@@linnightl9277 well it's an ear education exercise not a trick test. research articles in psychoacoustics say that piano is the best instrument for ear training compared to stringed instruments probably because of the sharp attack of piano and overtones. Maybe an alternate set of videos with brass could be interesting.
This is my first time ewr training and for lot of notes I couldn't make that they are diff notes. Often times I confused sharp with flat and vice versa.
Like I can hear at the end of each note if it's flat or sharp it's odd lol got like 5 wrong in the 5 cent but for starters pretty good I gotta learn to ear tune my trumpet for my section
Good practising, no nonsense here with empty talking, straight on - many thanks mate! I felt I turned my skill up one notch, and it's really about the 5 cents.
Yeah, for this reason, I find it quite idiotic to defend 12edo's poor approximations by claiming that the differences between it and JI are very "small." As you may already know, 12edo/tet/ed2 is especially awful at approximating thirds. I swear that the people who claim higher EDOs like 31, 43, or 53 are pointless because "you can't tell the difference" either simply have a bad ear or primarily listen to atonal music. I find the out-of-tune thirds/sixths and even sevenths to be considerably noticeable in the 12ed2 classical, jazz, and soul that I listen to daily. There's also the idea that higher EDOs have even more of a purpose than better approximating overtones and basic intervals: that they offer more choices of unique intervals, and as a result offer a broader emotional landscape. Some examples of tunings that would be useful for this purpose include 17ed2 and 22ed2. Either way, it's always a breath of fresh air when I hear the recording of a vocal group or even a fretless string player who accounts for intonation on the fly, the latter obviously being the most technically challenging since the former is naturally occurring; the human brain isn't locked into 12ed2 like a computer or fixed pitch instrument. To conclude, I didn't answer incorrectly on any of the challenges in this video. However, I don't think it matters if you got some wrong, for at this level of precision it's barely important to most musicians and doesn't concern one's true musicality. Apologies for the tangent. :)
Missed just 1 on level 4. If I closed my eyes I could feel better whether we were going up and back down or down and back up. My initial feeling was always right if I second guessed myself.
Coincidentally, most beginning or intermediate vocalists have a tendency to sing flat, not sharp. Even well-known singers have habits of going flat at the end of vocal phrases. This has to do with too much relaxation of muscles, it requires more skill or work to maintain constant pitch or to go sharp. Maybe your ears are more used to identifying pitches which are too flat because the flat is much more frequently encountered.
funnily, I easily identify when a note is sharp (at +- 5 cents level), like it sounds complete different to me, I don't even have to pay attention. But on the flat ones I really had to listen closely to even hear a difference. In the end I failed only two flat's which were two of the first ones where I didn't know that I could hear sharp so much better. So from then on I only listened if it was sharp. If it wasn'T it was probably flat. Really challenging to hear it tho
im pretty late in replying to people but its easier to hear flat notes vs sharp and my theory is that you could view a perfectly in tune note as a "puzzle piece" that fits perfectly. View your ear as the puzzle, and the frequency of the note as the puzzle piece. If the note is flat the puzzle piece would be too big and overlap because sound waves would be bigger because of the lower frequency. If the note is sharp the puzzle piece would still fit inside the puzzle, expect just being loose. Makes sense if you ask me.
Help me translate this video into other languages! Post a reply here with the video's instructions in a non-English language and I will use your reply to help other musicians improve their skills for this video and future videos.
I am far better at hearing flats in the tenor alto vocal range at level 4. 1-3 I was at 100%. But a soprano sharp at level 4 sounded identical to the Baseline. I can’t imagine being more finely attuned than 5 cents.
lasted up until ~12:45, would love to see one of these with intervals, like (a minor third is played, and then again but one of the notes is off, so you have to specify which note and whether sharp or flat)
I got around a 97% (89/92) on my first try taking this test, and the only ones i got wrong were in the beginning of the 5 hertz section. I realized the harder the difference is to hear, the more likely it's sharp. I could probably get a 100% the next time i take the quiz if i keep that in mind. I've been playing trombone for around 6 years and im a junior, so i dont really know if thats above average or not.
instrument playing with breath, or singing, is more likely to be accidentally flat, as it takes more muscle effort to sustain pitch or produce sharpness. perhaps that is why flat is easier to recognize for now. with more listening and quizzing it should even out.
Why is it so much easier for some people to identify flats, but others, sharps? I found the flats much, much easier to hear. In another comment you speculate that it is because of our tendency to sing flat, but I don't really follow the logic of that.
This is a good question for the psychoacoustics field. I have not run across research papers on this so far. Create an experiment, measure the results, write a paper, you could get it published and perhaps funding. 💰 I have repeatedly found that music departments are not interested in any type of scientific research with which to answer the most basic questions about music.
I can only speak for myself. I am mainly a guitarist. It is far more common for a guitarist to raise the pitch of a note for musical effect (string bends, vibrato, trill) than lower the pitch of a note. Therefore a flat note sounds jarring and out of place because I am not used to hearing it used purposely when I play.
Would be cool to do chords, let's say major or minor triads to start with and make us guess which note of the triad (tonic, third or fifth) is sharp/flat.
If there is published research that such an exercise works, then it would be a good idea. These videos are based on published research demonstrating effective results in ear training and aural skills. This video plus scale practice should result in skills of distinguishing notes in out-of-tune chords although the human ear most readily identifies the notes according to the bass primarily.
I got them all right - but I always find it easier to hear sharp than flat, so, tbh, if the notes sounded like the same (as some of the lvl 4 ones did to me) I knew they must be flat. I'd have got a lot more wrong if there had been a 'same' option.
I got them all right on the first try but I don’t think I have prefect pitch because I always get my Cs and Gs confused but can play by ear on the piano.
Congrats. 100% multiple times or just once? Share the exercise to other musicians you know.. it would be good to compare results to see if your peers also get 100%.
