Clinic Outline

Donovan Mixon’s Performance Ear Training clinic for music teachers falls into the Primary Learning

Thread of ‘Teaching and Learning in the Arts. It is comprised of six ‘Study Concepts’ designed for development of a musical ear.

The Study Concepts emphasize Student-Centered Teaching and Learning. They are adaptable to all types of musicianship lessons, easily scaled to the level of the group.

The goal of the Performance Ear Training Clinic is to expose teachers and students to fresh perspectives through innovative techniques for the study of ear training.

While there is a plethora of well thought out publications on the market that deal extensively with ‘what to practice’, there are precious few that address the process of skill acquisition, that is, how to practice. Little detail is given to getting from ‘A’ to ‘B’, often leaving the student to resort to rote memorization as a primary study strategy.

The Study Concepts are:

Sing Then Play: Technique to develop the ability to think and ‘inner-hear’ melodic intervals while strengthening the sense of harmonic intervals. It will be shown how S.T.P. can be used with various types of exercises.

Inner Hearing: Technique to develop the ability to accurately perceive music mentally.

Harmonic Basslines: Technique for singing a bassline to a progression that precisely communicates its sound.

Tendency Tones: Technique for using the natural tendencies of notes, particularly in a cadence as a mode of learning the color of diatonic and chromatic notes in the context of a key.

Cycle Four Interval Exercises: Technique for recognizing the essential character of diatonic and chromatic intervals in the context of a tonality.

Straight Line Exercise: Technique for developing the ear through performing ascending and descending stepwise lines through a harmonic progression. Helps to develop the ability to think/hear horizontally and vertically simultaneously.