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Ear training for chord progressions and songs

#21
belzebass said:
Hello guys!
Happy new year to you! I wish you all high feelings and lots of low notes :)
This year, I want to improve my musical ear. My groove and technique are OK, and my music theory knowledge good too. I really lack the hearing/transcribing skills.
I would like to be able to recognize a tonality and chord progression rapidly on the fly (for example in a jam setting), transcribe songs (at least the chords and the base of the bass line) and learn songs faster and easier ("feel" the chords coming with the melody).

What is the most efficient and fast way to learn it?
Do I need to learn to sing? Transcribe songs with my bass? Pick out the chords with a piano? Use ear training phone apps?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Try playing along with songs you DON'T know as much as you can, just find flip around to different radio stations and play with whatever comes up.

This will build up your ear training and jamming abilities.

Then get ahold of something recorded, maybe something on YouTube, and let the song play and try writing down chord progressions without playing.
This is easier to begin with if you understand numbering chords, 1,4,5 etc.

Then go back and play along with it to see how well you did.

This is what I used to do, it really helped me learn to pick apart songs.

Another thing that helps you pinpoint a note by ear is pick a note, say low C, in the morning, lock it in your head... play it several times... Then then think about it all day, associating the sound with C. Hum that note as often as you can... Hum a tune starting and ending with C.
Later on play other notes, scales, chords, but stop and hear that one note, then play C. This will lock that note in your head.

Do a different note every day and before you know it you'll just be able to recognize a notes easier and find the root notes in each chord.
 
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#23
Nevada Pete said:
Ordered a chord wheel from Amazon. Never heard of that. Looks interesting. Read a few of the reviews. Left delivery instruction to have it delivered to my front door to avoid folding.
Click to expand...
Best piece of musical theory instruction I've ever bought. It's a brief 12 page pamphlet about the wheel on the front and how to use it. It's always sitting out, or in my case when I travel.
 
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#26
A huge percentage of modern music is some variant of a I-V-vi-IV progression. Figure out the root, and you're mostly done.
Rick Beato did an interesting bit on it and the recent proliferation of all these stupid plagiarism lawsuits.
...unless of course you're playing jazz or something else more interesting.
 
#27
Elementary-high school band.
That's where I learned the most bc I was forced to learn rather than chose to learn what I wanted.

Fundamentals can be difficult if you allow yourself to skip over or not truly master a topic or domain before moving on
 
#28
the more you listen ,the more you play,and the more you play and listen then....play and listen some more... truthfully ,,the best way to "train" your ears is to use them musically to ..ya know..play music..do it alot and i mean ALOT.
 
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#29
Hello, OP here
Thanks for all your replies!

For now I have decided to work out at least one simple song a day by ear (chords and/or bass line). I started with acoustic covers of pop songs (simple harmony content and no heavy layering)

Can you advise some styles or artists for easy transcribing?
 
#31
Malcolm35 said:
top 50 country songs - Bing video
Country is normally I-IV-V in a major key with a few ii and vi thrown in for color. Now old time Country you can leave out the ii and vi.
Click to expand...

Country to me us one of the best genres to ear train on, especially the old stuff because instruments in the mix are easy to define, they didn't do a lot of fancy stuff, bass lines we usually either a root, root-5, or root -3-5, and most all else was walking.

That time was about the simple feeling of a song, it wasn't because the musicians weren't phenomenal players... Many were... It was about the songwriter who probably didn't know but a few chords but could still tug at the old heart strings with words and music. Something country "music" misses today.
 
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#32
MichelD said:
I can't hear a melody to save my life. Half the time I can barely tell if the following note after the preceding note is higher or lower.
Click to expand...
Yep, that is where most of us started. Hang in it does get better. Little hint. What we need to hear, at first, is the sound of the strummed chord, not the individual notes. OK, that is the root tonal center, and that is the IV chord. Once you know the root you can usually throw in the IV when you feel the song has moved to another chord and be safe. The V has a unique sound and only happens one or times in a four line verse, so I's and IV's will be a friend while you are "jamming".

Happy trails.
 
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#33
jdh3000 said:
Country to me us one of the best genres to ear train on, especially the old stuff because instruments in the mix are easy to define, they didn't do a lot of fancy stuff, bass lines we usually either a root, root-5, or root -3-5, and most all else was walking.

That time was about the simple feeling of a song, it wasn't because the musicians weren't phenomenal players... Many were... It was about the songwriter who probably didn't know but a few chords but could still tug at the old heart strings with words and music. Something country "music" misses today.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Turnpike Troubadour Radio on Pandora is one of my favorites for this.
 
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#34
I recommend ear training and chord function training early in life.
Allows you to figure out
Chord changes without an instrument
, you know, like when the radio is on etc...
 
#35
"I can't hear a melody to save my life. Half the time I can barely tell if the following note after the preceding note is higher or lower."

Yep, that is where most of us started. Hang in it does get better. Little hint. What we need to hear, at first, is the sound of the strummed chord, not the individual notes. OK, that is the root tonal center, and that is the IV chord. Once you know the root you can usually throw in the IV when you feel the song has moved to another chord and be safe. The V has a unique sound and only happens one or times in a four line verse, so I's and IV's will be a friend while you are "jamming".

Yup. that's where I started when I got my first guitar in 1968 and I'm still there.
 
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