The Happy Birthday Test

[GuyBoden]

The Happy Birthday Test

"The first thing I do is the Happy Birthday test. Pick a random finger and fret and play Happy Birthday. If they can't do it, I point out that playing jazz is about imagining a melody and being able to make it come out of the guitar."

"Further, it seems to me that if you start playing more mathematically before you can pass the Happy Birthday test, you may be putting the cart before the horse -- that is, playing before hearing."

From an old RMMGJ post.
basic skill for jazz, rarely discussed

[wolflen]

I have experienced this basic human fault and have to admit and realize.." I can't learn something if I think I already know it"

I use the first five notes of a given melody or even a basic melodic pattern and move it through each scale degree in as many keys and positions as I can.

It will slow you way down as you realize your searching for the sound of the next note.

The term "playing by ear" is something all musicians do. It's to the extent that they develop and utilize this skill.

[jameslovestal]

I use the Georgy Girl test since it is a 3-section melody.

[Bob_Ross]

I use the Georgy Girl test since it is a 3-part melody.

But how many people know all 3 parts?
I've heard and loved that tune ever since it was an AM radio staple in the 1960s, and I couldn't sing any part but the melody line without sitting down and transcribing the harmonies on the recording first.

Or did you mean it's 3 sections, e.g., an ABAC form?

[jameslovestal]

But how many people know all 3 parts?
I've heard and loved that tune ever since it was an AM radio staple in the 1960s, and I couldn't sing any part but the melody line without sitting down and transcribing the harmonies on the recording first.

Or did you mean it's 3 sections, e.g., an ABAC form?

I meant "section" (and thus edited my post). I really like that "C" section (it is a cool little riff that, for me is a better "test" of being able to play by ear a melody in any key than the simple Happy Birthday).

[rpjazzguitar]

The point of the Happy Birthday test (and that old post was mine) is to quickly evaluate the player's ability to play even a simple melody, anywhere on the guitar from any finger, without theory or patterns, going directly from mind to sound.

Seems to me that it's a basic skill for jazz.

[wolflen]

[QUOTE=rpjazzguitar

Seems to me that it's a basic skill for jazz.[/QUOTE]

Or any style of music..

And there are many basic melody tunes that help strengthen note/melody/interval recognition-playing by ear.

The guitar-in standard tuning-at best is an illogical configuration to learn.its like a compressed piano twisted with a interval trick in its final edition.

Learning a basic melody on one set of strings may be easy regardless of fingering..but moved to the higher strings with that wonderful mystery
string interval the fingering and locating the notes may be a bit more of a challenge.

[GuyBoden]

Seems to me that it's a basic skill for jazz.

[jameslovestal]

Or any style of music..

And there are many basic melody tunes that help strengthen note/melody/interval recognition-playing by ear.

The guitar-in standard tuning-at best is an illogical configuration to learn.its like a compressed piano twisted with a interval trick in its final edition.

Learning a basic melody on one set of strings may be easy regardless of fingering..but moved to the higher strings with that wonderful mystery
string interval the fingering and locating the notes may be a bit more of a challenge.

If one is using their ear they shouldn't have to "locate" the notes. Using one's ear is not memorizing pattens.

[rpjazzguitar]

Or any style of music..

And there are many basic melody tunes that help strengthen note/melody/interval recognition-playing by ear.

The guitar-in standard tuning-at best is an illogical configuration to learn.its like a compressed piano twisted with a interval trick in its final edition.

Learning a basic melody on one set of strings may be easy regardless of fingering..but moved to the higher strings with that wonderful mystery
string interval the fingering and locating the notes may be a bit more of a challenge.

The goal is that you hear the melody in your mind (starting on any note, string, fret, finger) and your fingers find the notes without conscious thought. I think it comes with enough time on the instrument, but I don't see any reason why the process couldn't be speeded up by spending time trying to pick out melodies you hear. So, if you're noodling while watching TV, copy the music you hear.

Eventually, the G - B string interval issue fades completely. For that to happen you can't be thinking about geometric patterns.

