Help Deciding How to Increase Difficulty

[cgette]

I'm really enjoying the app, I'm mostly using the sight singing and melodic dictation modules. An issue that I'm having with the process of learning in general is figuring out the best way to increase the difficulty so that I know that I'm making progress. Take melodic dictation for instance. I start with a fixed root and major scale. Right now I'm doing 4 notes in a row in a single octave, 100 BPM, and I seem to be handling it pretty well. Time to increase the difficulty! So, do I add another note to the length of the melody? Or do I increase the tempo? Do I increase the range of notes now that I'm comfortable with them inside of an octave? Maybe I should decrease the answering time limit. Or should I start to add in non-major tones?
Is there a generally accepted way to increase difficulty so that you're staying within that zone of proximal development? Like, how do I know when I'm ready to add in non-major tones? When I can immediately identify 20 major notes in a row within 6 seconds at 180 BPM? Ugh, it's so confusing.
I'm thinking that there's no one right answer, and that any of these options will work to improve a certain skill, which would mean that I should practice many different settings and variations. But, as I don't want to go back and change all the settings every time, I'm looking for a more general way to steadily increase my proficiency at everything. Do you have any thoughts?

[Quentin]

Hi,

Have you tried to complete the Sight-Singing and Melodic Dictation General Workshops? They do follow a structure that raises the difficulty progressively, adding new tones, note values, keys, etc. with each lesson.

[cgette]

Hi,

Have you tried to complete the Sight-Singing and Melodic Dictation General Workshops? They do follow a structure that raises the difficulty progressively, adding new tones, note values, keys, etc. with each lesson.

No, I didn't know about that, I'll give it a try. Also, is the standalone app still discounted for $29? I'm having trouble purchasing it.

[Quentin]

The offer expired a few days ago unfortunately. What problems have you encountered when ordering? Could you maybe contact us by email at support@earmaster.com and give us specific details (browser, OS, what error message you saw if any, etc.)