I asked ChatGPT to give me some ear training exercises… just to see what would happen. What came back was interesting. Maybe not as good as buying a proper book by a human expert, but it was “free”.
Here’s the result … (lightly edited). I was particularly interested in exercises I could play at the piano.
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Learn MAJOR SCALE by EAR with piano
I ASKED:
give me a series of drills to learn the major scale by ear. Show the drills as a sequence of numbers representing the position in the major scale 1-7. Give me easy drills first then harder ones afterwards.
IT RETURNED TO ME:
Easy Drills:
- Play the C Major scale on your instrument and try to sing each note as you play it. Focus on matching the pitch of each note with your voice. Repeat this drill with different keys.
- Sing the C Major scale and then try to play it on your instrument. Start with just the first note and gradually add the other notes until you can play the entire scale.
- Listen to a recording of a C Major scale and try to identify each note by name. Repeat this drill with different keys.
- Sing the first note of a C Major scale, then try to sing the second note without playing it on your instrument. Continue until you have sung the entire scale.
- Play a random note on your instrument, then try to sing the next note in the C Major scale. Repeat this drill with different starting notes.
Harder Drills:
6. Play a random note on your instrument, then try to play the entire C Major scale starting from that note. This will require you to identify the starting note and then play the correct sequence of intervals to reach the other notes in the scale.
7. Listen to a recording of a melody that uses the C Major scale and try to transcribe it by ear. This will require you to identify the notes in the melody and then play them on your instrument.
8. Play a chord progression in a random key and then try to improvise a melody using the notes of the major scale for that key. This will require you to identify the key and then use your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
9. Listen to a recording of a song and try to play the melody by ear using the major scale for the key of the song. This will require you to identify the key and then use your ear to identify and play the melody.
10. Play a chord progression in a random key and then try to play the major scale for that key in a different position on your instrument. This will require you to be comfortable with the major scale in multiple positions and to use your ear to identify the correct notes.
Here are the same drills tailored specifically for the piano:
Easy Drills:
- Play the C Major scale on the piano and try to sing each note as you play it. Focus on matching the pitch of each note with your voice. Repeat this drill with different keys.
- Sing the C Major scale and then try to play it on the piano. Start with just the first note and gradually add the other notes until you can play the entire scale.
- Listen to a recording of a C Major scale and try to identify each note by name on the piano. Repeat this drill with different keys.
- Sing the first note of a C Major scale, then try to sing the second note without playing it on the piano. Continue until you have sung the entire scale.
- Play a random note on the piano, then try to sing the next note in the C Major scale. Repeat this drill with different starting notes.
Harder Drills: - Play a random note on the piano, then try to play the entire C Major scale starting from that note. This will require you to identify the starting note and then play the correct sequence of intervals to reach the other notes in the scale.
- Listen to a recording of a melody that uses the C Major scale and try to transcribe it by ear. This will require you to identify the notes in the melody and then play them on the piano.
- Play a chord progression in a random key and then try to improvise a melody using the notes of the major scale for that key. This will require you to identify the key and then use your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
- Listen to a recording of a song and try to play the melody by ear using the major scale for the key of the song. This will require you to identify the key and then use your ear to identify and play the melody on the piano.
- Play a chord progression in a random key and then try to play the major scale for that key in a different position on the piano. This will require you to be comfortable with the major scale in multiple positions and to use your ear to identify the correct notes on the piano.
Here are some further piano drills that make use of both hands:
Easy Drills:
- Play the C Major scale with both hands, starting with the left hand on the lowest note and the right hand on the highest note. As you play each note, try to sing it in your head or out loud.
- Play the C Major scale with both hands in unison, starting with both thumbs on C. Focus on playing each note with the same timing and articulation in both hands.
- Play a simple chord progression with the left hand and then play the melody of the C Major scale with the right hand. For example, you could play a C Major chord with the left hand and then play the melody of the scale with the right hand.
- Play a simple melody with the left hand and then try to harmonize it with the C Major scale using the right hand. For example, you could play a simple melody with the left hand and then play the notes of the C Major scale with the right hand to create a harmony.
