Here's something that I found interest but hadn't shared. Today it's time to share a short e-mail conversation
Hello 6WG my name is Jeff and I do a blog for the baritone ukulele. I try to find as much as possible that is interesting. I find the best links that I can but most of the time I share baritone ukulele player videos from YT and that's how I cam across your YT page and videos.
I play music for my meditation and recreation. I play mostly Bari-Uke but also have a tenor guitar (tuned DGBE) and dulcimer strum stick. I looked thru your videos and see that you are playing several instruments. I am curious about your studies of playing by ear as I have been slowing developing in this area without a prepared plan.
Can you tell me something about your plan that you appear to be developing in your videos?
Jeff / Humble Baritonics.
humbleuker@gmail.com
Hello 6WG my name is Jeff and I do a blog for the baritone ukulele. I try to find as much as possible that is interesting. I find the best links that I can but most of the time I share baritone ukulele player videos from YT and that's how I cam across your YT page and videos.
I play music for my meditation and recreation. I play mostly Bari-Uke but also have a tenor guitar (tuned DGBE) and dulcimer strum stick. I looked thru your videos and see that you are playing several instruments. I am curious about your studies of playing by ear as I have been slowing developing in this area without a prepared plan.
Can you tell me something about your plan that you appear to be developing in your videos?
Jeff / Humble Baritonics.
humbleuker@gmail.com
1
+Humble Baritonics Hi Jeff - thanks for your interest. I primarily play tunes and melodies on mandolin and tenor banjo (both are tuned in 5ths GDAE). I like to use a DGBE tuned baritone uke to practice transferring some of the melodies I know on mandolin to another stringed instrument with a different tuning. Since I'm not real adept at the DGBE tuning I find that I have to rely more on aural/ear skills to play the baritone uke which keeps me from falling incorrectly into rote finger movements.
I guess my philosophy toward music is I use an instrument to whistle or sing. What I mean is I'm just trying to find those instrumental melody notes that I would otherwise be whistling on the instrument. I'm not too concerned with improvisation - just getting to the heart of the melody and then departing from there if necessary.
I understand theory, and for several years I relied on tab to learn tunes and thought I had zero ear skills. But I noticed people who whistle their favorite tune and groups who sing "happy birthday" in unison and how they automatically know to go higher or lower with their singing. They aren't utilizing theory in a literal sense to do this; they aren't thinking about chords, et cetera. So I try to learn and then "forget" while playing a melody and approach it the same way a layperson would when whistling or singing along with the radio.
Ear training really started to click for me when I learned the names of all the different intervals - "perfect fifth", "minor third" and so on. By matching the definition with the sound it's kind of like learning the difference between the colors red and orange. By knowing the words red and orange it makes it easier to distinguish those colors.
There are only 12 notes and 7 of them are used in the major scale. Rather than use the solfege terms (do, re, mi, et cetera) I came up with my own terms for those syllables, the 7 notes in a major scale - one, two, three, four, five, six, sev. Of course not all melodies use the major scale, but all scales or modes have a "one" and that one is the same one as the "one" in the major scale. Any departures from the major scale are going to happen on notes other than the "one", so first you identify what the one or tonal center of the melody is. This is usually obvious but if not just choose the most likely note. After that, if the melody requires are sharpened or Raised note (a note other than the major scale), I put an "r" sound (for raise) in front of that syllable - one, two, roo, three, four, ror, five, rive, six, rix, sev. If I need to flatten or Diminish any of the notes in a major scale, I put a "d" sound (for diminish) in front of that syllable - one, doo, two, dee, three, four, dive, five, dix, six, dev, sev.
What this does is it puts any note in the melody in context both chromatically and diatonically. I am never at any point thinking about chords or the changes. I'm just thinking about the melody.
At this point in my development, I am trying to NOT look at sheet music notation at all and just learn a melody by listening. I'm not too concerned if what I'm playing is exactly the tune or not. All I'm trying to do is approximate it and then continually get closer and closer to it. If I don't get close to it and accidentally write a new melody by mistake then that's fine too. Once I have the melody it's always fun to try and play that melody in different keys (all 12 keys) and in different places on the neck using different fingerings.
I use the Amazing Slow Downer app to slow down the song as slow as necessary so that I can hear the notes. Then I try and find those notes on the instrument. Just take it note by note, phrase by phrase until it falls into place.