So... after years of knowing I sing badly and out of tune, I've been trying to get better but with no success. I don't want to (or even think I could) be a singer, but you know, I just wanted to not have to do playback while everybody's singing "Happy Birthday". Or feel ashamed to hum a song to someone. My boyfriend (trained musician) thinks I have a good ear because I'm good at recognising patterns and I have synesthesia that helps sometimes. But I've tried to explain to him I can't even tune my flute by ear because I CAN'T HEAR THE DIFFERENCE. The same while singing. It's like my ears aren't connected to my brain. The closest I tried to explain that got closer for him to understand was saying "it's like I'm colorblind with my ears, I can hear but I can't distinguish some colors". After searching for months, and using a tuner with myself to see the changes in intonation, I finally found this video. Of course I got a lot wrong, but at my second try I got a lot more right. I can feel some improvement and my brain trying to "stretch" to know the difference. I will definitely practice this until I get every single one right. THANK YOU for making something useful for a person like me who thought was beyond repair. I just want to hum, tune my flute and enjoy music. I also read some of you comments/answers and you look like a "cut the bullsh*t, straight to the point" person, just like this video. Great job, I love it. (p.s. English isn't my first language, sorry for any mistakes)
excellent. exactly what this video series was made for. it will likely take several months of practice to build the skills, repeating multiple times per week. it can be learned and will get better over time, like long term memory solidifies. in addition, sing the major scale before this exercise as follows: play the major scale in one hand, in one octave, listening only; then sing the scale, without playing, trying from memory only; then, sing the scale again but one note at a time, each note sing the note first, sustain the singing, then play the note while singing, and adjust singing pitch to match the note, then repeat this for the next note, and so on. this is audiation interval training. this simple exercise is good to repeat several times along with then practicing this video, it is important to use the major scale because all western music is fundamentally based on the intervals of the major scale. other musicians may not grasp the fundamental nature of these exercises because they may have gained these skills when they were very young and simply do not remember having to gain these skills as independent skills, so, they take the skills for granted.
I find it helps if you can relate pitch change to something. For me, pitch going up gives me a feeling of increased tension, and pitch going down feels like relaxing of tension. So when I listen for the difference between two notes that are close I am actually thinking "how does this sound make me feel?" rather than focussing on the pitch itself. I hope that makes sense. Regardless of your approach, start with bigger differences in pitch between the two notes. Your ears will become more sensitive with practice.
Everyone's saying flat is easier to identify but being in my marching band most people tend to go sharp, as a flute player It's easier to hear sharp notes.
subjective opinions have to be placed in context regarding whether someone has a trained ear or untrained ear. perhaps you have a more trained ear from prior flute scale practice therefore know what the major scale actually sounds like. saxophone players, however... 🫣 there is also likely a huge difference between those who practice intonation while watching a tuner, vs those who rarely watch a tuner. even small amounts of daily practice while watching a tuner for visual feedback on intonation will have dramatic ear training results.
if you have practiced playing a major scale at a slow tempo with careful listening and auditory imagining then you have been training your ears without being assigned to do so. most instrumentalists dont practice scales with simultaneous listening (and are not taught by instructors to do so either) so results end up depending on happenstance.
@@superblondeDotOrg No, I am from another video that already has 50 cents up to 10 cents, so I am skipping to the 5 cents because I need to improve in that category.
most excellent indeed. then simply, part 3 has a different title, is a bit shorter and faster, and can be found the playlist "Ear Training Musicianship" on my channel. i still plan on additional videos in this series, and have already recorded a a new piano for it, hopefully finally, i can make these during this coming winter semester.
earmaster, the most common app, does not do this. earmaster is garbage and I absolutely recommend against using earmaster. auralia does this, it is good however a bit expensive and requires cloud connection and the method of quizzing on a rigid schedule of rapidly increasing difficulty for ear training is counterproductive and scientifically invalid. my videos are better because they are hands-free and can be done anywhere anytime, at the listener's own learning rate.
if I missed a few on level 4 but found 1-3 super easy should I still do 1-3 every second day until i 100% 4 or can i get the same practice from just doing 4 each 2nd day? also once i 100% 4 should i wait 2 days before using next exercise or can i do on same day? score rn (first try) 100% 1-3 but missed 6 on 4th level lol, i got a bit of practice to do but i'll get there
Still do entire video (all levels) from the start because it is an important warmup and does not take long. If the first levels are super easy then you can do something else, like a rhythm exercise, while still listening and answering correctly. Or speed up the playback rate to 1.25x or 1.5x for the early levels as long as you maintain 100% score. Always wait at least a day before trying again because neuron growth can not be rushed. The real answer is that even after you get 100%, it is still necessary to do this video or an exercise like it from time to time, just like practicing scales on an instrument is necessary to do from time to time. Muscles always need exercising otherwise they atrophy and it is the same for ear skills therefore exercises like this need to be done periodically for the rest of your life. That is the ugly fact that neither professors nor instructors ever admit even if they do know the truth.
@@joejolliffe Practice playing a one octave major scale on your instrument and sing each note before Playing the note, then match vocal pitch to the played pitch. Works best with keyboard set to organ sound. Do daily for two weeks for at least ten minutes at a very slow tempo, then try the quiz again. When successful send me one million dollars. 💵💰 If instead the video is incorrect then I will send you one million dollars 💸as long as the practice has been completed.
@@superblondeDotOrg weirdly I had a second listen and could easily tell, tuner confirmed it as 13c flat, interestingly it had the starting note as 3c flat. Maybe all the practice has helped!
Does perfect pitch help with this kind of stuff? I've never done this kind of training/practice (at least, not in the last 10 years or so), but I was able to get all but 1 on level 4 on my first try.
Someone with absolute pitch would get 100% score, first try, with no effort. Repeated practice on this will improve relative pitch and discrimination for others.
