EarTraining 1

EarTraining
1 0 M i n u t e s a D a y T o A G r e a t E a r !
BobMurnahan

EarTraing1163/24/1011:13PM[Typetext] 1

 Introduction
Thisreportisspecial.
Hereswhy:Onitspagesyouwillfindadetailedbreakdownofapotentprocessto
trainyourear.Andthebestpartisthatyoucanusefreeresourcesreadilyavailable
ontheInternet.
Inmyopinion,agoodearisthemostpowerfultoolavailabletousasmusicians,yet
forguitaristsithasturnedintothemostneglectedaspectofourmusicaltraining.
Afterall,welistentomusic.
Butwelearntheguitarbyusingvisualdevices.Howmuchsensedoesthatmake?
Anditonlyseemstobegettingworse.

Backinthedaytherewerenotranscriptionsavailable.Welearnedbyhangingout
withotherplayersandspendinghoursandhourslisteningtorecordsandtapesto
figureoutthemusicwewantedtoplay.
Whentranscriptionsfirststartedtoappeartheywerewritteninstandardnotation.
Thentablaturecamealongandwewereofftotheraces.
Teachersandstudentshadanewtooltospeedupthelearningprocess.Tabmade
thingsavailablethatwerenotavailablebefore.Butintheprocessofusingtab
trainingtheearbecameaforgottenprocess.
Ioftenintentionallypostlessonswithouttabwiththehopeofgettingstudentsto
usetheirearsandwithinashortperiodoftimetherequestsstartpouringin.Doyou
havethetabforthis?Somearesoparalyzedthattheywonteventrywithouttab.
Evenifyoutrytoworksomethingoutwithouttabandfailmiserablysomething
magicstartstohappen.Eachtimetheearstartstogetabitstronger.Soonyoustart
torecognizesoundsthewayyourecognizecolor.Awholenewworldopensup.
Youwillbeabletofigureoutthechordstosongswhileyouaredrivinginthecar.
Youwillhearlicksandknowexactlywhatwasplayed.Youwillearalickinyour
headandknowhowtoplayitonyourguitar.Wouldthatmakeadifferenceinyour
abilitiesasamusician?
KeepinmindthatanythingworthwhilerequiressomeeffortbutIpromiseyouthat
ifyoufollowthismethoditwillpaybigdividends.Andthebestpartisthatyou
shouldbeabletocompleteyoureartrainingexercisesinabout10minutesperday.

Also,beawarethatthereisacauseandeffectineverythingweso.Thereisadelay
betweenthecauseandeffectbutweliveinaninstantgratificationsociety.Persist
eventhoughitmayappearonthesurfacethatnothingishappening.

Romewasnotbuiltinaday

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 The Two Types Of Ear Training
Asweworkthroughthisreportwewillbecoveringtotypesofeartraining,melodic
andharmonic.

Verysimply,melodiceartrainingconsistsofbeingabletorecognizewhatsoundis
happeningwhennotesareplayedoneaftertheother.Harmoniceartrainingoccurs
whentwoormorenotesareplayedsimultaneously.
Harmonicrecognitionallowsyoutoidentifychords.Aretheymajororminor.
Dominant7thordiminished,etc?Ifyoudontknowwhatthosenamesrefertowe
willbecoveringthataswell.

Eachsectionwillstartwithmelodiceartrainingandthenmovetoharmonic.Also,
soundswillbeintroducedslowlysothatyouarenotconfusedandtheearhastime
tolearnandabsorbnewsounds.

The Daily Routine

Eachdayyouwillfollowasimpleroutinetotrainyourear.Youwillonlyneedto
spendaround10minutesadaytobenefitfromtheexercises.Hereisthedailydrill.

Playtheselected Step2 Moveforward

soundandsing whenyoucan
Dothepractice
along. consistentlyscore
sessionsonthe
90%orhigher.
internet.

Step1 Step3

Ireallyhopeyougetexcitedaboutthisandtakethetimetofollowthrough.The
payoffwillbemassive.

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 Some Basic Theory
Beforewecangetstartedwehavetocoversomebasictheory,morespecifically,
intervals.Anintervalissimplythedistancebetweentwonotes.

LookattheCmajorscale.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

Asyoucanseethereare8notes.Thedistancebetweeneachnote,startingwith
number1isaninterval.

