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It doesn't work for chords for me, but for playing the melody by ear without any talent whatsoever there's a very simple trick that my uncle (who's a proffesion
by ajuc 7y ago
It doesn't work for chords for me, but for playing the melody by ear without any talent whatsoever there's a very simple trick that my uncle (who's a proffesional musician and plays many instruments) taught me in less than 1 hour:
1. start with any note (don't need to be in the same key as the original song - if you don't have absolute hearing just don't worry about that)
2. remember the song you're trying to play in your head and consider if the next note sounds higher in your head than the first one or lower
3. guess how much higher/lower and try to play it quietly - usually 2 or 3 tones is a good guess, if it's not 2 try 3 if it's not 3 try 1, etc. - it sounds bad after the first note if you hit the wrong one so you will know when you hit the right one, and there's not that many reasonable options, usually you will get it in 2 or 3 tries
4. when it sounds good you know it's the right note so you hit it hard to have a reference fresh in your memory and go to the next note in your head and repeat the steps
This is all you need to learn to play any melody from hearing it by trying it for 15 minutes or so. Eventually you get very good at guessing the intervals and can play any melody by ear in real time
I still can't play chords by ear (I can kinda cheat by playing chords based on every second note in the melody or so - it isn't dissonant but sound meh).
- leetrout 7y agoThis is when I learned I really am tone deaf. I have an extremely difficult time deciding if something is higher or lower in my head. I can tell something isn’t right when I play them but I can’t discern how much it’s off nor if it’s higher or lower if it’s really close.
- ajuc 7y agoTry moving the throat as if you were humming "happy birthday" but not pushing the air with your lungs. Your throat will constrict for higher notes more. Or maybe just try humming, dunno. In the end you don't really need the step 2 - you can try +2,-2, +3, -3, +1, -1, ... it will only slow you down by by a factor of 2 and you will train yourself to recognize the differences eventually anyway.
- Thorrez 7y agoI generally only would have trouble if there are multiple notes played simultaneously (I can't figure out which one to focus on), or if they are different instruments (the different timber distracts from the pitch). This reminds me of this test about whether you can tell if one pitch is higher or lower than another: http://jakemandell.com/adaptivepitch/ http://jakemandell.com/adaptivepitch/ Unfortunately it requires Flash. Maybe I should try to duplicate it with webaudio.
- leetrout 7y agoWell I found this one: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/tunestest/hearing-test-results-0 https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/tunestest/hearing-test-results-0 > You correctly identified 25 tunes (out of 26) on the Distorted Tunes Test. Congratulations! That was easier tho because it was identifying very popular tunes that were off.
- maroonblazer 7y agoI'd argue that spending a few weeks learning/absorbing scale degrees and some basic theory will enable you to learn any melody in much shorter time.
- ajuc 7y agoWell it worked for me. Would you learn to play a melody be ear if you just learn the music theory? You still have to practice, right?
- sosborn 7y ago> Would you learn to play a melody be ear if you just learn the music theory? Learning the theory gives a framework for your brain to work in. It's helpful because it gives you incredible hints as to what the next note in the melody is. > You still have to practice, right? Scales/theory should be a part of practice.
- tobr 7y agoIt’s all about getting an intuitive connection between your ears and the instrument. The same kind of intuition most people naturally have for their voice to some degree. Music theory can give you some tools to start thinking in terms of scales and harmony, but I think the intuition for it can only come from playing.
- tobr 7y agoThis sounds frustrating. But it made me appreciate my own musicality, which maybe I take for granted too often. Know that it’s a lot like learning to read, or learning to touch type. You struggle for a long time, but it gets better, and once you get past a certain threshold your body just does it for you.
- ajuc 7y ago> This sounds frustrating. Not really. It's like a game - you get instant feedback and after a while you learn a new song.