Ear Training in the car

grappagreen

Hi all,

Anyone suggest anything that can be used whilst driving to improve interval recognition?

Si

Danny1969

Yeah, listen to the radio ... as the songs playing try to figure out the chord sequence in terms of Nashville charts. So don't worry about the key, just think ok we are on the home chord which is  1 ... now it's gone to the 5, then the 6, now the 4 etc ... then when you get home pick up the guitar and see if you were right. When I was in the building trade and often travelling 4 hours a day I used to do this constantly and quickly learnt to easily figure our chord sequences, which really came in handy working in covers bands. 
You can do the same technique with riffs and single note stuff. 

viz

Danny1969 said:

Yeah, listen to the radio ... as the songs playing try to figure out the chord sequence in terms of Nashville charts. So don't worry about the key, just think ok we are on the home chord which is  1 ... now it's gone to the 5, then the 6, now the 4 etc ... then when you get home pick up the guitar and see if you were right. When I was in the building trade and often travelling 4 hours a day I used to do this constantly and quickly learnt to easily figure our chord sequences, which really came in handy working in covers bands. 
You can do the same technique with riffs and single note stuff. 

Great advice (maybe not while driving though)! 

(And if it’s in a minor key, still call the home chord the 1, don’t suddenly think you’re actually in Nashville and start calling it the 6, or any other number for that matter)

octatonic

Concentrate on driving.

Woodenhead

octatonic said:

Concentrate on driving.

No harmonising with the family either
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm2Jy64b0dI

Brad

Works for this family...

https://youtu.be/utXqrsRoYWo

stratology

Not sure if doing something that requires intense focus is a good idea while driving - I knew a guy who was obsessively studying jazz, listening to Charlie Parker while driving, and crashing 3 cars in the process..

That being said - EarBeater is a good phone app for ear training, but you have to interact manually with the app.

Brad

stratology said:

Not sure if doing something that requires intense focus is a good idea while driving 

In all seriousness I’d agree with this. Using ‘something else’ would require focus and would that mean you wouldn’t be focusing on driving quite as much as normal? Or if you were prioritising driving, would you be getting the best out of your learning time? 

Ultimately IMO the best thing I’d be comfortable suggesting you could do in the car (but also out of it) is to sing. 

I sing a given note and do either intervals, triads, 7th arps, scales etc. You could even put a drone on to sing against.

BlueStrat

best thing to do in a car is to focus on the road; background music sure, but nothing that takes focus away from being safe

Danny1969

To be honest I don't think idly wondering whether the 2nd chord change you hear is a move to the 4 or 5 is anymore likely to divert your attention form the road then a radio pop quiz, mentally planning a Zoom meeting or wondering what to cook for dinner. 
I mean who drives like a zombie thinking nothing other than the road ?

grappagreen

Thanks for all the comments..

Luckily the Tesla can drive itself... but seriously I do take the point made...

I might just sing some intervals to keep myself awake..

Si

Grunfeld

Danny1969 said:

Yeah, listen to the radio ... as the songs playing try to figure out the chord sequence in terms of Nashville charts....
You can do the same technique with riffs and single note stuff. 

I do this too.  It's good fun to sing along, work out the relative pitches, harmonies, any of that stuff.  And as you say, get home and check to see how close you were. 

And @grappagreen it's a skill which you'll notice improving.  The easiest songs for me were the three chord trick songs and the doo wop I, vi, IV, V which you could spot a mile off.  Then you start hearing the four chord progression everywhere, I, V, vi, IV  -- and you learn to differentiate it from vi, IV, I, V songs.  And I'm, pretty good with all that and the standard passing intervals and the feel of chromatics.  Where I struggle, not surprisingly, is with the sound of chords I don't hear too often. 

And no it doesn't affect concentration because you obviously wouldn't do it if there is a lot of demand on your attention.

kelpbeds

Use the app ' functional ear trainer' it's perfect for in the car I used to use it all the time like this and totally safe. The one setting is totally hands free and it's a brilliant tool.

Dominic

Danny1969 said:

To be honest I don't think idly wondering whether the 2nd chord change you hear is a move to the 4 or 5 is anymore likely to divert your attention form the road then a radio pop quiz, mentally planning a Zoom meeting or wondering what to cook for dinner. 
I mean who drives like a zombie thinking nothing other than the road ?

I wouldn't be able to listen that intently when driving
I am more focused on what is going on around me
like ,my neighbours extension,the new shop on the high street,a parked Ferrari,a few advertising hoardings and the attractive women coming out of the shops in summer clothing on a hot day.
It doesn't seem to make much difference because I'm an absolutely terrible driver anyway .I always like to think of Michael Winner who was the cause of so many near misses ( It's only an accident ) .A friend of mine was in the car with him when such an incident occurred and the other driver berated him ...Winner just looked him in the eye and said " I'm very sorry but I'm just a terrible driver "........and carried on his way!