Got a bit tired of writing web pages, studying ear training and generally doing Advanced Guitar Player stuff . . . so I searched for some inspiration!
Here's some Rory Gallagher - way back in 1974, shortly before I picked up guitar for the first time. BRILLIANT!
The Ear Training Course is progressing well and I'm slowly coming up with text for the ear training and sight reading exercises, but I'm beginning to realise quite a lot of material will need reworking.
The Exploring Intervals below is a good example - singing it back to myself this morning I can see (hear) how difficult it is and the tempo needs slowing down to about 40 bpm. Drat . . . back to the drawing board or should I say tab editor!!!
Cb Major - Cb-Eb-Gb Cb Minor Cb-Ebb-Gb
C Major - C-E-G C Minor C-Eb-G
C# Major - C#-E#-G# C# Minor C#-E-G#
Db Major - Db-F-Ab Db Minor Db-Fb-Ab
D Major - D-F#-A D Minor D-F-A
D# Major - D#-F##-A# D# Minor -D#-F#-A#
Eb Major - Eb-G-Bb Eb Minor - Eb-Gb-Bb
E Major - E-G#-B E Minor - E-G-B
F Major - F-A-C F Minor - F-Ab-C
F # Major F#-A#-C# F# Minor - F#-A.C#
Gb Major Gb-Bb-Db Gb Minor Gb-Bbb-Db
G Major G-B-D G Minor G-Bb-D
G# Major G#-B#-D# G# Minor G#-B-D#
Ab Major Ab-C-Eb Ab Minor Ab-Cb-Eb
A Major A-C#-E A Minor A-C-E
A# Major A#-C##-E# A# Minor A#-C#-E#
Bb Major Bb-D-F Bb Minor Bb-Db-F
B Major B-D#-F# B Minor B-D-F#
I don't think there's any need for B# - might be wrong, though!
Continuing with the Enharmonic Spellings Groove Thang! I'm not joking all this note taking will turn into a mega-project on Advanced Guitar Player - the Music Theory section is gonna start kicking ass!
Ok . . . let's go with the enharmonic spellings of Minor Thirds!
Cb - Ebb
C - Eb
C# - E
Db - Fb
D - F
D# - F#
Eb - Gb
E - G
E# - G#
Fb - Abb
F - Ab
F# - A
F## - A#
Gb - Bbb
G - Bb
G# - B
Ab - Cb
A - C
A# - C#
Bb - Db
B - D
B# - D#
C - Eb
Nothing too weird - especially if we compare this with Major Thirds!!!
More of same. As I said in an earlier post, this blog is really a notebook for Advanced Guitar Player .. .
Cb - Eb
C - E
C# - E#
Db - F
D - F#
D# - Fx (I'll just use a straight x for double sharp, for now!)
Ebb - Gb
Eb - G
E - G#
F - A
F# - A#
Gb - Bb
G - B
G# - B#
Ab - C
A - C#
A# - Cx
Bbb - Db
Bb - D
B - D#
* B# - Dx not usual!
Okay . . . still inspired by David Lucas Burge's approach to intervals, let's have a look at Perfect Fourths. Rather than commenting, I'll just asterisk the improbable ones.
Cb - Fb
C - F
C# - F#
Db - Gb
D - G
D# - G#
Eb - Ab
E - A
E# - A#
F - Bb
F# - B
Gb - Cb
G - C
G# - C#
Ab - Db
A - D
A# - D#
Bb - Eb
B - E
* B# - E# (pretty weird!)
Just thought I'd make a note of the enharmonic spellings of all the Perfect Fifths - you never know when this kind of thing will come in handy!
Cb - Gb
C - G
C# - G#
Db - Ab
D - A
D# - A#
Eb - Bb
E - B
E# - B# - not often used
Fb - Cb - also not often used
F - C
F# - C#
Gb - Db
G - D
G# - D#
Ab - Eb
A - E
A# - E#
Bb - F
B - F#
Cb - Gb etc
I'm still with David Lucas Burge's Relative Pitch Ear Training Course and I have to say that he comes up with some real gems, particularly when it comes to musical terminology.
The basic question is Why Do We Have To Learn It?
Well, quite simply we want to be able to communicate with other musicians. The situation is analogous to language . . .
Just like language the essence of music is Aural - Listening and Speaking . . . Listening and Playing or Singing
But so many musicians seem to think that there's nothing more to music than that!
Would they suggest that learning to read or write a language was a wate of time?
I don't think so .
For more info check out www.advancedguitarplayer.com
Check out this story I found on Digg. It has 1 Digg so far!
"Perfect Your Pitch - Free Guitar Ear Training Course"
The Guitar Pro Tab Files for Perfect Your Pitch - Advanced Guitar Player's Free Online Ear Training and Sight Reading Course For Guitarists are now available to AGP Members in Downloads. The course is my humble contribution to improving your Aural and Pitch Recognition Skills - I really believe that by improving your Musical Ear, you'll become a better improviser, songwriter or guitarist.
