Ear Training
On the audio CD which accompanies the Flatpicking the Blues book Brad Davis introduces you to a method by which you can begin to train your ear in the context of the blues by working with various intervals and phrases based on blues scales. It is our hope that you will seriously work with these exercises in order to truly discover by using your ear alone what Brad is playing. However, in order for you to make sure that what you are hearing is what Brad is playing we are providing access to transcriptions of all of the ear training exercises here on this page. We encourage you to work with the ear training tracks until you are sure that you can play the phrases strictly by ear before you check the tab.
On the audio CD that came with the book we kept most of the ear training phrases short so that it would be easier for you to work with the ear training material In the future we will add some more complex ear training exercises to this site for you to practice, so keep checking back. Also, if you would like to train your ear more extensively in the context of the blues remember to check out Brad Davis' Blues Ear Training Course. Click <here> to learn more about this course.
Audio Track 2—Ear Training Introduction: On Track 2 of the audio CD Brad introduces the concept of ear training and lends some suggestions on how you might approach it. He plays one short phrase as an example of something to start working with. Click <here> so see a transcription of that short phrase.
Audio Track 3—Ear Training for the G Minor Pentatonic Scale in the Lower Octave: In this exercise you were asked to play through the G minor pentatonic scale in the upper octave, then use your ear to identify four different two-note intervals from that scale. You were then asked to listen to three separate one-bar phrases that are based on the scale, learn the phrases by ear, then play them back on your guitar. Click <here> to view a transcription of the scale, the intervals, and the phrases.
Audio Track 6—Ear Training for the G Minor Pentatonic Scale in the Upper Octave: In this exercise you were asked to play through the G minor pentatonic scale in the lower octave, then use your ear to identify four different two-note intervals from that scale. You were then asked to listen to three separate one-bar phrases that are based on the scale, learn the phrases by ear, then play them back on your guitar. Click <here> to view a transcription of the scale, the intervals, and the phrases.
Audio Track 7—Ear Training for the G Minor Pentatonic Scale (Two Octaves): In this exercise you were asked to play through the G minor pentatonic scale in the upper and lower octaves, then use your ear to identify eight different two-note intervals from that scale. You were then asked to listen to six separate one-bar phrases that are based on the scale, learn the phrases by ear, then play them back on your guitar. Click <here> to view a transcription of the scale, the intervals, and the phrases.
Audio Track 8—Ear Training for G Blues Scale in the Lower Octave: In this exercise you were asked to play through the G minor pentatonic blues scale in the lower octave, then use your ear to identify four different two-note intervals from that scale. You were then asked to listen to three separate one-bar phrases that are based on the scale, learn the phrases by ear, then play them back on your guitar. Click <here> to view a transcription of the scale, the intervals, and the phrases.
Audio Track 9—Ear Training for the G Blues Scale in the Upper Octave: In this exercise you were asked to play through the G minor pentatonic blues scale in the upper octave, then use your ear to identify four different two-note intervals from that scale. You were then asked to listen to three separate one-bar phrases that are based on the scale, learn the phrases by ear, then play them back on your guitar. Click <here> to view a transcription of the scale, the intervals, and the phrases.
Audio Track 10—Ear Training for the G Blues Scale (Two Octaves): In this exercise you were asked to play through the G minor pentatonic blues scale in the lower and upper octaves, then use your ear to identify eight different two-note intervals from that scale. You were then asked to listen to six separate one-bar phrases that are based on the scale, learn the phrases by ear, then play them back on your guitar. Click <here> to view a transcription of the scale, the intervals, and the phrases.