"Everyone can hear melodies and enjoy them. But the musician must know what he is hearing. "34 In this quotation of Leo Kraft, the core of what Music Education and Aural Training desires to achieve, is addressed.
"Indepth understanding", "Verstehendes Horen" (comprehensive hearing), "das bewuJ3te gedankliche Durchdringen des GehOrten" (the conscious mental penetration of what was heard), "insight into, and total comprehension of
30
31
32
33
34
Gisela Distler-Brendel "Befahigung zum musikalischen Horen als zentrales Lernziel des Musikunterrichts" in Bernhard Dopheide (Ed.), Hiirerziehung. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1977 p. 225.
Another example of an author with the same outlook:
Heinz Kratochwil, "Horerziehung in der Ausbildung zum Musikpadagogen" Josef Mayr-Kern (Ed.),Materi- alien und Dokumente aus der Musikpadagogik, Band 6: Musikalische Grundschulung an Ausbildungstat- ten ffir Musikberufe - Dokumentation fiber die D-A-CH-Tagung 1976. Regensburg: Gustav Bosse, 1978 p.
19. •
Arpad Darazs and Jay Stephen, Sight and Sound - Visual aid to melody and harmony. Oceanside, New York: Boosey and Hawkes, 1965 p. 5.
Roland Mackamul, Lehrbuch der Gehiirbildung, Band I. Kassel: Barenreiter, 1969 p. 8. Hermann Sprenger, Methodik der Gehiirbildung. Unpublished manuscript, [n.d.] pp. 3-4.
Leo Kraft, A New Approach to Ear Training - A Programed Course to Melodic Dictation. New York: W. W. Norton, 1967 p. 3.
music" are all expressions that appear in the majority of books on Aural Training and Music Education.35 The meaning of these expressions was summarised by Charles Leonhard and Robert House, who presented a definition of what they called "musical understanding":
"Musical understanding is defined as the ability to bring accumulated musical learning to bear on the solution of musical problems. It involves the conscious use of information, skills, appreciation, and musical concepts in a cognitive framework when one is involved in such musical endeavors as listening, performing, composition, improvisation, and music reading. The principal ingredient of musical understanding is the ability to apply consciously one's knowledge of and sensitivity to embodied musical meaning, musical structure, and musical style to all types of musical experience. It seems evident that the development of musical understanding, along with the development of musical appreciation, represents a major cornerstone of any serious program of music education.
Musical understanding should not be considered as unique to higher levels of musical accomplishment. It can and indeed should come into play at every level of music education. "36
Three main aspects of comprehension were addressed by Leonhard and House, namely problem-solving, the conscious use of information, skills ,etc. and the application of knowledge. According to them, these aspects should be incorporated into all levels of music education. This implies that there is more than one level of understanding, a fact that was confirmed by Gisela Distler-Brendel who defined four "cumulative" levels of conscious listening:
(a) Perception of sensorial impulses such as different pitches, duration, timbre, texture, etc. (b) "Physiognomical", emotional-associative listening.
(c) Structural listening, hearing of musical forms in which both anticipational and reflective listening are incorporated.
(d) Evaluative listening in which all the previous aspects of listening culminate.37
The presence of different levels of comprehensive listening implies that there is, or should be, a hierarchy of objectives. A complete hierarchical structure of objectives primarily designed for Aural Training purposes could, however, not be located. An attempt is therefore made in this research endeavour to organise the objectives of Aural Training in such a hierarchy, starting with the perception of simple sensorial impulses and ending with the "ideal" listener.
In the following discussions emphasis is placed on the long-term goals of Aural Training, because these goals are often vaguely described in Aural Training literature, or are non-existent. On the contrary, short-term goals and aims such as "to be able to sing, dictate, clap, etc. the heard musical phrase" appear abundantly in all Aural Training work books. In section 1.2.1 the pre-eminent rudimentary long-term goal of Aural Training is described, followed by
35
36
37
The following three books are just a very small sample of the vast majority of books and articles which refer to this general goal:
Emily Ruth Brink, A Cognitive Approach to the Teaching of Aural Skills viewed as Applied Music Theory. Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern Universtity, Evanston, Illinois 1980. University Microfilms International, 1980 p.63.
Paul Loeb van Zuilenburg, Gehoortoetse en Gehooropleiding - 'n Inleiding. Stellenbosch: Cabo, [n.d.] p. 1. Dietrich Stoverock, GehOrbiidung - Geschichte und Methode. Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen's Verlag, 1983
p.5.