I wouldn’t say I have absolute pitch. You can just feel it in your bone if the second note steps up or down and when it gets to the “5cent” range it’s easier to hear it in the chord. That fast swirling of sound vs slower… I think people just don’t know the verbiage so they don’t get it right. I got 100% but I know what sharp and flat means … really don’t think it’s a skill thing
@@superblondeDotOrg Hmm. Absolute pitch is a skill based on long-term tonal memory; this is a pitch discrimination related skill, which is a separate ability. Being able to tell the direction of a 1% Hz difference between two notes 100 percent of the time is not a requisite for absolute pitch. It's certainly a skill that correlates with pitch discrimination ability but someone without absolute pitch could easily do just as well or better here. I have absolute pitch and missed two in the last minute. i.e. it was significantly easier to know the note names rather than the flat/sharp difference near the end.
I almost fell asleep answering the questions, and then level 4 came around, third or fourth question, I said flat, my phone said sharp. I immediately went FUCK and I almost threw my phone away, like it woke me up
Continue trying more attempts at least every couple days. Even after I scored 100%, I continued to practice this on & off for months and noticed improvements in pitch perception when listening or playing.
@@CaesarTF good. For intervals, must : 1 Play and sing the tonic. 2. Audiate (mentally imagine) the interval, no sound (do not hum either). 3. Sing the interval on "Tah", loudly, out loud, optionally singing the moveable Do solfege name, then sustain the note while, 4. Play the interval on piano/keyboard, and, 5. Verify the sung pitch matches the piano sound, adjust pitch to match; if incorrect, repeat the pitch. Repeat step 2-5 for all intervals in the desired scale (always start the day with Ionian). Repeat entire process at least once per day using several different tonics. Make sure to always audiate each pitch first. Do not bother with the advice frequently given by music professors, "memorize a specific song melody with each interval" because published study demonstrates it does not work. Reply back here with result after 2 months.
if you got 100% then the next step would be to practice intonation of octaves, and then intervals, these seem more useful for skill considering the offsets in the tuning system. I dont think I will create a test which focuses on tighter than 5 cents for the same note unless I see something which shows that it is a beneficial skill to drill.
@@theodoreshkodrani9450 i will have additional videos with those types of tones up soon. in the next few months. they take a good amount of effort to create.
@@superblondeDotOrg randomly saw this video and tried it again just now! Magically I'm able to do this now and only got like 2 wrong! Didn't do much ear training at all so idk why I'm able to do it now
@@superblondeDotOrg Well yes to both your questions, i failed to notice the "intermediate" part of the title, it was quite easy since i have perfect pitch😬
LMAO, Jacob Collier's ear. If you're older than 4 then you have no chance to catch up with him. Perfect pitch is not within your reach. This is a good video to help people with tuning issues though, good job! The title is just a little too clickbaity for my taste.
The reality is, orchestral players do this exact exercise on their instrument every single day of their entire lives until the day they die, 7 days a week, 365 days per year, decade after decade. Musicians who take music seriously do this type of exercise, Intonation, regardless of their ear training genetic gifts, and continue to improve throughout their entire lifetime. Every day begins with instrumental warmup of intonation and tuning. The sad joke is on amateur and pop/mainstream musicians/players who believe they can hum or play through a tune once and then go do a gig because they heard some mythology about how punk rock bands or The Beatles did things.
@@bazingacurta2567 you claim "you have no chance to catch up". you are wrong because your claim is irrelevant. orchestral musicians don't care whether or not they have to catch up with anyone. They do their daily intonation and technique practice regardless. Pop musicians do not.
@@superblondeDotOrg I am not wrong. If you're older than four you can't develop perfect pitch. Jacob Collier has perfect pitch, so you will not be able to catch up with him at that. He got lucky, his mother is a professional musician and trained him from a young age, that's why he has it. No amount of work will give you "Jacob Collier's ear". That's not to say you can't develop excellent relative ear and perfect intonation, of course you can, but you can't have the perfect pitch side of a ear like Jacob Collier's, that's what I'm saying. Also, I'm pretty sure pop singers practice intonation. Some of them are excellent at it. Also, Jacob Collier is a pop musician, he has the world's greatest ear and he's never off pitch. Are you one of those people who think that classical music is better than pop music? Wow, that's so 1960, so Pierre Boulez. I'm a classical musician and I think that view is nuts. Anyway, we disagree on some things, but I still like this video, so keep up with the good work man!
@@bazingacurta2567 there is a way for adults to develop absolute pitch skills and synesthesia. research the latest medical journals. i will have a video exercise on developing synesthesia in the future.
there are 10s of millions of musicians with tuned ears and a ton of people with perfect pitch. but we're just gonna boil it all down to jacob collier lol smh.
@@superblondeDotOrg no this one is my first try. I started messing up at 10 cents. I'm just uncertain whether it's okay to be starting on this video and not on your other easier 12-tET or 12edo videos. But yeah i am trying to get a feel of microtones after all since I am interested in 17edo and 53edo. tl;dr: is it okay to begin my training at this video?
@@Kino-Imsureq aha! 10 cents is where musicianship training starts getting good. yes you can start on this video. follow the instructions keep doing these a few times weekly all the way thru. after some time which could be weeks or months you will consistently get above 95% score and continue to improve from there too. even after scoring 100% you can continue to improve discrimination. those 1% of people with genetic perfect pitch will find it easy to get 100% on this. consider that orchestral musicians who play violin or cello or horn will practice intonation every single day for 20-30 minutes on their instrument, and vocalists practice singing multiple types of scales every day for 1+ hour, these short videos are very simple and focused. hope to have a few new videos on this uploaded soon.
@@superblondeDotOrg lol today my brain started to actually be able to differentiate the 10 and 5 cent notes was such a surprise. Like i could immediately tell if it was sharp or not. Then i would lose focus from excitement and well yeah all my answers would be wrong for a while until i got them right again and again. Really hard to maintain focus haha but yeah it was a cool experience. If i am able to retain focus for the entire 13 minutes then maybe ill get to 100% by the end of the week.
