I bought the entire RCM Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests book series upon @BartK's recommendation. These books were release in 2015. Whatever ear test online module made available then do not seem to be available anymore. Instead, the current offering on RCM website is an Ear Training and Site Reading course for $10 per month.

Signing up has not been a smooth process. After paying online, I have to call RCM hotline to get the course to show up online. In the next few days, I went through several introductory course on simple rhythm, melody, and pitch. They are really well designed, starting simple and incremental. But there is one thing the took me, a computer geek, several days to figure out: how to enable recording feature of my browser in order to record each exercise and compare the results. But I finally got it working in Safari today!

So these are becoming part of my daily practice routine:

  • start with the online ear training course (10 minutes or so),
  • then do the sight reading set of the day from the Four Star book (10 minutes or so),
  • then scales and arpeggios (20 minutes or so),
  • then method book chapters/pieces (till I am tired).

Anyone else taking the RCM course? Thoughts and suggestions?

I signed up for one month of the RCM online sight reading/ear training resources last year because I wanted to get an idea of what to expect for an upcoming exam. I found it very useful for this purpose, especially for sight reading. I could practice many examples at exactly the level that I would be tested on in the exam, and get a good sense of whether I was ready or not.

I thought the ear training was also somewhat useful, but I found the UI of the RCM website to be so cumbersome that I didn't want to continue using it after the exam. The exam requirements for ear training are laid out really clearly and I think it's not too difficult to find other resources for practicing those. I've been using a combination of the "Functional Ear Trainer" and "Complete Ear Trainer" iOS apps which don't have subscription fees (I believe they each cost a small one time fee), but there seems to be lots of options out there.

I would definitely consider getting another one month of the RCM tools it if I ever choose to prepare for another exam.

The books are great but I think their app is terrible. I used it when it was bundled with the books but the interface is so clunky that I never got much done with it. I prefer using a phone app like Functional Ear Trainer.

I've used the books and will start the grade 4 book in a month or so. I've balked at signing up for the ear training mainly because it's based on an ongoing subscription that I'd have to cancel eventually. Based on what I've seen on this thread, I'm glad I didn't sign up for it.

I've used a desktop app called tonedear. I'm not sure if there is an ios or android app. I like it a lot, but the exercises don't coincide with the RCM tests. I don't plan taking exams, but I've been following their syllabus.

9 days later

For anyone who might be interested, I made a recording of me doing the RCM ear training. This is the "Prep A" level which is meant for true beginners.

15 days later

I’ve been doing the training for several weeks now. This RCM subscription includes two separate sets of modules: ear training (rhythm, melody, pitch and chord), and sight reading.

After trying the sight reading module online, I see how it is so cumbersome just like @BartK said. Using the book for sight reading is so much better.

The ear training modules, on the other hand, are great. This is also the part that a self learner cannot do by themselves, and will need either a teacher or a software tool. I have not tried others software options. I do like how RCM’s ear training modules are structured in levels corresponding to it’s sight reading book, so that I have both aspects progress in parallel.

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For anyone who might be interested, here is a page from the RCM Four Star sight reading book. The first book, level Prep A, has 12 sets of exercises. Each set is further divided to 5 days, perfect for one week. At this level it's simple enough to take 10 minutes or less.

I do make the rhythm section a little harder for myself, by doing:

  1. foot tap and speak the beat, clap the rhythm
  2. left hand clap the beat on my thigh, right hand clap the rhythm; switch hands and repeat
  3. left hand play a bass note of the beat, right hand play a note in the rhythm; switch hands and repeat
  4. left hand play a chord (blocked then broken), right hand play a note in the rhythm; switch hands and repeat

I think in a previous post I said my strength is in rhythm. Still, doing the above is HARD. Although my natural sense of rhythm is not bad, tapping while counting out loud and having both hands doing different things does not come easy. I do see improvement hand independence with practice. I also sense my rhythm accuracy become more solid when I count in subdivides.

If you look closely at #4 in Day2, you'll see the exercise is designed to be fun, too. Making up lyric or tune to the beat is so much fun I laugh to myself afterwards.