Well, after about 6 months of just guitar and theory, I've decided to start ear training lessons. I went to RicciAdams theory site (which is just excellent) and took the little trainers they had. II was getting very low scores on them. I got an interval mnemonic chart on wikipedia, but a lot of the one I'm not familiar with. So, can anyone suggest some more to the list? I know rock, prog and stuff.
Also, How long would it take for me to develop decent relative pitch? I probably practice for an hour or so a night and I have pretty decent memory.
Ibanez RG3EXFM1
INstead of having mnemotecnics with unfamiliar songs, the trick is that you find the intervals in the fretboard and try to grasp them: you will start recognizing your familiar tunes.
Anyway I'd recommend David' s 'Happy New Ear' article. It will help with some tips.
The key, I believe, to utilizing Ricci Adam's trainers is starting off with two intervals, and add aditional ones as your ear improves.
That's what I do. I do minor and major 3rds but I still do pretty bad. About 60-70%.
Ibanez RG3EXFM1
How do you set it so that only a few intervals play?
I am now pretty much able to figure out intervals if I have a guitar. I hear the 1st note .I play it on my guitar. I hear the second note. I play it on my guitar. Then I just go up the major scale from the first note to the second note.
I don't know how to do it without my guitar though. I have to take a test and I doubt they will let me use my guitar. How do i figure it out without a guitar? i guess I just have to sing it in my head during the test. Or is there another way? because singing in my head isn't easy for me.
How do you set it so that only a few intervals play?
There's check marks by the names of the intervals.
Well, I can hear a major scale in my head since that's the one that just comes natural to most people, but hearing it out of context is still a bit weird to me.
Ibanez RG3EXFM1
Start with two very different intervals. There's no point in starting with major and minor thirds. Start with unison and perfect fifth. Then add the octave. Then add the major third. Now you have all the intervals of a major chord. Add the major 2nd, then the major 7th, major 4th and major 6th. Now you've got all the intervals of a major scale. Add one interval each day, practic 15-30 minutes a day. If your score drops below 80% after 20 intervals go back a step. Spend the second week getting this to +95. Then add the remaining intervals and only practice the new one plus the surrounding intervals. So if just enable major 2nd, minor third and major third if you want to practice the minor third. If it works, add all the other intervals you know.
Within a month you'll have them all down. Remember to stay concentrated and focussed. If you can't at any given time just quit and come back later.
Sounds like a good plan. I just did 100 intervals and got 90% right but that is with using my guitar. I didn't leave any of the intervals out. I would fail miserably if i didn't have my guitar in front of me, but I will work on it. I'm just dependent on my guitar. I also play the interval a bunch of times. I want to get it to where I can play it once or twice because at my test they will only play it twice and then move on to the next interval.
The way you're practicing is just increasing your skill of identifying a unison. If you don't listen to the sound of the interval you can spend months just matching the individual notes without any real progress at all. Trust me, been there, done that. :lol: On the test you'll probably hear an interval and see one note written down, you'll have to add the second. It doesn't matter at all what the first note is, it's about the sound of the interval, whether it's C-E or G-B.
A good way to practice with your guitar is by playing a note, singing it, playing the second and sing it again. After a while, sing at the same time as you play the second note. If it works, sing the second note and then play to see if it's right. Then just pick a note, sing another note and find that second note. It'll do wonders for your improvisations.
Thanks for your advise. I will take it. I did the interval trainer with unisons and perfect 5ths and that was very easy for me to tell the difference and this time i was just listening and not using my guitar. Then I added the octave. I did 200 intervals and got 88%. Then my ear started making a weird fluttering feeling so I stopped. I noticed that it is harder for me to tell if its an octave or a perfect fifth if the notes are out of my singing range.
I appreciate your help.
Start with two very different intervals. There's no point in starting with major and minor thirds. Start with unison and perfect fifth. Then add the octave. Then add the major third. Now you have all the intervals of a major chord. Add the major 2nd, then the major 7th, major 4th and major 6th. Now you've got all the intervals of a major scale. Add one interval each day, practic 15-30 minutes a day. If your score drops below 80% after 20 intervals go back a step. Spend the second week getting this to +95. Then add the remaining intervals and only practice the new one plus the surrounding intervals. So if just enable major 2nd, minor third and major third if you want to practice the minor third. If it works, add all the other intervals you know.
Within a month you'll have them all down. Remember to stay concentrated and focussed. If you can't at any given time just quit and come back later.
I haven't got the chance to do this with school and stuff, but I have this entire post copied and pasted into a text file on my desktop whenever I can do it. Thank you for the info. It seems you've learned a lot from trial and error? :wink:
Ibanez RG3EXFM1
Heh, you bet. Think of the most stupid thing you could possibly do and I promise I already tried it. :lol:
