Comments on: Can You Learn to Play by Ear? http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/ Jazz Clarinet, Saxophone, Improv, Ear Training Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:24:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Craig Buhler http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-7781 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 05:08:10 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-7781 HERE ARE SOME COMMENTS FROM A STUDENT YOU MIGHT FIND HELPFUL:

> —–Original Message—– From: D H
> Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 6:23 PM
> To: craig@craigbuhler.com
> Subject: Ear Training
>
> Hi! I have been working on playing by ear for several years (off & on).
>
> Do you have any tips or guidelines for multi-instrumentalists,
> specifically different keyed instruments? (I play mostly Alto Sax,
> flute, & clarinet.)
>
> Thanks for your help. Have a great day!
>
> -DH
>

On Aug 27, 2011, at 1:15 PM, Craig Buhler wrote:

> Hi DH,
> Good to hear that your interest in playing by ear is growing. You will
> find it liberating & exciting to play melodies without being enslaved to
> the printed page. This skill will also open up to you the wonderful
> world of creative improvisation & composition.
> Please see my article on the subject:
> http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/
> Any work you do on any one of your instruments will apply equally well to
> the others.
> cb
>

—–Original Message—–
From: DH
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 2:58 PM
To: Craig Buhler
Subject: Re: Ear Training

Thanks for getting back to me.

I am a good sight reader, so would I be better off starting with the
2nd run through without the music? Also, should I order all 3 – C,
Bb, & Eb, or just transpose from C?

Thanks for your help. Have a great day!

-DH

Hi DH,
If you feel confident, you are welcome to begin on the 2nd run thru.
The first 2 exercises you will find quite easy. The terrain becomes more
challenging
as you progress thru to the later exercises, and you can resort to reading
at any time if necessary.
Once you have mastered the 2nd run thru on all 9 exercises, “the sky is the
limit” as regards ways in which
you can approach the 3rd run thru. Since you will be improvising over
II-V-I changes,
all of your work here will directly enhance your ability to perform
improvisations on
real live songs.
The CD is the same for all of the books, so if you are going to attempt the
work beginning
at phase II, you will only need 1 book. Choose the one corresponding to
the horn on which
you feel the most confidence.
I wish you much success and am confident you will find the effort most
rewarding.
cb

]]> By: Craig Buhler http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-5366 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:46:00 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-5366 Yes. You are on the right track. It is the difference between “touch typing” versus the “hunt and peck” method. Konwing where all of the notes are frees you up to choose and play the exact note you desire, rather than searching for it in the dark. By the time you find it, the moment has passed. “New Ears” is like scratching the itch … it feels so good when you find the right spot.

]]> By: ugo capeto ear training http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-5316 Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:50:29 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-5316 i think you should be able to “easily” figure out the dominant, sub-dominant, etc pitches once a root has been established. i have the feeling that’s what you are teaching here.

]]> By: Craig Buhler http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-4690 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:42:10 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-4690 Hello Beau,
You are correct in your statement. That is why “New Ears Resolution” stresses the degree of the scale (its function) for each note. The only time one would be pre-occupied with “major sixth”, “perfect fourth”, “tritone”, etc. is when one is learning 12-tone (20th century) avant garde music. For straight-ahead jazz, function is the key.

]]> By: Beau McMurray http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-4669 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:19:09 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-4669 Interval recognition does not work.

Functional pitch recognition, however, is the correct way to train your ears.

