Product Description

This edition comes with no CD. You must purchase either the associated CD separately or digitally download the CD from an on-line vendor. Otherwise this book is exactly the same as the book/CD edition. KEY NOTE RECOGNITION is part of a series of ear training books designed to help the student develop better relative pitch. This book and separately available CD addresses hearing one specific note against all keys, allowing the student to identify key modulations when they occur. Recommended for use prior to "Ear Training Two Note Method".Recommended prerequisite to this book: "Ear Training One Note Complete." As mentioned the audio portion of this book is also available in CD and MP3 format. This CD and MP3 audio has the same title as this book. Both formats can be purchased from various on-line vendors. A list of recommended vendors can be found on the muse-eek.com website. This book is a required text for students at New York University and Princeton University and is recommended for beginning through advanced students ages 13 and up.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1473362 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• 52 pages

From the Publisher
Mr. Arnold's new ear training course is a first of it's kind available. He has taken the time to give students a detailed explanation of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to ear training. This book is meant to be used between the Ear Training: One Note Series and the Ear Training: Two Note series. If you are serious about improving your aural perception and basic musicianship it is recommended that you work with this book in combination with the following:

Customer Reviews

Buy the CD. Skip the book.
Buy the Key Note CD, but skip this book. I have only praise for Bruce Arnold's method, but I have never seen an instruction book with less instructional content. If this were a review of his method, I would give 6 stars, but a 1 star rating is being generous for this book. Why?

Page 1: How to use the CD that is not included with this book.
Pages 2-5: Summary on Ear Training method, which you have probably already read in the One Note and Fanatics book if you made it this far.
Page 6: One additional paragraph about using the CD that is not included with this book.
Page 7: Track listing for the CD that is not included with this book.
Page 8: One paragraph stating that Pages 9-13 contain frequently asked questions about Key Note, Fanatic's, and Two Note
Pages 9-13: FAQ section. This information is available online at the muse-eek site.
This is followed by 13 pages of listings of Bruce Arnold's other books, and then 15 pages of Key / Answer blanks for you to record your scores.

That's right, this book contains a little over one page of new instructional content, and that content is about a CD package that is not included with the book. I have been happily (and I think successfully) using Arnold's method for 3 months, and will continue to use it, but this book is going back to Amazon.

The best ear training out there so far

Bruce Arnold's series of books are designed to achieve one and only one purpose: to teach...and to teach each subject the right way and in the most rational manner. He makes mention in different books and interviews to the fact that most music books or methods are designed for students to get good grades in school (I can't see how this method could be easily grade-able) or to offer the consumer a quick fix of success to feel that the book has worked and they haven't wasted their money, while in fact they will not really retain much of the information at all in the long run and the whole experience will have been a waste of time and money. I personally in my quest for good books on the subject of music have found this to be true, and I think that most of these books are made solely for the purpose of generating money (as most things are these days) and not really achieving their true purpose...the ones that seem to try to go past this I have found to be filled with half baked ideas and hazy methods.

I am a professional jazz/classical saxophonist and an composer. I have a degree in music composition and performance and studied with some of the greatest teachers that I believe that are out there. For me, disappointment with music study books, whether they be for improvisation, ear training, composition, has been a normal thing and I have been mainly writing and inventing my own exercises,techniques, and practice routines for lack of finding anything that made any more sense from any "educational book". This ended when I found Bruce Arnold's series of books. I am in awe of the infallible logic behind every method in every book. I have been working out of many different books of his: the ear training books, the sight singing books, the Rhythm series, Big Metronome and Time Transformation, and they all WORK. I mean they really, REALLY work, as long as you follow the instructions and have patience and make up your mind before you start that you are going to stick with it. When I first found the books I instantly knew that I finally stumbled across something finally that made sense...but have refrained from writing a review anywhere until I thoroughly tested the products out. I believe that many of the more negative or indifferent reviews you will find here or on other sites are from recent buyers who have not yet started to see the results or are from people who have not made the decision to follow the directions and truly have the patience to follow through.

I have been working with the Ear Training Method for some time now and am in the Two Note Series now, and my ears are at a level that I never thought possible. The concept of relative pitch as opposed to interval training is dead-on and if you study the method diligently you will see why it makes so much more sense. I have been working from THE BIG METRONOME every day and going through the rhythm books...and I am feeling rhythm in a way that is so effortless. When I play or compose music now it becomes more of a joy every day rather than a strenuous effort.

If you want to learn music the right way, so that every aspect of music from theory to transcription to rhythm is like a second nature, then I recommend Bruce Arnold's books. As an added plus, you can (and are encouraged) to email him about any problems you are having or just even on your progress and he is very prompt and thorough in his responses. This is clearly a person who truly cares about what he is teaching and who has limitless integrity in his methods.

If you ask me, the series of Bruce Arnold's Books and CD's are a goldmine, priceless treasures that can be bought for an incredibly low price considering the immense benefit that can be reaped from them.

THE Way Forward
I have been working with Mr Arnold's ear training methods for just over two years now and would like to share with you some of my experiences over that time.

There is no other system of ear training i know that constantly pushes the boundaries of your aural perception. Working with his is as Mr Arnold reminds us a "lifetime's journey". Over the years i have steadily gained the ability to recognise any pitch in relation to a key center and sight-sing any required pitch readily (including chromatics). That is what one note complete and the fanatic's guide seeks to achieve.

The above lays the foundation for further development. In December of 2007 I finally completed key note recognition, that helps you to learn to adapt to various modes(major and minor) and recognise the key by listening to how notes function in relation. Now I am beginning work on two note that builds recognition for multiple notes and following complex modulations.

All this is impossible without dedication and an intense commitment to practice, practice,practice. As a guage i have worked at this at least an hour a day broken up into short sessions over the last two over years. And without keeping to this and really working at it, you won't be able to really understand what this method is all about. But IF you do, this will really change the way you are involved with music.

Just to describe a few simple experiences...

- Early on i began to gain a deeper sense of the music i was listening to. Suddenly everything opened up what can only be described as a kaleidoscope of colours.

- As an active musician, people began commenting on how musical and expressive my performances were getting and always "spot on" with pitching.

- Am now coming to grips with progressively more harmonically complex melodic forms such as modern jazz and funk.

I'm now embarking on the next phase in my ear training that is two note and beyond. I know it's going to be nothing short of gruelling, but with the positive changes that I have experienced in aural perception, I really can't wait to discover what else happens along the way.

Many thanks to Mr Arnold for his fantastic work, gift to aspiring musicians and continuing commitment to music education.