Ear Training

If you want to be a great musician, you can't just be good at guitar or bass. Believe me, there are a lot of people who are very good at guitar or bass. You can be a good musician without any other skills than playing guitar, but you can't be a great musician. Having good musical ears will greatly improve your playing skills, they will make you a better singer, and they will make it easier for you to hear chords, intervals and notes.

Some Ear Training Exercises:
Before you start, let me tell you, this will take a long time for you to master. Once of the most respected skills of a musician is called "perfect pitch" Perfect pitch is the ability to hear a note and know what it is. It takes many years to develop perfect pitch.

But, you have to start somewhere.
Remember in music class when you sang the do, re, mi, fa, sol, etc? Never think you'd ever use it again? Well, first you should take some time to familiarize your self with the syllable system. Since it is based on a 8-note major scale, it would be easiest to make the root note (do) a C. So if you wrote it out, it would look like:

do  re  me  fa  sol  la  si  do

C   D   E   F   G    A   B   C

If you have a piano, this is easier, but a guitar will work also. Practice singing the syllables as you play the notes on a guitar or piano. For those of you who play guitar and can't read notes, learn to read notes! But in the meantime:

e|---------------
b|---------------
g|------------4-5
d|------3-5-7----
a|3-5-7----------
e|---------------

c d e f g a b c
d r m f S l s d

Practice singing/playing up and down the scale a few times, then try skipping notes and finically try it all over again without playing. just singing.

Try: do-re-do-mi-do-fa-do-sol-do-la-do-si-do-do(octave)

try these 1st with instrumental accompaniment, then without.

do-fa-da-la-do-si-do-sol-do-re-do-me-do

If you can, record yourself doing these, then listen to them to see if you were right. Once you have done those exercises, and a few of your own a few times, you are ready to move on to the next thing.

A Song.
It is good to start out with something simple that you know the tune to. Something good would be a common tune with a simple rhythm. row-row-row your boat (I know, I know) is a good place to start. I have tabbed it out below, but you you've got a piano, the notes are:

C-C-C-D-E-E-D-E-F-G-C-C-C-G-G-G-E-E-E-C-C-C-G-F-E-D-C

e|-------------------------------------------------------
b|-------------------------------------------------------
g|--------------------5-5-5------------------------------
d|----------------3-5-------5-5-5-------------5-3--------
a|3-3-3-5-7-7-5-7-----------------7-7-7-3-3-3-----7-5-3--
e|-------------------------------------------------------
d d d r m m r d f S d d d S S S m m m d d d S f m r d

As boring as this is, do it a few times correctly, and you will start to improve. Make sure your doing it right, because if not, you're only hurting yourself.

Another useful song is "My Favorite Things" (ie raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, etc).

this song has f#, so all fa's are #'d

e|-------------------------------------------------------
b|-------------------------------------------------------
g|--4-4---------------------4-4--------------------------
d|2-----4-2-2---2-2-4-2---2-----4-2-2---2-2-4-2----------
a|------------2-----------------------2------------------
e|-------------------------------------------------------
m s s f m m s m m f m   m s s f m m s m m f m

e|-------------------------------------------------------
b|-------------------------------------------------------
g|--4-2---------2-0---------------0-2-4-2----------------
d|2-----2-4-0-0-------------0-2-4---------1--------------
a|------------------3---2-3------------------------------
e|-------------------------------------------------------
m s l m f r r l S d   s d r m f S l s l r#

*S=sol
s=si

Get that down well.

Well, that's all I've written for now, if noone's gonna read/use this, then I won't bother making more, but if you mastered all that, and want more, email me at [e-mail] and I will finish it for you.

- Greg Buchak ([e-mail])

Comments

[Oswald]

Seems good!

[sublime_69]

this helped me alot

[mj_da_best]

can sum1 pleas recommend a relatively easy tab for a rock song for a beginner. i hav a ok electric and a distortion pedal. plez help me!!!!!

[Fenix_Lee]

Thankx dude ....




-Fenix_Lee

[Alt3Rethos]

lol i just skimmed through is its kinda confusing but i think i can make sense outta it after reading it a few times

[Mi_sung]

mj_da_best:
can sum1 pleas recommend a relatively easy tab for a rock song for a beginner. i hav a ok electric and a distortion pedal. plez help me!!!!!

