Perfect Ear Pro
The Perfect Ear app is a musical ear training program. Both the free and pay versions teach musicians to more easily recognize tonal intervals, chords, scales and modes through six different types of exercises. A seventh exercize helps singers hone their craft by singing intervals, and an eighth type of exercise is available for musicians skilled enough to learn perfect pitch. Just plug in some headphones and the Perfect Ear app is perfect for ear training anywhere.
Musicians ranging in talent from beginners to novices will want to start with the apps Interval Comparison training. Two notes are played in succession, and the name of the interval (ranging from a minor second to an octave) is guessed. At first, the user only has two options to select―for example, is the interval a major 3rd or a minor 3rd? And, unlock many other ear training apps, lessons are grouped together logically: for example, learn to tell the difference between major and minor 2nds before moving on to 3rds. This method makes it easier to guess and check, and learn how to recognize intervals even if you have not had any formal musical training.
There are also lessons for more advanced musicians, such as Chord Identification (with ten different chords in the full version) and Scale Identification (with all modes, plus melodic and harmonic minors). These are also organizationed into lessons that gradually increase in difficulty. Each test gives saves your score of the percentage of correct guesses, making it easy to come back to old exercises you had trouble with. For only $0.99, the full version gives you about hundred more exercizes, ranging from beginner to advanced in difficulty.
The app uses Midi sound bites of piano, guitar, or 5-string bass. For another buck, you can upgrade and get the Perfect Ear’s Realistic Piano plugin, which, after training on this app for a month, I decided was necessary. The realistic piano is easier on the ears, while the Midi sounds have a metallic ringing buzz that makes some notes, the very low or very high ones, sound too distorted.
Any serious musician or composer must find time for ear training, and the Perfect Ear app is the perfect assistant. The lesson plan is already laid out, and the lessons are short enough (anywhere from under a minute to a few minutes), that you can get solid training in each day while you wat for your coffee to brew, or while walking down the street (This reviewer used it a lot while walking to class, the interface is that simple). I highly recommend it.
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