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Intonation and interval training

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  lutemann 
#1 ·
Here’s an interesting approach to practicing intonation and interval training that I developed (I’m sure it’s not new). First off, let me say that I trained myself to sing intervals many years ago, so if someone plays an A and asks me to sing a major 5th down (D), I can do it.

What I do is randomly pick a note and an interval. Let’s say D and P4 up (to G). I play the D and tune it perfectly to the tuner. Then I close my eyes, play the G and then look to see how close the tuner says I am to G. A lot of times I am absolutely right on, but I am always in the “green light” (i.e. close) on my Korg tuner. The object, of course, is to always get it perfect.

BTW, if you want an easy way to learn how to sing/hear intervals, I’d be glad to write a short essay on this.
 
#2 ·
play the G and then look to see how close the tuner says I am to G. A lot of times I am absolutely right on, but I am always in the "green light" (i.e. close) on my Korg tuner. The object, of course, is to always get it perfect.
Does this mean you are training yourself to always play in equal temperament? Could that not be a problem if you are playing with other musicians with just intonation?

Even when playing with equal temperament I find that playing so that it's in with a tuna does not give the best results, compared with using your ears and playing outside of actual equal tempered pitch for expressive purposes (especially for blues).

I did a test recording comparison once where I played the same phrase twice, once in tune and once out of tune. Most people think the out of tune version sounds best and more "in tune". I'll see if I can dig it out.
 
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