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Ear training · Advanced · 6 min

An Eight-Note Phrase by Ear

An original E minor phrase, learned one note at a time from the reference tone.

How to play it
  1. Hear the first note and find it. Then hear each following note and find it before moving on.
  2. Once all eight are found, play the phrase from memory at tempo in Play mode.
  3. Sing it once before each pass. If you can sing it, your hands find it faster.

What the coach checks: Pitch of each note in order.

Goal80 BPM · 80% accuracy
Your bestNo result yet
Rating–

Tab player

Hear the line

eBGDAE12

Tap any number to hear it. Four clicks count you in.

100% is the goal tempo, 80 BPM. The speed presets climb from Learn to Goal about 10% at a time, and the practice slider below uses the same scale. Build a full ladder to your goal

Your practice room

Find each note

Single-note pitch feedback. Practice waits for each note; Play checks the sequence at your chosen tempo. This does not assess chord quality or fret buzz.

This checkpoint needs 80 BPM or faster and the required accuracy. Slower Play attempts still produce practice scores.

Exercise map · 8 targets
  1. 1. E4Bar 1 · beat 1 · string 2 · fret 5
  2. 2. G4Bar 1 · beat 2 · string 1 · fret 3
  3. 3. A4Bar 1 · beat 3 · string 1 · fret 5
  4. 4. B4Bar 1 · beat 4 · string 1 · fret 7
  5. 5. A4Bar 2 · beat 1 · string 1 · fret 5
  6. 6. G4Bar 2 · beat 2 · string 1 · fret 3
  7. 7. E4Bar 2 · beat 3 · string 2 · fret 5
  8. 8. D4Bar 2 · beat 4 · string 2 · fret 3

Chord names and stroke directions are visual guidance. Rhythm scoring measures attack timing.

Target 1 of 8E4String 2 · fret 5

Play one note at a time.

Tune first. Audio stays on this device.

Why this drill

Transcribing builds vocabulary straight from sound. This short original phrase sits in one position, so the only job is hearing the next note.

Common mistakes

  1. Checking the diagram before guessing

    Fix: Hear the note, sing it, find it, then check. Humming is enough; what matters is that you hold the pitch in your head while you search. The ear only grows when the guess comes before the answer.

  2. The right note in the wrong octave

    Fix: The whole phrase sits on strings 1 and 2 between fret 3 and fret 7. If the note name is right but the coach keeps waiting, move up or down an octave.

  3. Learning eight notes instead of one phrase

    Fix: Once you have three notes, play them together before hearing the fourth. The phrase rises E, G, A, B, falls back A, G, E, and steps down to D.

Tempo plan

100% is the goal tempo, 80 BPM. Each rung sits about 10% above the one before it, so every step up is one you can hold. The speed presets in the player above use the same rungs.

  1. Learn 60 BPM · 75%Practice mode, one reference tone at a time. Speed does not matter yet; finding each note does.
  2. Build 66 BPM · 83%Play the first four notes from memory, then the last four, in Play · full check.
  3. Push 73 BPM · 91%Switch to Play · full check here. Two clean passes in a row earn the next rung.
  4. Goal 80 BPM · 100%All eight quarter notes from memory, singing the phrase once before each pass. A pass at 80% accuracy or better clears the drill.
  5. Stretch 88 BPM · 110%Run a few passes here, then return to the goal. Time above the goal makes the goal feel settled.

Build a full ladder to your goal with holds and back-off sessions, starting from the tempo you can play today.

Make it music

Every note here comes from E minor pentatonic (E, G, A, B, D), the scale behind a great deal of rock and blues soloing. Learning it by ear is the same process as lifting a lick from a record: hear a few notes, find them, join them. Sing the phrase back before each pass; a phrase you can sing is a phrase you can find.

Variation

Transcribe your own: take four to eight notes of a melody you can already sing and find them on strings 1 and 2 the same way, one note at a time.

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