The Perfect Ear Training Routine

[@maxkonyi]

My app, Sonofield Ear Trainer, is almost here! Sign-up here to be notified when SET releases for iOS and Android: www.sonic-sorcery.com/set

[@duncecaphero8334]

This is so exciting for someone who is getting back into jazz piano as a beginner. Looking forward to your app!

[@AnishChandramohan]

signed up looking forward 😊

[@ANDRETRABUCCO_TAI]

Signed up!! I can easily and fastly recognize all the chromatic intervals in your chromatic video and in general with a drone underneath but I struggle with harmony changes bass notes and even melody if the baseline is a song with changes even simple chords etc. Will you adress this problem in the app? Have you tips of how to study and solve this for me?:) thanks a lot! Looking forward for the app :) cheers! @maxkonyi

[@ANDRETRABUCCO_TAI]

Signed up!! I can easily and fastly recognize all the chromatic intervals in your chromatic video and in general with a drone underneath but I struggle with harmony changes bass notes and even melody if the baseline is a song with changes even simple chords etc. Will you adress this problem in the app? Have you tips of how to study and solve this for me?:) thanks a lot! Looking forward for the app :) cheers! @maxkonyi

[@fmaylinch]

The idea of your app sounds very cool. Looking forward to trying it. And I wish you success with it!

[@emo-sup-sock]

I've been trying to incorporate your suggestions in my practice routine for the past few months, and it has made a world's difference. I had been putting 8-10 hours/week into my jazz saxophone hobby for a couple of years with the assistance of a teacher, but earlier this year it felt like I hit a wall. Enough dexterity to play "fast" but barely no mental imagery, no ability to transcribe even basic melodies and much less of recognizing chord progressions. I knew the scales, the chords, some theory, some subs, standards, but actually improvising was pretty meh. Sometimes I could find my groove and play something that I thought sounded cool, but these were happy accidents and not intentional at all. Your videos made me notice I had a *lot* of ear training to do. The first hour of every practice session now is playing over a 5-minute drone over all keys. Scales, chord arpeggios, blues licks, etc. Been doing it for idk maybe 3 months now and can basically identify every interval over a drone with some confidence, which seemed absolutely mysterious just before I started. Now I can't help but notice the sound of a I VI ii V turnaround, or the tension of a V7 chord. I'm dipping my toes in transcribing some slow solos, and it feels fantastic to be making progress again. Really can't thank you enough.

[@maxkonyi]

Wow, that's amazing to hear. Thank you for letting me know! I can atest that when I first started to discern a few things by ear, it was very exciting and illuminating.

[@marceumere]

There's A lot of people who have a Teaching degree, but they don't know how to teach, and there's other ones Like you Sir, who knows it very well, and try to teach not only from your knowledge, but also from your PASSION for music . Thank you and Greetings from Argentina

[@maxkonyi]

Much appreciated! 🙏🏼

[@opolo704]

Babe wake up Max Konyi just dropped an ear training video

[@acaryi367]

Literally tho

[@maxkonyi]

lol

[@rachetfix300]

Facts

[@ashtangaxashtangapranayama8526]

The actual vibes

[@sanjayyethipathi]

the production quality of the video and editing are insane, keep it up man!!

[@maxkonyi]

Thank you!

[@ELLIOT8209]

​​@@maxkonyihey max, do you reckon its possible to make a video on time signatures and tempo? How tempo and time signature work together to create a particular vibe or feel. I never know which tempo to use when i try different time signatures. A detailed video with examples will be highly appreciated. Big fan from South Africa

[@maxkonyi]

@@ELLIOT8209 Interesting idea! I will add it to the list and consider how I might do that.

[@AntonOhlin]

First of, this video is perfect! I've been getting more and more interested in developing my ear and musical skills lately, and this is exactly the video I've been looking for.

[@gfaris666]

thank you, your skill as a musician is only surpassed by your skill as a teacher.

[@reflectingtrees]

I love the sharing of music knowledge. That's a fine art.

[@joedragich]

The introduction to this video is so succinctly and eloquently delivered, I subscribed. You perfectly put into words so many things that I’ve taught to my own students over the years. I’m 3:14 into this, and am glad I landed here!

[@povilasl5383]

this is absolutely the best ear training guide on youtube period. if you just apply all of these concepts slowly by starting with easy chord progressions, you can get very far. thank you so much!

[@miles_gibson]

This is exactly the tutorial I have been looking for. A comprehensive and thorough explanation of how to train your ears. Thank you for tying it all together and providing such quality information with this video. This will be my bible for the next few years. Best of luck to everyone else out there who is on their ear training journey! Ill see you on the other side.

