Ear training is the procedure by which a student can learn to differentiate between different intervals, chords and rhythms. These aural skills are needed for musicians as they permit them to transcribe, play by ear, and sight-read effectively, and even developing advantages in terms of composition (one of them, being able to transfer the melody in your thoughts to paper or your instrument), and more.
Aural skills must be learned by engaging in, consequently it is advisable to have effective workouts in order to improve them. To begin with, students can try simple call-and-response-type activities such as recreating single notes: you can use a recording, or have a buddy or trainer play one note, and then attempt to sing or execute the same note. This is known as an "absolute pitch" exercise, and it will produce a perception in the student for what specific note sounds like; if you're able to recognize the note quickly, you may have perfect pitch. This form of training can also be done with multiple notes played in a series, becoming more and more difficult, which will work on memory plus recognition of notes.
Another important element to pay attention to is the identification of intervals. Listen to two notes played one after another and try to identify the interval between the two, beginning with the essentials like octaves and perfect fifths before shifting to other intervals. Being able to appropriately determine intervals means you have relative pitch, which is considered an important ability for musicians. As soon as you can recognize intervals, you can use that skill to recognize chords. Students might also think about using similar exercises with the purpose of differentiating quickly between minor and major chords. Additionally, once intervals have been learned, students can move on to exercises to differentiate among different types of scales.
