[Fretsource]

Hi - I'm developing a new lesson on ear training. It covers a few sections ranging from single notes to chord progressions and I'll be posting each section as I finish it. So far I've posted the first section on finding single notes by ear, (unfortunately the most boring part,) Next is melodic phrases and I'll get it done ASAP. I hope some of the 'beginners' will find these lessons useful. And I'm sure the 'beyonds' will all agree with me about the importance of developing a good musical ear.

[Clancy]

Great idea for a lesson Fretsource.

Thanks

Clancy

[justinthyme]

Thanks for another great idea, Fretsource - just what I've been looking for! I'm sure this will be extremely helpful to others, too.

[carol m]

Originally Posted by Fretsource

about the importance of developing a good musical ear.

Sounds great, Fretsource, but what should we do with the other one?

[allthumbs]

Thanks fret. I am also using my voice training to help keep track of intervals. I tried some ear training years ago, but I couldn't even do one ear pushup.

[justinthyme]

So far the ear training is proving to be a bit of an eye-opener!

[Stratrat]

Yet another great lesson, Fretsource. Very useful, and I had a lot of fun working through it. Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to do these lessons!

[Chaotic Kittie]

Originally Posted by justinthyme

So far the ear training is proving to be a bit of an eye-opener!

Man, must be very dissappointing then... unless you're blind! =O
Great lesson Fretsource, interesting.

[solidwalnut]

Originally Posted by Fretsource

Hi - I'm developing a new lesson on ear training. It covers a few sections ranging from single notes to chord progressions and I'll be posting each section as I finish it. So far I've posted the first section on finding single notes by ear, (unfortunately the most boring part,) Next is melodic phrases and I'll get it done ASAP. I hope some of the 'beginners' will find these lessons useful. And I'm sure the 'beyonds' will all agree with me about the importance of developing a good musical ear.

Fretsource--

Nice job. This is really good stuff. It's well written and broken down so any level of guitarist can advance. The importance of ear training could never be stressed too much. And I can see where you're headed (I think) with this series, or at least I think it fits in nicely with understanding 'chord scales' and 'the Nashville system'.

One bit of input is about learning to tune the guitar by ear. I think you could expand on this. Maybe you already thought about this but are against it? I see where on 'what to do' under point 5 that you do talk about this. I guess I'm suggesting a separate section within this structure that is about tuning alone.

I don't mean getting all sidetracked on temperal tuning (although the basics of that are probably important to know). I'm mostly talking about learning to hear the 'beats' and the unification and checking tuning by octaves, etc. Maybe this fits somewhere within the single note scheme. Probably one of the biggest things for guitarists to get is how the B string is really important in the overall tuning.

Anyway, just a couple of pennies for thought. Again, great job on this, and I look forward to reading more. Thanks for providing an invaluable resource.

Take care,

Steve

[Fretsource]

Thanks for the very positive feedback folks - It's much appreciated.

Originally Posted by carol manser

Sounds great, Fretsource, but what should we do with the other one?

Don't worry about the other ear Carol, it's just used for news and gossip - not music

Steve, Thanks for your input. I had considered including tuning but decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, because it's a different concept. As it's dealing with tiny pitch differences in sound rather than musical relationships of notes, I figured it's best treated separately. Second, I'm not sure how effectively it could be demonstrated using just text and sound. I think a video lesson from Kirk (hint hint) would be far more helpful and simple.

Ok - back to work - I'll try to get the next section out soon.

[Fretsource]

Just an update. I've added an 'interval ear trainer' Flash program at the end of my "All about intervals" lesson. I'll also provide a link to it from my ear training lesson.

You just listen to the intervals and try to identify them before it does.
Health warning. Doing this long enough WILL not only dramatically improve your ability to recognise intervals it will drive you mad. I should know, I've been testing it over many hours and now I hear them in my sleep.
You have been warned !!!

[tonedeaf]

Thanks Fretsource for the cool lesson and the warning!

Actually, using this lesson and then the one that is interactive for finding note locations on staff go hand-in-hand. I think it's at the end of one of your beginner's lessons. That one I find really helpful, thanks again!