[@msi6104]

Congratulations professor! This is a real method of ear training. To be honest, the first one that I can easily see working even before starting. It simply makes sense by its logical approach.

[@riotcast2752]

Hi! I discovered your channel recently and your tonic recognition video has instilled some confidence in me! I used to be completely clueless, I did interval practice, associating intervals with a song etc but nothing seemed to work (apart from the fifth degree of the scale when played slowly in isolation). Now I can feel where the tonic should be in songs that are somewhat simple. Belonging from an Indian background, I have also started singing the major scale against the tanpura even though I am terrible at singing. It really feels surreal when you are bathing in the pool of notes and resonance when done slowly. I'm still nowhere being okayish (still can't recognize the intervals apart for the most part) but it feels nice that even someone who is not "inherently" talented in music can make progress even if it is a tiny bit.

[@maxkonyi]

That's wonderful. My experience is very similar! I was complete trash when it came to singing, ear training, or anything similar. After fumbling around with various ear training ideas that are ineffective, I came upon this contextual stuff and started making actual progress. Very freeing!

[@SPW1981]

Your pedagogy is brilliant, the illustrations of the concepts are top notch. Absolutely fantastic stuff!

[@acaryi367]

Imagine if this teaching style was adapted on as educational standard. The resolved frustrations for beginners of music.

[@LostSoulAscension]

Amazing edit and compilation Max! This is a really good recap of some of the concepts you covered in our lessons, and I look forward to the app when it comes out!

[@sehajpreetsingh6798]

hey man, have nothing much to say but just wanted to appreciate your content. Its really cool, thank you!

[@bboygavin]

this is amazing, the visuals make so much sense!

[@RabbiT-qh8pd]

Loving what you have to offer and already on the email list for the app!

[@ZackeriiSim]

I'm anxiously awaiting the release of your new app! I came across one of your previous ear trainings videos not too long ago and it totally helped set in the importance of developing a good ear as a musician. I signed up for your courses as well and I've been having a blast practicing these concepts on keyboard. Definitely going to be adding these exercises to my routine, thanks so much :)

[@maxkonyi]

That's great to hear. So glad you find them helpful.

[@Baha2490]

5:08 I already trained my ear similarly to your method, so I stopped listening to you and started transcribing the background music, and it's actually pretty interesting, I'm curious how you hear it: 1) the opening melody first sounded like 3 5 6 1 | 2 5 6 1 | 2 3 5 6 | 2 5 6 1, which would make the first bass note the 4 ; but then the rest of the music implies to my ear that that bass note is actually the 1 (the others being b7 and b6), which makes the opening melody actually 7 2 3 5 | 6 ... (same motif) ; do you have a similar confusion? 2) on the b7 bass note, the melody is b7 2 4 5 | 6 ... if analyzed in the original key, or 1 3 5 6 | 7 ... if bass note is the 1 ; same on the b6 bass note, b7 1 b3 4 | 5 ... vs 2 3 5 6 | 7 ... which one do you hear? I usually try to hear everything in the original key, but for more complex music (jazz) I feel like the latter is more used? And in this particular case, it may be the similarity between the motives when bass note is the 1 that pushes my ear to hearing it like this a bit.

[@maxkonyi]

I'm a little confused by your formatting so I'm sorry if I misunderstand. However, the way I hear the melody and chords is shown very clearly right at the start of the video, if that's the part you're talking about? I hear it in an overal Dorian context with a couple of non-diatonic moments. If you can clarify your questions, I'll try to answer!

[@Baha2490]

@@maxkonyi Nah I'm talking about the music at 5:08 (and the | are just to separate groups of 4 notes to improve lisibility).

[@maxkonyi]

@@Baha2490 Ah! You even mentioned it and I ignored it. Yes, at first blush, I hear it as 3-6-5-1 because there is no other context and that is the simplest explanation for the given relationships. After the chord changes, I hear it in F. From then on, it all sounds and makes sense to me as being in F. Over the bVII chord I hear b7-2-4-5 | 6... That being said, I can switch to hearing it from the root note perspective, which can also be helpful. In this case though, I'm so familiar with these bVII and bVI chords that it sounds very normal to me to hear it from the F perspective.

