Tell me about your ear skills!

[Shenron]

I have conflicting opinions on my own ear skills...

First the good part.

Generally speaking I think I've always been quite good at transcribing by ear, note-by-note. Already when I was a beginner guitarist (long ago) my guitar teacher was impressed that I was able to transcribe guitar pieces like Yes' Mood for a Day in a couple of hours at most. I regularly use Rocksmith to try out new songs on bass, and I can generally spot mistakes on bass transcriptions in custom-made songs on the first or second play at most. Yesterday I surprised myself when I checked my guitar's octaves, which I have had the feeling for years they needed an adjustment: I first checked by ears by comparing the pitch of 12 frets vs half-string harmonics and concluded in a matter of seconds that the low E and A string were too low and high E was to high, then checked with a digital tuner which told me I was right and those strings were off-pitch by the smallest possible deviation the tuner could register.

Now enough bragging and let's move to the bad part.

I can't for the sake of me learn to recognize chords and intervals by ears I have always been bad at this, so in the last couple of years I have been practicing every now and then with some ear training apps but I don't seem to make any progress. I improved a little only in recognising intervals when they are played as separate notes, but not when played as 2 simultaneous notes, and even worse with chords. I am ashamed that I even mistake minor with major chords, and constantly mix up 7th chords... a monkey choosing randomly would be only slightly more often wrong than me . These apps are already the best tool I can think about, as they can play intervals and chords for you to identify, and you can narrow down the options to keep it simpler (like 2 chords only to choose from), so I don't know what else I can do.

What is your own situation with ear skills, and what have you successfully used to improve them?

 

[LiptonJigglers]

They keep my glasses in place, and I can wiggle them individually or together...

 

[5StringBlues]

I've become pretty good at growing hair out of mine.

 

[J Wilson]

This is the hard part of playing any 'single note' instrument, bass, trumpet, etc. Over time your ears latch on to the intervals from one note to the next, but since you can't play any chords, it can be very hard to hear those same intervals stacked in chords.

I avoided this as I was a classically trained piano player as a kid, so I went from a lot of chords to one-note-at-a-time, opposite to your situation.

My best advice would be to buy just a very basic, inexpensive keyboard where you can make the chords yourself and get used to what they sound like. You can also learn about the inversions, sus chords, etc.

You don't have to practice up to play tunes, just to get the basics of what chords look and sound like. You know your intervals, you just need to learn what they sound like assembled in harmony.

Plus keyboards simplify things in that the notes are linear in a straight line, and for instance A440 is right THERE only, not like our basses with the string tuning offsets where you can often play the same notes in several locations on the different strings.

 

[Shenron]

I can wiggle them individually or together...

OMG... you can??

 

[Bass Motifs]

Agree with keyboard. I was trying to play something on bass a couple of days ago, and wasn't hearing it. Yet I go over to the piano and just play it. Go figure.

I accept I have musical limitations. I can't sing harmony and I'm not the sharpest ear on the block (or flattest, yuk yuk). Have to work with what you've got. Use all tools. Experience and cunning beats raw talent. Be happy. We all have music in us.

I watched tonight a VHS of when I started playing bass 30+ years ago. Showed my wife who'd never seen it, thinking it would be rubbish. It wasn't, and I was trying to remember how I did some of that. So dont be too hard on yourself. There will always be someone better than you, and a lot who are worse. Keep improving, and you'll just build up by experience what some others hear more easily.

 

[mambo4]

I can't for the sake of me learn to recognize chords and intervals by ears

I took a ear training test for my music theory class in college, back in nineteen diggity five
I got most of the 12 intervals, and minor/major/diminished/augmented triads - not inversions!

I would guess my interval/ chord recognition is similar to what it was
- if they are played in isolation, with no context, like that test.

But what has changed since then, and what has made a far greater impact on my ability to play by ear- is the ability to recognize chord progressions I by ear. What I mean is recognizing them as functional harmony - the roman numeral stuff. I may not know your version of Stand by Me is A - F#min - D - E, But I'll know it's a I-iv-IV-V progression on hearing it. I'll also know it's almost the same as Rhyhtm Changes or Every Breath You Take.

I have found that ear training common chord progressions is both easier and more useful than intervals or harmony in isolation. So powerful in fact that I am amazed that it was not part of my theory classes in college. Having a guitar or keyboard handy is helpful for such learning.

 

[LeeNunn]

+1 on getting a keyboard. I prefer understanding the chord progression before I analyze the bass line. The chords provide context for the bass line.

You might consider iReal Pro if you don't already have it. Use your keyboard to figure out the chords without looking at the chart. You have the chart to check your work.

 

[onda'bass]

singing is the key. sing the chords, use your ear not a piano ect... sing against a single note, hear the harmony against the root. do this for a few years and you'll be good lol

 

[bigthemat]

... I have been practicing every now and then ...

There's your problem. When I was in my first year at music college, I went from a big fish in a little pond to being a tiny guppy in a huuuuuge ocean lol. I thought I knew music but man was I humbled. Theory and ear training was especially difficult for me. Luckily my profs were amazing, and my theory prof worked with me out of class a couple hours a week going over concepts and stuff, one on one, until one day it clicked. It was hard work, I spent hours every day practicing my sight singing, singing and reinforcing intervals at the piano, using sites like musictheory.net to listen to chord progressions and dictate them, etc. It was not a passive thing, but lots of hard work to do well at college.

That was like 20 years ago. My ears are much better, but, I still struggle with chord recognition especially when it's from a guitar with dirt lol. I can pick out the root notes easily, but whether it was a min 7 sharp 9 or whatever it's hard on the fly.

But, it's something you really gotta practice if you want to get better. It's a very different skill from playing, different parts of the brain or whatever. Spend 20-30 minutes a day working on stuff, and you'll start seeing an improvement.