I don't really believe in genres or labels or styles of music. When I'm playing my mandolin, banjo or baritone uke the only genre of music is the genre of me making music on my instrument at that moment. So if I'm learning a Greek tune I might notice similarities to an Appalachian tune. I try to make sense of the tune's structure and phrasing in some way. When you take a tune in D and play it in a different key such as G, for example, you might notice similarities to another tune in G that you didn't notice before. There are many more similarities in music than there are differences, especially at the individual level of making sounds on your instrument of choice.
Does that help?
Lanny
I guess my philosophy toward music is I use an instrument to whistle or sing. What I mean is I'm just trying to find those instrumental melody notes that I would otherwise be whistling on the instrument. I'm not too concerned with improvisation - just getting to the heart of the melody and then departing from there if necessary.
I understand theory, and for several years I relied on tab to learn tunes and thought I had zero ear skills. But I noticed people who whistle their favorite tune and groups who sing "happy birthday" in unison and how they automatically know to go higher or lower with their singing. They aren't utilizing theory in a literal sense to do this; they aren't thinking about chords, et cetera. So I try to learn and then "forget" while playing a melody and approach it the same way a layperson would when whistling or singing along with the radio.
Ear training really started to click for me when I learned the names of all the different intervals - "perfect fifth", "minor third" and so on. By matching the definition with the sound it's kind of like learning the difference between the colors red and orange. By knowing the words red and orange it makes it easier to distinguish those colors.
There are only 12 notes and 7 of them are used in the major scale. Rather than use the solfege terms (do, re, mi, et cetera) I came up with my own terms for those syllables, the 7 notes in a major scale - one, two, three, four, five, six, sev. Of course not all melodies use the major scale, but all scales or modes have a "one" and that one is the same one as the "one" in the major scale. Any departures from the major scale are going to happen on notes other than the "one", so first you identify what the one or tonal center of the melody is. This is usually obvious but if not just choose the most likely note. After that, if the melody requires are sharpened or Raised note (a note other than the major scale), I put an "r" sound (for raise) in front of that syllable - one, two, roo, three, four, ror, five, rive, six, rix, sev. If I need to flatten or Diminish any of the notes in a major scale, I put a "d" sound (for diminish) in front of that syllable - one, doo, two, dee, three, four, dive, five, dix, six, dev, sev.
What this does is it puts any note in the melody in context both chromatically and diatonically. I am never at any point thinking about chords or the changes. I'm just thinking about the melody.
At this point in my development, I am trying to NOT look at sheet music notation at all and just learn a melody by listening. I'm not too concerned if what I'm playing is exactly the tune or not. All I'm trying to do is approximate it and then continually get closer and closer to it. If I don't get close to it and accidentally write a new melody by mistake then that's fine too. Once I have the melody it's always fun to try and play that melody in different keys (all 12 keys) and in different places on the neck using different fingerings.
I use the Amazing Slow Downer app to slow down the song as slow as necessary so that I can hear the notes. Then I try and find those notes on the instrument. Just take it note by note, phrase by phrase until it falls into place.
I don't really believe in genres or labels or styles of music. When I'm playing my mandolin, banjo or baritone uke the only genre of music is the genre of me making music on my instrument at that moment. So if I'm learning a Greek tune I might notice similarities to an Appalachian tune. I try to make sense of the tune's structure and phrasing in some way. When you take a tune in D and play it in a different key such as G, for example, you might notice similarities to another tune in G that you didn't notice before. There are many more similarities in music than there are differences, especially at the individual level of making sounds on your instrument of choice.
Does that help?
Lanny
Edit
Lanny -- I thank you you for your time in responding to my inquiry. I have been periodically attempting the do of the same things that you speak of to a lesser degree. My time is limited quite a bit by work but I play each day and work on picking up melodies when inspired. I think that the diatonic dulcimer since there are no "wrong notes" may be a way to work on the process that you speak of, rive and dix, for example.
One of the things that I like most about doing a blog on specific instrument, such as the less common, baritone ukulele is that I find a very wide range of music. I post all genres, multiple skill levels, and anything that may support or spark interest. To me, blogging is a fairly solitary experience and it's original purpose was to act as a "binder" for me to save and share the knowledge that I come across.
Jeff / Humble Baritonics.
One of the things that I like most about doing a blog on specific instrument, such as the less common, baritone ukulele is that I find a very wide range of music. I post all genres, multiple skill levels, and anything that may support or spark interest. To me, blogging is a fairly solitary experience and it's original purpose was to act as a "binder" for me to save and share the knowledge that I come across.
Jeff / Humble Baritonics.
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Lanny blogged about his music on Six Water Grog.
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