From Interval
11(CC) PerfectPrime(Unison)
12(CD) Major2nd
13(CE) Major3rd
14(CF) Perfect4th
15(CG) Perfect5th
16(CA) Major6th
17(CB) Major7th
18(CC) PerfectOctave

Noticethattheunison,4th,5thandoctavearecalledperfectintervalswhilethe2nd,
3rd,6th,and7thareknownasmajor.Asyoumighthavealreadyguessedthereare
intervalswithothernameslikeminor,diminishedandaugmented.Iwilldiscuss
thoseasneeded.
Andyoumighthavealreadyfiguredoutthattheletternameswillchangeifyouare
inadifferentkeylikeGorBb,etc.YoucanreadthemusictheoryreportIgaveyou
formoredetailonthis.
Keepinmindthatthesenamesarejustlabelstohelpyoukeeptrackofthingsand
areusefulwhendiscussingideaswithothermusicians.Themostimportantthingto
rememberisthattheyaresoundsthatyoucantrainyoureartohearandremember
justlikeyoureyescandetectcolor.
Itreallyisquiteathrillwhenyouarelisteningtomusicandthesesoundsstartto
jumpoutatyouandyouinstantlyknowwhattheyare.Awholenewmusicalworld
waitsifyouarewillingtoputforththeeffort.

Ihatetokeepharpingonthisbutthesadfactofthematteristhatmostpeoplethat
buyareportorbooklikethisonerarelyifeverusethematerial.Pleasedontbeone
ofthem.

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 Getting Started: Fourths and Fifths
Thetimehascometofinallygetstartedwithsomeactualeartraining.Wearegoing
tostartwith4thsand5ths.Wewillstartwithtwosoundstogivetheearsomething
tocompare.Wewillthenaddnewsoundsoneortwoatatime.
StepOne:Playtheintervalsonyourguitarandsingthem
NowIdontcareifyouhaveavoicelikeabullfrog.Singingtheseintervalsisthe
fastestandbestwaytoreallyingraintheminyourear.
Youshouldalwayssingtheintervalsinbothdirections,ascendinganddescending.

Youcansingtheminachromaticfashion(movinguponefretatatime)likethe
followingexample.

FourthsChromatically

Youcansingthemrandomlylikethis.
FourthsMixed

ImportantnoteYouwillhavetoadjustthepitchoftheintervalstomatchyourvoice.
Onlygoashighoraslowasyouarecomfortable.
Thecoolthingaboutintervalsontheguitaristhattheshapesremainconstantas
longasyoustayawayfromthe3rdand2ndstrings.Infact,whentuningtheguitarthe

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intervalbetweenthestringsisaperfect4thbutswitchestoamajor3rdbetweenthe
3rdand2ndstrings.
Next,justplaythelowestnoteandsingthehighernoteandthenplaythehigher
noteasachecktoseeifyouwereright.
Finally,playthehigherandsingthelowernote,thenplaythelowernotetoseeif
youwereright.

Allofthisshouldonlytakeafewminutes.Nowitstimetorepeatthesameroutine
using5ths.

FifthsChromatically

FifthsMixed

Whensingingtheintervalstheactualorderistheleastimportantdetail.Theseare
justexamplestogetyougoing.Thegoalistogetthesoundsintoyourear.
StepTwo:PracticeListeningOnTheInternet
Ihaveidentifiedawebsitethatyoucanuseforfreetohelpyoutrainyourear.There
areothersbutthisoneiseasytouseandservesourneedswell.
http://www.learn2hear.org
Thisisagreatsiteforeartraining.Whenyouhitthissiteclickthestarttheear
traininglinkatthebottomoftheoval.

Nextselectintervalspractice.

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Selectcustomfromthebuttonsonthenextpage.
Fortheintervalsmakesureonlythefourthsandfifthsboxesarechecked.Wewill
addinothersoundsasweprogress.
Forregistercheckallthreeboxes,low,middleandhigh.Iprefertohavethetone
lengthlongandunderperformancestartwithsuccessiveupandsuccessivedown
boxeschecked.

FinallycheckOK.
Thesoundswillloadandyouarereadytostart.
Clicktheplayanintervalbuttonandchooseyouranswer.

Practicebothmelodicandharmonicintervals.
Youshouldnotmoveonuntilyoucangetatleast%90onaconsistentbasis.

Adding In The Major Third

Itstimeforanewsound,themajorthird.Asarecaphereistheroutine.
Singtheintervalsinbothdirections,ascendinganddescending.

Singtheminachromaticfashion(movinguponefretatatime).
Singtheminarandomorder.
Next,justplaythelowestnoteandsingthehighernoteandthenplaythehigher
noteasachecktoseeifyouwereright.
Finally,playthehigherandsingthelowernote,thenplaythelowernotetoseeif
youwereright.
MajorThirdsChromatically

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FromthispointonIamonlygoingtogiveyouthetabinachromaticorderasa
demotoshowyouhowtoplaytheintervalsonyourguitar.Youcanmixtheminany
orderyouwantforyourrandomsingingpractice.

