good software to improve my hearing of chord sequences

[possopo]

hi everyone,

I'm currently using GNU Solfege and earbeater to improve my hearing but both softwares only have exercises on single notes (intervals) or single chords (is is a minor, major, 7th, diminished...) ?

 

does anyone know if there is a software where I could try to guess a chord sequence ?

the software plays two chords and I have to find the interval between the two chords.

like is it :

I II, I III, I IV, I V, I VI, I VII ?

(with chords from the major scale, minor scale or anything else)

[guitarville]

Don't know, but this is fun to work with.

 

 

http://www.chordpulse.com/

[mc9320]

Try here http://www.teoria.com/exercises/pd.php

[MartinC]

Thanks -great exercise

 

Try here http://www.teoria.com/exercises/pd.php

 

[jeremy_green]

It's called "The Beatles" : )

 

Sorry couldn't resist. I am in no way helpful to this thread ... Seriously though couldn't you just use real songs.. lift them without a guitar, then grab your axe and see how close you got? You'd be learning actual songs too?

 

Just a thought.

[Virgman]

 

It's called "The Beatles" : ) Sorry couldn't resist. I am in no way helpful to this thread ... Seriously though couldn't you just use real songs.. lift them without a guitar, then grab your axe and see how close you got? You'd be learning actual songs too? Just a thought.

 

 

My thinking exactly. Pick up guitar. Play chords in song.

[JonR]

I agree with all the above. The exercises on teoria are fun, and - like any computer game - occasionally frustrating when you don't do as well as you think you should. But the best way to learn this skill is "on the job"; getting down and dirty with actual music.

Those exercises are only easy when you've listened to (and transcribed) enough songs to know how those changes sound. If I hadn't already done a lot of that, I'd have been useless at those exercises, and wouldn't even have known how to judge the chord differences.

In any case, learning songs is a lot more fun. After doing those exercises for a few minutes, you might (or might not) be able to congratulate yourself on your score. But you've achieved nothing. (Maybe you feel you can now tell a IV-V from a V-vi, or whatever - good result! - but the sounds are still a little unrealistic, not much like real music.)

Learn a song by ear, even if only a small part of it, you will achieve something meaningful.

 

I wouldn't say there's no benefit in the exercises. Only that they're a sideshow at best - and at worst a way of avoiding the important (and maybe scary) stuff: tackling an actual song.

[MartinC]

I remember being in college and the professor put on some Beatles tune and just started calling out the changes. I was so impressed. But as a guitarist, if I wanted to play the tune right, I needed to know what inversions were being played-I needed the part, not the chord. So I trained my ear to hear guitar parts. Transcribing guitar parts from recordings requires knowledge of the guitar. Things like the difference in timbre of an open string vs. a fretted one, a familiar inversion's sound, those things make the job easier. But they don't focus on the pure ability to hear the difference between two different chords played on another instrument-say a piano. That's why I think the exercise at teoria, as well as similar ones to identify scales, intervals, etc. are valuable.

When I want to transcribe a flamenco guitar part, things like knowing the traditional key of the form, the traditional tuning, characteristic moves, etc, help me get the job done, but those skills don't really enable me to do what the professor did in that class, which to me, is a valuable skill for any musician-to be able to know these things without your particular instrument sounding, or using familiar signposts. These software games can help with that IMO.

[JonR]

I remember being in college and the professor put on some Beatles tune and just started calling out the changes. I was so impressed. But as a guitarist, if I wanted to play the tune right, I needed to know what inversions were being played-I needed the part, not the chord. So I trained my ear to hear guitar parts. Transcribing guitar parts from recordings requires knowledge of the guitar. Things like the difference in timbre of an open string vs. a fretted one, a familiar inversion's sound, those things make the job easier. But they don't focus on the pure ability to hear the difference between two different chords played on another instrument-say a piano. That's why I think the exercise at teoria, as well as similar ones to identify scales, intervals, etc. are valuable. When I want to transcribe a flamenco guitar part, things like knowing the traditional key of the form, the traditional tuning, characteristic moves, etc, help me get the job done, but those skills don't really enable me to do what the professor did in that class, which to me, is a valuable skill for any musician-to be able to know these things without your particular instrument sounding, or using familiar signposts. These software games can help with that IMO.

Good point. It's important to be able to separate out the effects of chord changes from other instrumental effects.

Eg, if the guitar is playing a lot of arpeggios, you need to be able hear past those to the (unbroken) chords themselves. Or if there are harmonised horns or other instruments. It's important to be able to ignore instrumental timbre and texture and hear the underlying harmony (chord types) and how and when it changes.

Exercises like teoria's can (I guess) help in this respect, in that the instrumental sound is the same throughout.

 

Learning from songs is still crucial, of course, because you learn so much else that way. (There's a whole lot more than chord changes to listen out for .)

[JR13]

 

It's called "The Beatles" : ) Sorry couldn't resist. I am in no way helpful to this thread ... Seriously though couldn't you just use real songs.. lift them without a guitar, then grab your axe and see how close you got? You'd be learning actual songs too? Just a thought.

 

 

Jeremy, any songs or albums you'd recommend for a beginner? I'm trying to improve my ear and be able to recognize different chords (major,minor,etc).

[JonR]

Still thinking Beatles, they obviously got more advanced as they went on, so I'd start with the early albums, from 63-64. Excellent beginner stuff - with a fair dose of surprise to keep you guessing.

Simpler than that, any 50s pop is good too (which is of course where the Beatles got all their inspiration) - see how many I-vi-IV-V's you can spot!

 

A genre I like for both melody and chords is late 50s/early 60s guitar instrumentals (Shadows, etc). Good simple tunes (that you can pick up one note at a time), straightforward chords, and clean productions (good separation of lead, rhythm and bass).

[JR13]

Still thinking Beatles, they obviously got more advanced as they went on, so I'd start with the early albums, from 63-64. Excellent beginner stuff - with a fair dose of surprise to keep you guessing. Simpler than that, any 50s pop is good too (which is of course where the Beatles got all their inspiration) - see how many I-vi-IV-V's you can spot! A genre I like for both melody and chords is late 50s/early 60s guitar instrumentals (Shadows, etc). Good simple tunes (that you can pick up one note at a time), straightforward chords, and clean productions (good separation of lead, rhythm and bass).

 

That gives me a great place to start. Thanks!

[atza]

Well a chord sequencer called Chord Pad is worth trying, it lets you make any chord progressions and play it in 100s of music styles