So I have been playing the guitar for a bit more than 3 months. I finished grade 1 a month ago and I have done what I need to pass to the next grade… except for ear training.
I have been learning songs and having fun, I even learned to sing and play a bit and even posted on my Instagram story !!! never thought I would do such thing.
However with the ear training I have no idea what I am doing, what should I be doing to improve ? when I do the guess thing my results are on par with random chance. I find myself memorizing the notes from the reference songs and not the interval and I honestly have no idea how to change that. I don’t mind doing boring stuff to improve but I genuinely am so lost on what I am doing.
I wanna move on but at the same time I want to get a better ear because I want to improve my singing.
I would really appreciate some sort of exercise I can put in my daily routine that makes sense for me, something where I don’t end up just memorizing the notes.
Any advice is very welcome and thank you so very much.
Hi Med, sorry if I have your name wrong, I have never introduced myself to ear training, so I can’t give you any advice, I don’t even know if I need to do it, but if you type it in the search bar, you will see lots of posts about it maybe that will help you. Failing that, somebody will come along soon to guide you, cheers, HEC
As much as I love Justin’s approach to teaching and how his structured courses make individual learning almost effortless, I think that if you want to learn to sing properly, i.e. with good technique, you should look for a professional vocal coach. With the guitar and several other instruments, you have a lot of things that you can easily copy and learn by looking at someone else playing. However, for proper breathing technique and other “invisible” aspects of singing, I’d prefer face-to-face instruction.
I don’t think it is necessary to “pass” ear training grade 1 in order to pass to grade 2 of the guitar lessons.
It’s good you want to develop your ear. However I’d say you can do that in parallel with the guitar lessons without needing to align the grades.
For advice on recognising intervals, I think a lot of it is practice. Play a note, then pick another one and sing / hum what you expect it to sound like before you play it. Eventually I think I you just get used to it. If you have a piano / keyboard available it helps as does knowing what the major scale looks like on a guitar.
I usually can do the singing thing to expect the note with a lot more success than hearing the intervals
I will keep at it and hope to improve, even though I do not see where I am going right now.
Thank you !!
Good question I have to admit that the ear training is the only module that I skipped when I was in grade 1. It was a while ago as I’m now in grade 5 of the main course.
I recently came back to Ear training G1 as I wanted to tick the box haha. In the past years, I did learn some songs from ear (transcribing). So, I feel like the “Play what you hear exercise” became much easier than back when I was in grade 1.
Though, it did not really help for the guessing the interval test. So I’m pretty sure that it’s only a matter of practicing those specific intervals for a while. Most likely everyday with those apps/website that puts you to the test.
Justin has a test app, but it no longer works for Android. Maybe better luck for Ios.
You can forget about the tests in the ear training course. If you are randomly guessing then you aren’t going to get very far with it right now.
Here is pattern1 of the Major scale.
I would just learn the lower octave for now, starting on the thickest string on the left of the diagram.
The notes in red are the root notes.
The numbers in the circles are the finger numbers.
Start on the root on 6th string and play up to and including the root on 4th string.
I suggest you start with the low root on the 8th fret. You will be playing the C Major scale. The notes you play will be C D E F G A B C
I’m sure the sound of the scale will be familiar to you. That’s because you’ve been hearing it since you were a youngster and THAT is when you started to train your ear!
Are you familiar with Doh Re Mi……?
You can sing along…”Doh re mi so fah la tee doh” as you play the scale.
When you become familiar with playing the scale, you can play each note after the root and sing -
Doh re -(Major 2nd)
Doh mi -(Major 3rd)
Doh fah -(Perfect 4th)
Doh so -(Perfect 5th)
Doh La -(Major 6th)
Doh tee -(Major 7th)
Doh Doh -(Octave)
You’re now playing and singing intervals.
I think you’ll improve your ear (and your singing) by doing something like this.
If you move the 6th string root down to the 3rd fret, you’ll be playing the G Major scale. Different notes but the same intervals.
