I've been a devoted follower/participant of guitarnoise for about 3 years and have found it very useful. Yes, there are ear training exercises and I've tried them.
I began learning guitar from some old cowboys who had all the time in the world to help me with it. I'm not sure if they knew how to read music but I never saw them follow sheet music. I'd choose a song I'd want to do and they'd listen to it and tell me what they were hearing. That's an amazing skill.
Alone it's so frustrating jumping all over the fretboard trying to match up tones or notes let alone chords with what I'm hearing in a recording. I'm also trying to listen for picking patterns or chord progressions or playing style.
I've heard that this is why many musicians only write their own material and don't do covers.
Without paying a month's rent to a teacher every month what are the other options?
Also, what are the definitions of: minutage and score material?
Cheers! :?: :arrow: :idea:
Portamento - The ability to move from a wrong note to the right one without anyone noticing the original mistake.
Harmonics - The buzzing sound that string instruments make.
Impromptu - A carefully worked out composition.
Developing your ears is a frustrating thing, but it's worth it in the end. The more you do it, the better you get at it.
Start with chords. Record a bunch of simple chords - majors, minors, sevenths. Put it aside for a few days until you've forgotten what order you did them in, and then give it a listen... just try to identify the chord quality. You'll probably find your ears are a lot better than you think!
The real leap of faith is in knowing you can nail that seventh chord sound (or any other sound) when you hear it. Then you can start figuring out what chord it goes to - is it down a fifth, down a second, or some other change? You can record some common cadences and try figuring out where it's going - listen for the high notes, they're a big clue to the chord forms - at least for my ears.
The next problem is relative vs. perfect pitch. After 30 years, I can pretty well nail open chord changes from the sound of them.... but barre chords? I haven't a clue. So if I think it's A7, I'll try that... and if it's too high/low, I'll adjust. Once I have the first chord down, then I trust my ears, and it usually works out ok after a listen or two.
The worst thing about figuring out a picking pattern is usually the speed at which it's played. Just try to figure out if the second note is higher or lower than the first... then if the third note is higher or lower than the second... finally, is the third note above or below that first one? You're not trying to get the exact notes - you'll work with chord shapes for that. You're just trying to figure out what strings might be used.
Also, try to spend some time playing melodies you've heard - anything from Happy Birthday to a TV theme song. The more you strengthen the mind-ears-fingers connection, the easier it gets.
I've reached the point where I can get a simple tune in one listen, an 'intermediate' tune in a couple if I'm familiar with the genre, and a difficult one in anywhere from an hour to a couple days... but that's after 30 years of working at it. It doesn't come quickly (or easily), but it does come if you keep at it.
Oh, and if the guitar teachers where you live get a month's rent from each student each month, I'm moving! :)
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
LOL! Thanks Tom for the directions :)
Portamento - The ability to move from a wrong note to the right one without anyone noticing the original mistake.
Harmonics - The buzzing sound that string instruments make.
Impromptu - A carefully worked out composition.
Teaching ear training has always been very frustrating to me. Being self taught, it just seemed to come naturally to me very early on even before I could read music or knew the names of the notes.
Ear training exercises obviously help. The progress is slow though and people tend to not even know they are getting better so many will stop doing them. But you can definately tell the difference between the ones who stick with it and the ones who don't.
But I noticed that my students that were the best at picking up tunes and recognising notes and chords by ear were the ones that had friends that they would jam with often. I think playing with other people helps you develop your ear. Don't know why but it seems to work. Maybe the embarrassment of hitting the wrong notes in front of other people makes them learn quicker. Whatever the reason, It works. So my advice is to jam with others as much as possible. And stick with the ear exercises like the ones NoteBoat outlined.
Thanks Hairball. I was devoted to going out to the open stages, music circles, etc and sharing songs/jamming with others but lately I've fallen away from that. At this time where I live it's hibernating bear season with mountains of snow around us. In summer I perform at gigs in the hot weather. Guitar strings go wangy in the damp, cold weather. There's so many obstacles to getting together with people to jam so it just gets put off.
Getting on stage with unfamiliar accompaniment isn't so great either....scratchy out of pace sounds....and I feel bad for the audience that has to hear it. I'll definitely try taping chords and listening for cadences, etc. I've been listening to Eva Cassidy's versions of "Over the Rainbow" and "Autumn Leaves." She plays a similar style in all her songs. I just can't pick up the chord progression or if she's using a capo even. I have song sheets for both of these songs but she must be in a different key. I've been working on this for awhile and just can't hear it.
Portamento - The ability to move from a wrong note to the right one without anyone noticing the original mistake.
Harmonics - The buzzing sound that string instruments make.
Impromptu - A carefully worked out composition.
