The Blob Chorus: Ear Training App Review
The Blob Chorus ear training game is a simple and fun app that kids and adults will both enjoy. Open the app, and from the very start you are introduced to a catchy ‘bla’ chorus by enthusiastic green blobs. Kids will giggle and adults smile.
How to Play: After clicking on “use resource,” the blob choir appears as three separate green blobs each singing a different pitch. Then, the purple king blob sings a pitch.
Click on the blob matching the king’s pitch and a halo appears above it. If you pick the wrong blob, it explodes. At the end of the quick ten-question round, you receive a percentage score. The default setting is three green blobs or pitches, but you can set it anywhere between two to eight pitches or blobs by clicking on options at the bottom of the screen.
Benefits of Play: There are two ways to learn music. One is to read sheet music and sing it, which is the skill of sight singing. Another way is to learn music through listening to it. This refers to your aural or auditory skills. Both skills are important for any aspiring musician. This app improves auditory skills. It plays a sequence of notes equivalent to a musical phrase or sentence of a song. In order to pick out the correct note sung by the king blob in the sequence, your must remember the entire sequence. In addition, the Blob Chorus can help teach pitch in general. For those who struggle singing in tune, this can be an invaluable app.
Just be sure to switch the game to the easiest setting.
When to Move on to the Next Level: This app is not set up to progress automatically, so you will have to manually do so yourself by clicking options on the bottom of the screen. The app starts you off automatically with a sequence of three. If that is too hard for you, then reduce the sequence to two. In order to move up to the next level, you should receive a perfect score at least three times in a row. Adding the next pitch sometimes throws people, but you might find a sequence of four notes is easy after mastering a sequence of three. Skip to a sequence of five pitches and the challenge may begin anew. Your goal should be to easily pick out the correct pitch in a sequence of eight pitches or blobs, which is the hardest level.
Getting the Most Out of the App: After hearing the sequence of notes, silently or out loud sing them back. The ability to sing the entire sequence will not only help you identify the one note sung by the blob king but allows you to practice learning song phrases. Picking the blob king is just a check to see how well you learned it. Though the app is not timed, you may want to set a goal to quickly find the matching pitch in order to improve your ability to efficiently learn music.
Practical Applications: I believe this is an app particularly suited for schools with interactive whiteboards. If a teacher finds they have just a few minutes left at the end of the class, then this could be a fun and rewarding way to wrap things up. I find it a fun little pastime when I have a bored moment in a waiting room or between activities at home. I also use this app with my first grader. He sets the timer on the iPad for ten minutes to play the Blob Chorus or another musical app and is then allowed time to play Skylanders or another mind numbing computer game. The fact that this game is so short and the player never gets stuck on a particular level makes it great for short time periods.
Pros and Cons: The Blob Chorus is always positive and free of judgment. The percentage at the end is hardly noticeable to young students and adults alike, because nothing is rewarded for high scores. You simply play and enjoy the cute little blobs. The fact that one round is only ten questions is also a plus. Even the severely tone deaf will not give up in such a short time period.
On the other hand, advanced students will not find the blob chorus a challenge. In addition, it would be nice if the app included a timer and progressed from two to eight pitches according to your scores.
Price and Availability: When I found the app it was free, but now it is around three dollars ($3) for most tablets and an on-line version is also available. If you are a novice or buying for a child, then the app is well worth it.
How to Play: After clicking on “use resource,” the blob choir appears as three separate green blobs each singing a different pitch. Then, the purple king blob sings a pitch.
Click on the blob matching the king’s pitch and a halo appears above it. If you pick the wrong blob, it explodes. At the end of the quick ten-question round, you receive a percentage score. The default setting is three green blobs or pitches, but you can set it anywhere between two to eight pitches or blobs by clicking on options at the bottom of the screen.
Benefits of Play: There are two ways to learn music. One is to read sheet music and sing it, which is the skill of sight singing. Another way is to learn music through listening to it. This refers to your aural or auditory skills. Both skills are important for any aspiring musician. This app improves auditory skills. It plays a sequence of notes equivalent to a musical phrase or sentence of a song. In order to pick out the correct note sung by the king blob in the sequence, your must remember the entire sequence. In addition, the Blob Chorus can help teach pitch in general. For those who struggle singing in tune, this can be an invaluable app.
Just be sure to switch the game to the easiest setting.
When to Move on to the Next Level: This app is not set up to progress automatically, so you will have to manually do so yourself by clicking options on the bottom of the screen. The app starts you off automatically with a sequence of three. If that is too hard for you, then reduce the sequence to two. In order to move up to the next level, you should receive a perfect score at least three times in a row. Adding the next pitch sometimes throws people, but you might find a sequence of four notes is easy after mastering a sequence of three. Skip to a sequence of five pitches and the challenge may begin anew. Your goal should be to easily pick out the correct pitch in a sequence of eight pitches or blobs, which is the hardest level.
Getting the Most Out of the App: After hearing the sequence of notes, silently or out loud sing them back. The ability to sing the entire sequence will not only help you identify the one note sung by the blob king but allows you to practice learning song phrases. Picking the blob king is just a check to see how well you learned it. Though the app is not timed, you may want to set a goal to quickly find the matching pitch in order to improve your ability to efficiently learn music.
Practical Applications: I believe this is an app particularly suited for schools with interactive whiteboards. If a teacher finds they have just a few minutes left at the end of the class, then this could be a fun and rewarding way to wrap things up. I find it a fun little pastime when I have a bored moment in a waiting room or between activities at home. I also use this app with my first grader. He sets the timer on the iPad for ten minutes to play the Blob Chorus or another musical app and is then allowed time to play Skylanders or another mind numbing computer game. The fact that this game is so short and the player never gets stuck on a particular level makes it great for short time periods.
Pros and Cons: The Blob Chorus is always positive and free of judgment. The percentage at the end is hardly noticeable to young students and adults alike, because nothing is rewarded for high scores. You simply play and enjoy the cute little blobs. The fact that one round is only ten questions is also a plus. Even the severely tone deaf will not give up in such a short time period.
On the other hand, advanced students will not find the blob chorus a challenge. In addition, it would be nice if the app included a timer and progressed from two to eight pitches according to your scores.
Price and Availability: When I found the app it was free, but now it is around three dollars ($3) for most tablets and an on-line version is also available. If you are a novice or buying for a child, then the app is well worth it.