Customer Reviews

Ultimate Ear Training for Guitar and Bass

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I can see how instructors would be enthusiastic about this book, but unfortunately it will in no way help the student develop their ear training. Here's the problem. The book and CD basically outlines a METHOD of ear training, it is not ear training itself. For example, for each step of the book there is one and only one example on the CD. It is just that, an example, not a training. So, there is one 14 note "lesson" on intervals and from this you are supposed to magically learn how to identify all the major intervals. I don't think so. However, if you were an instructor then you could use that example as a starting point to develop your own lessons and work with students in recognizing intervals. You could spend a month on variations of that lesson itself since that's the core of ear training. In fact, if you're an instructor you can use the whole book as a blueprint for a year long curriculum from recognizing intervals to recognizing chords.

By the way, the CD itself mostly uses really dull organ patches. The idea may have been to eliminate timbre as a distraction. However, since one of the goals of ear training is to distinguish timbre from tone, this is another example of how this book/CD in itself won't be of much use to students.

As a bassguitar teacher for almost 20 years now I have noticed that most advanced bassplayers have the tendency to play either "thinking" and "seeing". What I mean is: they look at a part and see, let's say, a C minor chord. Immediatly there is an association with the graphic on the neck like in little flashes. Or a complete scale. And they SEE all the options. But these options are often played randomly. So theoretically their lines are right but they sound bizar. It is because their knowledge of these graphics is not connected to the main thing: The Ear!
Gary Willis has written the method that I would have loved to have written. In this method he connects the ear to the knowledge that very often is already there. Finally someone wrote the book in which the basis of good improvisation is explained. Thanks Gary, this is gonna be my bible!

I had a very weak ear when I began using this book even though I had been playing bass and studying theory for nearly 10 years. I finally realized that my ear was not going to magically get any better so I went with one of the most innovative players out there today to see how he would teach ear training. I was a little amused by some of the complaints that I read here. Gary does just about everything he can besides hold your hand and make sure you do these exercises the right way. It only takes a few minutes a day, he wants you to hear the notes before they are played and picture them on the fingerboard. If you actually put forth an effort and listen to what he says and have even an ounce of self-motivation to apply this yourself to other musical applications, I guarantee your ear will improve. My ear was horrible so I had no place to go but up, but since I worked through this book my ear has improved 100% and it is still improving. If you want a realistic method that works, get this book. If you think ear training is going to be easy than no book will work for you. Highly Recommended.

this book was recommended to me by an online friend who teaches music.

the initial impression i got from this book was a bit similar to those online lessons you get where they play a major C scale and then let you guess which notes were played. well, this book is like that and more!

this is my first "ear training" book, and im telling you... if you are not serious or do not have time to study this book the way you study your medical text books (assuming you are one of those med students), you wont learn anything here!

ive been studying this book for about 30 minutes a day everyday (or at least 3-5x a week) for one month now and im still stuck in the first part of chapter 3.

there might be some ppl who have better ears and can go thru this book in a fly (the way some ppl are better in math compared to others) ... but not for someone like me (im really tone deaf). i imagine only a small percentage of really serious musicians would make use of this book.

and oh... be sure to have a player nearby cause this book is useless without the audio CD that accompanies it. i suggest you copy the files in your hard drive so youd have a back up in case something happens to the CD.

i do not recommend this book for ppl who do not have that much commitment (i have a feeling i wont finish this book, cause it really is that hard) in music; it is expensive and the learning curve is quite high.

I found this book to be poorly thought out in that, it expects
you to already understand many advanced concepts. The cd is not
really that helpful because as the tones are played, the person announcing is referring to an example on a written page and does not tell you what the note or interval is. ( he also sounds totally bored.) so if you wanted to say pop the cd into your car player to help reinforce what your trying to learn it is useless.
( Gary, what were you thinking?? )

Another annoying thing is that he tells you not to move past the first page until you have memorized and can name all the intervals in the major scale just by hearing it. I find that to be no simple feat and would expect a statement like that to be at or near the end of the book, meaning " congratulations, you should now be able to name all the intervals in the major scale." evidently, not with this book thats just the beginning. So, if your just starting out and are looking for an ear training book, I would pass on this one.

thanks gary i always wanted to play like the pro and this book is so good if anyone make up their mind and get this book spend time with this book practice as instructed you will develope relative pitch in no time since i have this i have play gig recently and didnt have a rehearsal and do well how i practice this book for instance i pick track one and i practice it for half an hour in the morning go to work when i come home from work i practice it again for the same half an hour then next day i do the same thing on track two so thank you gary for making this book useful for me and others plus am getting more gigs because am better songs that take me twenty minutes to learn is taking me five minutes now thang you sir

No need to say anything, just buy it! It going with a 99 tracked CD. Also, many good examples and exercises to check your understanding. I am benefit by it so much.

This book is useless. The only thing you get is even more tests. There are only Dooo Doooo sounds on the cd and the answers on the book. Dont waste your money.