GNU Solfege - Music Software For the Classroom

Ear training helps musicians learn to recognize chords, rhythms, pitches, intervals and more by listening to them. GNU Solfege is free music software designed to help with ear training. With this simple program, your students can go through a series of exercises and tests to learn how to identify various elements of music.

WEBSITE: http://www.solfege.org

Music Software With Tests and Exercises
Using GNU Solfege, students can test their knowledge of multiple elements of music. The front page lists the different exercises and tests users can complete with sections for intervals, rhythm, chords, scales and theory.

Some of the content is designed as tests where users listen to a note or multiple notes and identify the chord, scale or interval they represent. Those who need to brush up on their knowledge of chords, scales, intervals and more can also participate in exercises where a sound is played and they must sing something in response.

Test and exercises available on the front page

As students go through the tests available through GNU Solfege, they can also track their own progress. A special statistics screen allows them to see how many questions they've answered correctly during each section, and which areas they need to work on.

Unfortunately, this statistics section is limited to only specific elements of music. For example, a user can only see his statistics for recognizing melodic second intervals or identifying modes of a major scale at one time, not all of the different areas at once.

Track your stats as you take tests

Quality of Sound
The GNU Solfege music software operates using MIDI sound, but that does not mean it lacks quality. The sound is crisp and clear and users can easily identify which note is being played, even if it does not sound exactly like the instrument they play or the accompaniment they use.

All sounds can be repeated as often as desired and even be repeated slowly so that users can make sure they clearly hear the sounds they are supposed to sing or identify.

Exercises can be repeated or repeated slowly

Along with providing quality sound, GNU Solfege allows users to customize the sounds they hear. They can customize the program to fit their vocal range, selecting to hear sounds in the typical male range or a female/child range. They can further customize the software by selecting a highest pitch and lowest pitch.
The type of instrument used for the sounds can also be selected. Instruments are grouped into 16 different categories, including sound effects, sythn pad and cromatic percussion. Since the software uses MIDI, not all of the instruments sound realistic, but they do a good job of getting the tone and general feel of the instrument across.

Choose from multiple instruments

Learning Music
GNU Solfege is not introductory level music software - it isn't designed for those with zero knowledge of musical terms or without a basic knowledge of scales and chords.

However, if you understand the difference between a major and minor scale, a chord or an interval and want to learn to distinguish between the various elements of music, you may find the software beneficial. The more students interact with the software, the better they will be at identifying the different elements of music. It's perfect software for an intermediate music classroom.