Charles Leonhard and Robert W. House, Foundations and Principles of Music Education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972 pp. 133-134.
Gisela Distler-Brendel "Befahigung zum musikalischen Horen als zentrales Lernziel des Musikunterrichts" in Bernhard Dopheide (Ed.), Horerziehung. Darmstadt; Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1977 p. 229.
sections 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 (the primary and secondary long-term goals of Aural Training), with a fourth closing section 1.2.4 covering the hierarchy of these long-term goals.
1.2.1 The pre-eminent rudimentary long-term goal
All the objectives of Aural Training are built on the simplest form of auditive perception of sensorial impulses reflecting itself in terms such as high/low, long/short, soft/loud, slow/fast. Helmut Rosing added to this that the day- by-day perception of the general a~oustical environment should be sharpened.38
If students fail to discriminate between the general characteristics of sound, it is impossible for them to differentiate on a more detailed level in subject-related terminology. Exact pinpointing of pitches in letter names and/or solfa, or duration in note values such as half notes and whole notes is impossible. The achievement of this rudimentary goal of
sensorial perception provides the basic requirement for the process of becoming a knowledgeable listener.
Although this goal is the prerequisite of Aural Training, it is a goal that has its place in all levels of Aural Training. Even on a tertiary level the achievement of this goal can be used as a pre-stage to problem-solving in complex musical situations. Hubert Haas, who taught Aural Training at a tertiary level, provided the following example: when a student has to reproduce a row of six or seven tones by singing, it often happens that the student stops when he . makes a mistake. The discrepancy between the sound that he reproduces and the sound image in his memory is reflected in the sensation that something is wrong. If he really could not remember it, there would have been no discrepancy. This problem can be solved by starting to ask the most rudimentary question of all: was the tone repro- duced wrongly too high or too low?39
1.2.2 The primary long-term goal
In the determination of the end goal of Aural Training the point of departure in this discussion will be the "ideal listener". Striving to become an ideal listener is in most cases utopian. There is, however, evidence of individuals with superior auditive abilities such as the "photographic ear". Karl Macek, for example, taught a young man of about fifteen or sixteen years of age the piano for a short period. During that time they concentrated on basic theory and keyboard harmony in order to enhance his aural skills. Two years later this former pupil, called Eric, contacted Macek again and played for him. His playing then was described as "amazing", as a "minor musical miracle."
The crux of the matter is that Eric had developed certain skills over a period of years. Although he must have had a superior musical talent, his skills had to be developed through instruction and practice. Excerpts from a letter written to Macek describes Eric's auditive abilities:
"I have a sort of 'photographic ear'. I not only hear sounds, but I can visualize them. ... I know every single note on every one of my Tatum records. It is there in the finest detail as though on a photograph. I can point with a mental pointer to any note, look at it in still motion and examine it. It's like having a movie projector where you can stop the film and study the scene to your heart's content before moving on.
38
39
Helmut Rosing, "Gedanken zum 'musikalischen Horen'" in Die Musikforschung, 27/2 (1974) p. 216.
... In my mind I don't run through the film from the beginning to get to a particular scene. I yank the music right out of my mental files and start at the beginning of the place I want to start ... The records in my collection are so imprinted and photographed in my mind that I don't really need a record player to hear them. If I want, I can hear them in complete detail from start to finish .... Now, when I hear a new recording, I see the notes as well as hear them. I can feel myself playing and somehow, my mind works fast enough so that I can watch my fmgers playing as I listen to the record. "40
Eric's explanation of his photographic ear can be compared with Adorno's expert listener, representing according to him, the highest level of listening. This typ~ of listener consciously understands everything that he hears. When confronted with, for example, the second movement of Webem's String Trio Gp. 20 for the first time, he is able to recognise and name the different fonnal sections. While listening. to complex music he is able to hear the succession of events (the past, present and future impressions) in such a way that a sense of cohesion crystallises out of this spontaneous hearing. Complex harmonies and polyphony are also consciously perceived. Adorno suggested that this "fully adequate" musical behaviour could also be called structurallistening.41
Gustav Giildenstein's ideal musician hears a complex not-too-Iong work for various instruments several times. He is afterwards capable of mentally imagining the work with all its details in such a way that strongly matches a halluci- nation. This "image" is fmally precisely analysed in order to be able to write down the score of what was heard without mistakes. The ideal musician is also able to read an unknown score and hear the complete perfonnance mentally with respect to all characteristics such as relative and absolute pitch, rhythm, dynamics, agogics, articulation, phrasing and timbre.42
The ideal listener of Erwin Ratz likewise perceives every musical detail consciously and takes nothing for granted. Reasons for certain appearances are sought in order to develop beyond the instinctive recognition level. The relation- ship between detail and the whole is understood. 43
Giildenstein, however, claimed that Aural Training will never be able to meet the above requirements. Although the reearcher agrees with this statement, a few auditive characteristics that a mediocre musician should strive to develop can, however, be derived from the above descriptions. The primary long-tenn goalof Aural Training thus should be to develop the following auditive characteristics:
The average musician will not only be able to function on a struCtural listening level (recognizing broad, overview, formal characteristics of a musical work), but will also be able to function on a perceptual listening level (recognizing details such as building blocks). He will have the ability of "two-way" mental imagination (sound to
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41
42
43
Karl Macek, "The Photographic Ear" in The Piano Quarterly, 35/137 (1987) pp. 46-48.