More Basic Theory

Weareabouttointroducetheminorthird.Beforewedoabitmoretheoryisin
orderhere.Ifyourecallwenamedtheintervalsfromthefirstnoteofthemajor
scale.Thatgivesusourmajorandperfectintervals.Whatabouttheothersounds?

Takealookatthefollowingchart.

Minor Major Augmented

Downahalfstep <Change> Upahalfstep

Startingwiththemajorinterval,ifyougodownahalfstepitbecomesaminor
interval.So,ifCtoEisamajorthirdtheCtoEbisaminorthird.

Ifyouraiseamajorintervalbyahalfstepthenitbecomesaugmented.CtoEisa
majorthirdsoCtoE#isanaugmentedthird.IsthereanE#?Inthetheoryworldyes
eventhoughE#isthesameasF.
Infact,amajorintervalbecomingaugmentedisanextremelyrareoccurrencesoI
wouldntworrymuchaboutit.Itreallyjustgivesthetheorynutssomethingtotalk
about.

Nowletsexaminetheperfectinterval.

Diminished Perfect Augmented

Downahalfstep <Change> Upahalfstep

Asyoucanseeherewhenraisingtheperfectintervalahalfstepitalsobecomes
augmentedbutwhenyouloweritahalfstepitbecomesdiminished.SoifCtoGisa
perfect5th,CtoGbisadiminishedfifth.CtoGisaperfectfifthandCtoG#isan
augmentedfifth.
Thesenames,augmentedanddiminishedcomeintoplaywithcertainchordtypes,
asyouwillsee.Maybeyouarealreadyfamiliarwithdiminishedandaugmented
chords.Perhapsnowyouarestartingtoseewherethenamescomefromthe
intervals.

The Minor Third

Nowletsthrowtheminorthirdintothemix.Youshouldbefamiliarwiththeroutine
bynowsohereistheminorthirdtab.

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MinorThirdsChromatically

Backtotheinternetonceagainforsomemorelisteningandidentificationpractice.

ThistimeIwanttoselectonlymajorthirdsandminorthirds.Thesetwosoundsare
veryimportantbecausetheyformthebasisofthemajorchordandtheminorchord.

Whenyoucanhearthedifferencebetweenthemajorthirdsandminorthirdsand
consistentlyscore90%orhigheraddtheperfectfourthsandfifthsbackinand
repeat.

Major and Minor Triads

Nowthatwehavegonethroughtheperfectfifthandmajorandminorthirdswe
haveenoughinfotostartlisteningforchords.Tospellchordswehavetoreference
themajorscaleonemoretime:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

Amajortriadconsistsofthefirst,thirdandfifthnoteofthemajorscale.Inthekeyof
CthenoteswouldbeC,EandG.Noticetheintervalsatworkhere.CtoGisaperfect
fifthandCtoEisamajorthird,whichgivesusaCmajorchord.

TomakeaminorchordwehavetoflatthethirdsotheEbecomesanEb.Theminor
triadhasthenotesC,EbandG.Themajorthirdintervalisnowaminorthird
interval.
Atriadbythewayisthesimplestkindofchordandhasthreedifferentnotes.Hence
thenametriad.
Nowitsbacktotheinternetforsomemorelistening.
http://www.learn2hear.org

Thistimeafterreachingthewebpageandclickingthestarttheeartraininglinkyou
willwanttoselectTriads:practice.

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Clickonlythemajorandminorboxesalongwiththeotheroptionsyouwanttowork
withunderregisterandtonelength.
ClickOKandwaitforthesoundstoloadandhaveatit.Learningtohearthe
differencebetweenmajorandminorchordsiseartrainingatthemostbasiclevel
but
itsatthetopofthelistinimportance.

Practicallyeverychordhasthesebasicsoundsasanunderlyingstructure.Thisisa
biggiesobesureandnailthissection.

The Major Sixth

Nowitstimeforthemajorsixth.Onceagainhereistheroutine.
Singtheintervalsinbothdirections,ascendinganddescending.
Singtheminachromaticfashion(movinguponefretatatime).
Singtheminarandomorder.

Next,justplaythelowestnoteandsingthehighernoteandthenplaythehigher
noteasachecktoseeifyouwereright.

Finally,playthehigherandsingthelowernote,thenplaythelowernotetoseeif
youwereright.
Heresthetabtoshowhowtoplaythesixthsonyourguitar.

