• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Eartraining - Exercises and questions

G

gbf

Jul 30, 2003
79
0
41
Brazil
#1
What kind of exercises do you guys do when it comes to eartraining?
I have been doing some singing of scales and modes and the chords that make it, but I've been looking for other stuff to practice in this subject but couldn't find it. I've searched the forums and found nothing, so if you old cats could point me some good exercises i would be very thankfull.
I also would like to know how do you do to split your time in the practicing of these things like inversions and such.

sorry if i wrote something wrong, it's because i'm really sleepy ;)

Thanks in advance :bassist:
 
#2
Here at Berklee we do all sorts of Solfege stuff, Do-re-mi and all that, Berklee has a webpage for it with some melodic and rhytmic dictation exercises, I think it's open to the public, since it never asks me for my ID or password.

Link Removed

check it out, should give you some ideas.

also, the 'beta' ET site is pretty interesting too
Link Removed
 
#5
For ear training, besides trying to learn songs by ear, something that is important to me is the study of intervals. An interval is the distance between two notes. (EX: A to D is a perfect 4th). I like to practice intervals by picking a key a day, going through each interval, playing each interval (slowly!)...then playing and singing (well, I hum it lol) the interval.

No matter what I'm practicing, whether it be scales, chords...whatever...I take it slowly, so I can get right inside the sound. It makes it easy to differentiate one note from another.

Hope this helps.
 
#6
I used musictheory.net's trainers to perfect my interval recognition.

Well, ascending at least, I still flub up a couple of descending intervals occasionally.

but yes, interval training is *very* important, because really, what's a lick but a bunch of intervals.
 
#9
Another great thing, is to sing everything you play, and practice playing what you sing.

The most popular method to learning intervals is to associate them with a tune. For instance, Perfect 4th is 'here comes the bride', tritone is "The -simps" from the simpsons them

This method certainly helps, but try not to rely on it too much, if you find yourself having to think about what tune to associate two pitches with everytime you hear that interval, you should work harder so that you can recite them as intervals not "okay, here comes the bride..so that's a perfect 4th, perfect 4th, okay.."

ya know?
 
#10
Wow. I've been playing guitar for the last 2 year, and bass for the last 2 months, and always thought my ears would develop naturally through playing.

They did to some extent..but for the last week or so I'd started using the interval trainer on www.musictheory.net.

It's making a *huge* difference so far, it's surprising even me! I started off getting around 60% of the intervals of the major scale correct. Now after just a week I'm getting around 85% of all intervals correct.

This is making learning/playing music by ear so much easier, wish this had been suggested to me much earlier!
 
#11
Try the following. I find it difficult, so maybe it's not for complete beginners.

Pick a single pitch (let's say a G). Then, using G as the first note, sing the following:

The G major arpeggio in root form ( 1-3-5 or do-mi-so in G).

Then Eb major arpeggio in first inversion (3-5-1 or mi-so-do in Eb)

Then C major arpeggio in second inversion (5-1-3 or so-do-mi in C)


Obviously, there are dozens of different ways to work this by changing the arpeggio forms from major triads to something else (try 5-tone harmonic minor arpeggios - ouch!).

I find even the major triads a challenge because the key keeps changing.

Maybe it's something to try when driving to work.
 
#12
Just one cool exersise: Try singin major thirds. So that you, for instance, begin on c. Then you sing e. then you sing g#. And so on. Even those who claims to have have good ears will probably find themselves singing a major + a minor third. (Like in a major chord.) At least the first time....But it's actually a pretty good exersise.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back