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Question about ear training.

V

VitaminC

Oct 4, 2008
79
0
#1
Mod's please move this if it is in the wrong section.

I am having difficulty learning songs by ear. I can learn real simple things like "I, IV, V" no problem but I am having trouble learn things like walks and more advance things. I do know my intervals well too. I can't use the interval system to learn songs because I just don't like doing it that way. I use the guess and check system and intervals when I can hear them without thinking about it. I don't like using the interval system because I feel It causes me to rely on theory more then my ear which isn't what I want.

I am curious if you guys have any advice that would help a newbie out?
 
#2
How long have you been playing?
The more you play, the more familiar the usual intervals and progressions will be to you.
My advice is to play really a lot. Get some lyrics+chords and then figure the bass line. This way you have something to guide you, and you will still learn something by ear.
Singing, even if just for youself, you help you too.
 
#5
I have bee playing for almost 2 years. I would use things like loops but I feel that in the long run it could hurt me because in the studio, playing with friends, etc... I won't have the resources to use it.

Do you guys have any good somethings that would be good for starting to learn by ear. I can tell that I have improved because this time last year I couldn't do what I am able to do now.
 
#6
VitaminC said:
I don't like using the interval system because I feel It causes me to rely on theory more then my ear which isn't what I want.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. You ARE using your ear when you do this. You're listening to the music, aren't you? So obviously you're still using your ear.

What needs to be understood is that using theory is not a bad thing (why would it be?). The only thing it can do is augment your ears, which is what it's doing here. If you ignore what you can hear through the knowledge of intervals, you're essentially limiting your skills on purpose.

If you can hear the intervals, USE THAT SKILL. Your ear is coming along, and theory is only helping you.
 
#10
Why limit yourself music theory and good pitch go hand and hand each song u listen to is played in a certain key or keys, being able to identify the key the song is in will limit the the note selection and will save u a lot of time, if it is guess and check like u say u are making mindless guesses right now why not better ur chances with educated guesses it is only going to benefit and save u time in the long run... And interval ear training is the most effective way to attain good pitch it is essential that u listen to the different tones in the distances between notes and inbed that into ur brain.
 
#11
VitaminC said:
Mod's please move this if it is in the wrong section.

I am having difficulty learning songs by ear. I can learn real simple things like "I, IV, V" no problem but I am having trouble learn things like walks and more advance things. I do know my intervals well too. I can't use the interval system to learn songs because I just don't like doing it that way. I use the guess and check system and intervals when I can hear them without thinking about it. I don't like using the interval system because I feel It causes me to rely on theory more then my ear which isn't what I want.

I am curious if you guys have any advice that would help a newbie out?
Click to expand...

When you learned English, someone pointed at a cat and said "Cat" and then you pointed at a dog and said "Cat" and they corrected you until you learned the difference between a dog and a cat.

Now you know what a Cat is "without thinking about it" but at some point you had to think about it.

Why do you think your musical training should be any different from how you learned to English?

I play an interval and you say "fourth" and I say "no, fifth." Why wouldn't you want to learn intervals? Why wouldn't you want to learn the vocabulary of the language you're choosing to speak?
 
#12
intervals are the foundation of my particular style of playing. developing an excellent relative pitch relies on knowing by ear the distance between two notes. i like to refer to intervals as chord fragments because that is what they are ; partial chords. everything i play involves these fragments in some way.
a good way to develop your ear is try to figure out progressions when you hear the radio, t.v. jingles etc. try to make a guess of the key and what chord progression it is.
deductive reasoning does come into play for me; when i hear something that sounds melodic and simple and is pleasing to the ears, i can be sure that it probably stays within a 1 4 5 pattern of some sort with maybe a relative minor.
if a song has some tension and dissonance in it, it probably has tritones within it, diminished chords, perhaps an unusual key change. i always try to figure out these things in my head when there is no guitar around. i have developed my relative pitch very well because of looking at theses situations as i mentioned.
 
#13
Making associations between intervals and songs is a good trick to memorize how each interval (re)sound. You might be interested to check out Invalid Link Removed. It's a page where you can compile custom-made lists of songs that you can use for interval ear training. After selecting the songs you want to use, you get a printer-friendly chart that can come quite handy for daily practice :)
 
#14
"I can't use the interval system to learn songs because I just don't like doing it that way."

Don't mean to be harsh, but I suspect that it's not that you "can't" use the interval system, it's that you don't "want" to use the interval system because you don't want to expend effort to learn something new.

Reality is a bitch.
 

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