Theodor W. Adorno, Einleitung in die Musiksoziologie. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1968 pp. 15-16. Gustav Giildenstein, GehOrbiidung fUr Musiker: Ein Lehrbuch. Basel: Schwabe, 1971 p. 13. Erwin Ratz, Einfiihrung in die musikalische Formenlehre. Vienna, Universal Edition, 1973 p. 8.
symbol, symbol to sound), and will be able to act passively and actively on what was heard.44 The three aspects of musical understanding (problem-solving, conscious use of musical concepts and application) mentioned earlier, are thus included in the long-term goal of Aural Training. Having achieved this goal, the conductor will be able to link his score to an inner mental representation. The singer will be able to learn his part without hammering it out on the piano, and the instrumentalist will be able to present more than pure technical playing. It is not the goal of Aural Training to enable students to fully perceive a work at first sight or hearing. Such an approach would be unrealistic. Aural Training can, however, educate musicians to learn and reproduce the musical works that they are studying in a conscious way. Whatis meant is not only the ability to connect individual tones with mental pitch and rhythm rep- resentation, but also the recognition of thematic and harmonic details and relationships. It also implies the ability to connect sound images with their definitions.45 Friedmann's good listener "goes beyond the mechanics of accurate dictation or precisely pitched singing; it enables the listener to perform acts of at least rudimentary analysis without consulting the score. "46
In accordance with the earlier mentioned different levels of understanding, different levels of the achievement of this long-term goal can be distinguished, with the highest level that of the ideal listener. Factors that have an influence on the different levels of achievement are:
• Duration of the material that was heard • Number of hearings
• Familiarity with the musical syntax (style period).
The longer the heard musical examples are, the less the number of hearings necessary to complete the task at hand, and the more complex the musical syntax is, the higher the level of achievement is.
1.2.3 The secondary long-tenn goals
With the two "pole" objectives of Aural TraiIiing established (to perceive simple sound impulses and to develop structural evaluative listening), the question arises as to how a student can develop from one pole to the other. In order to answer this question, secondary goals should be added between the two poles in order to create a continuum of goals based on the foundation of the listening process which takes place in the mental realm.
44
45
46
The terms passive and active were used by Paul Loeb van Zuilenburg to describe listening tasks (e.g. dictation, error detection) and performance tasks (e.g. sight singing, instrumental reproduction, improvisation, composi- tion).
Paul Loeb van Zuilenburg, "Aural Training and its Relation to the Teaching of Harmony and Counterpoint" in Ars Nova, 7/1 (1975) pp. 19-20.
Roland Mackamul, "Gehorbildung - wo und warm? (I)" in Schweizerische Musikzeitung, 123/2 (March/April 1983) p. 98.
Michael L. Friedmann, Ear Training for Twentieth Century Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990 p. xxiii.
Aural Training, which is based on hearing and listening, is a communication between musical structures and the development of the skill to recognise and understand these sound structures.47 Robert Olson described this mental exercise as a co-ordination of the ~ar and the mind on a musical subject. 48 This perspective of Aural Training has also been addressed by Steward MacPherson and Ernest Read, as well as by C. Foster Browne.49
Furthermore, it is clear from the Leonhard and House definition of musical understanding that comprehension is a mental activity. Because of this mental aspect of Aural Training, it is relevant to study the listening process briefly. It is only when the different variables of the listening process are known that secondary goals to develop the ear can be set up.
