How To Practice Ear Training The Right Way
By Dylan Andrews
Knowing if you're practicing ear training the right way can be difficult.
There are many ways to train your ear, but it's hard to know which ones you should use.
Unfortunately, most ear training exercises you will find are not a good way to train your ear.
This is because most exercises train you to practice ear training in a way that doesn't prepare you for actual music.
To find out more about how not to practice ear training, click here.
In this article, I want to give you my top 5 favorite ways to practice ear training.
Ear Training Practice Tip #1: Sing scales
Singing scales will train your ear to:
- Identify whether a song is in a major key or minor key
- Be able to hear a melody or solo and know what scale they are using
- Be able to figure out chord progressions easily
Start by singing the major and natural minor scales.
Pick up your guitar and play and sing the C major scale you see below.
Make sure you sing the number of each note (C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5, A=6, B=7).
After you get the hang of this, try to sing the scale without your guitar.
Next, try the same thing but with the A minor scale below. (A=1, B=2, C=b3, D=4, E=5, F=b6, G=b7).
Ear Training Practice Tip #2: Sing arpeggios
Arpeggios are the notes of a chord played one at a time. Singing arpeggios, it will train your ear to identify chords quickly.
If you know some arpeggio shapes, then play and sing these just like you sand the scales above.
If you don't know arpeggios, then play any chord and sing each note of the chord.
Ear Training Practice Tip #3: Sing chord progressions
Singing chord progressions will train your ear to identify them when they come up in a song or wherever you may hear them.
The good news is that you don't need to sing every chord progression in every key.
No matter the key, the chord progression will always sound the same.
For example, let's say we are in the key of C and play C G Am F.
In numbers, this would be I, V, vi & IV.
This means C is the first chord of the key, G is the 5th, Am is the 6th, and F is the 4th.
If you were to listen to the same I V vi IV progression in the key of G, the chords would be G, D, Em & C.
The pitches will be different, but our ears will perceive the same function and feel.
So, start playing and singing the root of each chord you play based on the number it is within the scale.
Ear Training Practice Tip #4: Listen to emotions
Every chord within a key has a certain feeling and function to it.
For example, the I chord has an enormous sense of resolution, and the V chord has a tremendous sense of tension.
Remember that you're not listening for what a G chord feels like, an Am, or any specific chord.
You are trying to identify the feeling of the chords within a key, which are:
1 2m 3m 4 5 6m 7dim or more commonly written as I ii iii IV V vi vii.
These chords will have the same function and feeling no matter what key you are in.
You need to play each chord within the key (starting with one) and attach a feeling or function to it.
For example, let's say you are in the key of C. The chords in the key are:
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim
Play the C chord and then any other chord after that.
Do this a few times and try to identify either the feeling or function.
Ear Training Practice Tip #5: Transcribe songs
When transcribing songs, limit the number of chords you listen to at a time.
Start with just 1-2 chords at a time and work your way from there.
As you listen, write down what chords you think are happening and which section of the song it's in.
Once you think you've got it, pick up the guitar and check yourself.
Write the correct answer down, play it, and sing the right chords if you were wrong.
It may be slow at first, but you will get so good at this that you'll be able to learn songs just by listening to them.
No guitar is even needed!
These are only a few ear training exercises I use that will transform your ear.
To get more help with your ear training, I invite you to join my online ear training course. This is an online ear training course that will teach you the most powerful ear training exercises so you can learn fast and have more fun playing the guitar.