s Online Lessons - Ear Training

Ear Training - Play by Ear

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Ear Training - Play by Ear (index.shtml) | Updated: 21-Jul-2008 - 11:26

Ear Training is the development of the active and passive capability to relate to music aurally. This includes the ability to recognize melodic and harmonic intervals, chords, chords progressions, rhythm, melody and harmony.

WidipediA link

Relative Pitch - The term relative pitch may denote:
1) the distance of a musical note from a set point of reference, e.g. "three octaves above middle C"

2) a musician's ability to identify the intervals between given tones, regardless of their relation to concert pitch (A = 440Hz)

3) the skill used by singers to correctly sing a melody, following musical notation, by pitching each note in the melody according to its distance from the previous note. Alternatively, the same skill which allows someone to hear a melody for the first time and name the notes relative to some known starting pitch.

WidipediA link

Playing by ear

Before talking about playing by ear. One needs to understand what is commonly called ear training. As the WikipediA definition for Ear Training mentioned, ear training has an active and passive roll.

Passive Ear Training

Passive ear training is the ability to recognize and name intervals, chords, chord progressions, melodic sequences, rhythm, etc... An example of passive ear training would be if someone played the first two notes of the song "Here Comes the Bride" you can recognize them as an interval of a perfect fourth.

Here are some famous ASCENDING intervals:

  • Unison: Happy Birthday To You
  • Minor second: Theme from Jaws (movie), Pink Panther
  • Major Second: Frere Jacques, Do A Dear
  • Minor Third: Brahms' Lullaby, First tow notes of a Blues scale
  • Major Third: Michael Roow Your Boat Ashore, Kum By Ya, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
  • Perfect Fourth: Here Comes the Bride, The Look of Love Auld Lang Syne ("Should Auld...")
  • Tritone: The Simp - sons, Ma ri a, from West Side Story
  • Perfect Fifth: Twinkle, Twinkle Litle Star, or Hey There, Georgie Girl
  • Minor Sixth: Black Orpheus, Theme From Love Story, Scott Joplin's The Entertainer (Main theme after the intro)
  • Major Sixth: My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean, or the N B C theme
  • Minor Seventh: There's a Place For Us, from West Side Story
  • Octave: Hi Ho Hi Ho, Some where Over the Rainbow

Here are some famous DESCENDING intervals:

  • Minor second: Joy to the World, Jingle Bell Rock
  • Major Second: Threee BLind Mice
  • Minor Third: Camptown Races, This Old Man, Misty, Start Spangled Banner
  • Major Third: Beethoven's 5th (G G G Eb), Summertime
  • Perfect Fourth: Old MacDonald, Frere Jacques ("Ding Dang Dong..."), When Johnny Comes Marching Home, I've Been Working on the Railroad
  • Tritone: The Simp - sons, Ma ri a, from West Side Story
  • Perfect Fifth: Feelings, Have You Meet Miss Jones, Flintstones Theme (Flint stones meet the ...
  • Minor Sixth: Your Everything
  • Major Sixth: Crazy
  • Minor Seventh: Watermelon Man
  • Octave: Hi Ho Hi Ho, Some where Over the Rainbow, Crazy (2nd line "I'm crazy..."

Active Ear Training

Active ear training is the ability to reproduce intervals, chords, chord progressions, melodic sequences, rhythm, etc... An example of active ear training would be to play the first two notes of the song "Here Comes the Bride" anywhere on your instrument or sing that interval (in tune).

Where the Ear Fits In - (Ear, Hands, Brain)

The hands are the weakest link in the Ear to Hands to Brain combination that is used to play music (by ear) and the hands need to be trained to follow the ear. It is the hands training that takes the longest.

The ear can remember stuff after ONE time hearing it. The Brain two or three and the hands to develop the muscle memory take about a few hundred times. How else can we recognize melodies after hear it once?

When practicing you should be doing stuff to train the hands to follow the ear. That is the sequence for developing this connection:

Brain to Hands to Ear

The Brain tells the Hands what to play and the Ear listens. DON'T practice by ear. Have a plan and organization of the material you would like to cover.

Practicing your scales in intervals of 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, etc... Some more common than other for melodies. Practice both ascending and descending. I would go with 2nds, 3rds, and 6ths first.

When performing or "Playing by Ear" the sequence is:

Ear to Hands to Brain

Ear tells the Hands what play and you can involve the Brain if needed or wanted after the fact.

The hands will not do anything they have not done before.

So to be able to play by ear it is either:

1) Hunt and Peck enough to train the ear or

2) Have a plan (brain) to tell the hands what to do, thus making the hands to the ear connection quicker. This plan thing is the hardest to do and where a teacher can really help. And, if you've had bad experiences with teachers don't give up on them just bail and try another. Typically jazz musicians will be the best teachers in the playing by ear department. Remember playing by ear does not mean practicing by ear.

Here is an example. The first two notes of "Here Comes the Bride" are a perfect fourth. Try putting any finger on any note of the uke and then play the second note of "Here Comes..." - correct the first time. If you can't the fingers have not been trained enough to "Play by Ear", to obey the hands for that particular interval.. This is then where the brain can come in and know how to play an interval of a perfect fourth and train the hands to follow the ear.

Same goes for chords, chord progressions, melodies, rhythms.

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Curt Sheller is the author of over 30 books on guitar, ukulele and music. A jazz guitarist and educator with over 40 years playing experience and 20 years teaching. Curt's JazzGuitarResources.com and UkuleleResources.com web sites are considered the top resource for jazz guitarists and ukulele players. Get a FREE subscription to Curt's newsletter.

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Online Lessons - Ear Training (index.shtml) | Updated: 2008 Jul 21 - 11:26

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