MajorSixthsChromatically

Remembertoplayandpracticesingingtheminarandomorderaswell.Afteryou
feelcomfortablesingingthemajorsixthsmoveaheadtotheminorsixths.

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MinorSixthsChromatically

Onceagainfollowtheroutineofsingingtheintervals.Worktogetthedifference
betweenthemajorsixthandtheminorsixth.
Nowitsofftotheinternetonceagaintocontinueworkingwiththesixths.

http://www.learn2hear.org
Remembertoselectintervalpracticeandchooseonlythemajorandminorsixth
boxeswiththeappropriateoptions.
Afteryoucanscore90%onaconsistentbasisaddintheprevioussounds.Atthis
pointyoushouldhavethemajorthird,minorthird,perfectfourth,perfectfifth,
minorsixthandmajorsixthboxeschecked.
Thatalsocompleteswhatareknownastheconsonantintervals.Consonant
intervalsaremorepleasingtotheearandrequirenoresolution.Ofcoursethisis
subjectiveanddependsonthecontextinwhichtheintervalsareusedaswell.

Enharmonics
Enharwhat???Enharmonicstheseareintervalsthatsoundthesamebutare
spelleddifferently.Letstakealookattheminorsixthandaugmentedfifth.Asusual
wewillusethemajorscaleasourreferencepoint.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

LookingatthescaleyouseethatCtoAisamajorsixth.Whenyouloweramajor
intervalbyahalfstepitbecomesaminorintervalsoCtoAbisaminorsixth.

Continuingon,CtoGisaperfectfifth.Ifyourecallfromearlierwhenyouraisea
perfectintervalbyahalfstepitbecomesaugmentedsoCtoG#isanaugmented
fifth.

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ThisiswherethetermenharmoniccomesintoplaysinceG#andAbarethesame
note.Theaugmentedfifthandminorsixthsoundthesamebutarespelled
differently.Anotherwaytothinkaboutintervalsisthedistancefromthetonicofthe
scale.AissixnotesupandGisfivenotesup.
Thisisatheorythingandyoucouldsplithairshereandoutofcontextifyouhearda
minorsixthyoucouldalsocallitanaugmentedfifthandstillberight.
Thismostlycomesintoplaywhentalkingaboutchords.Sincechordsaretypically
builtinthirdsandtheformulaforthetriadcontainsthe1,3and5fromthescale,
theaugmentedfifthistheintervalofchoice.

Infact,aCaugmentedtriadhasthenotesC,EandG#.Thisisoneofthefourbasic
triadsthatwewillbeusinginoureartrainingexercises.
Tohelpyougetusedtothesoundoftheaugmentedtriadcheckoutthissite
http://www.iwasdoingallright.com/tools/v2_24/ear_training.aspx
Thisisanothereartrainingsitethatyoumightwanttoexplore.Itdoesnotallow
youtoselecttheanswerslikethesitewehavebeenusingbutitisstillanexcellent
resourceandallowsyoutohaveabitmorecontrolinchoosingwhatyouwantto
hear.

Whenyouarriveatthesitechecktheboxthatsayschordsandthecheckonlythe
augmentedbox.Thiswillgiveyousomepracticelisteningtotheaugmentedchord.
Makesureyoudonthaveanyoftheotherboxescheckedliketheintervalsorthose
soundswillplaytoo.Afteryoufeelcomfortablewiththesoundoftheaugmented
triad(itisverydistinctive)addinthemajorandminorchordsaswell.Youcanalso
dothisathttp://www.learn2hear.orgifyouwanttheoptionofselectingyour
answers.

Dissonant Intervals
Nowitstimetoexplorethedissonantintervals.Dissonantintervalsarethosethat
causetensionanddesiretoberesolvedtoconsonantintervals.Theseincludethe
seconds,seventhsandthetritone,whichisanaugmentedfourth,oradiminished
fifth.
Wearegoingtostartwiththetritone.Forthoseofyouintosomeofthemoreheavy
rocksoundsthisisanintervalthatyouhaveheardmanytimes.Itisavery
distinctive,ominoussound.
Infact,backinthemedievaldaysthechurchfathersdeclareditunacceptableand
illegal,callingitdiabolusinmusica(thedevilinmusic).

