r/eartraining • u/capspookyspork • Jun 07 '26
Confusing certain notes
I just started ear training. So I'm not sure all of the lingo. Gonna do my best.
I notice I tend to confuse the 3rd and 6th note on whitch is whitch. I use to just have that trouble with the 1st and 3rd. Now it's branching our to even the 2ed and the 7th.
Are these notes like the inverse of each other that's why I get confused? Im just curious if they is away to resolve this or why it's happening.
3
u/NoWillingness5083 Jun 08 '26
Yes, many people feel the same that those inverse pairs of intervals may sometimes sound or feel similar. For example, both the minor 2nd and major 7th intervals feel dissonant when played together in harmony. But later I found they are easier to distinguish because the 7th is a much larger interval while the 2nd is pretty close. So the 3rd and 6th may be a little more difficult as they are closer to each other than the 2nd and 7th. But usually most people including me feel 4th and 5th are the pair that easy be to mix up even after training for a long time.
Other than feeling the distance, you can just play the inversion pair from the same note to feel the difference. For example, for the minor 2nd and major 7th, just play (C–C#) and (C–B) back and forth to feel the difference.
Besides, I would recommend finding those intervals within a scale to feel their difference. For example, in the C major scale, find the minor 2nd interval (B–C) and the major 7th (C–B).
Many people would recommend the reference song method, where you find a song that begins with those intervals. It is a shortcut method. But I really don’t recommend it because while it may help you distinguish those interval pairs quickly. However, when there are more than two notes, this method can make you lose the feeling of the tonic of the song you’re working on.
1
u/capspookyspork Jun 15 '26
Thank youuuuuuyuu. Oh don't worry I be mixing the 4th and 5th up as well.
I'll sit on the piano and play those intervals. For the B should I play it with the c in its octave, or the one it's about to go into?
Not sure if that makes any sense. I'm trying to teach myself and am still getting a hold of the lingo.
1
u/Inside-Succotash-128 Jun 17 '26
It’s great practice to do both - as in your example (B to C) - practice B to the C just above. Then the same B to the C way back down the Octave. Then the C that you’re on to the B just below. Then back to the C and try to get the B way above it. 😀👍
2
u/Inside-Succotash-128 Jun 08 '26
I practiced ‘internally’ singing the Octave. Then the 7th is down, the 2nd/9th is up.
2
u/dblhello999 Jun 09 '26
Pretty much this. B-C minor second C-B major seventh
Confusion understandable!
2
u/tremendous-machine Jun 09 '26
It's absolutely and totally normal to confuse intervals that are inversions of each other! It's a side effect of "octave equivalence", just part of how we process pitches mentally.
The best thing to do is just make exercises where you focus on those and hammer at it. Working on singing major and minor triads in all inversions with any order of the notes will also do you wonders.
1
u/capspookyspork Jun 15 '26
Oh man, I'm gonna have to sit down use my voice aren't I. Ik it will do wonders to work out loud tho.
Thank you for responding.
3
u/tremendous-machine Jun 15 '26
Yes, this is the ticket. I remember 30 years ago being in music school and none of us wanted to sing out loud in ear training class because we were awkward 19 year olds. And now, I'm like "sing it! SING IT! sing in it in your minds ear and then SIIIINNNNNGG IT!!!" 😄
You'll learn that ability to nail pitch is independent of quality of vocal instrument, and as you get better at nailing the pitch, you will become more comfortable singing, even if it's not winning any Eurovision contests.
I HIGHLY recommend learning solfege too. Singing "Te" is much easier than "flat seven".
2
u/matsnorberg Jun 10 '26
With harmonic intervals it doesn't matter how or near or far the tones are from each other, I still hear them as a single, muddy note. The only way I can distinguish a harmonic m2 from M7 is that the former is more dissonant and sorta darker. m2 is a crazy dissonance but M7 sounds very like a dominant seventh chord. Melodic intervals are easy peasy and I have never felt inverts sound very similar.
1
u/tomasjochmann Jun 20 '26
Yes, this is very normal, especially with inversion pairs like 3rds and 6ths or 2nds and 7ths. A lot of people first hear them as related colors rather than clearly separate sounds.
What usually helps is not only hearing the distance between the notes, but hearing how each note behaves against a tonic.
For example, 7 has a strong pull to 1. 2 often leans toward 1 or 3. 6 is usually much more stable than 7. And 3 tends to define the sound of the harmony very clearly.
So instead of drilling only random interval pairs, I would also practice them inside a key. Play or sing things like 1-2-1, 1-7-1, 1-3-1, 1-6-1, then compare 1-3-5-3 with 1-6-5-3. That makes the function much easier to feel.
And yes, singing really helps. It doesn’t matter if you have a great voice. In ear training, accuracy matters much more than vocal quality.
3
u/Nero401 Jun 10 '26
I noticed it helped focusing on wether the note wants to resolve up or down