A musician’s ability to play by ear is a coveted skill. Just think about how much music you could learn on your own if you could play any song by ear! Unfortunately, not all of us are born ‘musical geniuses.’
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t train your ears to be better musicians. There are a lot of simple techniques you can use to improve your ability to play music by ear.
So, whether you’re just starting out on your musical journey or you’ve been playing for years, read on for some tips on how to improve your ear-training skills!
Ear training: What is it?
Ear training for musicians is the process of developing and improving your ability to listen to and identify musical sounds. It can involve learning to sing or play melodies by ear, transcribing solos, or learning to distinguish between different notes and intervals.
The better you can hear and understand the music you’re playing, the more accurate your performance will be. You’ll also be able to hear and understand other musicians’ performances more clearly, and work better with a band or ensemble.
The most common way to train your ear is to listen to a piece of music and then identify what you’re hearing. This might be a particular note, chord, or interval.
Another way is using ear training apps. Additionally, you can train your ears by singling out sounds in everyday life, such as the sound of a car engine or a dog barking.
What are the benefits of ear training?
The benefits of ear training for beginners and veterans are vast.
Some of them include the:
- Allows you to “hear” the music you’re playing. You’ll start to develop a better sense of pitch, melody, and harmony.
- Help you better understand musical notation, and it will give you the ability to transcribe melodies and harmonies accurately.
- Become a better listener, which is an essential skill for any musician. It can improve your timing and rhythm, and it can help you better understand the structure of a song.
- Makes you a more well-rounded musician, and it will help you reach new levels of musical accomplishment.
Where should I focus my studies during ear training sessions?
If you’re looking for where to start with your ear training exercises, you need to first identify scale and pitch. When you hear a note, you need to know it. You can do this by constantly playing the note on an instrument until it sticks to your mind.
Scales are the arrangement of notes in an ascending or descending order based on the pitch. Notes make up scales that build chords and melodies. Scales are the basis of music composition.
Next, focus on interval ear training. Intervals are the distance between two notes, and it’s absolutely essential for any successful musician to recognize them instinctively.
The next step is to start learning about chord progressions. These are the basic building blocks of music, so understanding them is a must. Chord progressions can be tricky at first, but with some practice, you’ll be able to pick them out in no time.
Finally, you should work on developing your own personal style of improvisation. This involves determining the notes that work best with a certain chord progression and playing around with them until you find something that sounds good. This will help you understand how chords relate to each other, and it will give your performance an extra oomph!
Musicians’ ear training methods
So, what are the best methods for ear training?
1. Use interval song generator
An interval song generator is a tool that helps you practice hearing different musical intervals without having to remember a lot of songs or chords. You can choose the specific intervals you want to practice and listen to the generated songs over and over until you can recognize them.
2. Singing scales and notes in absolute pitch
This helps with learning a variety of sounds and tones, as well as recognizing pitch discrepancies at both slow and fast speeds. If you’re feeling brave, you can even record yourself playing or singing and compare it to recordings of professional musicians.
3. Improvision
Improvisation is a great way to train your ears. Try coming up with some melodies on your own, then use them in your compositions or practices for an emphasis on ear training. Improvisation encourages musicians to come up with their own ideas and make them work—it’s an invaluable exercise that can help develop your ear-training chops!
Concluding remarks
Musicians need to be able to train their ears so they can better hear and identify different pitches, harmonies, and rhythms. With some simple techniques, you can start improving your ear training today.
The great thing about ear training is that it’s a skill that can be learned by anyone, regardless of age or experience. With a bit of practice, you’ll be able to identify notes and chords without even thinking about it.
Lastly, there are many other techniques for training your ears, and it’s important to find the ones that work best for you. With a little bit of practice, you will start to see improvement in your ability to hear and identify different pitches, harmonies, and rhythms.
Well, when are you planning to begin ear training?
