EarMaster Challenge

I have had a few set backs in the last week which has meant I have missed two days of my ear training!! The first was the eruption of Mount Etna.  Due to the spectacular view from our house I was unable to concentrate. The second was that I left the computer on the roof of the car before going for a drive and sadly it flew of the roof several hundred metres down the road. I now have a new computer and am ready to go.
The website I have been using is http://www.earmaster.com/ , it is an ear training software programme.

I have now spent 20 hours in total using the programme, this is about a third of the way through my challenge. Until yesterday I had mainly been concentrating on three of the subjects, Rhythm reading, interval identification and interval singing. I have now added chord identification and interval comparisson to my list of things to study.
I had hoped to spend thirty minutes a day on interval singing but I have only managed twenty minutes as I am finding it difficult to use the microphone efficiently. It seems that the microphone is not sensitive enough and the programme finds it difficult to identify which note I am singing as a result.
The rhythm reading is possibly the most difficult of the exercises. I was doing really well and found a huge improvement. I am currently on lesson 32 of 60 which is concentrating on 16th note triplets. It has made me realise just what an important part rhythm reading plays in learning to sight read! Unfortunately I have hit a stumbling block with the rhythm reading, until now I had been using the computer space bar to tap the rhythm but as of today it seems to be encountering a delay which makes it impossible to use. I then tried clapping but the computer microphone is not sensitive enough and is unable to recognise the faster rhythms. Over the next few days I will try using various contraptions in an attempt to find the most effective way of using this exercise.
Interval identification is made up of 37 lessons and I am now on lesson 35! I have been doing lesson 37 once everyday in an attempt to meaasure my improvement. The first day I tried this I got 36% but today I got an amazing 78% which I am very happy with!! As I mentioned before I have problems with the minor 7 interval and it is not improving hugely. I have found a way round this where by making my own customised exercise I can isolate the most difficult intervals. As the exercises have got harder I may need to add more intervals to this category, namely the intervals between one and two octaves! As the lessons have got harder I have needed to repeat each exercise up to 7 times.

This week I have seven London-based musicians staying with me and they are all intrigued with EarMaster. I think at least one of them will have bought a copy in the next few days.