Ear Training: The South Wind

First, print out this page so you can write the scale degrees in the blanks above the notes as you go:
Get Ear Training Sheet for The South Wind

Start by listening to the full melody below and use it to find the tonal center (do, or 1) of the tune. At this point you are just trying to find the pitch, not its name. Sing the note you hear as as "1" or "do", then check yourself by clicking on the Tonal Center text to the right below.

Melody, Chords and Tonal Center

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.

Before you try the exercises below, sing up and down the major scale (do, re, mi...) starting and ending on that note. This becomes the "ladder", so to speak, that you will ascend or descend to determine the scale degree of each pitch in question. If your voice needs support in singing the scale, play it on guitar as you sing. (The most common major scales are in the answers to Exercise 11 in the Theory Primer, located at the end of the primer.)

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 1	First note of the phrase
	First four notes (include the first)
	Next three notes
	Last note (repeated 3 times)

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 2	First note of the phrase
	First four notes (include the first)
	Last four notes of the phrase

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 3	First two notes of phrase
	Next three notes
	Next four notes

Audio	Notes to Identify	Rollover X for Answer
Phrase 4	First four notes of the phrase
	Last four notes of the phrase

Once you've got the 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. (Again, this can be found in the answers to Exercise 11 in the Theory Primer should you need it.) Remember not to "feel" your way through the melody at this point. Use the work you've done to nail it, first time through.

Level 1 players who do not yet have much (or any) experience playing eight note passages with alternate picking may find this tune a bit challenging to play. If so, rest easy in the knowledge that I've given you this version of the melody as an ear training exercise; there is a simplified version with no eighth notes on the CD, and I'll provide the sheet music for that as well.

Below is an audio track featuring the rhythm guitar part at a moderate tempo. Use it to do two things:

• Play the melody you've just learned using these tracks as backup.
• 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.