Posted 2014-08-02 3:46 AM (#491037) Subject: Aural training app for Android?
Joined: July 2014 Posts: 154
Location: Canberra, Australia
Does anyone know of a good beginner's aural training app for Android?
I've only been playing for a few months and still can't recognise one note from another, just by hearing it. This is something I would like to remedy, particularly as there's one tune I'd love to learn, but can't get the tab for (so the only way to learn how to play it is to figure it out for myself).
Posted 2014-08-02 11:12 AM (#491046 - in reply to #491045) Subject: Re: Aural training app for Android?
Joined: March 2008 Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D.
The more you play with the guitar, the more you will train your ear. Pick a string, play it open, then play the first fret, second, third, and on up. UP means up in pitch, not direction. You notice the higher you go on the neck, the higher the pitch. Now, choose a string and try picking out a simple song, something like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The first note is open, and all the rest of the notes will be on that same string, some pretty far up the neck, others lower. See if you can sound it out.
If you can't, no worries. Over time it will become easier. But I know people who have no ear whatsoever, yet they can play very well. They learn the song, memorize it, and play it - with feeling. They can't figure songs out on their own, but their ear is good enough to know when they are playing it right.
In the meantime, what is the song you can't find tabs to? Maybe one of us knows it and can tab it out for you.
Posted 2014-08-02 5:44 PM (#491060 - in reply to #491037) Subject: Re: Aural training app for Android?
Joined: January 2009 Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw
I think one of the biggest obstacles to being a decent guitarist is that some people have absolutely NO ear for music. They THINK they want to play music, but the left side of their brain (creative side) is completely non-functional. The right side (analytical side) takes over, then there is almost no hope.
Posted 2014-08-02 7:57 PM (#491066 - in reply to #491060) Subject: Re: Aural training app for Android?
Joined: July 2014 Posts: 154
Location: Canberra, Australia
darkbarguitar - 2014-08-03 8:44 AM
I think one of the biggest obstacles to being a decent guitarist is that some people have absolutely NO ear for music. They THINK they want to play music, but the left side of their brain (creative side) is completely non-functional. The right side (analytical side) takes over, then there is almost no hope.
I'm not worried about not having a creative side. I know I've got one of those (30 years of playing role-playing games has seen to that, and being a published author :D )
I can tell if any given note is higher or lower than any other. What I can't yet recognise is what note any given tone is, just by listening to it (my seven year old nephew can, and he's had next to no musical training yet).
This is something I'd like to rectify, hence the need for a decent aural training app. From what I've read, perfect pitch can be learned and it just takes practice.
Posted 2014-08-02 8:10 PM (#491070 - in reply to #491046) Subject: Re: Aural training app for Android?
Joined: July 2014 Posts: 154
Location: Canberra, Australia
CanterburyStrings - 2014-08-03 2:12 AM
The more you play with the guitar, the more you will train your ear. Pick a string, play it open, then play the first fret, second, third, and on up. UP means up in pitch, not direction. You notice the higher you go on the neck, the higher the pitch. Now, choose a string and try picking out a simple song, something like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The first note is open, and all the rest of the notes will be on that same string, some pretty far up the neck, others lower. See if you can sound it out.
I figure it's just a matter of practice. I only ever studied music in Year 7 at school, in the very early 80s, so I never learned this stuff in the first place.
CanterburyStrings - 2014-08-03 2:12 AM
In the meantime, what is the song you can't find tabs to? Maybe one of us knows it and can tab it out for you.
It's called "Around the Campfire", and it appears on the 1994 Appalachian Mountain Suite CD, which is part of Dan Gibson's Solitudes series. The guitar is played by Ted Quinlan, and the music was composed by Hennie Bekker.
I've already emailed Ted and he doesn't have the tab any more. I had a response back from Hennie Bekker's website, and they don't own the rights to the Solitudes series, so they can't help me either. Dan Gibson died in 2006, and his son Gordon took over the company making the Solitudes series, In 2012(ish) he sold the company to another one, so I'm not sure who owns the rights to the music now, or who I need to contact to even ask.
My normally strong google-fu can't find anything in this case, so the only way I can think of to learn the piece is to figure it out by ear.
Aural training app for Android?