I've been working through the ear training lessons and I'm running into a brick wall. I've been able to pick out the melody lines and key signatures of the songs I've been working on but figuring out the chords is making me crazy.
It could be the genre I'm working with doesn't follow the "rules" David suggested in the lessons. I'm working on Celtic folk music and some other esoteic stuff that isn't readily avalable in TAB form. Most of the recordings I'm working from the guitar is buried in the background or not used at all.
Help!, sugestions?
I may be going to hell in a bucket but at least I'm enjoying the ride. (Jerry Garcea)
You're probably doing this already, but when you listen to a piece, only lisen to the highest/lowest note in the chord, then work down, until you have the whole chord. Also, by looking at other notation in the piece, you'll get a 'feel' for how the music is written, and find the characteristics of the piece, thus mnaking it easier to determine chords. :)
Somnium Dulcis.
Celtic is going to be especially tough, because so much of the guitar work is done in altered tunings.
I teach ear training as part of guitar lessons, beginning with dominant chords. Record a bunch of random chords - major, minor, dominant to begin with. Then put the tape away for a week so you forget which chord is where... then see if you can pick out the dominant chords.
After that, separare the major and minor ones. Then go for other colors - major and minor sevenths, etc.
Listen for chord quality first. If you try to pick out a chord a note at a time, it can take forever... nail the chord type, and you've dramatically narrowed the field. Once you've got quality, then go for the bass line - if you can get that, you know your G7 from your Em7, and all that's left is figuring out the voicing being played.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
I teach ear training as part of guitar lessons, beginning with dominant chords. Record a bunch of random chords - major, minor, dominant to begin with. Then put the tape away for a week so you forget which chord is where... then see if you can pick out the dominant chords.
Great tip, but a more modern version:
record the tape to MP3 files. Load the files in winamp, set it to shuffle mode, and hide the playlist. Now you have no idea which chord is where since it is constantly random. You can even set it to allow winamp to play the same chord twice by chance.
Great tips guys, but I think what I'll end up doing is sitting down and just improvising something that sounds "right". I have one version of chords for the main song I've been working on but they just don't sound right to me. I believe the chords are for an arangement in a different key that what I'm working in. I'm working in G and the chord progression I have is
Bm-Em-G-D-Bm-G-A-G-F#m-G-Bm-D-Bm-Em-A-D
Just dosen't sound right.
I guess this is what I get for trying to work from a recording that didn't use a guitar to begin with.
I may be going to hell in a bucket but at least I'm enjoying the ride. (Jerry Garcea)
