Ear Training - Pitch Recognition

Ear Training is the development of the active and passive capability to relate to music aurally.

Published: 02 Jan 2005 Updated: 28 Nov 2022Visits: 603Code: ML-basic-03

INSTRUMENTS: Ear Main: Music Others: Ukulele ANY Music Bass Banjo Harmonica Guitar Drums Lapsteel Piano
Subjects: Theory • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced • Songwriting • Ear

Ear Training - Pitch Recognition


Ear Training is the development of the active and passive capability to relate to music aurally. This includes the ability to recognize melodic and harmonic intervals, chords, chords progressions, rhythm, melody and harmony.

Functional Pitch Recognition

Functional Pitch Recognition involves identifying the role of a single pitch in the context of a tonic . Once a tonic has been established, each subsequent pitch may be classified without direct reference to accompanying pitches. For example, once the tonic G has been established, listeners may recognize that the pitch D as the dominant or perfect fifth in the key of G. No reference to any other pitch is required to establish this fact. This is also called Relative Pitch and in most situations preferred than Perfect Pitch when one can instantly name a pitch isolated and not need of a reference tonic.

Many musicians use relative pitch to identify, understand, and appreciate the roles and meanings of pitches within a key. To this end, scale-degree numbers or Solmization can be used for this purpose.

Solmization a.k.a. solfège (do, re, mi, etc.) can be quite helpful. Using such systems, pitches with identical functions (the keynote or tonic, for example) are associated with identical labels (1 or do, for example).

Solmization / solfège The seven syllables normally used for this practice in English-speaking countries are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti (with sharpened notes: di, ri, fi, si, li and flattened notes: te, le, se, me, ra).

Ear Training is the development of the active and passive capability to relate to music aurally. This includes the ability to recognize melodic and harmonic intervals, chords, chords progressions, rhythm, melody and harmony. This is a skill by which musicians learn to identify, solely by hearing, pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, and other basic elements of music. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in written/spoken language. Ear training may be contrasted with sight-singing, which is analogous to reading aloud in language. Ear-training is typically a component of formal musical training.

Relative Pitch — The term relative pitch may denote:

  • The distance of a musical note from a set point of reference, e.g. "three octaves above middle C"
  • A musician's ability to identify the intervals between given tones, regardless of their relation to concert pitch (A = 440Hz)
  • The skill used by singers to correctly sing a melody, following musical notation, by pitching each note in the melody according to its distance from the previous note. Alternatively, the same skill which allows someone to hear a melody for the first time and name the notes relative to some known starting pitch.

WidipediA Ear Training

Playing by Ear

Before talking about playing by ear, one needs to understand what is commonly called ear training. As the WikipediA definition for Ear Training mentioned, ear training has an active and passive roll.

Passive Ear Training

PASSIVE EAR TRAINING is the ability to recognize and name intervals, chords, chord progressions, melodic sequences, rhythm, etc... An example of passive ear training would be if someone played the first two notes of the song "Here Comes the Bride" and you can recognize them as an interval of a perfect fourth. You might not know the actual pitches, that would be perfect pitch, the ability to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of an external reference.

Intervals

When learning to recognize intervals, familiar songs that you know are a great reference source. Think of Happy Birthday, with both a Perfect Fourth in the first phrase and a Perfect Fifth in the second phrase. Both using the same lyrics: Happy birthday to you.

Unison (same pitch)

This is one of the easiest intervals to hear, actually not an interval as both notes should sound identical.

ASCENDING Intervals

Minor Second

  • Minor Second: i.e., C to Db
    • Theme from Jaws (movie)
    • Isn't She Lovely (Stevie Wonder)
    • Pink Panther Theme • Actually chromatic approach noted to a minor triad, based in the Tonic of the key. First two notes of the triad are approached chromatically ascending and the last one descending.

Major Second

  • Major Second: ( Do - Re ) i.e., C to D
    • Frere Jacques
    • Do A Dear
    • Silent Night
    • First two notes of a major scale.

