Ear training

[suppaenitetere]

Im getting to the point where i cant learn what i want because my ear isnt good enough to figure it out and theres no tab laying around for it. For example i like old blues alot but I can try to figure out maybe 15-20 songs and only be able to get one and im left not even knowing the first note on the others. Do you have any methods i could use to start training my ear to be able to do this?

[Angelhearts]

You just have to keep with it. You can't expect to pick up every single song with no problem. I don't think anyone is born with a natural ear...it has to be taught. At least you can figure out one song as opposed to none at all. Start small and then pick up. If you can even figure out one note that means that you are getting somewhere and your ear is learning. Eventually, with more practice, you will not even think about it and you will be learning lots of songs. Believe me, I'm just starting to be able to pick out songs. Just stick with it.

[Coco(R)]

u i been playing for 2 weeks and i got a good ear, im natural born

[Deven MacDonald]

no one is impressed coco about you showing off

[gck]

My advice is that ear training is solely a "feel" thing! For example, to me, a perfect fifth feels totally different than a tritone, although there's just a halfstep between them. The same way, a major chord has a special "major" sound whereas the a minor chord sounds totally different, again, just because of a major/minor third difference. A maj7 chord has this major feel plus a 7th feel then, etc...

Most people try to really get into what they hear, then try to compare what they hear to the reference intervals, chord sounds, whatever, that they have in their head. To my mind, that is the wrong way: it's way better to just develop a feel for the sounds by listening to them over and over and over.

Example: Play a perfect fifth on your guitar (no distortion please, preferably on acoustic), melodically, then harmonically. Then, do the same with a perfect 4th:
Don't you feel that the the P5 has a very bold, "bell"-like, "audacious", powerful feel to it, whereas the P4 sounds a bit more "recessed", almost "whimpy-ish" compared to the P5, although both intervals are very harmonious and consonant? Try it for yourself, but don't give to much about the sound description I tried to give (it's too hard to pinpoint that qualities in words), it was just meant as an example what to listen for...

[Daledude2]

Originally posted by Coco(R)
u i been playing for 2 weeks and i got a good ear, im natural born


omg, how retarded is that? You might have figured out one chord in a song, if even that. I'll admit to you having a good ear if you listen to "Joe Satriani - Surfing with the alien" and figure it out in 1 day (without any tabs or help from anyone). Untill then, don't be queer, thats the stupidist thing you could do. And as you said, you only know 2 songs.