- Play a C Major chord with the left hand and then try to improvise a melody using the C Major scale with the right hand. Focus on using your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
Harder Drills: - Play a C Major chord with the left hand and then play the melody of a song using the C Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to identify the key and then use your ear to identify and play the melody with the right hand.
- Play a chord progression in a random key with the left hand and then play the melody of the C Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to identify the key and then use your ear to identify and play the melody with the right hand.
- Play a simple melody with the left hand and then try to harmonize it using chords built from the C Major scale with the right hand. For example, you could play a simple melody with the left hand and then use the right hand to play chords built from the notes of the C Major scale to create a harmony.
- Play a C Major chord with the left hand and then try to improvise a melody using a different scale or mode with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with multiple scales or modes and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
- Play a chord progression in a random key with the left hand and then try to improvise a melody using a different scale or mode with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with multiple scales or modes and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
Here are some additional piano drills that use both hands:
Easy Drills:
- Play a simple rhythm with the left hand while playing the notes of the C Major scale with the right hand. For example, you could play quarter notes with the left hand while playing the scale in eighth notes with the right hand.
- Play a simple arpeggio pattern with the left hand while playing the notes of the C Major scale with the right hand. For example, you could play a C Major arpeggio with the left hand while playing the scale in eighth notes with the right hand.
- Play a simple chord progression with the left hand while playing the notes of the C Major scale in broken chords with the right hand. For example, you could play a I-IV-V chord progression with the left hand while playing the notes of the scale in broken chords with the right hand.
- Play a simple melody with the left hand while playing the notes of the C Major scale in a different rhythm with the right hand. For example, you could play a simple melody with the left hand while playing the scale in syncopated rhythms with the right hand.
- Play a C Major chord with the left hand while playing the notes of the scale in thirds with the right hand. For example, you could play the C Major chord with the left hand while playing the scale in thirds with the right hand (C-E-D-F-E-G-F-A-G-B-A-C).
Harder Drills: - Play a complex rhythm with the left hand while playing a melody using the C Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex rhythms and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the rhythm.
- Play a chord progression with the left hand while improvising a melody using the C Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with improvising and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
- Play a complex arpeggio pattern with the left hand while playing a melody using the C Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex arpeggios and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the arpeggio pattern.
- Play a complex chord progression with the left hand while playing the notes of the C Major scale in broken chords with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex chord progressions and to use your ear to create broken chords that fit with the progression.
- Play a complex melody with the left hand while playing the notes of the C Major scale in complex rhythms with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex melodies and rhythms and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the rhythm.
Here are some additional piano drills that use both hands:
Easy Drills:
- Play a simple accompaniment pattern with the left hand while playing the notes of the D Major scale with the right hand. For example, you could play quarter notes with the left hand while playing the scale in eighth notes with the right hand.
- Play a simple chord progression with the left hand while playing the notes of the D Major scale in broken chords with the right hand. For example, you could play a I-IV-V chord progression with the left hand while playing the notes of the scale in broken chords with the right hand.
- Play a simple melody with the left hand while playing the notes of the D Major scale in thirds with the right hand. For example, you could play a simple melody with the left hand while playing the scale in thirds with the right hand (D-F#-E-G-F#-A-G-B-A-C#-B-D).
- Play a simple arpeggio pattern with the left hand while playing the notes of the D Major scale with the right hand. For example, you could play a D Major arpeggio with the left hand while playing the scale in eighth notes with the right hand.
- Play a D Major chord with the left hand while playing the notes of the scale in octaves with the right hand. For example, you could play the D Major chord with the left hand while playing the scale in octaves with the right hand (D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D).
Harder Drills: - Play a complex rhythm with the left hand while playing a melody using the D Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex rhythms and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the rhythm.
- Play a complex chord progression with the left hand while improvising a melody using the D Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with improvising and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the chord progression.
- Play a complex arpeggio pattern with the left hand while playing a melody using the D Major scale with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex arpeggios and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the arpeggio pattern.
- Play a complex chord progression with the left hand while playing the notes of the D Major scale in broken chords with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex chord progressions and to use your ear to create broken chords that fit with the progression.
- Play a complex melody with the left hand while playing the notes of the D Major scale in complex rhythms with the right hand. This will require you to be comfortable with playing complex melodies and rhythms and to use your ear to create a melody that fits with the rhythm.