Free ear training CD images

December 9, 2005 10:56 AM

I want to do ear-training while driving to and from work. Several $20+ books come with CD's but I am just positive there is a free CD image somewhere I can make my own with. Anyone?

I have found plenty of software but really want a non-interactive audio CD so I don't have a wreck when learning intervals.

posted by jester69 to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

If you'll pardon a minor derail: Your best bet, rather than leaning on an external crutch like a tape or CD, is to find the tones and intervals yourself. If you absolutely, positively want to learn specific pitch (as opposed to relative pitch), use a pitch pipe or a tuning fork to find your tonic and work from there.
posted by cribcage at 12:39 PM on December 9, 2005

I don't think he's trying to develop perfect pitch. Search around for guitar technique web sites. Lots of them provide ear training exercise. Get someone to record some stuff for you (on a guitar, a piano, a clarinet, whatever) and decide for yourself how you're going to use it to ear train. For example, maybe the tape plays C D C E C F C G C A C B C, demonstrating all of the intervals in the major scale, then just drones on C and you sing the intervals over it. That's one example of an exercise you could do. There are lots of them out there.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:05 PM on December 9, 2005

Unless you are trying to develop perfect pitch, in which case I don't have any advice. But ear training doesn't equal perfect pitch.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:06 PM on December 9, 2005

Not that you want to hear this (aha, perhaps a pun there!) but don't you think your main focus while driving should be... driving?

Seriously, learning while driving can not be effective. Your attention is either on driving, in which case you're not learning, or your attention is on the learning, in which case you're a huge friggin' risk to the rest of us out there.

Howsabout having consideration for those that you put at risk?
posted by five fresh fish at 11:16 AM on December 10, 2005

Response by poster: Allright, lets clear this up. Listening to intervals in the car would be no more challenging than listening to jazz. Let he who never drives while listening to music cast the first stone.

That being said, I was picturing a CD where two notes would play in succession, and then a pause, and then a voice would identify the key, notes and interval.

My game would be to say what it was in my head during the pause between the tones and the speech. This would be less distracting than talking to a passenger IMHO.

I will just make my own and provide it to the word. Putting it together can only enhance my knowledge.
posted by jester69 at 8:22 AM on December 11, 2005

I was picturing a CD where two notes would play in succession, and then a pause, and then a voice would identify the key, notes and interval.

The closest I've seen is software that plays an interval and asks you to identify it. I'm not really into that market, though, so it may well be easy to find what you're looking for.

That said, I'll repeat that I don't think it would be very helpful. Like I said, you have to learn how to find those intervals on your own; it's nearly impossible to accomplish serious ear training, I think, without singing.

I also don't think it's particularly wise to approach ear training by simply hitting every diatonic interval above the tonic. I would suggest you consider a more functional, dare I say "intelligent," approach: Learn the tendency tones (re wants to resolve to do, fa wants to resolve to mi, sol wants to resolve up or down to do, etc.); they're easy to pick up, and they'll give you landmarks to work your way through the scale. From there, it's a short step to identifying intervals, chromatic approaches, building chords, etc.

Ultimately, we're talking about the difference between absolute and relative knowledge. Being able to recognize an interval of a major third is fine and good, but it's only useful if you can hear how it functions. Otherwise you're just talking about tricks for a cocktail party.
posted by cribcage at 10:33 AM on December 11, 2005

Best answer: That being said, I was picturing a CD where two notes would play in succession, and then a pause, and then a voice would identify the key, notes and interval.

Ok, that's what I thought. Basically something like this?

Like I said, you have to learn how to find those intervals on your own; it's nearly impossible to accomplish serious ear training, I think, without singing.

I disagree. Singing is an important part of ear training, but so is listening. I'm not sure what you mean when you say "find those intervals on your own." Do you mean that the recording would provide the bottom pitch and he would have to sing a certain interval above it? I agree that that's the goal, but surely it's the sort of thing that one progresses to after just listening for awhile, no?

Similarly, I agree wholeheartedly that understanding how musical materials function in context is very valuable, but I disagree that "simpler" skills like being to identify intervals are a waste of time. The basic building blocks need to be solid to start with, and it's not clear what level the poster is currently and what level he wishes to reach. If one doesn't wish to compose or improvise (or play atonal music!), such understanding of functional harmony becomes less important.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:47 AM on December 11, 2005

I'm several days late to this party, but the good works of Jamey Aebersold are just what you need.

He's mainly known for play-along jazz standards practice CDs, but his interval and chord training is great for the car. Don't be put off if you're not a jazz sort; it's good straight earfodder.

One method he uses is to find opening measures to standard pieces that feature the interval you want to train -- so, for example, if you can sing the first line of "Here Comes The Bride", you can always pitch a perfect fourth.
posted by Sallyfur at 12:39 PM on December 15, 2005

Response by poster: I can hear what goes together and doesn't instinctually, and can improvise to that. I can hear when singers are out of key. I can ALWAYS identify the voice of a voiceover on TV. (fun for the whole family.) I can sing in key just fine, but I can't tell you what key it is.

I can't translate any of this skill to music theory due to lack of effort in that direction. If I could get the music theory into my big fat head, through background repitition, I think it would take my musicianship to the next level. I want theory to be in the realm of instinct, not knowledge and concious thought.

Basically, I have the ear, I need the brain to go with it.
posted by jester69 at 1:56 PM on December 28, 2005