How hearing is tested in music schools. How to determine if a child has an ear for music

Many parents dream that their child will become a popular celebrity on big stage, and already with early years enroll the child in a music and choreography school. The wishes of parents do not always coincide with the capabilities of their child. Just because a baby likes to listen to music or dance, this does not mean that he has the ability to sing or dance.

Obvious signs of talent

The child’s outstanding talent is immediately visible:

expressive or unusual singing;
getting into the rhythm;
the ability to quickly memorize new melodies;
selection by ear on a musical instrument;
rhythmic and smooth movements;
independent dance performance.

If musical abilities are not so clearly expressed, then most likely you need to rely not on your intuition, but on professional approach teachers. A striking example: the child hears the melody, quickly remembers the words and rhythm, but cannot express it with his voice. This situation does not indicate a lack of musical ear and voice, but rather a lack of coordination between the voice and internal hearing. In addition, there are many examples of children coming to music school without the ability to sing, but graduating with a diploma.

How does a musical hearing test work?

However, in order not to guess about the child’s talent, it is worth enrolling him in vocal lessons and playing the instrument. musical instruments. In one case or another, you will be able to understand what chances your child has of mastering this instrument. The process of testing musical hearing consists of several stages:

Having a sense of rhythm;
assessment of voice intonation;
ability to musical memory;
ease of perception of a musical instrument, manifestation of interest in it.

However, if such testing is carried out in the form of an exam, the child may become confused and show poor results. Therefore, everything should take place in a calm, relaxed atmosphere. So to check ear for music for a child, the teacher taps a pencil on the table, taking any melody as a basis, and asks the student to repeat the same thing.

To identify the purity (intonation) of the voice, the teacher hums a familiar melody, which the child must also repeat. And if it turns out that the child does not have a very melodic voice, but has an ear for music, he may well attend guitar lessons or any other instrument, at the choice of the parents or the child himself. Of course, boys love the guitar most, but it is a universal instrument, so there are no restrictions.

Thus, important factors indicating a child’s musical abilities are:

Desire to listen to music and memorize words;
emotional sensitivity to different moods in music;
showing interest in musical instruments;
wild imagination and imaginative perception of the surrounding world.

The main thing is to choose a suitable music teacher for your child and give him the opportunity to try himself in this field.

Since ancient times, it has been believed that a person’s ear for music is a gift from God. Scientists explain this concept by the ability to recognize notes, perceive sounds and reproduce them using the voice. There are two main types of musical ear: absolute and relative. Nature bestows an absolute ear for music from birth. People who have it can easily repeat any piece of music. Relative hearing can be gradually developed by playing music.

In order to discover that you have an ear for music, you don’t have to turn to musicians. The easiest way to test your ear for music is to try to repeat the melody you heard as accurately as possible, while trying to reproduce the rhythm. Even if you couldn’t repeat it the first time, this does not mean that you have no ear for music. This may be a consequence of coordination problems in the hearing or vocal apparatus. In this case, you can develop your ear for music with the help of special exercises.

So, how to develop your hearing? There are many ways. You can sing more often with an accompanist, try singing two-part melodies, sing the same melodies in different tones, or sing up-and-down scales. Singing as part of a choir helps develop your hearing well, especially if these are the parts of the second voices.

Having discovered that they have an ear for music, many people wonder how to improve their hearing. Firstly, you can train your ear for music using special online programs. You need to try to duplicate the songs with your voice. Listening to the melody, you can try to distribute it to the sounds of any musical instrument, for example a guitar.

The guitar is the most common and convenient musical instrument for home use. If you have a guitar at home, and with the help of exercises you still managed to pull your ear out from under the bear, you need to know how to tune the guitar by ear.

To do this you need to: tune the first string, which corresponds to the note “E”, the second string needs to be tuned by pressing it at the fifth fret. Tuning continues until the same sound as the first string is achieved. The third string is pressed on the fourth fret, and must match the tone, open second string. The fourth string is pressed at the fifth fret, and should match the tone of the open third string. The fifth string is pressed at the fifth fret, and should match the tone of the open fourth string. The sixth string is pressed at the fifth fret and should match the tone of the open fifth string.

To make it easier to tune your guitar, the sounds of the strings can be downloaded. A special program called a tuner will make the setup even easier. The most convenient program to use is AP Guitar Tuner 1.02. It can be easily downloaded on the Internet. With the help of these programs, with a minimum of effort, you can achieve perfect guitar tuning that will surprise even experienced musicians.

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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 on a 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 complete passage The test 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 you to graphically represent the degree of hearing loss, the ratio of hearing thresholds and sound range colloquial speech, audiogram configuration and 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.

	20 Hz – the sound resembles a hum, everyone feels it, no one reproduces it
	30 Hz – low sound
	40 Hz – audible, but very quiet
	50 Hz – heard by few people, sounds like a quiet hum
	60 Hz – heard by many people, even through poor and cheap headphones
	100 Hz is the limit of low frequencies, then the range of direct audibility begins
	200 Hz	– average frequency
	500 Hz
	1 kHz
	2 kHz
	5 kHz – high frequencies begin at this frequency
	10 kHz - if you don't hear this, then you have serious problems with hearing, consultation with a doctor is required
	12 kHz – if you can’t hear it, then this is the initial stage of hearing loss
	15 kHz – some people over 60 cannot hear this frequency
	16 kHz - this frequency is not heard by almost everyone after 60 years
	17 kHz – this frequency is not heard by many middle-aged people
	18 kHz – problems with this frequency arise with age-related changes in the ear
	19 kHz – limiting frequency of average hearing
	20 kHz is a frequency that only children can hear

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 age-related changes have occurred in the body. 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 in the world, per 1000 people there is one perfect 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. Required attribute- 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. 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.

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

Test your recognition abilities musical sound You can also use 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 that 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!

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.