stuck in Minor 2nd & Major 2nd - Harmonic (common tone)

[Shinwei]

I am a beginner.
I can get 100% in Minor 2nd & Major 2nd - Descending (common tone) of interval comparison.
but I'm stuck in Minor 2nd & Major 2nd - Harmonic (common tone).
I have tried more than 10 times and the best score was 76% .
I feel that there's a huge gap between the 2 lessons.
Is any better way to help me go through it?

[Quentin]

Have you tried to sing each of the intervals before answering? Singing is your best ally for ear training, it will speed up your progression dramatically.

[pezking12]

I was going to ask this exact same question but saw it has been asked already. I am the same - I am a beginner when it comes to delving into ear training etc, and find the jump into this lesson a significant leap in difficulty from the earlier lessons.

The intervals are extremely fast so I'm not sure how easy it is to apply the singing suggestion originally posted ?

I have read rave reviews about this program, and will stick with it, but would have hoped there would be better explanatory material than what there is for this. Sometimes I can tell ok, othertimes not so much, and there isn't a lot to help suggest what I should be listening for.
Any help appreciated!

[Quentin]

An efficient trick to memorize harmonic intervals is to assign a "mood" or color to each of them that describes the effect each interval has on you.

For example, you could argue that minor 2nd sounds gloomy and very dissonant, whereas Major 2nd is more suspensful, minor 3rd is sad, Major 3rd is adventurous, etc. Those are just quick examples, the idea is that you find your own descriptions that match perfectly how you feel when you hear them.

Then the other trick is, as mentionned earlier, to sing both notes aloud. Singing is absolutely the most valuable help you have at hand for ear training, and for acquiring better musicianship more generally.

If that lesson is really a complete show stopper, just move on to the next lesson manually, and get back to it later on when you feel ready. Frustration can have negative effects on your learning process.

[pezking12]

Thankyou. I was trying the mood approach but think I need to listen more carefully to determine what I think the mood should really be. What you've suggested does make sense.

As for the singing approach, are you able to elaborate on how I do this better? Do I sing the harmonic? This seems hard to do when they both sound so similar?

All in all however, I'm rather addicted and can see the benefits of hanging with it!!

[Quentin]

For the singing part, exercises on harmonic intervals are usually preceded by exercises with the same intervals played melodically. You can prepare for the harmonic version by singing along as you audition both intervals in the melodic versions of the exercises.

[GatesofDawn67]

I am trying to sing along with the interval comparison. My voice has a limited range (maybe a 10th). This makes singing along difficult. When I try to sing an octave away, it takes longer for me to find the note and the note has ended before I find it. To compensate for this, I go into preferences and adjust the transposition setting, but there is not one setting that works for all cases.

1) It would be nice if interval comparison could be set to restrict the pitches to the vocal range set in user properties.

2) I am having difficulty with harmonic m6th and M6th. Can you tell me what qualities are associated with each (e.g., warm, smooth, glassy, etc.)?

[Niclas]

Hi!

1) I am pretty sure that it should be restricted to the vocal range set in the user properties. Are you sure it is not? All the exercises should be. The only reason that this exercise might not be, is because you can't answer with you voice, and only the A and B button.

2) That one can be tricky. In general Major sounds more clean and happy, whereas Minor sounds a bit more wrong and dis-harmonic. A tip is to try to seperate the notes in your head, which should make it easier to determine.

-Niclas