Answering Your Ear Training Questions (Part 3) | Chords and Progressions

[@maxkonyi]

Stay informed about my upcoming ear training app - Sonofield Ear Trainer: www.sonic-sorcery.com/set

[@davidsummerville351]

I've viewed all 3 parts and want to thank you for taking the time to put this together. Very well presented.

[@maxkonyi]

Much appreciated! Glad you enjoyed them 🌞

[@SongSecretsMomNeverTaughtYou]

Another thing about inversions to help with learning them for beginners is that they typically give the sensation of wanting to "move somewhere else" without needing leading tones or very dissonant intervals. So if you hear a basic chord or triad that "wants to move" but it isn't a dominant 7th chord or another tension chord that has extensions, then it's most likely an inversion. A trick I use myself is to compare what the different inversions sound like in the context of a chord progression and compare the different options and placements and how they result in feeling rest versus unrest

[@maxkonyi]

Yup, I do the same.

[@wagonet]

Can you please do more of this series. It's fascinating. it makes me think of music totally differently or with a different perspective.

[@maxkonyi]

Good to hear!

[@SongSecretsMomNeverTaughtYou]

Excellent video! Something that may help that second question about feeling chords as a single unit versus individual degrees stacked up and trying to recognize those is that the whole purpose of chords and harmony is to add depth and texture to support a melody, unless that melody is interacting with other voices in counterpoint. The former situation doesn't need chords to be heard as a collection of individual notes, it just needs the root of the chord and quality of the intervals to create a mood effect and it's okay that they're perceived as "blob" of feeling when it comes to melody + chords. But the latter scenario with counterpoint is it's own world that whole university programs have been dedicated to studying haha

[@maxkonyi]

Agreed!

[@Miguell25]

I never realized that I also unconsciously listen for the harmonics in people's voices until you said it. Sometimes I fully zone out of conversations because I'm focusing on it

[@GeoDasher704]

I love the way you talk about ear training and this vid has more useful additional information. I know you're not really interested in recognizing specific voicings as you mention you pretty much only care about chord position and quality, but as an aspiring jazz pianist it's one of the things I'd like to be able to recognize better. Still, just applying your ideas I realize I just need to become familiar with all the different types of voicings. Thank you for your contributions 🫡

[@maxkonyi]

Happy to hear that! I can certainly recognize voicing types in general, but I can't instantly hear all the inner voices independently. However, if you focus on that or whatever version of that you're interested in, it will certainly become possible

[@danielvelazquez18]

Hopefully your app will touch on all of the topics you have mentioned.

[@maxkonyi]

This first app is specifically for melodic scale degree training. I will tackle other aspects afterwards! It will be my first time releasing an app so I need to keep the scope manageable for now.

[@Eoin-b9h]

This was so great, I watched all three parts. It's so useful to start tying the different feelings /emotions or idiosyncracies really, that each chord, or chord progression has together. One thought I have is that doing this ear training has it affected your enjoyment of music? Are you constantly just hearing intervals and progressions when you listen to music, or can you turn it off and listen to the music without this. Does it remove some of the magic of music? Thanks!!

[@maxkonyi]

Good question. Does it affect my enjoyment? No, but the enjoyment is often different than it was and is often more than it was. That being said, I also actively "practice" what I refer to as "baby listening", wherein I listen to music like a baby - completely open and without any concepts of what is happening whatsoever, not even the idea that the experience is something called music or that I'm doing something called listening. This is a powerful and indescribable experience that I recommend to everyone. In normal situations, I still very much groove and vibe with all kinds of music, just enjoying it. However, stuff will spring to mind here and there, even when I'm not in an analysis mode (though I'm kind of always in analysis mode...) but the thing is, I enjoy that aspect. I enjoy "knowing" what I'm hearing, following the chords, the melodic choices, the song structure, and so on. Those aspects don't feel dull to me. Writing beautiful music is one of the primary goals and interests in my life, so all of the automatic analysis that occurs has the quality of feeling relevant and beneficial. To put it short: magic continues to increase but it appears in many different forms.

[@mendes2228]

THANKS

[@lucknerJacques]

Most of the time I'm having trouble to find a code progression how can you help me?

[@i-is-alive]

I'm really stuck at two things, first is that i can't recognize chromatics together(like the same degree sounds different when i play it with another chromatic degree like 2nd,3rd,4th,6th, and 7th with flat/sharp degrees and vice versa) and I can't recognize melodies when someone's signing it and i want to recognize it directly by listening to it rather than sing along etc... Can you please tell me a way to deal with both?

