ANYONE FOR THIS SUGGESTION ON EAR TRAINING!!!!!

[schm040]

Neil,

As others have mentioned, I feel like the ear training lessons add a great deal to the Target Program.

After doing the Mellow Yellow lesson yesterday, I remember the song so much better than the other lessons. I haven't even opened the chart and I remember the verse and chorus progression as well as some of the melody.

I was even able to figure out the right left hand position for the melody for the D chord before you told us to make a three string barre on the 7th fret.

So, here is my suggestion:

When posting your Preview Videos, post Two of them. One regular one and one with the left hand edited out. I am sure that with a little video trickery you could do the edited version without having to re-record it. You could use a TG Logo or something as that has proven to block some of the video in the FOTW lessons pretty well

Help anyone!!!! Anyone!!! Bueller???

Matt

[thereshopeyet]

Thanks

[sbutler]

I like them too. I leave the lesson format up to the teacher, I just want to have more practice. One a week would be great.


sCott

[schm040]

Scott,

I hear ya.

I guess I could just put a post it on my monitor over his left hand and get the same effect.

Better yet, I should listen to Neil's Preview without even looking at the video first, then put the post it on the left hand, then try to figure out the Key, Tonic, Progression etc.

Matt

[TGNeil]

Hey Gang,

Great comments and suggestions. I know how valuable this skill is and I will try to add more of these lessons, or at least segments to lessons when I can. I love the observation/suggestion that you can find these everywhere on your own just by focused listening, whether in lessons or just when you are listening to the radio. Get in the habit of putting on your musician's ears whenever you hear a song, maybe even in the grocery store.

The observation that it is easier to remember a song that you have figured out is huge. This is a small part of the reason I don't put chords over words but the more you can remember by ear the better.

There is a perception (by people who ask me about a certain song or progression) that I must have thousands of songs memorized. I don't, I hear (or re-hear) them in my head and figure them out again as I go through them. After enough years, and enough songs, this happens fast enough to appear to be a photographic memory type trick.

When I hear and/or discover a new sound or series of chords that I don't recognize, I work it out and relegate to the back-up memory files, hopefully forever, The lesson that went up today, One Way Sunday by Jon Mark has one of these in it, for example. Many Al Stewart songs do as well, which is part of what drew me to his songs in the first place, before I developed an appreciation for his crafting of lyrics.

Listen, analyze, remember- one of my approaches to music.

Neil

[Lavallee]

Matt, I like your suggestion. Ear training and theory are 2 aspects that I have been ignoring mainly by laziness as they require efforts with no quick payback. I realize now that I am becoming a shallow player (concentrating on learning song that I always liked but cannot figure out a 2 chords song). I will review those ear training lessons and as Neil mentioned if it work for him, it should work for me too.

I find interesting your comment about better remembering a song that you figured out which hopefully would take me away from the tab crutches (eventually ).

I do not have suggestions as you were asking, but thanks for opening my eyes.

Marc

[willem]

I like the post it idea..my smelling is better..

[thereshopeyet]

Thanks

[sbutler]

I think its common among most of us to gravitate to the lessons of the songs that we are familar with. Some of the songs/lessons here, are like an old familar friends to me. In that regard, I have a very easy time remembering beats, tempos, and the basic sounds of tons of songs. When there is a fly-on-the-wall lesson posted, such as the one this week "Still Rock and Roll to me", I ALWAYS pick up the Taylor and play along. I believe those types of lessons work as well for me as ear training.

I hadn't given much thought to the memorization until it was mentioned in this thread, but I think, I too have an easier time remembering a song, when I learn it by ear. Later, If I don't recall it instantly, there is something about each song that I can draw on, that will shake the memory so I can play it again.

I sure love learning how to play this thing.

Scott

[thereshopeyet]

Thanks