If you are correct through the first 2 level but then run into consistent wrong answers on the third level, what does this mean? Can it be because of loss of hearing due to age? Or should a 70 year old still be able to easily identify these pitches?
the brain has plasticity, anyone can develop this skill even if not genetically gifted with perfect pitch. level 3 is where training starts to be required. it seems many musicians never really undergo proper training. it takes at least a few months of daily practice to go from zero to hero and orchestral musicians spend many hours every day training skills like this one. in addition to this exercise, do singing exercises on major and minor scales at an electric piano to verify each note after the note is sung. 100% score is achievable with practice. as far as "be able to easily identify", for those without perfect pitch, this skill will always take effort & concentration, it gets easier and faster but it is never really "easily" done.
With daily practice you should be able to get through this video or my other videos in this set with only 1 or 2 wrong. and then get to 100% from there with regular practice. Try with studio headphones.
I got the three first levels good first try !! I am worry about the fourth one !! Edit : I got two mistakes for part 4 It is a really good test for ear training by the way
This video needs more Likes, the youtube Algorithm is stacked against me for political reasons. Hit the thumbs up to save a childless cat lady 🐈
t h e s e c o n d n o t e i s f l a t
unless it is ♯
Where did you learn to fly?
i t i s f l a t
f l a t
This helped me figure out that I have an easier time noticing flat notes than sharp notes, which sounds really weird, but now I know what to practice!
what instrument do you play?
what would REALLY stump me is if there were a choice for the second note being the same as the first.
good idea, stay tuned for next in series
@@superblondeDotOrg but different instruments - don't make it easy
@@linnightl9277 well it's an ear education exercise not a trick test. research articles in psychoacoustics say that piano is the best instrument for ear training compared to stringed instruments probably because of the sharp attack of piano and overtones. Maybe an alternate set of videos with brass could be interesting.
This is my first time ewr training and for lot of notes I couldn't make that they are diff notes. Often times I confused sharp with flat and vice versa.
@@meetshah6870 use the video for practice every day for a few months
Man, that last part was fucking hard damn
"practice practice practice"
Just listen to it in the chord and you’ll really hear it vibrating faster or slower when the notes try to play together
Very hard the 10 cents are already though even going back not real clear....
@@Tricia0070but still, the vibration doesn't lead you to a sertain answer in terms of higher or lower pitch , it's a proof that they are dissonant
level four, announcer clearly sauced
Like I can hear at the end of each note if it's flat or sharp it's odd lol got like 5 wrong in the 5 cent but for starters pretty good I gotta learn to ear tune my trumpet for my section
Good practising, no nonsense here with empty talking, straight on - many thanks mate! I felt I turned my skill up one notch, and it's really about the 5 cents.
yep
The robotic voices were awful though. Especially the female one sounded like s drunk lady😂
I missed 6 before the level 4. It's is amazing how they are so similar but when played together rub so harshly.
Yeah, for this reason, I find it quite idiotic to defend 12edo's poor approximations by claiming that the differences between it and JI are very "small." As you may already know, 12edo/tet/ed2 is especially awful at approximating thirds. I swear that the people who claim higher EDOs like 31, 43, or 53 are pointless because "you can't tell the difference" either simply have a bad ear or primarily listen to atonal music. I find the out-of-tune thirds/sixths and even sevenths to be considerably noticeable in the 12ed2 classical, jazz, and soul that I listen to daily. There's also the idea that higher EDOs have even more of a purpose than better approximating overtones and basic intervals: that they offer more choices of unique intervals, and as a result offer a broader emotional landscape. Some examples of tunings that would be useful for this purpose include 17ed2 and 22ed2. Either way, it's always a breath of fresh air when I hear the recording of a vocal group or even a fretless string player who accounts for intonation on the fly, the latter obviously being the most technically challenging since the former is naturally occurring; the human brain isn't locked into 12ed2 like a computer or fixed pitch instrument. To conclude, I didn't answer incorrectly on any of the challenges in this video. However, I don't think it matters if you got some wrong, for at this level of precision it's barely important to most musicians and doesn't concern one's true musicality. Apologies for the tangent. :)
@@Thomas-yl8lb it is important to be able to pass Level 4 and get 100% overall. It is also very achieveable with periodic practice.
Missed just 1 on level 4. If I closed my eyes I could feel better whether we were going up and back down or down and back up. My initial feeling was always right if I second guessed myself.
using the first impression for the final answer is best
I got all of them correct first try 😮 I’m impressed with myself I didn’t even try!!!
if you are being honest about your result, then the conclusion is quite simple: you have the genetics of absolute pitch ("perfect pitch").
I got them all right and I most certainly do NOT have perfect pitch. It just means you have a good ear, and/or good relative pitch.
Years of being in band really helped me in this... lol
this is my first try, i got them all right and i am far from having jacob collier's ear. But anyway, is there an harder video to come?
yes
1 cent difference: the ultimate test
@@AuriLuve 0.1 Cent!
@@pimvanholst hey hey, not all of us are at jacob level yet
Amazing! Thank you so much for making this!
challenge your musician friends by sharing these as well
Good stuff, will pracitce every 2nd day
How did you create 5 cents difference sound for piano? I can find sine, sawtooth, square and triangle for 5 cents but not piano or another instrument.
Wow, it’s really good to stretch this muscle. Surprisingly I got all correct. Not sure if there is an advanced video or not.
there is an advanced video in the works. up soon.
