Quote:
Originally Posted by hakkolu
How important is it to be able to hear and pick out individual notes of chords and harmonies through ear? When I hear a busy chord, maybe a piano chord, I can typically pick out 2 of the notes (usually the lowest and highest), and sometimes a 3rd one. It takes a while though, I usually loop that part of the recording over and over again or slow it down like mad before it happens.
Should I be worried about this? Is this a skill serious musicians have? If so, how can I improve it?
|
Just keep doing it. You will get better at focusing your ear on those kinds of details.
I don't know how good "serious" musicians are at it - some are no doubt better than others - but I'm in much the same boat as you, maybe a little better. I always need to use a slowdowner to be sure of chords (to help isolate and listen more closely), even if I think I can identify them without. That is, I can usually guess the main identity of the chord, it's other details (added notes or extensions) I like to confirm.
One thing you should try to listen for is chord quality, in particular the difference between major and minor. That's usually fairly easy if the chord is in root position, but inversions (non-root note in the bass) can muddy the picture. But then inversions themselves are good to listen out for - a particular kind of instability which is not to do with dissonance or complexity of the chord, but still a very strong sense that another chord has to follow.