[@maxkonyi]

Both have to do with our mind using the momentary harmonic context (chords) as a reference instead of the key centre. Generally, you need to repeatedly try by instinct and then check to see how you do, and then listen again with the correct answer in mind. Listen to a singer, quickly answer which degrees you believe they're singing, stop and check, analyze your answer versus the right ones, then listen again with the correct answer in mind until it feels like it makes sense. Repeat this and your capacity to do it instinctively will increase.

[@i-is-alive]

@@maxkonyi In chromatics i meant how to recognize them in a melody?

[@maxkonyi]

@@i-is-alive Well each chromatic degree has a particular feeling state, of course. The b6 (in major contexts) is quite common and pretty easy to learn, I'd say. You will need to learn the sound of each one individually, but if you have learned all your degrees, you should already know them in a dronal context. Hearing the minor degrees in major and the major in minor can be confusing because of the contrasting context, but it will come. Remember that you are still very early in your journey here, there's no hurry and these nuances will simply become clear with more experience in playing, listening, and singing.

[@i-is-alive]

@@maxkonyi Hmmm, that's a great point but I'm just super hungry for improvement . Thanks alot for your help, you surely are the best ear teacher that exists❤️❤️

[@T00Hefner]

like changing the sound of the vocal i found your page yesterday and haven't left it i need help i have great tracks bro but its hell getting the sound i hear in my head to come through the speakers

[@maxkonyi]

I see your other comments on vocal edits. What do you mean exactly? Mixing vocals? I don't deal with vocals very much in my work so I don't post any tutorials related to them but there are many people on KZbin that do!

[@mackingsly7792]

What are the drone sounds you have in your Major and Minor videos? :)

[@maxkonyi]

Just stuff I made myself. I've been working on some new ones as well that will be in the upcoming app. It's an interesting process to try and figure out what works best! In my melody course, I also provide a set of all 12 drones, which may actually be the same ones I use in those videos...

[@valentinbonnarde9345]

How do you humm / whistle so low man...??

[@maxkonyi]

I'm terrible at whistling!

[@NaanFungibull]

I mean no disrespect by this, and my brain loves your approach to explaining ear training, but I don't see any any videos on your channel of you playing or improvising like a virtuoso jazz pianist. I'm wondering if the greats would explain it differently, and how confident you are that your approach is the most direct one.

[@maxkonyi]

Highly disrespectful. A disgrace. Yet, I will respond. My approach is what works for me - I don't feel there is an objectively most direct approach since people experience music in a variety of different ways. That being said, I am definitely not a jazz musician, even though I love jazz and make jazz-ish music. I cannot improvise in that style at tempo. At the same time, I have listened to countless hours of jazz masters give clinics, read too many books on theory and composition, and have studied directly with a musical master for some time, all of which have shaped "my" approach (plus my own exploration and experience, of course). I know that the approach works well for me and I'm constantly trying to refine it so that I can more easily and quickly parse music. That's all I can say really! Thanks for asking about this! A very important consideration.

[@NaanFungibull]

@@maxkonyi 😂 Hopefully, in light of the last sentence, I'm interpreting the first sentences correctly as a joke. I've been doing the same as you with music, and your explanations resonate with me. And are great confirmations of my own approach, as you seem to be a bit ahead of me on the path. But of course we all want to learn from the best who have truly arrived where we want to go. But there is huge value also in following someone who has recently walked the path, just a little bit ahead of you. I think you're doing a great job sharing what you've learned along your own journey. You express yourself very well, and that's more than half the battle of teaching anyway.

[@maxkonyi]

@@NaanFungibull Yes sorry - always a danger making dry jokes like that via text 😅 Much appreciated!

[@T00Hefner]

bro i dont see nothing on vocal edit

[@bansheenocturno]

Your discord invite link is invalid for some reason

[@maxkonyi]

Oh interesting...thanks for letting me know. I'll fix that today

[@maxkonyi]

Sorry - which link? I can't find a broken one...

[@bansheenocturno]

@@maxkonyi It's the link on your website's front page, in the Discord Community section. When I click the yellow button I get the "Invite Invalid" message from Discord.

[@maxkonyi]

@@bansheenocturno Weird! Works for me but I'll just replace it anyway. Thanks