Minor Third

  • Minor Third: i.e., C to Eb
    • Smoke on the Water
    • Brahms' Lullaby
    • First two notes of a Blues scale
    • Greensleeves
    • Georgia On My Mind

Major Third

  • Major Third: ( Do - Mi ) i.e., C to E
    • Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder) – Major Triad Root Third Fifth
    • Michael Row Your Boat Ashore
    • When the Saints Go Marching In
    • Kum By Ya
    • Ob-la-di Ob-la-da (The Beatles)
    • Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Perfect Fourth

  • Perfect Fourth: ( Do - Fa ) i.e., C to F
    • Here Comes the Bride
    • Oh Christmas Tree
    • The Look of Love
    • Amazing Grace
    • Auld Lang Syne
    • Love Me Tender
    • Summer Nights (Bass Line)

Tritone, Augmented Fourth/Diminished Fifth

  • Tritone (♯4 or ♭5): i.e., C to F#/Gb
    • The Simp – sons
    • Ma ri a, from West Side Story

    • Meet George Jet son, from The Jetsons

Perfect Fifth

Minor Sixth

  • Minor Sixth: i.e., C to Ab
    • Black Orpheus
    • Theme From Love Story
    • Scott Joplin's The Entertainer (Main theme after the intro)
    • In My Life (guitar intro)

Major Sixth

Minor Seventh

  • Minor Seventh: i.e., C to Bb
    • Theme from Star Trek
    • Somewhere (from West Side Story)

Major Seventh

Octave

  • Octave: ( Do – Do ) i.e., C to C`
    • Blue Bossa
    • Singing In The Rain
    • Hi Ho Hi Ho
    • Some where Over the Rainbow (then descends a minor second to the major seventh of the scale
    • Let It Snow (Oh, the weather …)
    • The Christmas Song

Minor Ninth

Not a lot of examples of melodies. However, the flat ninth is used a lot in jazz improvisation.

Fixed do solfège

Fixed do solfège - In the fixed do system, accidentals do not affect the syllables used. For example, C, C♯, and C♭, as well as C double sharp and C double flat are all sung with the syllable "do", For more information, history and visit the Wikipedia page for Solfège

DESCENDING Intervals

Minor Second

  • Minor Second: i.e., C down to B
    • Fur Elise
    • Joy to the World (Major Scale Descending)
    • Jingle Bell Rock
    • Stella by Starlight

Major Second

Minor Third

Major Third

  • Major Third: i.e., C down to Ab
    • Giant Steps • Descends a major seventh chord from the major seventh of the chord to the root of the chord. Basically a root inversion of the chord descending.
    • Summertime

Perfect Fourth

  • Perfect Fourth: i.e., C down to G
    • Old MacDonald Had a Farm
    • Frere Jacques ("Ding Dang Dong...")
    • When Johnny Comes Marching Home
    • I've Been Working on the Railroad

Tritone, Augmented Fourth/Diminished Fifth

  • Tritone: i.e., C down to F#/Gb
    • The Simp - sons
    • Ma ri a, from West Side Story

Perfect Fifth

  • Perfect Fifth: i.e., C down to F
    • Feelings
    • It Don't Mean a Thing (Duke Ellington)
    • Have You Meet Miss Jones
    • Seven Steps to Heaven
    • Flintstones Theme (Flint stones meet the ...)

Minor Sixth

  • Minor Sixth: i.e., C down to Eb
    • Love Story Theme

Major Sixth

  • Major Sixth: i.e., C down to Ab

Major Seventh

  • Major Seventh: i.e., C down to Db
    • I love you (Cole Porter)

Minor Seventh

  • Minor Seventh: i.e., C down to D
    • Watermelon Man

Octave

  • Octave: i.e., C` down to C
    • Hi Ho Hi Ho
    • Some where Over the Rainbow
    • Crazy (2nd line "I'm crazy..."
    • Willow Weep For Me

ASCENDING Scales

Major

  • Major Pentatonic:
    • My Girl guitar lick
    • I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

DESCENDING Scales

Major

  • Major Scale:
    • Joy to the World

ASCENDING Arpeggios

Major

  • Major 7th chord:
    • Jingle, Jingle, Jingle The first four notes are a major seventh chord, the 1 3 5 7 of the major scale of key of the song.

Chords

Scales

Active Ear Training

ACTIVE EAR TRAINING is the ability to reproduce intervals, chords, chord progressions, melodic sequences, rhythm, etc... An example of active ear training would be to play the first two notes of the song "Here Comes the Bride" anywhere on your instrument or sing that interval (in tune).

NOTE: Getting your fingers and or voice to follow you ear is one of the harder things to do. This is technique and takes a lot of work. All, well worth the effort.

Where the Ear Fits In - (Ear, Hands, Mind)

The hands are the weakest link in the Ear to Hands to Mind combination that is used to play music (by ear) and the hands need to be trained to follow the ear. It is the hands training that takes the longest.