See more: http://digg.com/news/entertainment/perfect_your_pitch_free_guitar_ear_training_course
A friend from El Taller de Músics leant me David Lucas Burge's Relative Pitch Ear Training Course - a five CD set - and I've spent most of today listening to the first lessons on Perfect Fifths, Perfect Fourths and Major Thirds - all intervals I'm pretty comfortable with or so I thought . . .
Well, surprisingly, I've learnt a new perspective on these basic intervals, been drilled on the enharmonic names and practiced some very original ear training drills. The course is fantastic for complete beginners . . . and also has plenty to offer more accomplished musicians.
I'm WELL impressed!!!
Just thought I'd blog this Guitar Pro 6 Video as this this is the software I've used to programme the Advanced Guitar Ear Training Course
Anyway here's the video - I know there are plenty of free tabs programs but I think it's worth the investment - especially if your a programmer.
Click Here To Go The Guitar Pro HomePage!!
As I'm planning to review it for Advanced Guitar Player, I've just been messing about with some of Ear Master Pro's more Advanced Ear Training features for guitarists and I came across this Chord Identification exercise - very handy, I thought, Definitely not for beginners, though!
Click Here To Download an Trial Evaluation Copy of EarMaster - there are Basic, Pro and School versions - I decided to try Ear Master Pro
As I'm working on Guitar Ear Training for Advanced Guitar Player, I thought I'd check out some Ear Training software - I came across Ear Master. It looks quite good and I'll be downloading an Evaluation copy in order to check it out.
I think the basic problem with software is that it's difficult to develop skills step by step - however, I'll reserve my judgement until I've checked it out properly!
You can download the Ear Master trial here, by the way!
Looks pretty good, catch you later!
Nice lesson here on the Major Scale - kind of fits in with all my Ear Training stuff!
Not much happening in the way of Jazz Guitar in this year's Barcelona Jazz Festival but I've just bought tickets to see sax legend Sonny Rollins . on his 80th birthday tour wild. I do think I have the lead sheets to Tenor Madness and St Thomas on Advanced Guitar Player - I'll probably be adding Oleo and quite a few more Sonny Rollins classics before and after the show.
Any here's the YouTube vid of the main concerts in this year's festival
Just thought I'd load up an image of the Advanced Guitar Ear Training tabs to show you all how professional they look - I'm pretty pleased myself!
Beautifully programmed in Guitar Pro 6 - check it out by clicking on this link!
Check out this story I found on Digg. It has 1 Digg so far!
"Advanced Guitar Ear Training - Free Perfect Pitch Course For Guitarists"
Perfect Your Pitch - Advanced Guitar Player's free Guitar Ear Training course is now available on the site!
But what I most like about it is the Chord Progression suggestions at the end of each Chord page - they suggest a Jazz Progression, a Rock Progression and also (and this idea WILL take you to an Advanced Level) how to fit the Chord into a Cycle of Fourths progression - if you don't know what that is, visit AdvancedGuitarPlayer.Com and do a search for Cycle of Fifths (it's the same thing just the other way round).Anyway, I have say I'm very impressed by Jamorama, and if you've been playing for less than five years or don't feel you've got the basics under your fingers, it's definitely worth checking out!Speak SoonI'm probably jumping the gun (as usual) but the Free Guitar Ear Training Course - it's called Perfect Your Pitch, by the way - will be available from the Downloads section of Advanced Guitar Player.So go to the site and Download it NOW!
It's been programmed in Guitar Pro 6 and is the first instalment of a more ambitious project that I'll hopefully end up charging but at the moment I'd just grateful if you'd log on to the Forum on Advanced Guitar Player and make a comment so that I can work on improvements,
This part will help you to learn how to recognise and sing the seven degrees of the Major Scale. All the exercises are in C Major so by the end of the course you should be able to sing C, D, E, F, G, A and B at sight. Future instalments will get you transcribing solos and applying this skill to other keys but it's best to start with the basics.
The reason why I've created the course are firstly because a lot of people study on their own these days and if you don't have a teacher it's really difficult to know whether you're getting the notes right or not - having everything programmed as a tab file in Guitar Pro means that you can read the score and listen to it at the same time if you want. (That's why I love Guitar Pro 6!!!).
Secondly, every class I've ever had on ear training and sight reading has been taught to me by a piano player - great musicians but they just think differently from us guitarists. One of the ways I get to transcribe music when I'm sitting on a bus or underground train is by picturing my fretboard in my head. I listen to the music, sing it myself, work what the notes are and then picture it on the fretboard - by the time I get to the rehearsal or gig I've pretty much learnt it.
A pretty useful skill, don't you think. Anyway, go to Advanced Guitar Player, Download it and enjoy!
A big part of my mission with Advanced Guitar Player is to find free guitar lessons out on the Web and let everyone in on the secret - I really don't think you have to pay for anything if you don't want to.
Anyway I've just signed up for Jamorama - they offer six days of free beginner lessons if you sign up- I have to admit that I'm not dreadfully convinced but I'm just testing things.
By the way, offers will only get on the main website if they're rock solid ace - so treat anything you find in the Advanced Guitar Blog Network with a BIG pinch of salt.
I'll let you know more once I've tried a few of the lessons!