[Mi_sung]

In reply to ur request mj_da_best, a real easy song for beginnging rock guitarists is Adam's Song by Blink 182 look on the site for the tab. Good luck

[Mi_sung]

O, yeah excellent lesson Greg

[stevebic83]

Thanx Man you helped alot!!!

[babygurl_guitar]

thanks a BUNCH this'll help
~sam
-the one & only

[jstitch]

Do you have any certain recomendations on how to clean the guitar or what I can buy?

[lientjuh_904]

Can't wait to try tomorrow

[dogsballs]

good one dude thats a good help!!! ..UGstranger its time you went downstairs and had tea with your parents they'll be getting worried about you.

[Metalology]

UG Stranger is a retard...

Nice article. I need to work on ear training :P

[TastetheRedHand]

Yezh ultimate article..

[evvo_gc_fan]

i found that very useful! thanx

[Andy T]

good lesson but i dont really need this.
though your examples are x-celent!

[BeastinHeat]

Thanks man, that helped a lot. Good stuff!!!..

[Giliath]

that was a really good lesson, thanks!!

[bene]

You've really helped. Thanks!

[the_freak_hole]

This seriously helped me in choir class... I couldn't differenciate between the ABCDEFG thing and the do-re-mi thing... If that makes sense...

spam deleted

[difitzio]

cool lesson Im ashamed to admit that i enjoyed the little "my favourite things" riff

[pissedupgeoff]

You mentioned Perfect Pitch; but isn't your lesson really Relative Pitch? Perfect Pitch is the ability to recognise each note as it sounds. I mean if someone played C, you would recognise the note as a C. Or any note, you would know what it was. Is your lesson recognising the distance between the notes? For example Doh Ray, is one tone, ie two frets apart. Doh Fah is two and a half tones apart, ie five frets.Etc. And knowing this is what Relative Pitch is? Or have just missed the point?

[3d_guru]

OMG! did that guy actually write this tutorial??
yo UG Team,,,it's DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO

[local_hippy]

exaclty its do re mi fa sol la TI...and good though a lil difficult to make sense but still good

[bonk]

Watch "The Sound of Music."

Doe - A deer, a female deer
Ray - A drop of golden sun
Me - A name I call myself
Fah - A long, long, way to run (far)
Sew - A needle pulling thread
Lah - A note to follow Sew
Tea - A drink with jam and bread

And that brings us back to "doe."

[Kiwiblues]

I know it's back to school and back to basic's thankyou for the good kick up the rear,I hav'nt mastered it yet but I'm working on it and it's a good place to start,as you said,I would like to see more of the same and keep up the good work. cheers kb.

[nadialeatz_4272]

I thought it was really interesting that you wrote this and talked about how it takes year to develope. I'm 13 & my choir teacher has us do these exercises daily and we can all to them perfectly! lol for more info on our choir, go to www.mpchoirs.org

~*~Nadia~*~

[nadialeatz_4272]

oh yeah, and I noticed that you wrote do re mi fa so la si do. it's do re mi fa so la TI do. trust me, I do the major scale everyday... lol!

[neilpan]

I believe, in the indian classical music, do re me... is same thing as:

sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa

here is the video lesson by ravi shankar -
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-62100054
6681408047&q=shankar

Note: you might not understand what he is talking about ...

[SpAzTiC_oVr_FoB]

didn't help much. i kinda knew most of that b/c i'm a singer, but i am slightly better with solfege now so thanks.

i know i probably sound like i'm totally dumb, but can someone explain to me what it means to hammer on? iknow it's probably a dumb question, but i taught myself how to play guitar in 7th grade and i can't figure it out. help please!

[fatal116]

Any song by Metallica would be a good choice for a beginner to learn

[madbass]

Not Metallica! Probably Nirvana or maybe SOAD. Yeah, I'm talkin' to you fatal116!

[rrb6699]

Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do. I think his above is the Chinese scale. For an easy song Try REM "This One Goes Out (to the one I love)" E G D even the lead is on the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings.. I never knew tab so when i figured out a song (that would be a good lesson-how to figure out songs), I just wrote the Chords over the words where they changed. I later found out Jimmy Buffet wrote all his songs like this too but I didnt know that.
Anyway, but even before doing that I would do it like this (for this song's melody to remember it). Use Emaj so fingers 2 and 3 on 2nd fret 4th and 5th strings:
E E-E G D D-D G E Try it. the dashes mean play 2x as fast on the strum for those chords. Man, learnin a song and singing it makes my day!

