Functional Music Analysis and Ear Training Guide:

 Purposes of Functional Music Analysis

o Recognizes the importance of having a good musical ear and its usefulness in
composing, improvising, and transcribing solos, melodies, and chord progressions
without too much tools.
o Assists arrangers and transcribers with their ear training
o Encourages musicians to understand music as it is like a conversation; identifying the
‘words’ and ‘phrases’ behind the sequence of sounds
 Functional Music Analysis and Ear Training Method
o Scale Degree Analysis
 Identification of notes within a certain key using scale degrees, ideally using
scale degree numbers instead of note names and/or symbols.
 Learning to recognize tones in a musical context by simulating a cadence, and
then playing a random note.
 Differentiating note functions in relation to its corresponding key
 Recognizing the importance and function of the tonic note/key; aka. its
foundation or ‘home’ note, and its stability compared to the other notes in the
scale.
 Distinguishing different note ‘personalities’ and functions.
 Understanding scale divisions, and how each note may want to resolve to tonic
(and other cadences)
 Introducing chromatic scale degrees in both Major and Minor keys
 Training of musical phrases based on intervals
o Chord Progression Analysis
 Similar to scale degree training, chord progression analysis identifies chords in
relation to the music’s tonic key.
 Recognizes that not all songs start with the tonic key, and how to identify keys
using the tonic chord/tone.
 Identifying different types of cadences
 Understanding how each chord can resolve to the next chord, up to the tonic
chord
 Training Exercises
o 10-15 minute exercises
 Functional ear training, interval analysis
 Resources:
o Modus vetus: sight singing and ear-training in major/minor
tonality. Lars Edlund - Nordiska musikfö rlaget – 2013
o Functional Ear Trainer. Alain Benbassat – 2010