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The Joseph Bloom
700
TOPICS! Partial Contents
Pitch:
Duration
and Tempo:
Intervals
(harmonic and melodic)
Scales:
Melody:
Chords:
Rhythm:
Meters:
Harmony:
Counterpoint:
Notation:
Of What Does This Method Consist Sounds! No
quantitative judgments. Sound
is treated as sound. Questions
are offered as sounds and answers are either typed or played at the MIDI
keyboard.
The
Method is divided into over 700 topics that cover material in every
conceivable range of difficulty and subject matter.
Each
topic is further divided into levels so that regardless of the general
degree of difficulty of a topic, work can commence at a level of complete
simplicity and then, through numerous and very fine gradations, proceed
level by level to the most varied and complex applications of the subject
matter of the topic. You can
switch levels at any time, or allow the program to advance you
automatically from one level to the next as warranted by your work.
Each
individual will enter the method at a different place depending on his or
her background. There are
topics as simple as: “Which of two notes had the higher pitch?” and as
challenging as: “Identify the intervals connecting the notes in one
voice that is among four simultaneously sounding voices”. USE IN SCHOOLSIn academic environments, the method has
consistently enabled students, in particular those who had previously been
unable to learn Ear Training in class, to confidently attain mastery. Students not only learn easily, but enjoy the time spent
learning. The method is fun.
The
method has a log-keeping facility that enables teachers in just moments to
keep track of all their students’ progress.
A Glossary explains musical terms for non-musicians.
There is a clearly written Introduction. WHY THIS METHOD IS BETTER
Ear Training too often begins by confronting a
student with complex tasks that are presented as though they were simple
in nature. Even Intervals are
of this nature. This method
analyzes each task until it is thoroughly resolved into simpler component
tasks that later can be joined together.
These component tasks, in
turn, are resolved into even more elementary abilities, and so on, until a
starting point is reached that is of trivial simplicity.
Where
the nature of an Ear Training subject is such that there could be a
variety of possible answers, the method is structured so that at first
there are only two possible answers, the number of possible answers
thereafter gradually increasing to a maximum.
Nothing
is omitted. Every situation
is treated from many different points of view, instead of from just one.
Different perspectives gradually combine and enable the student to
attain thorough understanding, with a minimum of effort and a maximum of
insight and fun.
A
Long Term Investment
This
is a method to be lived with for years, yet one that yields astonishing
results in a matter of days or weeks.
It promotes sonic literacy among non-musicians; it instills a solid
mastery of music’s fundamentals in young children through the use of its
easier topics; through the use of its complete gamut of topics it ensures
to College students and professionals thorough mastery over the medium of
their craft.
Quotes
“Both
students and teachers loved it! Both
easy to learn and fun to operate… The program is a wonderful teaching
aid… What a tool!”. Piano Guild Notes, March – April 1991. “The
most comprehensive ear training software I have ever seen”.
The Instrumentalist, September 1992
The
method has unfortunately not been updated since the DOS days due to a lack
of time on the author’s part. The
author is seeking a collaborator and financial backer for this purpose.
The method should run under the pseudo-DOS prompt in the windows
environment. Because the
method is so definitely content oriented, the absence of the graphical
interface does not present a serious drawback.
Method software occupies about 3 MB on the hard disk.
One third of its topics require the use of a MIDI keyboard. |