Ear Training: Those Two Blue Eyes

First, print out this lyric sheet so you can write the scale degrees in the blanks above the words as you go: Get Lyric Sheet

Then get started by listening to the full solo below (Level 1, Solo 1). Use it to find the tonal center (do, or 1) of the melody. Sing that note, then check yourself by clicking on the Tonal Center text to the right below.

Answer

Once you are sure you're singing the right pitch, find that note on your guitar by singing it as you play a single string, moving up fret by fret. When the pitch you're playing matches the one you're singing, stop and name the note. When you think you've got it, roll your mouse over the X to the right for the answer. That's the tonal center of this melody, the first scale degree.

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 1	First note of the phrase
	First four notes
	First note of second set of four (5th note)
	Second set of four notes

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 2	First note of the phrase
	First four notes
	First note of second set of four (5th note)
	Second set of four notes

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 3	First note of the phrase
	First four notes
	First note of second set of four (5th note)
	Second set of four notes

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 4	First note of the phrase
	2nd and 3rd (repeated) notes
	4th and 5th (repeated) notes
	Final 3 notes

Once you've got the entire melody sketched out in scale degrees, the next step is to translate it onto the guitar, based on your understanding of the D major scale. (The most common major scales are in the answers to Exercise 11 in the Theory Primer, located at the end of the primer.) Remember not to "feel" your way through the melody at this point. Use the work you've done to nail it, first time through.

Below are a couple of audio tracks devoted to the Level 1 rhythm guitar part to this song played at different tempos. Use them to do two things:

• Play the melody you've just learned using these tracks as backup. (For this song, remember, the first three notes are pickup notes, so they come in on beats 2, 3 and 4 before the rhythm guitar comes in.)
• Learn the rhythm guitar part by ear. Maybe you can just "hear" the chords with no effort. If not, use the scale degrees you've sketched out to inform your search for the right chords.