard instrument. The player will not worry about determining the intonation. Please note that this does not mean that playing a keyboard instrument is easier than playing other instruments.

So, a good ear goes beyond just hearing the right tones as one progresses in music. The development of continuous learning will help the player to listen on a different level altogether. Therefore, a good musical ear can be trained further. As the student progresses and delve deeper into learning music, they will participate in ear training classes, where they will have to sing the notation on the manuscript without the aid of the piano. That is why there are classes in music studies called ear training, where the student sings the melodies assigned in the manuscript without the aid of a piano or keyboard.

If you are learning to play a musical instrument, how have you been training your musical ear? Please share with us in the comments below.