]]> By: Craig Buhler http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-2212 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:30:04 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-2212 Dear Luiz,
I believe i can speak for the entire jazz community when i express how great a debt we all owe to the musicians of Brazil for the profound contribution your country has made to this music. Of course, for most of us our primary connection to Brazil is through the music of Jobim, Gilberto, Bola Sete, and Milton Nascimento. But our appetites have been stimulated to seek more. Perhaps – as i share with you the joy of ear training – you will also teach me more about the music of your countrymen.
Brazilian compositions such as those of Jobim offer us a freshness of rhythmic approach which is widely appreciated, but his music is also very rich in harmonic & melodic content. As you work through “New Ears Resolution,” you are mastering the harmonic language encapsulated by the common II-V-I progression, which is the backbone of jazz standard literature. You are also becoming more secure in your ability to navigate the 12 major scales, which provides a basic vocabulary for melodic construction.
We are considering various strategies to use in volume II of this work: whether to focus on modes, the various minor scales, blues, pentatonics, or chromaticism. Your first work in chromaticism should be in the use of chromatic passing & neighbor tones. For example, if you enlarge on exercise 1, you might vary it first from TI-DO to TI-DO-RE-TI-DO. Then try TI-DO-DI-RE-RA-DO-TI-DO. Obviously, you need to adjust the rhythm to make room for the additional notes. Next, attempt LI-TI-DO-DI-RE-RA-DO-LI-TI-DO. These and other variations can be executed over the same 9 exercises already encountered on the CD. As you begin to elaborate on the original 9 exercises (in all 12 keys), you are:
1. Learning the syllables in all 12 keys.
2. Learning the chromatic notes between the scale tones in those 12 keys.
3. Learning how to plan your rhythmic flow so as to accomodate the number of notes you wish to fit in a given sequence.
4. AND, MOST IMPORTANT, you are beginning to improvise … in a way which fits the melody, the harmony, the key center, and the rhythmic groove.
This last point is perhaps the most essential of all. Many of my students comment that achieving a smooth flow in concept & execution is their biggest struggle. It is not as important to play 3 notes or 5 or 18; what is crucial is that your melodic path unfolds smoothly, consistent with the metric flow & the groove.
Now, in regards to your question about chords, the guitar is BOTH a melodic AND a chordal instrument. Guitarists imply the harmony in various ways.
1. My friend Mark Turnbull can play a melody in such a way that each note in the melody is the top note in a chord.
2. Other guitarists play a melodic phrase and then punctuate that with a chord (like Kenny Burrell).
3. Still others use arpegiated chords (which is what we horn players are forced to do) to deliniate the harmony.
You may wish to start by simply playing the bass notes (the root of each chord), being careful to keep in precise rhythm with the drums. Or you might try playing a harmony to the melody (example: to the melody FA-MI-RE-TI-DO, play LA-SO-FA-RE-MI)
Another area in which “New Ears Resolution” is strengthening you is in the matter of MODULATION. Jobim’s best known song, “Girl From Ipaniama”, is not difficult to play as far as the degrees of the scale go; the melody contains only 2 non-harmonic tones. What makes it a challenge for students is the many modulations it contains in the bridge. The best way to think of a key change is like crossing a border. When i am in Bellingham, WA, i am a citizen; when i travel to Vancouver, BC, i become a visitor. Same person, different function. So, in “Ipanima”, when you move from the verse in F major to the bridge in Gb major, the first note changes from DO to TI. We notate that as DO=TI … the old DO becomes the new TI. As you begin to hear and adapt to these internal modulations, you will no longer get lost, but will always know where you are. It is as if you get off of 1 train and get on to another train. You move at the same speed but in a new direction.

]]> By: bossachoro http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-2096 Tue, 26 May 2009 23:23:53 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-2096 bossachoro Says:

May 26, 2009 at 11:48 am
Hi Craig,

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I play mainly Brazilian music style and also some Jazz and Classical music. I am Brazilian. I play bossa-nova (i.e. Jobim), chôros (i.e. Pixinguinha), some comtemporary (i.e Guinga). I wish to play, I mean be able to improvise mainly over jazz, and brazilian music standards.

I am working every day thru the entire CD of “New Ears Resolution. I find it quite relaxing singing or hearing in my head the solfegio syllable names and playing the guitar at same time. I understand that working with movable DO is important to develop relative pitch and be able to transpose more easily. Do you think it is also necessary to work thru the chromatic scale in the future? I mean using syllables like LI, SI, FI, etc.

I am already feeling some effects of this work when playing by ear or improvising. It is not perfect but it seems the fingers find more “right” notes and faster. How long, in average, do you think it takes to be able to play the things I hear in my head consistently?

In the book, page 6, step 2, you say we could play the chords. For the moment I am playing only the single notes by ear. Is it important to play the chords? Do you mean playing the chords the intervals together? I think most of intervals being played are inside the chords. What is the best way to practice?

Craig, thanks in advance for taking your time. Please let me if there are other materials I can buy from you.

Best wishes,

Luiz

]]> By: Craig Buhler http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-2093 Sun, 24 May 2009 08:10:29 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-2093 Certainly! Click on:
http://www.ccnow.com/cgi-local/cart.cgi?jazzforyouth_NER_http://www.craigbuhler.com/purchase_cds.html

]]> By: Belinda http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-1922 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:16:03 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-1922 Can I order the New Ears Resolution online?

]]> By: Blythe http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-1822 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:52:34 +0000 http://craigbuhler.com/2007/07/05/can-you-learn-to-play-by-ear/#comment-1822 I bought the “New Ears” set last May 2007 while attending the Big Band workshop in Port Townsend. I worked on it on my own from time-to-time and was making some progress. Then, in Jan 2008, I had occasion to be on the Olympic Penninsula and arranged to do a lesson with Craig. That 1 session was HUGE help. I understand quite a bit more of what I’m working towards with the New Ears book. Now, I have it on the top of my practice pile and am using it as my warmup each day when I have the opportunity to practice. I can do a lot with it on my own, but I also can see how being able to pair it with regular lessons would be even better. Wish I lived closer! To be able to find someone like you, Craig, here at home to work with on an ongoing basis would be a wonderful thing. In the meantime, I’m learning a lot and seeing some neat places by looking farther afield for lessons and places to play!

]]>