April 3, 2008 (Day Two)

Unlocking Technique.

Re-took Major Second sound test.
Lightning Rounds - Melodic and Harmonic Seconds
Lightning Round: Mixed P5, P4, M3, m3, M2, m2, Perfect Octaves, and Perfect Unisons

Tomorrow: Will practice unlocking technique and do ground rounds and practice rounds of Major and Minor Sevenths.

Observations: My voice is pretty rusty, but my ears are getting better. When I took the sound test, I found myself singing the correct pitch, but either a little sharp or a little flat, then hearing it was out of tune, and correcting it before time was called. (Gotta work on my voice!)

Also, I could hear some of the pitches I know from perfect pitch training (At one point during a lightning round, he played D to E). That's exciting.

I had a sense I could feel the differences better between the seconds than I did when I first learned, though my ears did get a little fatigued after awhile, as Burge mentioned they might.

Pretty excited about filling in the cracks of my musical knowledge. At this point, I don't care how long it takes, I am just going to do it a little bit every day. I am trying to be zen about it, letting go and welcoming errors so I can learn ear training even more thoroughly, as opposed to freaking out about passing so I can finish the course by such-and-such date. It's more fun this way.

Another thing I am trying to "let go" about is my temptation to unlock the harmonic sounds so I can be sure I get it right. Today, I mostly just relaxed, listened to the sound, and gave my first impression. If there was any hesitancy, though, I found my ear unlocking it before I had a chance to think. I guess this is what I'd desire in a practical musical situation - "lightning" recognition first, then an ability to "decode."