Ear training

[groovehead]

HI, I am a new bass player and have only been at it for about 4 months. I have studied several method books as well as technique books and scale books to make sure I lerned all the right ways to play and so far, it has payed off. I practice everyday for a few hours so I am developing my skills quickly. Everyone who hears me play compliments me on how well I play and cant believe I have only played for such a short time. I started a band right away, and have learned to improvise already with my guitar player and we have a really good groovin sound. My abiliy to improvise through a song though only comes when it is a song that we have played a lot and I know the chord progressions really well. I would like to be able to improvise on songs I dont know well by training my ear to recognize the chord being played so that it wont take as long for me to learn the song as it does now. I estimate it takes me about an hour of playing the song over and over and over and over again to really get it now. My question is, how can I train my ear to do this? Any advise from seasoned vetrans is greatly appreciated.

[chardin]

I play along to CDs, radio, and even the TV to improve my ear. Listen for chord changes. Start out by searching for the root of the chord. As with anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Transcribing or writing solos and licks from your favorite artists is another tool that will also improve your reading ability.

[chardin]

I forgot to mention that there is hardware and software to slow down CDs and other recorded material. This makes learning fast licks easier. Usually I just play the song over and over until I get it. The repeat button is great isn't it?

 

Go to Reed Kotler\'s web site for some hardware and software products. I've used Cool Edit from Syntrillium to slow down music ripped from CDs on my computer.

 

I'm sure there are other books available for ear training but I've never read any.

[dcr]

Ed Friedland has a GREAT article on this, at the BassPlayer.com site. On the old site--you know, the one that was reasonably easy to find content on--it was in the "Trenches" section. But a bit of looking should turn it up. I *highly* recommend it--it'll get you started in the right direction.

[chardin]

Check out Ed's article on Train Your Ears!

 

I agree that the old Bass Player site was much easier to use. I use the Search and Trenches links often.

[dcr]

fretless1--it sounds weird, but be sure to check out the "replacement bassist" thread that's also current; it seems that some messages meant for your thread got misrouted over there (& they're good messages!).

[Dan South]

Originally posted by fretless1:

I started a band right away, and have learned to improvise already with my guitar player and we have a really good groovin sound. My abiliy to improvise through a song though only comes when it is a song that we have played a lot and I know the chord progressions really well. I would like to be able to improvise on songs I dont know well by training my ear to recognize the chord being played so that it wont take as long for me to learn the song as it does now. I estimate it takes me about an hour of playing the song over and over and over and over again to really get it now. My question is, how can I train my ear to do this? Any advise from seasoned vetrans is greatly appreciated.

 

A couple of thoughts. First of all, congratulations! It sounds like you're having a good time with your music. That's important, as you'll need to ENJOY playing if you're going to stick with it.

 

I'm a little concerned about your comment that you've "learned to improvise." Learning to improvise is like learning to speak Chinese. You can start with a few words and sentences, but you'll add to your vocabulary over many years and STILL not know it all. Get the picture?

 

It's always easier to improvise when you know the song. It sounds as though you want to play along with songs that you don't know well. Ear training is important, but so is a knowledge of theory and of musical styles. Some styles have predictable chord progressions, and within a given song, theory concepts like the circle of fifths (e.g. ii-V-I) can help narrow down the MOST LIKELY place that the music will go. Do you understand what a "key" means, how it relates to a scale, and how that scale is used as the blueprint for a set of chords? Do you know which chords are most important in a key and what purpose they serve? Some homework in this area will make the process easier for you.

 

I think the best way to learn this skill is to learn and to play along with a LOT of different songs. That's going to take time, so be patient.

 

For ear training, start by identifying intervals. Start by yourself. Play a note (G for instance). Then play another note and try to recognize the interval from the G up to that note. I'll list some common intervals below. Next, go back down to the G, then leap to a third note and try to recognize THAT interval.

 

minor second (also known as a half step) = 1 fret between the notes (e.g. G to Ab)

 

major second (a.k.a a whole step) = 2 frets (e.g. G up to A)

 

minor third = 3 frets (G up to Bb)

 

major third = 4 frets (G up to B)

 

perfect fourth = 5 frets on the same string, or same fret on the next string (G up to C)

 

diminished fifth = 6 frets, or one string plus one fret (G up to Db)

 

perfect fifth = 7 frets, or on string plus two frets. (G up to D)

 

I'll let you figure out the rest of them. Keep in mind that intervals can go down, also. A perfect fourth is G down to D. Be careful, though. G UP to C is a perfect fourth, but G DOWN to C is a perfect fifth. Got it?

