Thousands of backing tracks, fully transcribed

All the jam tracks you'd hunt for on YouTube, in one place — each one with its chord changes laid out for you in a clear format, plus the chord and scale charts to go with them.
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Intervals

The distance between two notes, which is what you actually hear.

An interval is the distance between two notes, and it is the real unit of music. Nobody hears absolute pitch except a small minority — everybody hears distance.

Intervals are counted by stepping through the scale and including both ends. From C to E, you count C, D, E — three letters, so it is a third. C to G is C, D, E, F, G — a fifth. C up to the next C is an octave, from the Latin for eight.

The two intervals to know first are the third and the fifth, because chords are made of them. The third is the interval that carries emotion: a third of four half steps sounds bright and is called major, a third of three half steps sounds sad and is called minor. The fifth carries almost no emotion at all, which is why a power chord — root and fifth, no third — sounds neither happy nor sad.

C, then C with its third, fifth and octave

Play each pair together. The first is C alone, then C plus E, then C plus G, then C plus the C above it.

e
B
G
D
A
E
--------------------------|
--------------------------|
--------------------5-----|
--------2-----5-----------|
--3-----3-----3-----3-----|
--------------------------|

Naming intervals from a page is easy. Recognising one by ear is the skill that makes you able to work out music without being told what it is, and it only comes from repetition.

The trainer below plays an interval and asks you to name it. Do not try to learn all twelve at once — get thirds and fifths reliable first, then add octaves and fourths.

Ear Trainer

Thirds and fifths only, to begin with. A running score beats a vague sense that you are improving.

Score: 0 / 0
What am I listening for?An interval is just the distance in pitch between two notes — that’s what you’re trying to name. The button labels use standard shorthand: m for minor, M for major, and P for perfect, followed by a number counting how many scale steps apart the notes are — so m3 is a minor 3rd and M3 is a major 3rd, up to P8, a full octave. TTis the tritone, sitting exactly halfway between a perfect 4th and a perfect 5th. Don’t worry about getting it right away — with practice, each interval starts to have its own distinct “sound” instead of something you have to count out.

Then take it to music. This track in C major moves between C, G, A minor and F.

Listen to the distance between the root notes as the chords change rather than to the chords themselves. C to G is a fifth up. C to F is a fourth up. Hearing root movement is how experienced players work out a song in a couple of passes.

Highway Soul | Groovy Classic Rock Backing Track in C Major | BT 718
Backing Tracks Center#rock#Cmajor

C, G, A minor and F. Follow the root notes, not the chords.