[simonzwaan]

Mi_sung wrote:

mj_da_best:
can sum1 pleas recommend a relatively easy tab for a rock song for a beginner. i hav a ok electric and a distortion pedal. plez help me!!!!!

try background guitar for nirvana
E|-----
B|-----
G|-----
D|-----
A|-----0-0-----2--2
E|0-0-1-2--2--2-2-2-0--0-
-

not detailed but sounds ok

[simonzwaan]

love the row your boat song

[Barto_X_core]

thats a great lesson

[luisaceo]

good lesson

[Kai-Ryu]

Nice, that's just what I needed. Would be great for figuring out songs by ear. Even if you can just get the first note.

P.S. I think, mj_da_best, REALLY needs to learn to type.

[nadialeatz_4272]

a thing or two to correct. sorry, but if you're writing a lesson, you should have the correct information.
"do re mi fa so la ti do"
I'm in school to be a musician and this is what was taught.
what you wrote, "la si do", is incorrect.
"si" is a raised version of "so". (Making it sharped.)
For example, if So was a G, then Si would be a G#.
Got it? Good.

[Dr.JBone]

For those of you who keep saying "si" is incorrect: The original solfege scale is Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, Do. That is also the scale used today by non-English speaking Western countries. English speaking countries generally use Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. So, he isn't incorrect. You all are just uncultured swine. Just kidding. But really, he's right.

[jon rooney1]

that made me feel extra stupid
amazing lesson

[BlackGold]

THIS is a great lesson thank you so much. Now I just have to practice it...everyday!!!!

[jon rooney1]

hell yeah

[guitarAce372]

Very good. Best lesson I've found on this site so far. Congrats.

[guitar_addict_1]

great lesson i want more

[corrylb19]

playing with a guitar doesnt help when its out of tune. But really, this lesson helps.

[_fixxer_]

ngek

[Wolfer0624]

I'm just getting into this, and it's actually improving my 'singing'. Thanks!!

[SeamusK]

Alright. Perhaps in non-english-speaking countries, the 7th degree of the major scale is "si" - I haven't heard this, but it is quite possible- but in the US it is "ti". Nadia is correct; "si" is an augmented fifth, a half step above "sol". I recommend using "ti", because you will run into b7 ("te") as well as #5, eventually, and then you won't be confused. Remeber "The Sound Of Music"? "Ti- I drink with jam and bread" :

[SeamusK]

Other than that, nice intro to Ear Training.

[fleh]

mj_da_best wrote:

can sum1 pleas recommend a relatively easy tab for a rock song for a beginner. i hav a ok electric and a distortion pedal. plez help me!!!!!

try some of the riffs in Metallicas Wherever i may roam

[fleh]

dint read the lesson
wish i cud v time to be any good

[fleh]

SpAzTiC_oVr_FoB wrote:

didn't help much. i kinda knew most of that b/c i'm a singer, but i am slightly better with solfege now so thanks.

i know i probably sound like i'm totally dumb, but can someone explain to me what it means to hammer on? iknow it's probably a dumb question, but i taught myself how to play guitar in 7th grade and i can't figure it out. help please!

hammering on is when you play a note then press your finger on a higher note on the same string without picking it again, it needs to be done quickly to stop from muting. hammer-ons will usuuall be shown like this
E|---5h7--|
hold the e string with your forefinger on the 5th fret and pluck the string. while the note is sounding use your 3rd (ring) finger to 'hammer on the 7th fret' by pressing down on it as if you are about to play that note but without picking the string. This is the opposite of pull-offs which are shown as
|---7p5--|
play the 7th fret with your 3rd finger but have your 1st finger pressing on the 5th fret behind it. pluck the string then when the note is sounding pull your 3rd finger down off the string to change to the 5th fret being played.
if you want a better explanation there are bound to be lots of better articles in the lessons serction (it may be under 'legato')

[cali_creol197]

hey man, great lesson. im always looking for anything that will help my playing in the long run. post the second lesson soon!

[x-Dio-x]

pretty helpful

good job

[kirkhammet5]

jstitch wrote:

Do you have any certain recomendations on how to clean the guitar or what I can buy?

If you live near a guitar shop you can buy this kit of special cleaning equipment theres about 5 bottles in it and theres everything in it to clean your guitars body to the fretboard, i got mine at a nearby Long and Mcquade.

[mvp_jordan23]

good job, keep it up.