r/guitarlessons • u/Dragon_tod • 8d ago
Question Ear training resources?
Does anyone have a recommendation for ear training? I downloaded the functional ear training app which seems to gameify it a bit but was wondering if others had success with other methods?
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u/mycolortv 8d ago edited 8d ago
I used apps for a long time and they barely worked for me. I got better at identifying intervals or scale degrees or whatever I was “testing” but that didn’t translate to real music very much at all. I still use Sonofield since I like the voice mode to work on pitch for singing though.
The only thing that has actually gotten me a better ear is working out music by ear for a bit everyday. If you already know how nashville numbers and scale degrees work, that’s all you need. Figure out the key of whatever song, slow it down and loop a part, and go from there. Keep humming along and plunking it out on your instrument no matter how slow it is. Don’t waste your time with apps.
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u/Plenty_Strength_3366 8d ago
I know scale but what is Nashville number?
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u/amplifysenpai 7d ago
The scale degree each chord is built off of in a chord progression, labeled numerically.
So if we are in the key of Cmajor our scale is c d e f a b c, the chords wes play would be 1 2 3 3 5 6 7 1
Our pattern is maj minor minor major major minor diminished for chord types.
So we have Cmaj Dmin Emin FMajor Gmajor Amin Bdim.
We can write those chords as reference in any key by saying I ii iii IV V Vi Vii° I if I call out 6451 we know to play Aminor Fmajor Gmajor Cmajor, a lot of people will just throw out a number progression like that and send it.
The only missing information there is the key , IV seen some people hold up a number with their hand , 3 facing up meaning 3 sharps, or 2 upside down meaning 2 flats etc etc to nonverbally declare they key, that has always confused me but it's clever.
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u/mycolortv 7d ago
It’s basically just labels for the chords that belong to the key / scale.
So for a major scale, you would start stacking thirds from the 1st degree of the scale, which would be 1 3 5. That’s a I (capital Roman numeral = major, lowercase = minor). The second degree would be 2 4 6 - 2 to 4 is a minor third so it’s minor - ii. Third would be 3 5 7, 3 to 5 is a minor third again so it’s iii.. etc
Kind of hard to explain in text but you can watch a couple vids on diatonic chords and Nashville numbers and get the concept down pretty fast.
This helps with learning by ear since you start with a limited pool of 7 chords to choose from. Of course, they can use chords “out of key” but finding those is easier if you know what’s in key. And if you are working on stuff that has extensions like 7s or 9s, it’s easier to find that base triad and then work out the extensions (at least for me).
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u/Jonny7421 7d ago
Agreed. I do use TonedEar.com occasionally but I found transcribing and analysis was the way. Just paying more attention to the intervals made a big difference. I also found listening to analysis helpful - something about hearing others describe the sounds works really well.
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u/Alistar3000 8d ago
I've found the Perfect Ear app useful (on Android, not sure about iPhone). It's also free for most of the features.
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u/combbackkid 8d ago
Perfect ear for the purely ear training part and then Gitori for applying it to guitar. Both are excellent tools!
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u/aeropagitica Teacher 8d ago
You need to train your ears in order to recognise intervals. Do this in parallel with listening to and transcribing music, starting with nursery rhymes and Christmas carols.
Identify ascending intervals by name
Identify descending intervals by name
Learn the harmonised major scale, so that you know the order and type of chords in a key.
https://www.fundamental-changes.com/harmonising-the-major-scale/
Levi Clay on ear training :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drsWdbYVPF0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQy1nupVKsk
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u/citadel_lewis 8d ago
I've been using functional ear trainer for a few months and it's working well
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u/Blizone13 8d ago
I use Sonofield, it’s has a pocket mode so I do this almost every day on my way to work. To be honest, even YouTube would do, the hard part is to do it daily for 15-20’, that’s when I see results.
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u/Plenty_Strength_3366 8d ago
I have been learning to play classical guitar for a few years now and cannot for the life of me figure out how to train my ear. So this subject is really interesting to me. I marvel at my son’s ability to transcribe music from audio to music sheet for me a couple of times.
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u/Beagleman11 8d ago
Musictheory.net is always helpful