[@Baha2490]

@@maxkonyi Thanks for replying. Also, you look like Steven Wilson =) (take this as a compliment, Porcupine Tree is one of my favorite bands)

[@maxkonyi]

@@Baha2490 Not the first time I've heard that! 🌞

[@CooldudeTJ911]

I found you a few days ago your content is Game changing thank you I’m a beginner learning different keys atm and developing my ears

[@hesamg1343]

Looking forward Max, really nice video and what a great gift for us all with the app! 🥳

[@AndrewKabaliuk]

Being pro musician I can tell that Max have made the best ear training stuff I've ever seen It's simple, it's effective, it's no fairy tale promises and no bullshit. And actually quite unique approach. Wish I had it back in the days while I was learning at the conservatory

[@normadieterlen]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and expertise!

[@opolo704]

As always the original compositions you use to explain stuff is 🔥

[@maxkonyi]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@knobby7342]

Thanks

[@maxkonyi]

Thank you! 🙏🏼

[@hvh_music]

perfect video!

[@shakeelsunny803]

Amazing innovation for Music listener ❤❤

[@pratyushanson3832]

I love the videos they are very similar to the hindustani and carnatic classical musical ideals and way of learning we have over here in india.

[@maxkonyi]

Yes! I have been heavily influenced by the Indian classical methods because of my time studying with W.A. Mathieu. It's time we did more similar things in the west...

[@rodrigomartin561]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your method. Greetings from Argentina! 🙌🏻

[@yannickpezeu3419]

Cant wait for the app !

[@adrianherralgot4071]

I love you and your ear training videos Max!

[@maxkonyi]

💗💗💗

[@Noahsendir]

This is beautiful, thank you !

[@kukquakk4716]

Was looking for something like this recently, thanks for the great video👍

[@Yhoshua_B]

Great stuff as always!

[@nikigba]

Bro launch the app already, I can't wait 😂 And I don't know if it would be possible to have sets of notes, such as 2, 3, 4 etc

[@maxkonyi]

I'm trying! What do you mean by sets of notes?

[@nikigba]

@@maxkonyi like let's say now you make the user identify a single chord tone over a drone, but it would be awesome in my opinion to be able to have a setting in the app to, let's say, hear 3 notes and then identify all the 3 chord tones over a drone. Such as 4# 2 7 or something like this.

[@GM-re8eg]

Love your videos! Thanks for your teachings 😊

[@prodbydarz]

man you're the best

[@bassboossaful]

Youre like the master splinter of ear training

[@maxkonyi]

[@jms1016.0]

Max is a master for sure. But I think the guys at www.youtube.com/@ImproviseForReal are pretty good too :) Excited for Max's app for sure

[@maxkonyi]

@@jms1016.0 Agreed!

[@aanchaldogra]

damn those visuals... lovely,,,, which software ?

[@maxkonyi]

A combination of After Effects, Illustrator, and Premiere!

[@tyler361t2]

@@maxkonyi 3:22 where is this image from?

[@maxkonyi]

@tyler361t2It's one of the info sheets from my Musical Warp Drive courses.

[@tayobabs]

Do you have a video for recognising chords within a key?

[@maxkonyi]

Not yet! To come...

[@tyler361t2]

5:04 more of a focus should be on solfege and getting the mode right too

[@jarnleikr]

Just subscribed and signed up for the app - it looks promising! In the video you scroll over a music theory poster, do you have a link to that? Or is it part of one of your courses? 🙂

[@maxkonyi]

Nice! Yes, it is part of my first course on Fundamentals.

[@younesmoubtassim5253]

Thanks max

[@RosssRoyce]

Sounds wonderful, yet beware I’m not EVER buying subscriptions. On the other hand will gladly pay for an app I can own.

[@maxkonyi]

Well you'll be happy to know I feel the same and the app will be a one-time purchase with lifetime updates.

[@JMSG76]

Hey! "Drones" is a music genre, right? Translator gave me a random meaning. Thx for the video. I just bought your courses

[@maxkonyi]

Nice! A drone is sustained, usually low pitch, tone, it isn't a genre.

[@benharwin6521]

I'm really looking forward to the App's release. But can i ask. When working on real songs. Personally i mostly play Pop music on Guitar And when working with a song. Even just 4 chords repeating Do you still relate every melody note to the tonic of the song? Or do you change your Tonic (Do) when the chord changes Or is there any rules you set yourself, for when to use one over the other Thank you for these great exercises

[@maxkonyi]

1). Tonic always stays the same unless there is an actual key change. 2). Melody notes are heard in relation to the tonic primarily, not the chord. That being said, being able to hear them in relation to the chord is also possible and useful. When I'm trying to hear chord qualities, I tend toward hearing the melody in relation to the current chord since it can give me hints as to what the chord is.

