Haftarah Tutor: Lesson Tips
Note that the melodies are divided into two basic groups: Ashkenazic and Sephardic. Changes here affect the melody that TropeTrainer uses, but they do not affect the Accent -- Sephardic versus Ashkenazic -- this is set in the next control.
To set the pronunciation used by the TropeTrainer software. Options for TropeTrainer's "Accent" are "Sephardi", "Sephardi Traditional", "Ashkenazi Modern" and "Ashkenazi Traditional" pronunciations.Sephardic Traditional pronounces the ayins, and chet and chaf are pronounced differently. Ashkenazic Traditional uses an "OY" sound, where Ashkenazic Modern uses an "OH" sound.
The "Voice" control lets you set the vocal range of TropeTrainer's chanting. Selections include (from lowest pitch voice type to highest): Bass, Baritone, Tenor, Alto, Soprano and Child.Select the pronunciation and voice type that is closest to your voice and way of speaking.To control the speed of singing from painfully slow to faster than many might be comfortable with. The volume control lets you adjust how loud TropeTrainer chants.Take a moment and experiment with these settings. All of the adjustments discussed above can be made while the TropeTrainer is chanting (although they will momentarily pause the singing). Adjust the Melody, Accent, Vocal range, Speed and Volume to match your needs.The Computer's "Voice"Electronic technology has not yet allowed computers to produce a voice that sounds entirely as real and natural as your own. Sometimes, the voice will sound a little strange -- perhaps a bit choppy. This is normal for the type of artificial speech technology used in the TropeTrainer software.We at HazzanSolutions have found from experience that the benefits of TropeTrainer:- allowing you to start slow and increase speed as you learn, and- finding a "voice" and Trope melody that you are comfortable with greatlyexceeds any problems produced by minor peculiarities of the electronic voice.Stacking Trope PhrasesStacking the Trope words by clauses or phrase groupings is a good way to see the trope phrase word groupings and differentiate them from each other. To stack the phrases, click on the “What You See” toggle in the upper tool bar in the window to the right. Once inside the popup click on the button to the left of the words “Stack Exercises.”There are many other features in the “What You See” section that can assist your learning, such as Transliteration, Highlighting, and Sheet Music. We suggest you explore this feature to maximize your learning.Move to the Next ExerciseThere are two buttons in the "Lesson Controls" box at the bottom of this window."Next" moves you to the next lesson or exercise. "Previous" moves you back to the previous lesson or exercise.To directly open an exercise or lesson, click the “Tutor” button on the main toolbar and select the exercise or lesson you want.Note that the Open Tutorial function brings you to the beginning of a lesson.From the beginning of each lesson, you must use the "Next" button in the "Lesson navigator" box to move to further parts of each lesson and to the lesson's exercises.The Main Point of These LessonsThe main point of the lessons on the following pages is to help you learn and memorize the Trope symbols and their musical motifs. The lessons and exercises are designed to teach you by example and repetition.We strongly suggest that you do these lessons three to six days a week. Just as in learning your favorite new songs and music, the more often you hear this, study this, and repeat this, the sooner and easier it will be to learn these Tropes!If you only do these lessons once a week, you will likely forget what you learned in the previous session, and you will have to work much harder to learn and retain this material.Press "Next Lesson" in the Lesson Navigator below to advance to the first lesson.