Interval Training Thought ?

[The Chosen Few]

Trying to have the ability to sing any interval up or down in a specific key.

My method at the moment is picking a key, trying to sing the root with out a reference note and then perseeding to sing random intervals, then checking them.

Can any one give some tips of any sort ?

Somethings you have found to work in the past ?

Appreciate it

[nat whilk II]

Trying to have the ability to sing any interval up or down in a specific key. My method at the moment is picking a key, trying to sing the root with out a reference note and then perseeding to sing random intervals, then checking them. Can any one give some tips of any sort ? Somethings you have found to work in the past ? Appreciate it

 

I like to find songs that have hookey examples of specific intervals. I can remember those better than intervals in the abstract.

 

major 2nd - first two notes of Santana's Singing Winds Crying Beasts

major 3rd - "Mar" "Tha" - first two melody notes from Martha My Dear

perfect 4th - first two notes of Louie Louie

perfect 5th - Moon River first two notes

 

and so on and so forth....

 

please forgive me but that's a funny spelling of proceeding you have there....

 

nat whilk ii

[The Chosen Few]

Well I haven't really attended school since I was little so my grammer is quite atrocious ( spell checked that one ).

Anyway...

So I listen to a song, then learn the song ?

How am I supposed to know what the interval is unless I learn the song and then find out after what the interval is ?

[slight-return]

what nat is talking about isn't an "exercise" (you don't do what he's talking about as a learning challenge) but mnemonic devices to AID you as you go through exercises.

 

So you just build a small catalog of familiar intervals (the first couple of notes of melodies you are extremely familiar with) to help you identify intervals in other melodies

(as you get stuck with a "what is that interval?" question, you have an inernal ref to what a perfect 4th sounds like, what a major third sounds like, etc because you can "sing" it as part of the fsmiliar melody)

[The Chosen Few]

So then your advice is to learn as many songs as I can ?

I'm learning this so I can aquire Aural Recall and sing scales with out reference notes, that kind of thing.

[slight-return]

So then your advice is to learn as many songs as I can ?

 

 

nope, I mean there's nothing wrong with learning all the songs you can, but that's not really what nat's talking about (FWIW it's a very common helpful tool nat's talking abt)- are you digging what a mnemonic device is?

 

 

I'm learning this so I can aquire Aural Recall and sing scales with out reference notes, that kind of thing.

 

That's pretty much the reason everyone goes through that (or to squeek by in their sight singing jury )

 

If you are looking to do things w/o any reference at all - well that's absolute (aka perfect) pitch -- but with a interval studies you HAVE a ref pitch -- the pitch that you are harmonizing against (note here, they don't have to occur at the same time...the interval can be as compared to the preceeding note) to make the interval

 

you know what I think will help the absolute most?

[slight-return]

an instructor!

[The Chosen Few]

Yeah I'm not worried about the perfect pitch part. Just a fun way to study intervals... which hasn't really been discussed yet.

And as far as Mnemonics or what ever its called I understand that the mind needs things to latch on too. Don't think it's much more complicated then that.

If you can remember the song and the interval being thought about, you are half way to being able to sing it when required... if I am getting your advice right.

I was just wondering if someone had some drills or exercises that they did personally that let them improve there ears to interval lengths.

Perhaps just singing different ones and finding them in songs is good enough... but I have a curious mind and thought maybe some people could tell me some deep dark secrets they learnt.

[The Chosen Few]

an instructor!

 

Working on it... they are hard to find around here.

I've talked to a couple and they all say... " Sorry, sounds like I can't help you "

So what am I to do but keep on looking

[Lee Knight]

Do them in order. First, to learn them, play a minor 2nd on the guitar in C.

 

C, C#

 

Then sing it.

 

Then play a major 2nd

 

C, D

 

Then sing it. On up to the major 7th then the octave. Repeat, repeat and repeat. Then backwards in order.

 

Once you feel like you know them, stop using the guitar and try them randomly. Try singing the root/5th. 4th. Minor 7th, etc. If you hose it up go back to the in order exercise. On and on.

[slight-return]

And as far as Mnemonics or what ever its called I understand that the mind needs things to latch on too. Don't think it's much more complicated then that.

 

 

Which can be a pretty rich subject (wifey's PhD was in neuroscience...lot going on there)

 

If you can remember the song and the interval being thought about, you are half way to being able to sing it when required... if I am getting your advice right.

 

 

Perhaps just singing different ones and finding them in songs is good enough...

 

It's not so much a "good enough" as it is a first step -- it's a tool you hen use as you progress

[slight-return]

Working on it... they are hard to find around here. I've talked to a couple and they all say... " Sorry, sounds like I can't help you " So what am I to do but keep on looking

 

 

move

 

seriously - you mentioned it being sort of nowhere and you wanted a social network of musicians

 

Can it be hard? sure I move from KY o CO on a friggin bicycle - but it can be one of the best things you can do (esp if you are in your youth)

 

 

 

I man you can spend forever "getting ready" - i'm not saying leap before you look, but activly roll that into your plan

[Extreme Mixing]

 

major 3rd - "Mar" "Tha" - first two melody notes from Martha My Dear nat whilk ii

 

 

Isn't that one a minor 3rd? Oh When from Oh When the Saints Go Marching In is a major third.

 

Steve

[joel Oporto]

Berklee shares has a very cool vocalization that involves singing all the notes in the scale, you might want to check that out.