Amazing!
i noticed i was better at identifying flat pitches than sharp ones :o i wonder why? this is so good tho omg i’m gonna practice
Coincidentally, most beginning or intermediate vocalists have a tendency to sing flat, not sharp. Even well-known singers have habits of going flat at the end of vocal phrases. This has to do with too much relaxation of muscles, it requires more skill or work to maintain constant pitch or to go sharp. Maybe your ears are more used to identifying pitches which are too flat because the flat is much more frequently encountered.
funnily, I easily identify when a note is sharp (at +- 5 cents level), like it sounds complete different to me, I don't even have to pay attention. But on the flat ones I really had to listen closely to even hear a difference. In the end I failed only two flat's which were two of the first ones where I didn't know that I could hear sharp so much better. So from then on I only listened if it was sharp. If it wasn'T it was probably flat. Really challenging to hear it tho
Same 😂
im pretty late in replying to people but its easier to hear flat notes vs sharp and my theory is that you could view a perfectly in tune note as a "puzzle piece" that fits perfectly. View your ear as the puzzle, and the frequency of the note as the puzzle piece. If the note is flat the puzzle piece would be too big and overlap because sound waves would be bigger because of the lower frequency. If the note is sharp the puzzle piece would still fit inside the puzzle, expect just being loose. Makes sense if you ask me.
@@krazml9435 ooh I like that analogy!!
Help me translate this video into other languages! Post a reply here with the video's instructions in a non-English language and I will use your reply to help other musicians improve their skills for this video and future videos.
I am far better at hearing flats in the tenor alto vocal range at level 4. 1-3 I was at 100%. But a soprano sharp at level 4 sounded identical to the Baseline. I can’t imagine being more finely attuned than 5 cents.
higher pitched notes can be harder to distinguish. practice practice practice. sing scales. top vocalists can distinguish below 5 cents.
lasted up until ~12:45, would love to see one of these with intervals, like (a minor third is played, and then again but one of the notes is off, so you have to specify which note and whether sharp or flat)
get 100% on this before continuing into more advanced exercises
@@superblondeDotOrg i don't want to
@@smugscribbles6667 your loss not mine
@@superblondeDotOrg that's ok
I dunno but do u plan on making tuning in interval exercises. I would be so glad if u do . Like i wanna train my ears better
Yes it is planned. And what is your current score, 100% ? If not then intervals are not suitable yet.
@@superblondeDotOrg i m on 100 percent finally since like a week .
excellent to hear it. I hope to get more of these videos up before the end of this summer although they take a good effort to create them.
I got around a 97% (89/92) on my first try taking this test, and the only ones i got wrong were in the beginning of the 5 hertz section. I realized the harder the difference is to hear, the more likely it's sharp. I could probably get a 100% the next time i take the quiz if i keep that in mind. I've been playing trombone for around 6 years and im a junior, so i dont really know if thats above average or not.
instrument playing with breath, or singing, is more likely to be accidentally flat, as it takes more muscle effort to sustain pitch or produce sharpness. perhaps that is why flat is easier to recognize for now. with more listening and quizzing it should even out.
Why is it so much easier for some people to identify flats, but others, sharps? I found the flats much, much easier to hear. In another comment you speculate that it is because of our tendency to sing flat, but I don't really follow the logic of that.
This is a good question for the psychoacoustics field. I have not run across research papers on this so far. Create an experiment, measure the results, write a paper, you could get it published and perhaps funding. 💰 I have repeatedly found that music departments are not interested in any type of scientific research with which to answer the most basic questions about music.
I can only speak for myself. I am mainly a guitarist. It is far more common for a guitarist to raise the pitch of a note for musical effect (string bends, vibrato, trill) than lower the pitch of a note. Therefore a flat note sounds jarring and out of place because I am not used to hearing it used purposely when I play.
lets go baby 100%
Would be cool to do chords, let's say major or minor triads to start with and make us guess which note of the triad (tonic, third or fifth) is sharp/flat.
If there is published research that such an exercise works, then it would be a good idea. These videos are based on published research demonstrating effective results in ear training and aural skills. This video plus scale practice should result in skills of distinguishing notes in out-of-tune chords although the human ear most readily identifies the notes according to the bass primarily.
I got them all right - but I always find it easier to hear sharp than flat, so, tbh, if the notes sounded like the same (as some of the lvl 4 ones did to me) I knew they must be flat.
I'd have got a lot more wrong if there had been a 'same' option.
maybe try my advanced level video - coming soon...
I got them all right on the first try but I don’t think I have prefect pitch because I always get my Cs and Gs confused but can play by ear on the piano.
Got everything right !!
Congrats. 100% multiple times or just once? Share the exercise to other musicians you know.. it would be good to compare results to see if your peers also get 100%.
10:22 when you're confident about 10 cents
In music lab site, you can check your ear sensitivity until 3.125 cents(1/64 tone) (although they only ask 32 questions and they mix the difficulty)
Dont skip ahead. Run the video from beginning to the end. Just like the instructions say: "Do not skip ahead."
So... after years of knowing I sing badly and out of tune, I've been trying to get better but with no success. I don't want to (or even think I could) be a singer, but you know, I just wanted to not have to do playback while everybody's singing "Happy Birthday". Or feel ashamed to hum a song to someone. My boyfriend (trained musician) thinks I have a good ear because I'm good at recognising patterns and I have synesthesia that helps sometimes. But I've tried to explain to him I can't even tune my flute by ear because I CAN'T HEAR THE DIFFERENCE. The same while singing. It's like my ears aren't connected to my brain. The closest I tried to explain that got closer for him to understand was saying "it's like I'm colorblind with my ears, I can hear but I can't distinguish some colors". After searching for months, and using a tuner with myself to see the changes in intonation, I finally found this video. Of course I got a lot wrong, but at my second try I got a lot more right. I can feel some improvement and my brain trying to "stretch" to know the difference. I will definitely practice this until I get every single one right. THANK YOU for making something useful for a person like me who thought was beyond repair. I just want to hum, tune my flute and enjoy music. I also read some of you comments/answers and you look like a "cut the bullsh*t, straight to the point" person, just like this video. Great job, I love it. (p.s. English isn't my first language, sorry for any mistakes)
excellent. exactly what this video series was made for. it will likely take several months of practice to build the skills, repeating multiple times per week. it can be learned and will get better over time, like long term memory solidifies. in addition, sing the major scale before this exercise as follows: play the major scale in one hand, in one octave, listening only; then sing the scale, without playing, trying from memory only; then, sing the scale again but one note at a time, each note sing the note first, sustain the singing, then play the note while singing, and adjust singing pitch to match the note, then repeat this for the next note, and so on. this is audiation interval training. this simple exercise is good to repeat several times along with then practicing this video, it is important to use the major scale because all western music is fundamentally based on the intervals of the major scale. other musicians may not grasp the fundamental nature of these exercises because they may have gained these skills when they were very young and simply do not remember having to gain these skills as independent skills, so, they take the skills for granted.
