The Secret to Finding Notes by Ear on Your Violin | Part. 1

Video Transcript

(Intro)

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hear a song you love, you can hum the melody perfectly, but when you try to find those notes on your violin, it just becomes a frustrating mess. What if I told you the secret to finding those notes isn't about guessing? It’s about training your ear to hear the difference between the notes and sometimes simple patterns.

Playing by ear isn't some magic power; it's a skill you can learn. We're going to break down two important building blocks in music today, and those building block are the scale and the arpeggio. Really, understanding the sound of these two is going to help you later hear the difference between steps and skips, which will completely revolutionize your playing, because, essentially all pieces on the violin are made up of that - steps and skips!

(Section 1: The Scale)

Let’s start first with the scale. Simply put, a scale is a set of notes played in order. The most important thing for your ear is that a scale moves in smooth steps. Think of walking up a staircase one step at a time. No skips; no jumps. This gives it a smooth, flowing sound.

Let's hear D major, a D major scale on the violin, right now. This is what it sounds like. ♫

That’s a D major scale, going up the scale.

Uh, as you were listening, I hope you noticed how it sounded smooth and connected. It sounded like a smooth connected line going up, in this case it was just going up the scale. Each note is a predictable step from the last. That stepwise motion is the defining sound of a scale.

(Section 2: The Arpeggio)

Now for the second piece: the arpeggio. If a scale is walking up a staircase, an arpeggio is skipping steps. Simply put, an arpeggio is a pattern of skips that uses notes from the scale.

Let’s stick with D major. I am going to play a D major arpeggio now. And just before I play it, I want to let you know that this arpeggio is made up of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the D major scale (and then the high D at the top). Here we go. ♫

That’s a D major arpeggio. Hear the difference? Instead of smooth steps, we're hearing these big, open jumps. This skipping sound is the signature of an arpeggio.

(Section 3: Ear Training Test)

Okay, time to test your ear. I’ll play 10 examples of scales and arpeggios for you to practice identifying each. I will give the answer right after each, so just pause the video right after the example and ask yourself: am I hearing a scale or an arpeggio? Remember, a scale is made up of steps, all steps, and an arpeggio is made up of all skips. Here we go. ♫

That was a scale, G major scale. ♫

That was, ah, an arpeggio, a G major arpeggio. ♫

That was a D major arpeggio. ♫

That was a D major scale. ♫

That was a C major arpeggio. ♫

That was a C major scale.

Let’s keep going. ♫

That was an A major scale. ♫

That was an A major arpeggio, and here for the last two. ♫

That was an F major scale. ♫

And that was an F major arpeggio.

(Final Thoughts)

If this is starting to click, and you want to learn more, just hit that subscribe button so you are notified when our next video in this series is out. Or, if you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will be sure to respond. Lastly, if you are interested in taking the next step in learning violin, check out my website in the description, and sign up for a free trial lesson (while there is space).

(Preview of Next Video)

In the next video, we will continue practicing identifying scales and arpeggios, but we will add the layer of direction: whether they are ascending or descending (meaning going up or going down).

Just as a last review, remember that a scale is like walking on a staircase one step at a time. An arpeggio is like jumping on a staircase skipping steps. Your homework is simple: just listen. Listen for scales and arpeggios in your favorite songs, or whatever songs you are hearing, and, really, this is the beginning of learning to play by ear.

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