Musical listening
For teenagers and adults
If a listening test shows that a person's musical ear is out of balance, the Tomatis method offers a teaching approach that aims to improve musical sensitivity, accuracy and precision in both analysing and playing music, as well as the appreciation of the beauty of a musical work or the quality of a performance.
Updated on , a 2-minute read.
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What is a musical ear?
A musical ear is a person's ability to perceive and understand music. This includes being able to recognise different pitches, rhythms and harmonies, and to reproduce them by singing or playing an instrument.
Someone with a good musical ear has a good sense of pitch and can easily tell different musical notes apart. They may also have a good sense of rhythm and timing, and can follow the beat of the music accurately.
A musical ear also means being able to tell different kinds of music apart, by interpreting the emotions carried by the melody, harmony and rhythm.
For Dr A. Tomatis, having a good musical ear means having an ear that comes as close as possible to the criteria he defined.
According to Dr A. Tomatis, a musical ear must meet the following criteria:
- It favours the analysis of high frequencies between 2,000 and 5,000 Hz, while steadily and progressively damping frequencies below 2,000 Hz and above 5,000 Hz. This damping must happen in both air conduction and bone conduction.
- It shows maximum openness of auditory selectivity. Auditory selectivity is the ability to tell the pitch of sounds apart from one another, and also the direction in which the pitch changes.
- It has very precise auditory spatialisation. Spatialisation is the ability to locate a sound in space, in both air conduction and bone conduction.
- Finally, the right ear must be dominant, i.e. it must process sound information very slightly ahead of the left ear, a subtle but extremely important lead.
From his very first work with singers and musicians, Dr A. Tomatis showed that the right ear is superior when it comes to analysing and instrumentally controlling musical sounds (and this includes one's own voice). This right-ear dominance has since been confirmed many times.
Depending on the frequency ranges affected, which can be assessed with a listening test, and in relation to the criteria for musical listening described above, the teaching approach will focus on:
- Improving musical sensitivity, i.e. the desire to listen to music or to play an instrument.
- Improving accuracy and precision, both in analysing and in playing music.
- Improving the appreciation of the beauty of a musical work, or of the quality of a performance on an instrument.
This will mainly be done through listening sessions with the electronic ear, here at the centre.
Would you like to know more about what your ear can do? Book an audio-psycho-phonological listening assessment!
In their own words
“Kevin was very receptive, even though classical music wasn't really his favourite kind of music.”
“This is the result of your support and your method, which really took a weight off my mind and helped Hakim move forward and gain confidence in himself.”
“My dad and my friends tell me I've become more mature, that I express myself much better, that my questions are more thought through.”
