Ideas for self-guided ear training?

[upsidedown]

Hello, I am pretty new to the world of music in general.

 

I'm wondering how folks here improve their ears (relative pitch, chord progression recognition, recognizing sharp/flat, etc). If you could point me to any of your favorite exercises or resources I would appreciate it.

 

So far I have just been using this web app for ear training called ToneScholar (https://tonescholar.com) if you're interested) and it seems quite good, but is not specific to classical guitar. It’s intuitive and I will say that it’s really improved my relative pitch, but it's all voice-based, so probably better for singers.

 

I'd love to be able to improve my ear while improving my skills on the guitar simultaneously. I only have so much time to practice

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS Just to be clear, I’m NOT looking for other ear training apps, I’m just looking for advice and/or exercises.

[BigDAWaudio]

Sing out loud as you play different intervals on the guitar. 

 

Start on different notes so you learn about different keys and fret fingering. 

[john]

On 10/22/2023 at 12:05 PM, upsidedown said:

Hello, I am pretty new to the world of music in general.

 

I'm wondering how folks here improve their ears (relative pitch, chord progression recognition, recognizing sharp/flat, etc). If you could point me to any of your favorite exercises or resources I would appreciate it.

 

So far I have just been using this web app for ear training called ToneScholar (https://tonescholar.com) if you're interested) and it seems quite good, but is not specific to classical guitar. It’s intuitive and I will say that it’s really improved my relative pitch, but it's all voice-based, so probably better for singers.

 

I'd love to be able to improve my ear while improving my skills on the guitar simultaneously. I only have so much time to practice

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS Just to be clear, I’m NOT looking for other ear training apps, I’m just looking for advice and/or exercises.

 

I have to agree with @BigDAWaudio. Sing out loud. Make your mistakes loud and proud. Own them, learn, and don’t do them again. Singing timidly in “weak voice”, allows you to hide your mistakes, plus you are only learning to sing in that weak voice, when you need to learn how to project.

 

Sitting with your instrument is a good idea. If you are a singer, it’s always a good idea to play a second instrument.

 

For singing you have to train your ear the difference between the sound you hear through the air and the sound you hear through bone, particularly your jaw bone. There is a pitch difference. What you hear through your jaw bone is at a higher pitch. Not being able to tell the difference, and especially if you have an attention dominance issue (paying too much attention to what you hear through your jaw), you will have a tendency to sing flat. I find simply cupping your fingers behind your ear, with the heel of your hand towards your mouth, you will amplify the sound you are hearing through the air and by adjusting how close the heel of your hand is to your face you adjust the volume balance between what you hear through bone or air. This helps you train your ear. (Also useful when you are struggling to hear your voice, and importantly how to adjust your pitch, when you are hearing yourself more through bone in a live setting)

 

Use a software program or even better a mobile ear training app for your phone). There are many.

[Bakolito]

Hi. You're looking for excercises to play on your instrument and train your ear at the same time,and I guess I can share some realtive pitch's ones with you:

1.- Sing out while playing your scales naming the notes by Solfeggio syliables in movable Do, that means they will be always be named Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti, no matter what key you're really playing.Is crucial for this kind of training being sure about what grade of the scale or chord each not is. You must do this all along the entire register of your instrument, in all kinds of drilling scale patterns you have at hand, you must include evem those notes out of your vocal range, the excercises are not about singing, so it doesn't matter if you don't sound "good" as long as you're in tune.

2.- Do the same with all your chords' arpeggios,but not in linear fashion ( I ii iii Iv V vi vii) but  in cadence-harmonic pattern-progressions like I IV V / ii V I /  IV I V vi /  iii vi ii V I / I V vi iii IV V IV V / and the likes. If you have some pieces or songs music sheets around, use those as chords progressions to drill.

3.- For training chords modes and progressions recognition, I suggest you to use an app, there are lots out there, or better: get you a good human teacher. 

 

Hope it helps.

 

Tip 1: Try to translate any drill from the app to your guitar, and sing along.

Tip 2: If it's available, enjoy the ride. ;D

 

[upsidedown]

Thanks you! During my exploration of the ToneScholar app, I encountered an article that delves into functional ear training. Do you think this method is as effective as the one you suggested? The article is accessible through this link: https://tonescholar.com/blog/functional-ear-training-explained.