The ear can remember stuff after ONE time hearing it. The Mind two or three and the hands to develop the muscle memory take about a few hundred times. How else can we recognize melodies after hear it once?

When practicing you should be doing stuff to train the hands to follow the ear. That is the sequence for developing this connection:

Mind to Hands to Ear

The Mind tells the Hands what to play and the Ear listens. DON'T practice by ear. Have a plan and organization of the material you would like to cover.

Practicing your scales in intervals of 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, etc... Some more common than other for melodies. Practice both ascending and descending. I would go with 2nds, 3rds, and 6ths first.

Ear to Hands to Mind

The Ear tells the Hands what play and you can involve the Mind if needed or wanted after the fact.

The hands will not do anything they have not done before.

So to be able to play by ear you either:

1)

2)

Here is an example of learning a specific interval. The first two notes of "Here Comes the Bride" are a perfect fourth. Try putting any finger on any note of the ukulele and then play the second, "Here Comes..." correctly the first time. If you can't the fingers haven't been trained enough to "Play by Ear", to obey the hands for the particular sound of that interval. This is then where the mind comes in and intellectually knows where the interval of a perfect fourth is and trains the hands to follow the ear.

Same goes for chords, chord progressions, melodies, rhythms. The process starts with the mind telling hands what to do and the ear taking it all in.

View the complete lessons on this topic: The Learning Process - The Mind, Hands and Ears

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For music and learning an instrument like the ukulele or guitar, it's all about the making the connection between your Mind, your Hands, and your Ear. When listening to music, we enjoy it at the tempo the composer or artist intended, in real time. Only the ear is involved in listening. This is passive listening and you're simply enjoying the music. This is what we do every day and it's what draws us to want to learn a musical instrument.

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Understanding Diatonic Intervals

Updated: 12 Nov 2022

An interval is the distance between two notes. An interval has a name and a type. Intervals can be played one note (melodic) or two notes (harmonic) at a time, ascending or descending. Simple and Compound Intervals are taken from a major scale. Chromatic Intervals are NOT taken from a major scale. They are derived from the diatonic intervals.

UL31b

Understanding Chromatic Intervals

Updated: 14 Dec 2018

An interval is the distance between two notes. An interval has a name and a type. "Chromatic Intervals" are NOT taken from a major scale. They are derived from the diatonic intervals.

UL31c

Understanding Interval Inversion

Updated: 02 Jul 2015

Inverting intervals using the "Rule of Nine". An interval is the distance between two notes. An interval has a name and a type. Intervals can be played one note (melodic) or two notes (harmonic) at a time, ascending or descending.

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Updated: 10 Jul 2023

Mastering the art of playing music by ear represents the pinnacle of achievement for any aspiring musician. The objective of this lesson series is to guide you towards attaining this goal. Whether it entails mastering melodies or chords, rest assured that it is within your reach.

Understanding Intervals

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An interval is the distance between two notes. An interval has a name and a type. Intervals can be played one note (melodic) or two notes (harmonic) at a time, ascending or descending.

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Happy Birthday

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Happy Birthday to You, also known more simply as Happy Birthday, is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth. According to the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records, "Happy Birthday to You" is the most recognized song in the English language, followed by "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne".

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Daily Practice Material for the Contemporary Musician is an organized collection of daily practice and reference material for the contemporary ukulele player. This material can be used to develop the vocabulary and knowledge necessary for single note playing.

A Selection of Books & Reference Charts that are recommended for creating a solid foundation with your chosen instrument and music in general.

Books

Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard – C Tuning

Finally, learn the names of the notes of the fingerboard.

Six Secrets of Ukulele Fingering

Learn the six fingering principles to navigating the ukulele fingerboard. Fingering is one of the most universal topics.

Harmonic Analysis for Scale Selection and Chord Substitution

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Learn to read single note melodies in the first/open position is a lot easier than you might think.

Daily Practice Material for the Contemporary Ukulele

An organized collection of daily practice and reference material for the contemporary ukulele player for developing the vocabulary and knowledge necessary for single note playing.

Checkout the Books for ALL available books.

Reference Charts

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G - G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G – G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Key Signatures — Circle of Fourths and Fifths – ANSI A & A4 sizes

A handy reference chart of all 15 major and relative minor key signatures. US Letter 8.5 x 11 sized (ANSI-A) , A4

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