Jazz Double Bass » Ear Training » Things to aim for

Things to aim for

The information contained here might seem somewhat obvious but does sometimes get overlooked. Although this site is specifically aimed at the Double Bass player in jazz the aim of any jazz musician is to be able to play on their instrument instantly what they hear in their head. Included here is some practical advice on what you may want to aim for in your ear training practice and what your ultimate goal might be.

Please bear in mind, there is no one 'definitive' way to work on improving these skills, these pointers here are merely just one take on the subject. If you have any ideas of your own or are told different by an educator then by all means stick to it. What I will say though is that this method does work.

Listening

Listening is a skill in itself. It is different to hearing in that when you listen for something you are actively trying to focus on a sound and isolate it. As an exercise, the next time you find yourself in a room full of people talking try to isolate each conversation and focus on it. You might also like to try this next time you're in the street with a lot of background noise, have a go at trying to isolate each sound around you. The same is true with music, isolate each instrument individually and listen what that instrumentalist is doing.

It is a skill that you can improve and does take practice.

Singing

Your voice is actually your most valuable instrument, you can take it anywhere with you and can serve as an instant composition tool. Some of us might feel self conscious about our voices but it is important to disconnect ourselves from the negative ideas we may have about the quality of our voices. It isn't about whether or not you can sing, it is about being able to sing and maintain a constant given pitch.

Like any instrument it has to be worked at. A place to start is to sit at a piano and spend 10 to 15 minutes going through the following steps:

• play a note and hold it down for a few seconds then let it go;
• try to 'remember' the note in your head;
• sing the note out loud but aim to get it right first time - whilst singing the note try to maintain a constant pitch;
• play the note on the piano again to compare.

This process should be repeated with different notes. Obvious a point this may be I'll make it anyway, try to choose a note that is realistically within your range, you'll soon know if the note is within your range or not as you'll find if its too high or low you simply won't be able to sing it.

By doing this you are achieving two things, you are attaining and improving your ability to sing a given pitch and you are strengthening your voice.

Intervals

Without going into too much detail here an interval is the distance between two given notes. Your aim here is to be able to hear an interval and be able to recognise it. It doesn't matter how you describe it, whether you say its an F# from C#, 'fa' (using the solfege system) or a perfect fourth, as long as you get to the same result.

Further to this you should also be able to reverse this by being able to hear a note in your head and sing it after being given a starting note and a specified interval. Normally you get someone to sit at the piano and play these intervals for you but in the absence of this you can use the ear training tool created here by Rick at IWasDoingAllRight.com.

As with the singing exercises mentioned above here is the process of improving your interval recognition:

• play a note on the piano;
• try to 'hear' a given interval in your head from that starting note (i.e. say to yourself, this note I am playing is a C, I am going to sing a major sixth which is an A.);
• again try to match the pitch in your head with your voice and be as assertive as you can about it;
• play the selected interval on the piano and verify it with the note you heard and sang.

Triads/Chords

As with intervals we need to be able to recognise individual chords and set chord progressions/cadences. I'll begin with just triads. The beauty of this is that if you have been working on the aforementioned steps you realise that triads are simply built from intervals.

There are only four triads and they are Major, Minor, Diminished and Augmented. They are built from:

• Major triad: Root, Major 3rd, Minor 3rd;
• Minor triad: Root, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd;
• Diminished triad: Root, Minor 3rd, Minor 3rd;
• Augmented triad: Root, Major 3rd, Major 3rd.

This is of course true for triads in root position and will differ as you invert them.

For this there are several things you can do. Again, at the piano:

• play a triad, both harmonically(three notes together) and melodically(all notes at the same time);
• listen to it carefully;
• sing the triad and compare on the piano.

then

• play just the root the third and try to hear and sing the fifth;
• do this with both the root and the third.

In order to hear and recognise triads use this ear training tool created by Rick at IWasDoingAllRight.com.

Moving a step further to chords try this:

• play a triad at the piano;
• try to hear the major 7th in your head;
• sing the major 7th;
• compare it on the piano.

Melodies

I am currently in the process of updating this section.

Transcribing

For a treatment of this aspect of ear training please consult these articles:

1. http://www.jazzdoublebass.com/articles/article.php?id=MTQ=
2. http://www.jazzdoublebass.com/articles/article.php?id=Ng==

Finally

All these things can be achieved by a fixed amount of regular and consistent practice. This can be a slow process so don't worry if you get it wrong at first. Try to set aside a fixed amount of time every day to do this and keep a score sheet. I can promise you that your score will improve but it isn't a five minute job.

Please use this ear training tool created by Rick at IWasDoingAllRight.com.