Warren F. Prince compiled a paradigm in which he listed all possible variables of the listening process. Prince attempted to draw a complete hypothetical picture of this process referring to aural perception processes, aural habits, and early environmental influences in such a way that the relationship between the variables could be seen. In the paradigm three general variable types appear, namely (a) the characteristics of listening, (b) affective and associative perception, and (c) perception and learning processes. These can be clearly seen: all the variables that deal directly with the hearer (e.g. personality, musical ability) are concentrated at the top. These variables are connected to the general attentiveness of the hearer which influences and intensifies his perception. Perception patterns appear in the middle of the paradigm. A group of learning process variables, which in turn influences the perception variables, emerges at the end of the paradigm. An arrow in one direction indicates that this variable has an influence on other variables in the listening process but cannot be influenced by this/these variable(s). The connection of variables with arrows in both directions indicates that these variables have a mutual influence on each other.50
The complexity of the listening process can clearly be seen in the paradigm. According to Prince, one facet of this intricacy is that change in one variable evokes change in other variables. A person with a "short" musical memory will not be able to recognise for instance the formal characteristics of a piece of music. Memory is, however, influenced by analytical abilities in order to perceive musical structures. An improved ability to extract smaller musical entities (e.g. major chords, ostinato figures) will lead to an improved memory, which will again lead to a
47
48
49
so
Walter Kolneder, "Visuelle und auditive Analyse" in Veroffentlichungen des Instituts fUr Neue Musik und Musikerziehung Darmstadt, Band 3: Der Wandel des musikalischen Horens. Berlin: Merseburger, 1962p.
57.
Robert G. Olson, Music Dictation: A Stereo-Taped Series. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1970p. 2.
Stewart MacPherson -and Ernest Read, Aural Culture based upon Musical Appreciation, Part I. London: Joseph Williams, 1953 p. 1.
C. Foster Browne, The Sight and Sound of Music - A New and Easy Method of Learning to Read Music. London: The Cresset Press, 1969,p. 3.
Warren F. Prince" A Paradigm for Research on Music Listening" in Journal of Research in Music Education,
better perception of formal aspects.51 This will have an effect on the attentiveness of the student, which again will have an influence on other variables.
Fig. 2.1 Prince: Paradigm for research on music listening
MUSIC LISTENER
Socia Ily-Ed ucationa Ily
Derived Attitudes
Toward Music
Muscle Movement;
Involuntary
Changes in Viscera,
Pulse, Breathing, etc.
Moment by Moment Feeling. Tone Responses Visual Images; Literary, Experiential Associations; Mood Long Term Retrieval and Comparison Perception of Patterns of Expressive Elements:
Melody, Rhythm, Harmony,
Orchestration, etc.
Judgments of Overall
Nature About Form,
Style, Quality, etc.
51
Werner Piitz indicated that structural listening implies a good concentration ability, a rapid processing of the received information and a good memory. These abilities can be practised through "partial" listening (parameter listening) and detail listening. Werner Piitz, "Zur Horerziehung in der musikalischen Berufsausbildung" in
Musik und Bildung, 63/5 (May 1972) pp. 233-234.
Prof. Hubert Haas explained in an interview with the researcher on the 5th of October 1988 that the process of chunking can expand the known seven plus-minus one units normally stored in the short-term memory. If units (e.g. pitches) can be organised into structures such as chords, and can be labelled with terms such as repetition and sequence, more information can be stored in the short-term memory. According to him, listening is the ability to describe what was heard in theoretical terminology.
Changes in the variables of the listening process imply changes in musical behaviour, i.e. aural behaviour. This is mainly possible through learning and instruction. Against the background of the listening process, certain goals can be determined in order to improve or develop the musical ear. Goals that can be derived from Prince's paradigm are:
• To develop attentiveness • To develop concentration • To develop musical memory
• To develop the ability to associate sound with non-musical ideas
• To develop the ability to perceive musical structures in a microscopic way (perception of building blocks)
• To develop the ability to perceive musical structures in a macroscopic way (perception of formal characteristics)
• To develop the ability to evaluate aural impressions (e.g. interpretative comparisons, self-critique). Wilhelm Lehr also followed this procedure of investigating the listening process in order to derive aural objectives from it. He referred to the work of Raoul Husson in which the spinal cord, mid-brain and cortex respectively are