Ear Training
Remember the game show “Name That Tune”? Even if you’re too young to have actually seen it, we all know the premise, right? Try to name a song in as few notes as possible. That show is based on ear training, and for musicians this tool is extremely useful. It might not land us on a game show anymore, but it will help us understand intervals between notes as well as the tonal quality of the chords we hear (major, minor, etc.). This in turn makes our listening skills better…..and when you listen better, you play better. Not to mention the advantage you have when trying to figure out how to play the songs you hear on your ipod on your own instrument.
A lot of times my students will show me a song they want to learn, and after a little bit of listening I’ll show them how it goes. Then comes the inevitable question: “How did you do that?”. As magical as it seems before you know how to do it, I’m just using my ear and applying the basics of music theory. Some people are naturally inclined to use their ear and pick out songs without any knowledge of theory or intervals. But hope is not lost on those who feel less adept to it, you just need a few reference points to think about.
There are basically twelve intervals you want to become familiar with (I know, it sounds daunting, but stick with me). There are twelve tones we work with in music. If we start on one of those, we want to be able to identify how far up or down it moves when it goes to the next note. And if we work with twelve then we will be staying within an octave so it won’t break your brain as you’re learning, which is always good. Say I hear two notes played one after the other, and I can identify that the first one was lower than the second one, so its moving from a low note to a higher one (i.e. ascending). The next step I use is to associate that interval with a song I know like the back of my hand. For instance, if the song that those two tones remind me of is “Here Comes the Bride” or “Oh, Christmas Tree”, then I know that that interval was a perfect fourth. Sing the first two notes of those songs, you’ll notice that they are exactly the same. There’s the basic premise, now here’s the whole lowdown on recognizing ASCENDING intervals (I’ll cover descending later).
Remember, I’m measuring these with half steps:
1.MINOR SECOND: Lets start with the unmistakable Jaws theme. If you hear that, you call it a minor second, which is just 1 half step. Like a C to a C#.
2.MAJOR SECOND: The next interval is a major second, which is 2 half steps. Or the distance from a C to a D, (also called a whole step). You can hear this as the second and third notes in “Happy Birthday”, and the first two notes in “This Land is Your Land” or “Alouette”.
3.MINOR THIRD: The distance between these two notes is 3 half steps, like a C to an Eb. You can hear this as the first two notes in “Brahm’s Lullaby”.
4.MAJOR THIRD: The distance between these two notes is 4 half steps, like a C to an E. You can hear this as the first two notes in “When the Saints Go Marching In” or the first notes in the chorus of “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da”.
5.PERFECT FOURTH: Okay, I already mentioned this one earlier in the post, but it’s worth repeating. The distance between these two notes is 5 half steps, like a C to an F. You can hear this as the first two notes in “Here Comes The Bride” and Oh, Christmas Tree”.
6.TRITONE: Ooooh, the lovely and weird tritone. The distance between these notes is 6 half steps (or three whole steps, see how it got it’s name?), like a C to an F#. You can hear this as the first two notes in “The Simpson’s Theme” and the chorus of “Maria” from West Side Story.
7.PERFECT FIFTH: The distance between these two notes is 7 half steps, like a C to a G. You can hear this in “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” as the second note moves to the third note.
8.MINOR SIXTH: The distance between these two notes is 8 half steps, like a C to an Ab. If you know your Beatles music, it’s the first two notes in “Because”. You can also hear it in Lara’s Theme from “A Love Story”. I didn’t know this song before needing to identify a minor sixth, now I love it because it is so distinct. It starts out descending but then immediately ascends.
9.MAJOR SIXTH:The distance between these two notes is 9 half steps, like a C to an A. The absolute easiest way to hear this is as the first two notes in the “NBC” jingle. But there’s also “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” and “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”.
10.MINOR SEVENTH: The distance between these two notes is 10 half steps, like a C to a Bb. You can hear it as the first two notes in “Somewhere” also from West Side Story (you know, the song that goes: “There’s a place for us”).
11.MAJOR SEVENTH: The distance between these two notes is 11 half steps, like a C to a B. You can hear it as the first two notes in the chorus of “Take On Me” by Aha, or “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones.
12.OCTAVE: The distance between these two notes is 12 half steps, like a C to the next highest C. You can hear this as the first two notes in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.
Now go on and experiment! Listen to these songs and play the intervals on either a piano or your guitar. Obviously there are millions of other songs you can use to associate with these intervals and the one’s I’ve listed above are simply the ones I use, so feel free to find your own.
For even more fun I very highly recommend playing with this site: http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id90_en.html
It plays two notes and then you have to name the interval. As you go it gives you a score of how many you’ve answered correctly, so each time you play you can see yourself getting more acquired to it. You can customize it to do just ascending or just descending or both. I use it, and you should too…… Have fun!
coolio,thanks mate
Comment by Lilster — November 7, 2010
It’s my bonnie lies over the ocean, but thanks. My music teacher had the same songs for the intervals like you do.
Comment by Ali Vennett — November 7, 2010