Ear Training

Ear training is by far the most important component of compositional development. Without the trained ear, it would be very hard to write music. With this concept in mind, I began to study various harmonic ideas from Schoenberg, Hellmer, Schenker, and Slominsky. This harmonic developmental practice led me to develop a practice of polytonality coupled with my experience from blues, jazz, and jazz influenced musics throughout the African Diaspora. To better explain my process for ear training, I've provided a few examples below that illustrate the process of ear training I've practiced:

As seen above, the chromatic approach to chords and scales allows for the aural development of intervals, as well as the ear training for various chords through the practice of the moving bass (along with moving chords and chord qualities). These exercises, in all 12 keys and chord/scale qualities, allow for the ear to map these ideas chromatically. I believe this is the first step to understanding harmony both in a traditional sense and in a modern application. I stress that the ear is the most important tool of the composer, not from my experience alone, but from the writings of the practitioners of harmony I've studied. Here are a few quotes from the various practitioners of Harmony I've studied:

“For genius, the gift of improvisation and long-range hearing, is requisite for greater time spans (Schenker, 1954)”

Harmony, “He who learns to hear with the ear of a true artist, ..., will save himself the trouble of [developing new theories], ... whenever they are faced with amore complex phenomenon (Schenker, 1954).”

“But the foremost characteristics of these pieces in statu nascendi (in the state of being born) were their extreme expressiveness and their extraordinary brevity. Harmonic variation could be executed intelligently and logically only with due consideration of the fundamental meaning of the harmonies (Schoenberg, 1984)”

“Hearing each note individually in its own context ... [is] the only correct thing to do and far more important. How easy is it to fabricate theory and history of music, if one’s hearing is defective (Schenker, 1954, pg 125).”

It is my hope to combine the above ideas of harmony with that of the practitioners cited, as well as my influences in composition. Here are a few of my compositional influences: Thelonious Monk, Blind Blake, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, Chopin, Bartok, Kirnberger, Bach, Schoenberg, Mozart, Eric Satie, Schumann, Shostakovich, Clementi, Handel, Camille Saint-Saëns, and the works of John Philip Sousa. While I've personally listened to more music in my lifetime, these composers have made an impact on me. Also, these artists are my most analyzed artists to date. I believe the combination of works from other composers, a rigorous ear training regiment, and a thorough understanding of harmony through the harmonists mentioned create a starting point in which one can begin to compose. While the regiment of ear training, the composers selected, and the harmony base one operates from may be different, I think these three components are the foundation of a composer. Once the foundation is built, then one can learn how to develop small passages into fully realized pieces, or works, through motivic development. 

Works Cited

Schenker, H., Jonas, O., & Borgese, E. M. (1954). Harmony. University of Chicago Press.

Schoenberg, A., & Stein, L. (1984). Style and idea : selected writings of Arnold Schoenberg (First paperback edition, with revised.). University 

of California Press.