 

Next, quiz yourself with a partner. Have a friend play a note (A, for example, but any note will do). Then have them play a second note. Try to identify that second note. Have them play the A again, then some OTHER note. Try to identify that one. When you get the hang of it, don't return back to the original note every time. Just go from one note to another in random order.

 

Finally, listen to recordings and try to identify at least the root movement, i.e. the notes that the bassist usually starts on in each measure. For each chord, try to determine whether it's major, minor, or some other variation.

 

If you work on these exercises dilligently for a few weeks, you'll understand a lot better what's happening while you're jamming. Then get out and jam, because ear training is a lot tougher when you're playing along.

 

Good luck.

 

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Dan South ]

[Alan Dalton]

Don't you just love when Dan South posts something as long as that?

 

It's like a present to all of us, something to get our teeth into! I'll be printing that out and putting it with my music mags for the next time I practice!

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Alan Dalton:

Don't you just love when Dan South posts something as long as that?

 

It's like a present to all of us, something to get our teeth into! I'll be printing that out and putting it with my music mags for the next time I practice!

 

In THAT case, I'd better fix those darned typos.

 

Thanks for the compliment; glad you're finding this useful.

[Ed Friedland]

My ear training article was expanded in The Working Bassist's Toolkit, it has a mini ear training workout on the cd. Major, harmonic and melodic minor modes and arps, chromatic interval training, melodic and harmonic dictation. You can also find some great shareware programs online, I like EarTraining 2.62 by Lars Peters for Mac.

 

No doubt the ears are your most important tool, start by paying attention to the sounds around you everyday. Your favorite radio station's sound ID is in what key? How about your car horn? Etc...

[Tom Capasso]

Ed, interesting questions at the end. I don't have perfect pitch, but I've got some basic interval ability (and plan to use Dan's post to improve them - thanks).

 

I knew a guy who had true perfect pitch - he was a well trained keyboardist at 18 - and while I believe you can develop this talent, I think he had a real gift. It would hurt him at times - the firehouse whistle was F#, but alittle flat, and it drove him nuts when stuff like that happened !!

 

Tom

[groovehead]

Thanks for the input everyone. I started practicing right away. I really found it useful to study the different chord progressions so that I can at least Fake it while I am developing my ear. I know that rock music is usually a

I V IV progression, and that soul is a V IV I V. What are some other comon ones that are used for these and other styles of music?

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Tom Capasso:

Ed, interesting questions at the end. I don't have perfect pitch, but I've got some basic interval ability (and plan to use Dan's post to improve them - thanks).

 

I knew a guy who had true perfect pitch - he was a well trained keyboardist at 18 - and while I believe you can develop this talent, I think he had a real gift. It would hurt him at times - the firehouse whistle was F#, but alittle flat, and it drove him nuts when stuff like that happened !!

 

Tom

 

There've been some discussions of perfect pitch on Craig's SSS forum and the Keyboard Corner. You'll find them if you dig back far enough. The concensus usually turned out that perfect pitch is nice, kind of a short cut, but that relative pitch (which we've been discussing here) is more useful overall.

 

One interesting thing I learned is that some people who have perfect pitch (I don't) can only play songs in the key that they first heard them. They have a difficult time transposing to new keys. Also, slight pitch variations (singers, wind players, fretless intonation, etc.) drive them nuts. So perfect pitch can be as much a disctaction as an asset. Work on interval an chord recognition - that's the skill that will help you make sense out of what you're hearing and playing.

[ha ha faa_Q]

Originally posted by Dan South:

 

There've been some discussions of perfect pitch on Craig's SSS forum and the Keyboard Corner. You'll find them if you dig back far enough. The concensus usually turned out that perfect pitch is nice, kind of a short cut, but that relative pitch (which we've been discussing here) is more useful overall.

 

One interesting thing I learned is that some people who have perfect pitch (I don't) can only play songs in the key that they first heard them. They have a difficult time transposing to new keys. Also, slight pitch variations (singers, wind players, fretless intonation, etc.) drive them nuts. So perfect pitch can be as much a disctaction as an asset. Work on interval an chord recognition - that's the skill that will help you make sense out of what you're hearing and playing.

 

I was lucky enough to have a piano teacher start ear-training me when I was very very young. After a few years, I was able to identify any note she played. To this day I can still do so, and I agree that although perfect pitch is a nice shortcut, relative pitch is absolutely essential in understanding the relationships between notes.

 

When I hear a note by itself that's off-pitch, it doesn't bother me that much - I notice that it doesn't sound right, but it doesn't drive me crazy. When a singer is singing a note that's off-center or an instrumentalist is only slightly out of tune, it drives me f**king crazy.

 

-- Jimmy