For starters, when you study voice, the vocalization exercises are in themselves exercises in intervals usually starting with a 1-3-5-8 (do-mi-sol-do-mi-sol-do) exercise or 1-3-3-2-1(ma-a-ri-i-ya) or a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 (on and on and on a---nd o--n a--nd o--n) exercise.

What slight-return has suggested about certain songs to represent certain intervals is actually a common or pop way of remembering/refreshing your intervals, In classical singing, it is what the VACCAI method is all about, wherein the study of a certain interval is done with a specific song for that interval, in slight-returns' case, he just substitutes more palatable songs for those intervals.

 

So the easiest way is to start with your vocalization exercise which are simultaneously exercises in proper vowel intonation, pitch interval accuracy, and breathing exercises.

[The Chosen Few]

 

Berklee shares has a very cool vocalization that involves singing all the notes in the scale, you might want to check that out. For starters, when you study voice, the vocalization exercises are in themselves exercises in intervals usually starting with a 1-3-5-8 (do-mi-sol-do-mi-sol-do) exercise or 1-3-3-2-1(ma-a-ri-i-ya) or a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 (on and on and on a---nd o--n a--nd o--n) exercise. What slight-return has suggested about certain songs to represent certain intervals is actually a common or pop way of remembering/refreshing your intervals, In classical singing, it is what the VACCAI method is all about, wherein the study of a certain interval is done with a specific song for that interval, in slight-returns' case, he just substitutes more palatable songs for those intervals. So the easiest way is to start with your vocalization exercise which are simultaneously exercises in proper vowel intonation, pitch interval accuracy, and breathing exercises.

 

 

See , that was what I was thinking about/expecting.

I'll look on Berklee's book store and try to track down something like that.

Do you have any book recommendations ?

[tradivoro1]

Band in a box has an interval game that teaches you the sound of intervals...

[The Chosen Few]

 

Do them in order. First, to learn them, play a minor 2nd on the guitar in C. C, C# Then sing it. Then play a major 2nd C, D Then sing it. On up to the major 7th then the octave. Repeat, repeat and repeat. Then backwards in order. Once you feel like you know them, stop using the guitar and try them randomly. Try singing the root/5th. 4th. Minor 7th, etc. If you hose it up go back to the in order exercise. On and on.

 

 

Right On !

[The Chosen Few]

 

Band in a box has an interval game that teaches you the sound of intervals...

 

 

I'll check it out

[girevik]

 

Do them in order. First, to learn them, play a minor 2nd on the guitar in C. C, C# Then sing it. Then play a major 2nd C, D Then sing it. On up to the major 7th then the octave. Repeat, repeat and repeat. Then backwards in order. Once you feel like you know them, stop using the guitar and try them randomly. Try singing the root/5th. 4th. Minor 7th, etc. If you hose it up go back to the in order exercise. On and on.

 

 

This is very similar to the practice method taught to us in college music theory. The minor differences:

 

1. We also sang the number of half steps in the interval (eg. 7 for perfect 5th, 8 for minor 6th, 4 for major 3rd).

 

2. An instrument was used only to provide the starting note. Otherwise, we were not allowed to use an instrument, because the focus of the practice was being able to recognize any interval when you hear it - you should not have to play it first in a piano, guitar, or other instrument.

 

3. I have no doubt Lee may have intended the same, but we were instructed to always vary the starting note. Do not start from C all the time. Try Bb, F#, etc. - all 12 keys at some point. I once had a 12-day schedule in which I rotated all 12 keys.

[The Chosen Few]

 

This is very similar to the practice method taught to us in college music theory. The minor differences: 1. We also sang the number of half steps in the interval (eg. 7 for perfect 5th, 8 for minor 6th, 4 for major 3rd). 2. An instrument was used only to provide the starting note. Otherwise, we were not allowed to use an instrument, because the focus of the practice was being able to recognize any interval when you hear it - you should not have to play it first in a piano, guitar, or other instrument. 3. I have no doubt Lee may have intended the same, but we were instructed to always vary the starting note. Do not start from C all the time. Try Bb, F#, etc. - all 12 keys at some point. I once had a 12-day schedule in which I rotated all 12 keys.

 

 

That's Good Advice !!!

Cheers

[nat whilk II]

Isn't that one a minor 3rd? Oh When from Oh When the Saints Go Marching In is a major third. Steve

 

I'm busted! yes, of course. it's the third and fifth of the root chord, which is a minor third. Typing without thinking as usual....

 

nat whilk ii

[Lee Knight]

This is very similar to the practice method taught to us in college music theory. The minor differences: 1. We also sang the number of half steps in the interval (eg. 7 for perfect 5th, 8 for minor 6th, 4 for major 3rd). 2. An instrument was used only to provide the starting note. Otherwise, we were not allowed to use an instrument, because the focus of the practice was being able to recognize any interval when you hear it - you should not have to play it first in a piano, guitar, or other instrument. 3. I have no doubt Lee may have intended the same, but we were instructed to always vary the starting note. Do not start from C all the time. Try Bb, F#, etc. - all 12 keys at some point. I once had a 12-day schedule in which I rotated all 12 keys.

 

Absolutely! The key of C is a good communicator.

[joel Oporto]

earope is also a good ear training program for you.

This one will also train your ears for chords and scales.

the berklee shares vocalization I was talking about just involved one syllable (mah) and a 4 bar/1chord groove wherein you sing 1---87654321--- singing the 87654321 like a scale within 1 or 2 beats in the groove. You can even invent/improv on the phrase yourself.