[MarkRhodes]

The point of the Happy Birthday test (and that old post was mine) is to quickly evaluate the player's ability to play even a simple melody, anywhere on the guitar from any finger, without theory or patterns, going directly from mind to sound.

Seems to me that it's a basic skill for jazz.

Barney Kessel talks about this in his instructional video (-which has been posted hereabouts). Barney's idea was to start with melodies you have known for years---folk songs, Christmas songs, church songs, melodies that you know by heart--and pick them out on the guitar.

[GuyBoden]

Eventually, the G - B string interval issue fades completely. For that to happen you can't be thinking about geometric patterns.

It faded totally for me, when I changed from standard to 4th (P4) tuning over 15 years ago, but 4th (P4) tuning created other problems.

[Greywolf]

I like to think of it as a musical dna test . I've had similar experiences on gigs, once the leader called Moondance by Van Morrison, while familiar with the tune , I'd never played ... when he told me to "take it" my fingers and memory took over and suprisingly the solo went well , the Club owner commented after the show .. " man , when you played ..all eyes were on you .. .you sounded so Natural....

One of the nicest comments I've ever had .. in 50 years of playing

[Christian Miller]

Putting the notes on the neck is a finite task. You do need to practice it. Go through your repertoire of children's songs, melodies you know really well, TV jingles, whatever. It's instrumental practice, really. I personally find it's a skill I need to refresh, it can get rusty. The best thing is to make it a key part of your music making, learning songs and so on.

(It's just like reading in that respect, and has more in common with reading than might seem apparent at first.)

Once that's addressed, there's another issue with ear-learning. One massive issue I find with guitar students is the fact that guitarists (including myself) have a big tendency to play before we really know what we are going to play.

• If you are trying to play Happy Birthday you are likely to realise when you have played a wrong note. Makes it a lot easier.
• If you are learning a bebop line, you may not. You may play a wrong note, forget what you are trying to do altogether and give up.

So in the second case, the secret is to REALLY LISTEN to the thing you are trying to learn. This means, for many, put the guitar down and singing the line or melody until you really know it. This might be a hard sell for people who play the guitar for fun haha.

This is the reason Tristano got students to sing the solo through before he allowed them to play it on their instruments. The inner ear is where the musician is. The instrument is just the medium. TBH sometimes I despair at my apparent inability to retain a simple standard melody but it tends to go in easier when I don't feel it's an exercise, just a song I like.

Another important point - many ear training exercises and so on present the subject as if it was note-by-note and interval-by-interval in isolation. This is not how it works, and it is not how music works. The best way of learning how the ear really works is to go straight to the music itself and immerse yourself. You'll start to hear common features and patterns. (Although I think ear training exercises can help.)

It's interesting that guitarists are so often such thoughtless doodlers. Why we do it? Everyone knows it!

[AllanAllen]

Pro tip, Happy Birthday starts on the 5th.

This is a nice thing to do. I worked out Flintstones by ear after it was decided the band would start doing Oleo regularly. I had a “holy barnacles, I’m doing it!” moment when I just went for it. At home, not on stage.

[rpjazzguitar]

I can pass the Happy Birthday test. Any finger/fret/string.

But, I didn't know that it started on the fifth. I can play what is in my mind, or on a recording, if they're not too complex, but I have to stop and think hard to name the intervals. Even thinking about my fingers on the fretboard to figure it out.

[Mick-7]

Pro tip, Happy Birthday starts on the 5th.

I can believe that, I don't recall my first four birthday parties at all.

[GuyBoden]

Pro tip, Happy Birthday starts on the 5th.

Especially in Europe, Frère Jacques would be an easier choice for beginners, if Happy Birthday proves to be too difficult.

[AllanAllen]

I can pass the Happy Birthday test. Any finger/fret/string.

But, I didn't know that it started on the fifth. I can play what is in my mind, or on a recording, if they're not too complex, but I have to stop and think hard to name the intervals. Even thinking about my fingers on the fretboard to figure it out.

It just helps to know if you try to harmonize the song. If we can do a Happy Birthday single note test, we can do a Happy Birthday chord melody test too right?

I also think this is why everyone sings it so bad, they think the first note is the root and it's all downhill from there.