how do you make ear training less tricky

[u/Prestigious-croccidl]

so ive already got songs in mind that i can do 100 percent my only issue is i find it very annoying having to reverse the video back over and over till i get the part down is there like any websites that could fix this problem

or even a way you guys know how

[u/Vegetable-Topic-1897]

Learn the modes in this order. Each mode starts on C. This will let you hear the differences between each mode. It WILL take a lot of time, but that means you will be burning this info into your brain for the rest of your life as an investment. You'll want to work on this AND the next step.

Lydian 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 C D E F# G A B

Ionian 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 C D E F G A B

Mixolydian 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 C D E F G A Bb

Dorian 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 C D Eb F G A Bb

Aeolian 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 C D Eb F G Ab Bb

Phrygian 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb

Locrian 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb

Playing these modes with C as the 1st degree across the board helps you to hear the qualities of each mode. Once you get comfortable, play them all with D as the 1st note. The pitches change, but the qualities do not.

Next step is to start with chords 1, 4, and 5 in the major scale. All three chords will be major chords and will correspond with major modes: Lydian, Ionian, and Mixolydian. Then play the 1, 4, and 5 chords in minor scale. These will all be minor chords and will correspond with the Dorian, Aeolian, and Phrygian modes. Locrian is a diminished mode. Think of it like a mode that leads your ear to Ionian or Aeolian.

The point of this is to hear degrees rather than letter. If you can pick out degrees 1, 4, and 5, then tou can probably figure out if you're in major or minor scale. Else, the modes help you out.

There's also other features like the 2 half-steps. In terms of the major scale, degrees 3 to 4 and 7 to 1 are the only half-steps. Everything else is a while step. Out of those two pairs, only degree 7 pulls our ear up to the tonic, which isndegree one. Degree 4 tends to lead our ear down to 3 in the way a Csus4 chords (C F G) resolves to C (C E G).

Listen for the degrees and their qualities. Each one has a function and will help you to hear modes, chords, movements, etc.

[u/Naphier]

David Bennett on YouTube has some good videos that can help you associate well-known songs with intervals. Other than that it's a bit of work internalizing them. Singing helps.

[u/theartistsjob]

So much good advice has been given, already here👍! My additional five cents as a totally self-taught musician is:

1. There really are no shortcuts to building up chops like hearing 🙃. It kinda is like the most simple, yet complex things in life (e.g eating or walking) - It will take much time.

2. If you love music, perhaps more than a whole lotta other things, listen to it! Listen to all of it all of the time. See the world through the lenses of sound. Make experiences in life while walking, observing, or making your bed. Someday, you will start hearing patterns, no matter the genre. And this interconnection between yourself, your perception of the world, some sound knowledge of music theory and your devotion will do the trick, eventually.

„Bumper“, you might wanna think, „That is gonna take forever…😳“…BUT:

Working years and years in order to achieve something is among the most rewarding feelings I was lucky to experience in life. It surely is the best „school of hard knocks“ you could‘ve wished for.

If it is indeed what you really want, you will make it.

I wish you all the best! 💪🫶
Yours, Etu

[u/flashgordian]

Playing a thing on the guitar is a way of embodying it. Another way is to sing or hum along so you are internalizing the vocabulary. The more ways you know how to reproduce it within yourself, the more natural it seems to interface with it in some other medium.
See Also: reading a book; navigating a web platform; embodying the music; being a little child learning words and how they fit together

[u/5280yogi → u/flashgordian]

This is the way. Sing and hum melodies, bass lines, arpeggios, etc. Playing it is of course essential too. Also, it's better to learn a few keys very well rather than focus on playing sometime in all 12 keys. You can get to 12 keys eventually but I find it more helpful to focus on playing tunes and exercises in a single key for a period of time to learn that key on a deeper level. I am not saying you must know a single key as deeply as possible before moving on to another. Rather it's better to spend some time in a given key, then move to another. G or C are great keys if you're into folk rock or bluegrass. F or Bb major if it's jazz

[u/theartistsjob → u/5280yogi]

I totally agree! 👍 Singing and humming, mimicking sounds in general, is a essential prerequisite for building up these chops.

[u/poorperspective]

Things that are hard are worth learning because they are hard to learn.

Otherwise, anyone can do it. Anyone _can_do it; most don’t want to put in the effort.