Something I’m trying right now :
There is that really barebone website with free tool (since Justin Ear Training app no longer works on Android) which can help to do an easy mode of this exercice. It’s kind of cheating since your guitar will give you the answer. But I guess, the brain will eventually remember the sound after a few weeks of practice and you can sing it with your guitar.
Select the first 2 intervals (perfect 4th, perfect 5th) with the interval button.
Start the game. The cool thing about this tool is that it shows the starting note (ex: F#) so you can double check your answer on the guitar. Play the F#, then the 4th and the 5th on your guitar, repeat the sound on the website to hear it again. It should be pretty easy to see which one sounds like what you have just played.
Do it for a while like that and then sing it from memory instead of playing it with the guitar. This way it will no longer be cheating haha.
Note : Use a fretboard diagram for the notes on the guitar if you are in grade 1. Bonus, it will help you learn them over time.
Bonus 2 : You can play the first 3-4 notes of your reference song for that interval starting from that F# note to get used to your reference song in many starting note.
@math07
I may continue with the second grade and ear training in parallel, thank you!
@BurnsRhythm
I never thought about it that way ! I have already learned the major scale but only for the sake of learning it. never really used it for anything useful.
I will employ that technique in practicing now, thanks a lot !
@math07
oh thank you, I’ve been actually looking for something simple like that. the apps I find are quite overwhelming with many new words for me. Thank you.
Well, I suppose if you like games……but you don’t need an app, you just need your guitar and your ears.
Don’t think of ear training as a test you have to pass. Just keep playing and keep listening and your ear will improve.
The best ear training is transcribing real music. I added 5 minutes a day of transcribing to my routine, and I did that for over 2 years. Currently I’m concentrating on other things, so I don’t always do it daily, but I still do it regularly. My transcribing ability improved dramatically over that time.
I would transcribe anything I heard during the day that caught my interest - a solo, a vocal line, a melody from an advert, a chord progression … anything. I set myself a minimum of 5 minutes because that wasn’t overly arduous, although I often ended up doing a lot more. I think if I set out trying to do longer sessions I’d find an excuse to skip them!
It doesn’t matter if in those 5 minute you only find 1 note (or none at all!) just keep chipping away and you will improve.
I have tried apps, but I much prefer real music and it’s a more difficult and realistic task as there are other things going on which can distract you, but ultimately that’s the thing you are trying to improve - listening to a piece of music and being able to play it (or playing what you hear in your head).
That’s very interesting. Is there a particular Justin lesson / module on transcribing? I’ve found the ear training lessons of Justin to be very helpful but I don’t seem to be doing enough of them.
However it’s just about doing it. Any melody you can think of … I mean I wouldn’t start with Cliffs of Dover but if you hear something you like give it a go!
I took to AI and asked, “What is justin guitar’s consolidation test for ear training?”
Here’s the answer I got:
JustinGuitar does not have a specific “consolidation test” for ear training; instead, it emphasizes the importance of practicing ear training alongside your guitar skills. This involves recognizing intervals and familiar tunes, which can be developed over time as you progress in your playing. community.justinguitar.com
Overview of JustinGuitar’s Consolidation for Ear Training
JustinGuitar emphasizes the importance of ear training as part of the learning process for guitarists. While there isn’t a specific “consolidation test” for ear training, the focus is on developing skills over time.
Key Components of Ear Training
Interval Recognition: Learning to hear and identify musical intervals, such as the Perfect 5th.
Playing by Ear: Developing the ability to play songs without written music, which is introduced in later grades.
Practice Recommendations
Duration: Consolidation typically lasts 3-6 months, with individual practice sessions recommended to be around 30-40 minutes.
Focus: During this phase, students should concentrate on applying techniques learned in previous grades, including ear training exercises.
Resources for Ear Training
Ear Training Apps: These can help with recognizing intervals and familiar tunes.
Lessons: JustinGuitar offers specific lessons on ear training that are not grade-specific, allowing students to work on these skills at their own pace.
By integrating these elements into practice routines, students can effectively enhance their ear training skills as part of their overall guitar education.
I have to admit that the ear training is the only module that I skipped when I was in grade 1. It was a while ago as I’m now in grade 5 of the main course.
community.justinguitar.com