c. Report of my own experience (before the experiment with the students)
The “Oido absoluto” course has been a turning point in how I understand and approach the development of a relative ear. It helped me organise scattered ideas and identify the most essential concepts for learning to play by ear. What I appreciated most was how accessible and clearly structured it is—even for those without a strong theoretical background. Rooted in Chenette’s foundational skills, the course bridges theory and practice in a natural, intuitive way, allowing me to integrate various approaches into a coherent learning process.
One of the most valuable aspects was how it dismantled common myths—like the belief that the ear can’t be trained, or that deep theoretical knowledge is a prerequisite. Instead, it reinforces the idea that perception comes before cognition, and that it’s more effective to train the ear directly than to rely on abstract analysis. The course introduces four key perceptual foundations: attention, a sense of tonality, memory, and musical imagination. Through a step-by-step path—from pitch matching and tonal awareness to transcriptions and non-diatonic contexts—it builds a solid framework for aural development.
A major insight for me was understanding tonality as a kind of internal map, one that can be developed using tonal colors and metaphors like gravity and magnetism, with the tonic as the tonal center. This perspective shifted my focus away from procedural interval training, helping me internalize deeper concepts like consonance and dissonance in a more embodied and meaningful way.
The course also gave me a wealth of practical tools and exercises—dictations, transcriptions, and improvisations—that I can bring into the classroom. Above all, it always returned to one central idea: sound comes first. That guiding principle helped me reconnect with music in a more playful, intuitive way.
During my own experimentation, I applied these ideas by working with simple songs I loved, testing myself without the pressure of professional expectations. I gave myself permission to explore music freely, just for the joy of it. Coming from a classical background, this shift—developing intuition—was eye-opening. It reminded me that musicality isn’t just about precision, but about listening, exploring, and trusting the ear to guide the way.