 

[mambo4]

+1 to singing it. You can't sing what you can't hear.

 

[JRA]

What is your own situation with ear skills, and what have you successfully used to improve them?

i've always had good relative pitch skills and i've played and transcribed a lot of jazz, so i'd say that it has been my experience in the trenches + access to a piano since i was a kid, that has helped me with a bunch of "ear skills."

and i'm with everyone who'd recommend that all musicians have access to a piano (a keyboard).

 

[RattleSnack]

About fifteen or twenty years ago, I had weekly private music lessons, for two years.
I cannot stress enough how helpful this has been for my musicianship. My teacher spent time working with me on musical theory, reading notes and writing notes through harmony exercises, solfeggio (singing and recognizing intervals and chords) and so on. Basically, everything you work on through elementary and middle music school education, except playing the instrument of choice.
This is what would help you most! Best choice for a teacher is real life teacher from public music school, that is willing to give you private lessons. Any time, energy and money you invest in these lessons will be invaluable for your music development.

 

[backin82]

I took a ear training test for my music theory class in college, back in nineteen diggity five
I got most of the 12 intervals, and minor/major/diminished/augmented triads - not inversions!

I would guess my interval/ chord recognition is similar to what it was
- if they are played in isolation, with no context, like that test.

But what has changed since then, and what has made a far greater impact on my ability to play by ear- is the ability to recognize chord progressions I by ear. What I mean is recognizing them as functional harmony - the roman numeral stuff. I may not know your version of Stand by Me is A - F#min - D - E, But I'll know it's a I-iv-IV-V progression on hearing it. I'll also know it's almost the same as Rhyhtm Changes or Every Breath You Take.

I have found that ear training common chord progressions is both easier and more useful than intervals or harmony in isolation. So powerful in fact that I am amazed that it was not part of my theory classes in college. Having a guitar or keyboard handy is helpful for such learning.

This, right here. There are various ways to achieve this level of proficiency, but it CAN be learned. Once learned, music becomes more of a spoken language conversation instead of reading a book or following a recipe.

I did sight singing and ear training in college and music theory, which were both helpful, individual pieces to the puzzle.

What made it practical is that I played at a very charismatic church that would do hour+ long worship sets and only about 15 mins of that was rehearsed; the rest was improvised. I had to either learn to follow progressions by ear or not play. You catch on pretty quickly when forced to!

 

[Killing Floor]

I can name a pitch when the elevator dings or a car honks if that’s what you’re asking. Chords are tough because if you look you can’t always tell the tuning so that may not help and there are so many variants of an A, for example. Especially on pianos or even guitars. And if you’re objective sometimes even the printed score isn’t 100% to every variation.

Throw a dart if you have to and then you’ll be able to tell when you need to shift a finger to get it right.

 

[bassbrad]

I have pretty good relative pitch but I need a starting place or key reference to put everything into order, otherwise I am lost until I find an anchor.

 

[rickster4003]

I've learned that I am bass deaf. I have played bass for many years and cannot discriminate notes on E and A string. It took a lot of years to realize this. I taught myself some violin and have no problem with notes. On bass it just sounds like monotone dum dum dum. It is quite frustrating to learn songs, thank goodness for tabs and YouTube!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have conflicting opinions on my own ear skills...

First the good part.

Generally speaking I think I've always been quite good at transcribing by ear, note-by-note. Already when I was a beginner guitarist (long ago) my guitar teacher was impressed that I was able to transcribe guitar pieces like Yes' Mood for a Day in a couple of hours at most. I regularly use Rocksmith to try out new songs on bass, and I can generally spot mistakes on bass transcriptions in custom-made songs on the first or second play at most. Yesterday I surprised myself when I checked my guitar's octaves, which I have had the feeling for years they needed an adjustment: I first checked by ears by comparing the pitch of 12 frets vs half-string harmonics and concluded in a matter of seconds that the low E and A string were too low and high E was to high, then checked with a digital tuner which told me I was right and those strings were off-pitch by the smallest possible deviation the tuner could register.

Now enough bragging and let's move to the bad part.

I can't for the sake of me learn to recognize chords and intervals by ears I have always been bad at this, so in the last couple of years I have been practicing every now and then with some ear training apps but I don't seem to make any progress. I improved a little only in recognising intervals when they are played as separate notes, but not when played as 2 simultaneous notes, and even worse with chords. I am ashamed that I even mistake minor with major chords, and constantly mix up 7th chords... a monkey choosing randomly would be only slightly more often wrong than me . These apps are already the best tool I can think about, as they can play intervals and chords for you to identify, and you can narrow down the options to keep it simpler (like 2 chords only to choose from), so I don't know what else I can do.

What is your own situation with ear skills, and what have you successfully used to improve them?

I have pretty good relative pitch. I've been around horn players most of my life, so boy, can I pick out a Bb out of the weeds! LOL!!!

For chords it's little more work, but, I always start at root, and go from there. BTW, I absolutely hated dictation in Music theory classes, but it's has served me in good stead over the years.

 

[Nedmundo]

After a few years playing guitar and a semester of music theory in college, my chord recognition was pretty good for a basic rock and roller, but after nine years off, and then playing bass almost exclusively, my chord recognition has deteriorated. I can still recognize many basic chords fairly easily, but that's about it.

However, my ear for figuring out chords on guitar has improved. So, while I may not recognize a chord immediately, I can often figure it out with a little effort.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I've become pretty good at growing hair out of mine.

Yes, what is with that. My hair on my head is thinning, but the hair in my ears and on my back are nice and thick.
Seriously though, I can hear a song when I'm out or in the car driving and several hours later, I can figure it out in the proper key.