Practicing Ear Training in Other Keys

1) I know that the Direct Application CDs are in various keys, but are there any one note products in keys besides c major?
2) Is it possible to understand chord progressions against a key center in the same way as notes? What I mean is, once you’ve established the I of the progression, could you know what the next harmony was just by how it feels in relation the key centre. I don’t mean naming exact inversions or anything, which I know you cover further down the line, just a feel for the underlying harmonies, so I could say “ah that’s a I,IV,V” etc.
3) Do people find that notes a fifth apart sound similar? I often confuse D/A, C/G etc.

A: Currently we don’t have a Ear Training One Note product that is in all keys. We could do it but I feel that you don’t really need it because all 3rds sound the same in every key. Yes you need to learn what the 3rd is music theory wise to be practicing ear training but you will do that with Contextual Ear Training course anyway. It’s also a massive amount of MP3s. Just for a major cadence it would be 1056. Then you have a minor cadence another 1056. I feel your time is better spent practicing ear training in one key then applying it to Direct Application situations and then moving on to Key Note Recognition. You could spend years just going through 2112 different examples but it’s building in too much of a clinical approach to the method. Remember you learn contextually so we need to get you hearing the right way and then give you lots of other exercises so you can apply this to real music ASAP. If you feel you need help with knowing what all the theory relationships are then use these courses:

Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume One and Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume Two

Music Theory Workbook for all Instruments

Music Theory Interval Recognition

An easy way to hear many chord progressions is to just follow the bass line. If you hear a bass playing in “C” and then you hear him playing an “F” it will sound like the 4th. As you get better with practicing ear training you will also hear the rest of the notes that the chordal instruments are playing so if the guitar player was playing an “F” chord and voicing it as “F”, “C”, “F”, “A”, “C” you would hear IV, I, IV, VI and I in that order. That’s what you start to work on when you get to 2 note ear training.

When you start to miss notes and they are a fifth away it means you are getting close to getting the notes right in your mind. This is because so much music that you have heard in your life goes between chords that are a fifth or a fourth apart. So it’s a good sign when that starts to happen.

Hope that helps

Bruce

It is also recommended that you read Bruce Arnold’s Blog at his artist site. It contains more discussion of the musical topics found in these FAQs as well as other subjects of interest. You will also find the “Music Education Genealogy Chart” located here which shows you the historic significance of the music education products found on the Muse Eek Publishing Company Website.

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