• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
    • Views from the Choir Loft • “Our Team”
    • Our Editorial Policy
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Mass in Honor of Saint Noël Chabanel
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Solfege? There’s an app for that.

Veronica Brandt · February 28, 2015

Ear HERE WAS A BOY WHO DELIGHTED in correcting his mother’s piano students as they were working on identifying intervals. He never studied as such, but the regular exposure to other people practising seeped into his head.

It isn’t so much a matter of natural born talent or hard work as a case of regular practice. A little bit each day is the way to plant the new patterns in your brain.

Now, not everyone can arrange for a stream of school students to come around every afternoon for piano lessons, so how can the average aspiring sight reader get this regular practice?

Just go online.

Theta Music Trainer is a collection of games identifying scales, intervals, chords, pitches (or tones) and even the sounds of different instruments.

The games look like child’s play, but the skills are way beyond what I covered at school. Paddle Tones and Tone Drops are good for picking out notes. Dango Brothers is good for matching pitch. There’s even a game where you sing into a microphone to match pitch. I bet you can think of someone you would like to work on that game!

The games can be played at random, or you can opt in to “courses” which bundle 30 groups of 5 games to give about 15 minutes of practice every day for a month. Each level you complete counts towards a colored “belt”. Yes, you can get a black belt in Music Theory!

Signing up for a free account gives you access to the first three levels of each game, which is pretty useful in itself. Full access to Theta music trainer comes with a price tag. The individual account is a bit more than your average smartphone app, but if you have a few other people interested (like a choir) consider splitting a Studio account between you.

Playing the cute colorful games at Theta helps you get a taste of what ear training is all about. For a more serious survey of software available see Ear-training online.

I hope you find something useful. Excuse me, I have to go work on my green belt.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    “Slander!” • (Response to an Accusation)
    A reader sent us an email which was both thoughtful and articulate. Feeling it deserved a response, I published this article a few days ago. I included the full letter sent to us by the reader, but that's not all. Indeed, the article became rather lengthy and touched upon a number of different themes. I hope you enjoy it!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Interesting story about Sergei Rachmaninoff
    It's very brief, but I think you would enjoy hearing Benno Moiseiwitsch (d. 1963) tell this really cool story about Sergei Rachmaninoff (d. 1943). Moiseiwitsch, whose playing was admired by Josef Hofmann, had studied with Theodor Leschetizky (d. 1915). I opened my recent article by speaking of a powerful quote Rachmaninoff gave to Robert Croan, music critic for the Post Gazette and professor of voice at Duquesne University.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    [Quiz] • “Do You Know Your Hymns?”
    In case you missed it, many readers have enjoyed taking this little Quiz On Hymns. In the context of that article, I included a sensational quote about the Holy Mass by Monsignor Ronald Knox. Moreover, I talk about how Abraham Lincoln's mother died, as well as a fabulous Eucharistic hymn by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Angularis fundamentum” is typically sung at the dedication or consecration of a church and on church anniversaries. For constructions too numerous to list in recent generations, it would be more appropriate to sing that Christ had been made a temporary foundation. A dispirited generation built temporary housing for its Lord, and in the next millnenium, the ease of its removal may be looked back upon as its chief virtue.

— Fr. George Rutler (2016)

Recent Posts

  • “Must Hymns Always Rhyme?” • (With Examples)
  • “Slander!” • (Response to an Accusation)
  • Palestrina Would Not Recognize This! • (Plus: Hopeful Signs)
  • Interesting story about Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Vollaerts Revisited

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.