A System For Effective Ear Training
A System For Effective Ear Training
A System For Effective Ear Training
Abstract
Every musician, from the casual hobbyist to
the seasoned professional, shares the desire
to become better, and to this end, long hours
of practice are requisite. Practice not only
involves physical proficiency over an
instrument, but ear training as well. Ear
training software addresses a musicians
need for an ear training tool that is accurate
and convenient. One such software system,
named Ultimate Pitch, is described
below. The following discusses the features
of Ultimate Pitch that facilitate effective ear
training, as well as the inner workings of the
system itself from a software engineering
perspective.
1. Introduction
1.1 Music Theory: A Primer
10.1
Figure 3: Chords.
Figure 2: Scales.
Figure 4: Intervals.
10.2
1.2 Motivation
Due to the varying design among
instruments, playing different instruments
requires differing sets of skills: both motor
skills and conceptual skills. For example, a
piano requires the striking of notes with both
hands. A violin requires that one hand frets
(presses down on) the strings along its neck
while the other hand uses a bow. Thus,
playing the same scale on a piano and on a
violin requires differing physical techniques.
Conceptually, pianos and violins differ as
well. On a piano, notes are laid out linearly.
On a violin, notes are laid out in a grid. That
is, a violinist must visualize notes in two
dimensions: along a string, and across the
strings.
Another important aspect in which pianos
and violins differ is the manner in which
each physically produces sound. A piano is
an intricate system of levers. Pressing a key
activates this system in which a hammering
mechanism for each key strikes a
corresponding set of strings (which are
secured tightly within the confines of the
piano). A piano is engineered in such a way
that frequency generation is automatic. In
other words, the inner workings of a piano
produce the sound. The pianist never has to
touch the strings, just hit the keys. It is
exactly like pressing buttons. On the other
hand, a violin (or any fretless instrument for
that matter) is engineered as such that
frequency generation depends on the
violinist. This is due to the fact that a string
vibrates at the point where the violinist
presses down on the string. Thus, frequency
generation is not automatic like it is on a
piano. For the violinist, hand and finger
positioning is crucial. Accurate pitch is only
acquired by accurate positioning.
10.3
10.4
2. Methodology
2.1 Development
Ultimate Pitch was originally written in
Turbo Pascal and was engineered to work
under DOS. The goal of the current
development effort is to convert Ultimate
Pitch over to a GUI-based operating system
such as Windows. The language of choice is
Java so that the software may be used across
differing platforms. Consequently, Ultimate
Pitch needs to be re-engineered using an
Object-Oriented design model, since earlier
versions of Turbo Pascal did not support
Object-Oriented Programming.
10.5
Presentation Component:
The presentation component is in charge of
the GUI. Its purpose is to track user
preferences (e.g. selected key, selected
tempo, etc.) and maintain the applications
playback state, i.e. play, stop, and record.
The main panel is an instance of
JTabbedPane which can be switched
between four screens:
1. The Scale Screen: Here, the user may
select a scale from a standard library to
play back. The scale may be adjusted for
key, tempo, starting octave, and number
of ascending/descending octaves. The
user may also select from different
tuning systems under which the scale
frequencies will be generated.
2. The Arpeggio Screen: This is similar to
the Scale Screen, but used for arpeggios.
3. The Composition Screen: Here, the user
may create and edit a small composition
using an on-screen keyboard, and play it
back in any tempo.
4. The Tools Screen: Here, the user is
provided with miscellaneous tools
useful to any musician such as a
metronome and a tuner.
10.6
Figure 7:
Different screens
use instances of
ControlPanel.
10.7
3. Conclusion
Every musician from the casual hobbyist to
the seasoned expert has heard the story:
A tourist visiting New York is lost and asks a
stranger for help. The tourist asks, Sir,
how do you get to Carnegie Hall? The
stranger replies, Practice, practice,
practice! - Author Unknown
References
[1] Gamma, E., et al., Design Patterns:
Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented
Software, Addison-Wesley, 1995.
[2] http://cctr.umkc.edu/userx/bhugh/cochle
ar.html, accessed 4/1/2003.
[3] http://www.ilovemusic.com/, accessed
4/1/2003.
[4] http://www.perfectpitch.com/perfectrela
tive.htm, accessed 11/15/2002.
[5] http://www.rising.com.au/, accessed
3/13/2003.
[6] http://www.vocalist.org/perfectpitch.htm
l, accessed 3/13/2003.
10.8