[@yespleasevicar]

Hey Max, this looks awesome. You are an excellent composer and you have helped me a lot with Studio One usage, so thank you. That said, and maybe it's my ignorance, but I haven't seen "IV/3" used for what I assume is a first inversion. I have seen IV6 or IV6/4 written for inversions in figured bass format. I do get the logic IV3 (bass note on the third of the chord) but I think you get issues with understanding with IV5 for second inversion (if that's how you presumably write it using this system?) getting mixed up with a power chord or 5. Anyway, basically my point is, this looks great but I do have concerns recommending this to my students if it uses a theoretical concept that isn't widely used. Is how inversions written togglable? Is that something that could be implemented?

[@maxkonyi]

It's a good point! Some clarity: 1). What you see at the beginning of this video is not an app. It's a custom animation I made just for this. 2). My app does not do anything with chords at the moment, so this problem doesn't apply there. It's just for melodic training. 3). The notation of inversions like IV/3 is not something I invented but is my preference for a few reasons. It combines the benefit of using roman numerals for chords, which differentiate them from scale degrees, while sticking closer to conventional chord notation. The important point is the inclusion of the slash - IV5 vs IV/5. Slashes in normal chord names indicate inversions but use letter names, as you're aware (C/G). This is an attempt to keep that convention but use only numbers, and the numbers are of two types: arabic numerals for scale degrees and roman numerals chord root degrees. When using figured bass style symbols, the issue is that we now have arabic numerals being used from something other than scale degrees, namely intervals above the bass. The "2"' in a 24 inversion is not scale degree 2, but a second above the bass. While this is historically conventional, I think it actually muddies the waters of modern notation for jazz-influenced music. 4). All that being said, when I do get around to releasing a chord-related app or tool, I will ensure there are multiple ways to represent things for people of different preferences! If you see other issues with my idea here, please let me know. The only other thing I run into with modern notation is that chords like C6(9) are sometimes notated as C6/9, which is not compatible with what I'm talking about here...

[@yespleasevicar]

Thank you for the clarification. For the record, I did understand your method, and I definitely prefer this approach as a more contemporary musician. I find figured bass introduces a whole new context of numbers to learn, which I think can be counterproductive, even though it remains the most common method in musical analysis academia. I’ve also encountered the dreaded 6/9 chord type versus inversion issue-it’s such a common source of confusion. Things get even muddier when secondary dominants are involved, as V/V can easily be mistaken for V/5. That said, I really appreciate hearing that these issues will be considered in your future harmony work

[@potatodubs]

I done been waiting for that app fam. But for real, though, I’m building an Ableton template that I think does mostly the same thing as what the app does and I’ve been using that to train. I already have it so it will automatically play a random note or cord when I hit a button and I have to listen and figure it out , The next thing I’m going to add is how to change keys in the circle of fifths or randomly.

[@maxkonyi]

Nice! That sounds cool. Just gotta be at the DAW to use it

[@groa4]

I've played guitar for 20 years and I've spent a lot of time improvising so I have a good ability to listen to stuff and play it back or recognize things as "that sound" but a lot of the time I don't know what the name is. Is there a good way to start figuring out the systematic names for things? Things get really complicated when I start having to think about things like 'oh that's the second inversion v chord into the I.

[@maxkonyi]

Well, my courses are my attempt at a systematic way of comprehending all the names and relationships. However, you can get the same info by generally studying harmonic theory, both classical and jazz. Chord naming isn't too difficult but there are quite a few interesting chord movements which have specific names and that can take some time to become familiar with. Make sure you can name your basic triads and seventh chords, as well as inversions, and then just study the way extensions are generally labelled. That''s a good starting point.

[@TonhoHumilde]

Amazing video as always. Would there be a problem if i used the first harmonic progression you showed in this video? Felt inspired by it.

[@maxkonyi]

I certainly don't own the progression! Even if I did, you could use it 🌞

[@TonhoHumilde]

I appreciate it! Thank you man, your videos are helping me a lot (i'm brazilian)

[@maxkonyi]

@@TonhoHumilde De nada!

[@gio.01098]

This tips of training that you show in the beginning of the video will be in the app? When the app will release? I’m very anxious about it 😁

[@maxkonyi]

The app has some guidance, like at the start of the video, for sure. Hoping we can get the app released before the new year!

[@tyler361t2]

3:22 where is this image from?

[@maxkonyi]

It's from my Musical Warp Drive courses on Udemy. A Fundamentals info sheet.

[@tombeach1262]

Instead of numbers is it ok to use soflege?

[@maxkonyi]

For sure. I actually use Indian solfege (sargam) while singing. When thinking or composing, I use numbers.

