Category: Playing By Ear

You might think you’re hopeless at playing by ear, but this lesson is well worth persevering with:
Ear Training - From the mind to the fretboard…
“The key to developing a good ear is to come up with your own meaningful associations. You need to make it real. One of the best approaches is to associate each interval with a familiar tune. For instance, when I hear a major 3rd, I think of the “Star Spangled Banner”. At the beginning, the words “say can” are a major 3rd apart. Likewise, I have a unique association for the perfect 5th. I think “Top Gun”. Remember that really nice, melodic guitar instrumental in that movie? The one played by Steve Stevens? Those first two notes are a perfect 5th apart. “Star Wars” may be more familiar. The first two notes of that famous theme are also a perfect 5th apart. So you get the point. Each interval needs to be personal for you. They need to evoke a response.
When you are correctly identifying a majority of the simple intervals, it is time to move on to more difficult exercises. Ultimately, you want to end up at the “chromatic intervals up/down” exercises, which you will see after clicking the “Intervals” link. Furthermore, you should deselect the “fixed root” option, so that you become accustomed to identifying intervals accross a wide tonal range.”
Ear Trainer

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