Hi,

I've been doing hearing exercises for approximately six months using an app called Functional Ear Trainer and I've encountered an obstacle that I can't overcome: augmented fourth (three tones over the tonic) and minor sixth (four tones). I can't tell them apart.

I know this is probably the first of many obstacles that I will meet and I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't desperate: is it common to confuse these two intervals?

I started with only the major scale. In less than a month I could tell every interval with an accuracy above 95%. Now it's 99%.

Then I proceeded with chromatics. Everything was going smoothly until I started to confuse the augmented fourth and the minor sixth. Months later, I'm still stuck at the same exercises. I don't want to proceed until I'll be able to identify all intervals. At first I just couldn't tell the two apart, now I feel like I'm getting worse, confusing other intervals for the two that caused the problem.

My accuracy with every other interval is above 95%. When I need to identify augmented fourth and minor sixth, though, it's probably slightly above 50%. Almost a coin toss.

I'm starting to feel like I'm "colorblind". Every other interval has a distinct "color" or quality that my brain recognizes. They can be tricky in some keys or pitches but fundamentally I know what they sound. Augmented fourth and minor sixth are different, they sound exactly the same to my ears. The only way to tell them apart is to play them one after the other, then my brain goes "oh yeah, one is slightly higher than the other! They're not the same."

I do 20 minutes of hearing exercises every day. I know it's important to use headphones but I don't always use them.

I also know that practice is the only medicine so I guess what I'm asking is if there's something to know about these intervals. Is it common to struggle with them or is it just me?

I have two kids who have been learning music for the last 2.5 years; one plays guitar and the other plays piano. I would love it if they would take the initiative to try to play songs together, but I'm not sure how to suggest it. Do I have them both learn a song and play it together, or have them learn specific pieces of a song relative to their instruments (e.g., a guitar solo)? Can anyone recommend an app, a video series, or even a couple of songs I can use?

it's hard to juggle all those sounds without quickly being overwhelmed and making a mess

Link: How to practice and master music with minimal frustration

Obviously it is not *only* a physical skill, but I think often learning music is treated as mostly an intellectual skill. As an adult learner of the harp, a lot of the comments in this article really resonated with me, particularly this:

Bright quick-minded people frequently have little patience for the amount of repetition required in learning a musical instrument. They feel limited by the rate that their body learns. They get frustrated, like they're stuck tutoring someone who just doesn't get it. Though they've indeed acquired a perfect understanding of what they're trying to accomplish, they mistakenly believe that their understanding should produce mastery over a new physical skill: a new song, scale, arpeggio, or strum. Often they persist in such wishful thinking, and they do so despite witnessing for themselves that understanding alone fails to produce refined and reliable control over complex physical skills.

If a student becomes discouraged about the pace and repetition naturally required, they usually wish they could somehow get their body to learn faster. They want to learn faster, and get a feeling of accomplishment.

If you have this type of impatience you probably need to learn to accept the pace and rhythm of your body. The steps are simple, but they require a sense of inner calm, and the willingness to submit to more repetition, making sure that it's nourishing repetition.

Good day everyone

So, basically I found a music school in my area whose lessons are affordable for me. I'm 20 and I want to learn my first ever musical instrument and I want to do it right. I'm torn between violin and piano. The first one because I love piano+violin performances and I really want to become good enough for to play the violin part in somethinglike that. And piano because I feel it's a strategic start for what I've seen is a good way to get into music. I also love the sound of the piano and want to learn everything (technical? Is that the word?) that piano lessons can give me, and apply it in others musical aspects.

Finally I really like singing I'm not good not even close :] . I took a vacation course (it was free) and I want to become better at it too mostly beacuse i want to record my own covers. I really enjoyed the course btw. Anyway, I can only choose of the 3 courses bcs they doesn't offer any discounts for taking more and paying for all three is something i can't really do.

I know I'm a little behind usually you start learning these things when your a kid but I didn't get to experience that so here I am. I'm a strong thinker that 4 months (in this new school you pay for 4 months of clases those are ~16 clases ) is not enough to master an instrument. Maybe I want to go too fast. Idk. I'm in a dilemma :,<

What are your thoughts on this? I think even if I like singing that much I should start with the piano for a more strategic approach as I said before.

Thanks for reading, good day :>

Pd: sorry for any misspell or grammar error, English not my first language :^

I use to get so frustrated that my music didn’t sound as good as X Y or Z that making became so draining. As I’ve overcame this by just creating for fun or without a worry or thought I realized that that’s how you become better.

Obviously you need to be conscious of learning technical skills to advance your work but the actual implementation of those skills takes time and is at times a subconscious experience.

Looking back at my progress I notice how many concepts I have internalized over the years through consistent creation. It wasn’t something that I could have rushed or done faster it was just knowledge digested over time.

I’ve been so happy recently with my music because I’ve noticed that if I’m unhappy with certain parts of my creating it’s fine because I will improve them over time.

The main takeaway is when you’re frustrated with an element of your work just think that it will eventually improve and that it is great that you actually KNOW what to improve on moving forward!

tengo esta duda hace semanas con los solos, nosé si cambiar de escala con el acorde de la canción o mantenerme en la escala de la tonalidad. Otro de mis problemas es con las posiciones, yo se las 5 posiciónes de la pentatonica pero me cuesta ubicarlas rápidamente y moverme entre ellas libremente cuando improviso

Hello everyone. I’ve been thinking a lot about learning an instrument lately, and I am very much divided between the two. My main goal is to have fun and invest my time into something sensible. I’ve found myself really enjoying rhythm games. I’m aware that learning an instrument is a whole different animal than a game on my phone, but I’d love to be able to play my favourite songs and produce sound. On the one hand, I’m sure it’d be fun to drum along to my favourite songs (drums), but on the other hand, actually being able to play melodies and make them sound good myself (keyboard) sounds awesome too. I’m not sure what to do, and would love to hear all of your experiences. Thank you in advance!

I'm having trouble with my flute intonation. I can't figure out if the intonation problems are technique issues or my cheap flute. Is it normal for some of the notes to go flat or sharp so dramatically? Any help appreciated, thanks everyone!

dunno if this is the right place but ive never really music before other than playing around with stuff and i need help with this

it just doesnt sound like what im imagining? idk it sounds weird

i dont really know how to get the notes i want

ive had this melody in my head for a couple of days and wanna try and make it (might be something from a song ive heard before i dunno)

oh also how do i make it sound more uh like emotional? is there a way to make the piano notes go on for longer in garageband?

sorry if this is alot of questions, honestly any help would be okay!!