[@karinaHeil-ww4bd]

gonna do this for 30 days

[@davidsummerville351]

Your drone episodes, major, minor and chromatic are difficult and challenging. Thank you. 😎🤓

[@TheArtofFencing]

I just found this and your streamed sessions and im really liking the system, but I have some questions. I normally struggle with different timbres and get thrown of by different tunings, kind of like singers or violins often do perfect ratio thirds compared to equal temperament thirds or guitars being fretted instruments having notes that always sound different depending on where you play them, because the actual pitch and timbre is shifted slightly. Does the app train with just intonation intervals or the always off equal temperament. I find, especially with singing/listening to drones the shift in clear overtone is sometimes really massiv. The feeling really changes... Whats your approach to this?

[@maxkonyi]

Good question. At launch, the app will be all ET but we will be implementing a 5-limit JI option as soon as we can. When I sing against drones, I sing in JI. However, most western music is ET, of course. For me, they are similar enough that learning one allows me to recognize the other, it's just that JI sounds sweeter or more pure. Consider the handwriting of a child - even though it's messy and sometimes barely looks like the intended letters, we can still read it, doing a kind of mental correction. The same is true of ET compared to JI. If you're more interested in this, I highly recommend you pick up the book Harmonic Experience by W.A. Mathieu.

[@kevinspake7338]

When you refer to "base notes" or, "bass notes", do you mean the root note of the chord or maybe the lowest note in the chord, or the note that defines the key?

[@maxkonyi]

I mean the lowest note of the current chord (which may not be being played by the chordal instrument), which is most often the root note of the current chord. The "root note" of the key is called the "tonic".

[@msi6104]

Unfortunately I could not find you APP in our Apple Store in Brazil. 😢

[@maxkonyi]

It's not quite out yet! Should be released in the next couple of weeks. I'm also looking into a portuguese translation but I'm not sure it will be ready for launch.

[@msi6104]

​@@maxkonyi If you can't find anyone who can work on translating into Portuguese, I think I can help with that. I love writing and have a very reasonable knowledge of music theory and related jargon. My English isn't too bad either, I have worked for 36.5 years at General Electric on medical systems and since my retirement on 2022 I've been looking for some extra work that I could do at home and maybe have some additional income. If it fits your interest, just let me know and maybe you can plan something like a small test so I can return a sample to you so you can avaluate the quality of my work.

[@CSDex]

How do you make that drone sound??

[@maxkonyi]

The drone in the video is from the Sonofield app, but you can find all sorts of drones online and on music streaming services. You can also make your own in a DAW with a synth or low instrument.

[@Capt-Cran]

@2:58 “Consistency over quantity” … Max the Sage …

[@maxkonyi]

Hey Cran! Good to see you 🌞

[@syncMixer]

Are you still working on the ear training course?

[@maxkonyi]

Indeed! It will take some time.

[@xxfranknittyxx2270]

Good Idea

[@chrisxhankins]

If you’re watching this video you’ll love “the listening book” by W.A Mathieu-musical genius.

[@maxkonyi]

Couldn't agree more. His books changed my life many years ago and I ended up actually studying with him directly for a while.

[@shad99xx]

Hey, I want to start training my ears, but I’m not sure where to begin. I’m interested in taking some courses-do you have any recommendations? I already have some knowledge of music theory.😊

[@maxkonyi]

I don't know of any courses I recommend at the moment, though I am working on one myself. The app, as well as my other videos on ear training, are a good starting point. What are your goals? Do you play an instrument?

[@shad99xx]

@ I saw on the Udemy website that you offer three courses. Which one would you recommend as a starting point? I’ve already signed up for the app. I play piano, and my goal is to improve at writing and composing music, along with everything else you mentioned in this video.

[@shad99xx]

@@maxkonyi I’m searching to become better at telling stories through chord progressions and melodies

[@maxkonyi]

@@shad99xx That's great. As for the courses, the Fundamentals one covers all the basics needed for the other two. If you already know your basic music theory, you can move on to the Melody course. Knowledge from the Melody course is assumed in the Harmony course.

[@Miguell25]

another banger

[@james2578]

you know, i dont like americans, but once in a while they produce an exception. just like here.

[@maxkonyi]

am Canadian but I appreciate the sentiment 🌞

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

Chord functions

[@hitoshi9179]

Love it

[@xxfranknittyxx2270]

Sonic sorcery free?

[@maxkonyi]

The app will be free with optional paid features. I assume that's what you're asking about...

[@NindjaWho]

Finalllllllyyyyyy