Re: Ear Train
I am a totally blind mandolinist. As a youth, I played violin and was able to read any score. As a much older adult, nearly 70, I had to play without being able to read the music. I've been playing the mandolin since 2017 and have really developed my ear without special classes or training. Basically, I play, with my favorite recorded music, for pure pleasure, perhaps 30 to 90 minutes a day. I have playlists that I have built, and I set playback to shuffle for a few hundred songs that I already know in my head. When I started playing again, my goal was simply to find the next correct note. Nowadays, my fingers generally know exactly where to land and I seldom miss notes at all. For me, the secret was playing what I already know in my head. I happen to be a huge fan of most popular music between 1964 and 1979 and play lots of rock, folk, country, funk, pop and whatever else turns up. I also enjoy a fair amount of classical music and Broadway shows. A lot of practicing, or simply playing for fun, where the goal is to hit the correct notes and maintain the tempo has worked extremely well for me over time. At present, I can play in pretty much any key and I have built enough brain and muscle memory that I don't have to think about where the fingers need to land -- it just took playing a lot. Have fun on your own adventure!
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2021 Ellis F5 Special #564 mandolin
1928 Roth violin
2016 Eastman MD515 mandolin
1907 Foltz violin
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