@@superblondeDotOrg Thank you for taking the time to answer and for the valuable advice! I will try to do it like that!
I find it helps if you can relate pitch change to something. For me, pitch going up gives me a feeling of increased tension, and pitch going down feels like relaxing of tension. So when I listen for the difference between two notes that are close I am actually thinking "how does this sound make me feel?" rather than focussing on the pitch itself. I hope that makes sense.
Regardless of your approach, start with bigger differences in pitch between the two notes. Your ears will become more sensitive with practice.
Everyone's saying flat is easier to identify but being in my marching band most people tend to go sharp, as a flute player It's easier to hear sharp notes.
subjective opinions have to be placed in context regarding whether someone has a trained ear or untrained ear. perhaps you have a more trained ear from prior flute scale practice therefore know what the major scale actually sounds like. saxophone players, however... 🫣 there is also likely a huge difference between those who practice intonation while watching a tuner, vs those who rarely watch a tuner. even small amounts of daily practice while watching a tuner for visual feedback on intonation will have dramatic ear training results.
@@superblondeDotOrg Wow. Didn't know that! Tyy
@@superblondeDotOrg However, I never actually trained my ears until last year and I've been playing the flute for 4 years
if you have practiced playing a major scale at a slow tempo with careful listening and auditory imagining then you have been training your ears without being assigned to do so. most instrumentalists dont practice scales with simultaneous listening (and are not taught by instructors to do so either) so results end up depending on happenstance.
@@superblondeDotOrg wow ok
Great knowledge on aural pitch training by Jacob collier's ear trainer
Jacob Collier does not need an ear trainer himself.
Level 3 is hard
But level 1 and to 2 nailed
aural skills at level 3 can increase rapidly so continue practicing and repeating should show it has become easier.
What? I am trying to skip to 5 cents and it says, "Do not skip ahead, finish it in order!"
I was confused, haha.
by the way, do not skip ahead, practice from beginning to end 🤓
@@superblondeDotOrg
No, I am from another video that already has 50 cents up to 10 cents, so I am skipping to the 5 cents because I need to improve in that category.
why does it feel like I'm melting into my chair doing this?
Synesthesia 💭
omg the level 4 was waaay harder than i expected, got 4 wrong 😔
accuracy beyond 10 cents takes regular practice for most people i.e. 'not perfect pitch people'
It scares me a lot, it seems subliminal stuff.
The voice and the music is taken from a horror film?
If it allows musicians to score 100% then I would make is Satanic even.
where is part 3?
first, did you get 100%?
@@superblondeDotOrg yes
most excellent indeed. then simply, part 3 has a different title, is a bit shorter and faster, and can be found the playlist "Ear Training Musicianship" on my channel. i still plan on additional videos in this series, and have already recorded a a new piano for it, hopefully finally, i can make these during this coming winter semester.
notice you didn't mention jazz.
Jazzers say there are "no wrong notes" in jazz. Therefore jazzers have no reason to be here.
i woulda got further than 5 cents.. but my wife wouldn't SSSHHHHHAAAADDAAAAAPPP !!!!!!
lol
C O N S P I R A C Y
Missed 2 on level 4
hope is not lost
the second note is flat
The second note is sharp
I am a violinist, if someone know how to play 5 cents flat or sharp that is me
perhaps you have invented a new style of ultra-wide vibrato.
as someone with perfect pitch, i only got 5 wrong in the whole video. i’ve gotta practice my microtonality a bit more… 😂
Fascinating! Only 5 cents should give any trouble, the rest are warmup gravy.
@@superblondeDotOrg exactly. it was the 5 cent part that got me LOL
Does anybody know if there’s an app that does this? I’m trying to find a teaching tool that my students can download and practice
earmaster, the most common app, does not do this. earmaster is garbage and I absolutely recommend against using earmaster. auralia does this, it is good however a bit expensive and requires cloud connection and the method of quizzing on a rigid schedule of rapidly increasing difficulty for ear training is counterproductive and scientifically invalid. my videos are better because they are hands-free and can be done anywhere anytime, at the listener's own learning rate.
if I missed a few on level 4 but found 1-3 super easy should I still do 1-3 every second day until i 100% 4 or can i get the same practice from just doing 4 each 2nd day?
also once i 100% 4 should i wait 2 days before using next exercise or can i do on same day?
score rn (first try) 100% 1-3 but missed 6 on 4th level lol, i got a bit of practice to do but i'll get there
Still do entire video (all levels) from the start because it is an important warmup and does not take long. If the first levels are super easy then you can do something else, like a rhythm exercise, while still listening and answering correctly. Or speed up the playback rate to 1.25x or 1.5x for the early levels as long as you maintain 100% score.
Always wait at least a day before trying again because neuron growth can not be rushed.
The real answer is that even after you get 100%, it is still necessary to do this video or an exercise like it from time to time, just like practicing scales on an instrument is necessary to do from time to time. Muscles always need exercising otherwise they atrophy and it is the same for ear skills therefore exercises like this need to be done periodically for the rest of your life. That is the ugly fact that neither professors nor instructors ever admit even if they do know the truth.
@@superblondeDotOrg ok thanks!
10:10 is definitely sharp not flat
*fight music fades in*
@@superblondeDotOrg it's driving me insane!