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TheTritoneChromatically

Onceagainfollowthesingingroutineonthisone.Youmightfindthisonetobeabit
difficultbutstickwithit.Thisoneisprobablyeasiertohearthanitistosing.
Onceyoucansingthisoneheadbackovertohttp://www.learn2hear.org.Thistime
selecttheperfectfourth,theperfectfifthandthetritone.Gothroughallthepossible
combinationsofmelodicandharmoniclisteningandwhenyoucangetaconsistent
scoreof90%itwillbetietomoveontothediminishedtriad.
Thediminishedtriadconsistsofthe1,b3andb5fromthemajorscale.UsingtheC
scaleasanexamplethenoteswouldbeC,Eb,andG.
TheintervalsinthechordareCtoEb,whichisaminorthirdandCtoGb,whichisa
diminishedfifthsoonceagainthenameoftheintervaliscontainedinthechord.
Youarenowatthepointwhereyoucancompareandlearntohearallofthe
possibletriads,major,minor,augmentedanddiminished.Beforeyoudothatyou
maywanttoheadbackto

http://www.iwasdoingallright.com/tools/v2_24/ear_training.aspx
andlistentothediminishedtriadbyitself.Thenheadtohttp://www.learn2hear.org
selecttriadspracticeandcheckallfourchordtypes.Onceagainshootfora90%
scoreinaccuracybeforeyoumoveon.
Learningtohearthesebasictriadswillprepareyouformoreadvancedlisteningand
seventhchords.
Speakingofsevenths,itstimetomoveontothemajorseventhandminorseventh
intervals.Theminorseventhintervalispartofthedominantseventhchord,whichis
averyimportantchordinmusicandisprevalentinthebluesaswell.
Makesuretofollowthesingingroutinetoreallyinternalizethesesounds.Youmay
findthesetobethehardestofallbecauseofthewideskips.

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MajorSeventhsChromatically

Remembertodotheminarandommanneraswell.Whenyouthinkyouhavethis
soundinyourearaddontheminorseventh.

MinorSeventhsChromatically

Aftercompletingyoursingingroutineheadbackovertohttp://www.learn2hear.org
forsomemoreintervaltraining.Thistimeselectonlymajorseventhsandminor
sevenths.Whenyoucanconsistentlyscore90%orhigherwhencomparingthese
twoaddintherestoftheintervalstodate.

Thatwouldbe:minorthird,majorthird,perfectfourth,tritone,perfectfifth,minor
sixth,majorsixth,minorseventhandmajorseventh.

Whew!Impressive!Youarealmosthomeasfarastheintervalsareconcerned.Only
theminorsecondandmajorsecondareleft.
Thesecondsarestillpartofthedissonantfamilyofintervalsandaremostoften
heardasextensionsinchords.Whenusedinthisfashiontheyareusuallycalled
ninths.

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MajorSecondsChromatically

Themajorsecondsareeasilyplayedontheguitarandnottoohardtosing.These
shouldnotposemuchofaproblem.Whenyouarereadymoveontotheminor
seconds.

MinorSecondsChromatically

Afteryoursingingpracticeontheseitstimetoheadbackoverto
http://www.learn2hear.organddosomemorelistening,thistimetotheminor
secondsandmajorseconds.
Whenyoucanhearthedifferencebetweenthesetwowith90%accuracyitstimeto
addinthewholeballofwaxwiththeexceptionoftheninthsandtenths.Realizethat
ninthsandtenthsarethesameassecondsandthirdsanoctavehighersotheyare
reallynotnewsounds.
Feelfreetoaddthemintoyourroutineifyouwantmoreadvancedwork.

Where To Go From Here?

Ifyoureallywanttochallengeyourselffromthispointaddintheseventhchords.On
thehttp://www.learn2hear.orgwebsitetheyarereferredtoastetrads.Clickonthe

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practicelinkandkeepitsimpleatfirst.Startwithonlythemajorseventhandminor
seventhchords.
Onceyoucannailthoseaddinthedominantseventhchord.
Nextwouldbetheminor7b5chord,thenthediminishedseventhchord.
Finallydoacomparisonbetweenthemajor6thandminor6thchords.Lastbutnot
leastaddintheminor/majorseventh.
Youcanalsocheckoutsomeothereartrainingsitesontheinternetforadditional
study.OnethatIlikecanbefoundat
http://www.musicalmind.org

Thereareafewchallengingexercisestheretokeepyoumovingforward.Thereare
alsoafewpaidoptionsbutwithallofthefreeresourcesoutthereIdontseethe
needtopayforanyeartrainingsoftware.
IhopeyouhaveenjoyedthisreportandIreallyhopeyouhaveputittouse.Inmy
opinionagoodearisthemostimportantassetamusiciancanhave.Keepintouch
andletmeknowhowyouaredoing?

HappyListening,
Bob

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