@@joejolliffe Practice playing a one octave major scale on your instrument and sing each note before Playing the note, then match vocal pitch to the played pitch. Works best with keyboard set to organ sound. Do daily for two weeks for at least ten minutes at a very slow tempo, then try the quiz again. When successful send me one million dollars. 💵💰 If instead the video is incorrect then I will send you one million dollars 💸as long as the practice has been completed.
@@superblondeDotOrg I might just get my tuner out and check instead 😂
@@superblondeDotOrg weirdly I had a second listen and could easily tell, tuner confirmed it as 13c flat, interestingly it had the starting note as 3c flat. Maybe all the practice has helped!
Does perfect pitch help with this kind of stuff? I've never done this kind of training/practice (at least, not in the last 10 years or so), but I was able to get all but 1 on level 4 on my first try.
Someone with absolute pitch would get 100% score, first try, with no effort. Repeated practice on this will improve relative pitch and discrimination for others.
I wouldn’t say I have absolute pitch. You can just feel it in your bone if the second note steps up or down and when it gets to the “5cent” range it’s easier to hear it in the chord. That fast swirling of sound vs slower… I think people just don’t know the verbiage so they don’t get it right. I got 100% but I know what sharp and flat means … really don’t think it’s a skill thing
@@superblondeDotOrg Hmm. Absolute pitch is a skill based on long-term tonal memory; this is a pitch discrimination related skill, which is a separate ability. Being able to tell the direction of a 1% Hz difference between two notes 100 percent of the time is not a requisite for absolute pitch. It's certainly a skill that correlates with pitch discrimination ability but someone without absolute pitch could easily do just as well or better here. I have absolute pitch and missed two in the last minute. i.e. it was significantly easier to know the note names rather than the flat/sharp difference near the end.
I almost fell asleep answering the questions, and then level 4 came around, third or fourth question, I said flat, my phone said sharp. I immediately went FUCK and I almost threw my phone away, like it woke me up
challenge your friends and see how they do .. i wonder if the other musicians you play with have similar result scores
Imagine this but all the answers are wrong and we gaslight ear trained people
"" How would they know?? How would anyone know ?? ""
got all right answers on first attempt, but yeah maybe just lucky
Only missed 4 on level 4
good job though how about all the other levels?
This is so easy
10 cents no problem. 5 cents is out of my range.
"practice, practice, practice"
try the beginner video as well. this is the intermediate.
by 5 cents, it becomes more difficult to discern for me.
sounds normal. practice, practice, practice!
I got all but 5 :)
Continue trying more attempts at least every couple days. Even after I scored 100%, I continued to practice this on & off for months and noticed improvements in pitch perception when listening or playing.
Wow I’m impressed! Which instruments do you play?
@@TravelNP Just piano :)
Damn I got them all right
Wow - 5 Cents I had them all inverted... LOL
So, if you listen facing backwards to the speakers, then you should get 100%? 😂
100% on the first try
then it is likely that you have genetics of absolute pitch. did you know that before?
Wow, this is almost analog horror
What matters is whether your score can reach 100%. How did you do?
@@superblondeDotOrgwell, I did 100%. I guess I'm actually looking for something that'll help me memorize intervals. Still struggling with that stuff.
@@CaesarTF good. For intervals, must : 1 Play and sing the tonic. 2. Audiate (mentally imagine) the interval, no sound (do not hum either). 3. Sing the interval on "Tah", loudly, out loud, optionally singing the moveable Do solfege name, then sustain the note while, 4. Play the interval on piano/keyboard, and, 5. Verify the sung pitch matches the piano sound, adjust pitch to match; if incorrect, repeat the pitch. Repeat step 2-5 for all intervals in the desired scale (always start the day with Ionian). Repeat entire process at least once per day using several different tonics. Make sure to always audiate each pitch first. Do not bother with the advice frequently given by music professors, "memorize a specific song melody with each interval" because published study demonstrates it does not work. Reply back here with result after 2 months.
Is there a test where you get to less than 5 cents?
did you get 100% already?
@@superblondeDotOrg yes
if you got 100% then the next step would be to practice intonation of octaves, and then intervals, these seem more useful for skill considering the offsets in the tuning system. I dont think I will create a test which focuses on tighter than 5 cents for the same note unless I see something which shows that it is a beneficial skill to drill.
@@superblondeDotOrg is there a test for the stuff you suggested?
@@theodoreshkodrani9450 i will have additional videos with those types of tones up soon. in the next few months. they take a good amount of effort to create.
I can’t tell any difference in level 4 😅
probably a good idea to practice on my beginner video level for a while, maybe a couple weeks, first.
@@superblondeDotOrg randomly saw this video and tried it again just now! Magically I'm able to do this now and only got like 2 wrong! Didn't do much ear training at all so idk why I'm able to do it now
got 21 wrong
probably a good idea to practice on my beginner video level for a while, maybe a couple weeks, first.
Is this supposed to be hard? Or did i misunderstand?
did you get 100% ? do you know what 'intermediate' means?
@@superblondeDotOrg Well yes to both your questions, i failed to notice the "intermediate" part of the title, it was quite easy since i have perfect pitch😬
@@viggen2252 I will have an Advanced quiz set probably next month although perfect pitch genetic freaks likely will still find it easy to get 100%
@@superblondeDotOrg Oh ok nice
How did you do that? Any tips other than practice lol
Tbh, this is fairly easy.
LMAO, Jacob Collier's ear. If you're older than 4 then you have no chance to catch up with him. Perfect pitch is not within your reach. This is a good video to help people with tuning issues though, good job! The title is just a little too clickbaity for my taste.
The reality is, orchestral players do this exact exercise on their instrument every single day of their entire lives until the day they die, 7 days a week, 365 days per year, decade after decade. Musicians who take music seriously do this type of exercise, Intonation, regardless of their ear training genetic gifts, and continue to improve throughout their entire lifetime. Every day begins with instrumental warmup of intonation and tuning. The sad joke is on amateur and pop/mainstream musicians/players who believe they can hum or play through a tune once and then go do a gig because they heard some mythology about how punk rock bands or The Beatles did things.
@@superblondeDotOrg What does that have to do with what I said? Why did you think my comment was a reasonable opportunity to shit on pop musicians?
@@bazingacurta2567 you claim "you have no chance to catch up". you are wrong because your claim is irrelevant. orchestral musicians don't care whether or not they have to catch up with anyone. They do their daily intonation and technique practice regardless. Pop musicians do not.
@@superblondeDotOrg I am not wrong. If you're older than four you can't develop perfect pitch. Jacob Collier has perfect pitch, so you will not be able to catch up with him at that. He got lucky, his mother is a professional musician and trained him from a young age, that's why he has it. No amount of work will give you "Jacob Collier's ear". That's not to say you can't develop excellent relative ear and perfect intonation, of course you can, but you can't have the perfect pitch side of a ear like Jacob Collier's, that's what I'm saying.
Also, I'm pretty sure pop singers practice intonation. Some of them are excellent at it. Also, Jacob Collier is a pop musician, he has the world's greatest ear and he's never off pitch. Are you one of those people who think that classical music is better than pop music? Wow, that's so 1960, so Pierre Boulez. I'm a classical musician and I think that view is nuts.
Anyway, we disagree on some things, but I still like this video, so keep up with the good work man!
@@bazingacurta2567 there is a way for adults to develop absolute pitch skills and synesthesia. research the latest medical journals. i will have a video exercise on developing synesthesia in the future.
Stephen Hawking 😭😭😭
there are 10s of millions of musicians with tuned ears and a ton of people with perfect pitch. but we're just gonna boil it all down to jacob collier lol smh.
how many won a grammy in the last several decades?
@@superblondeDotOrg That’s the wrong question to ask
@@stephenweigel my point is the correct one. try more practice less argue.
wait is this the first video in the series or not? Cuz if not then uhhhh what do i do lol i did the entire video
wait did you get 100% ? Three tries in a row on alternating days of the week ?
@@superblondeDotOrg no this one is my first try. I started messing up at 10 cents.
I'm just uncertain whether it's okay to be starting on this video and not on your other easier 12-tET or 12edo videos. But yeah i am trying to get a feel of microtones after all since I am interested in 17edo and 53edo.
tl;dr: is it okay to begin my training at this video?
@@Kino-Imsureq aha! 10 cents is where musicianship training starts getting good. yes you can start on this video. follow the instructions keep doing these a few times weekly all the way thru. after some time which could be weeks or months you will consistently get above 95% score and continue to improve from there too. even after scoring 100% you can continue to improve discrimination. those 1% of people with genetic perfect pitch will find it easy to get 100% on this. consider that orchestral musicians who play violin or cello or horn will practice intonation every single day for 20-30 minutes on their instrument, and vocalists practice singing multiple types of scales every day for 1+ hour, these short videos are very simple and focused. hope to have a few new videos on this uploaded soon.
@@superblondeDotOrg lol today my brain started to actually be able to differentiate the 10 and 5 cent notes was such a surprise. Like i could immediately tell if it was sharp or not. Then i would lose focus from excitement and well yeah all my answers would be wrong for a while until i got them right again and again. Really hard to maintain focus haha but yeah it was a cool experience. If i am able to retain focus for the entire 13 minutes then maybe ill get to 100% by the end of the week.
F L A T
sometimes.
I must be deaf. I can't hear any difference. Just blind guessing.
try the other video on my channel for Beginner level.
musical analog horror?
if it suits you, as long as you get 100% score.
6 mistakes up to 7:05 min my first try ever !
You can try my other video which is at Beginner level and see if you get 100% there.
This voice is too loud I had to turn down my monitors every 3 sec... my ears are hurting..
what monitors do you have?
If you are correct through the first 2 level but then run into consistent wrong answers on the third level, what does this mean? Can it be because of loss of hearing due to age? Or should a 70 year old still be able to easily identify these pitches?
the brain has plasticity, anyone can develop this skill even if not genetically gifted with perfect pitch. level 3 is where training starts to be required. it seems many musicians never really undergo proper training. it takes at least a few months of daily practice to go from zero to hero and orchestral musicians spend many hours every day training skills like this one. in addition to this exercise, do singing exercises on major and minor scales at an electric piano to verify each note after the note is sung. 100% score is achievable with practice. as far as "be able to easily identify", for those without perfect pitch, this skill will always take effort & concentration, it gets easier and faster but it is never really "easily" done.
day 1: 2 wrong
day 5?
Did good until 5 cents
Fuck, I failed one in the 5 cents round. xD
ya burnt
@@superblondeDotOrg My mother was making noise, so maybe that was why I failed? It happened when she distracted me as usual.
@@Ivan_1791 use headphones. Retry the practice every other day for 2 weeks at least.
@@superblondeDotOrg Yeah, I didn't use headphones either.
@@Ivan_1791 Do most people do well on these or are you much better than average? I thought I did well until I read the comments.
1 false on the 3rd level and 6 on the 4th level haha
With daily practice you should be able to get through this video or my other videos in this set with only 1 or 2 wrong. and then get to 100% from there with regular practice. Try with studio headphones.
Yeah i think i will perform better with earphone on, i didn't use it before
i am 100% until 5 cents were im like 50/50
regular practice is required to improve
Missed 6 in all, good excessive tho imo
I got the three first levels good first try !! I am worry about the fourth one !!
Edit : I got two mistakes for part 4
It is a really good test for ear training by the way
share the link and challenge others to try
The second note is flat ... just like the synthesised tone of the narrative. Awful. Like listening to Stephen Hawking.
The important topic is whether the total score is passing, or not yet passing.
This Is bullshit. Every note is either flat or sharp.
do you know what 'intonation' means?